The City of Cape Town today released its 2023/24 budget, highlighting some of the core issues faced by residents and focusing especially on alleviating challenges faced by low- and middle-income households.
Also read: Cape Town mayor welcomes the Time Out Market at the Waterfront
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis outlined a R2.3 billion plan to end loadshedding in the City of Cape Town. This includes spending R220 million over the next three years on independent power purchases and R288 million to incentivise Capetonians to use less power at peak times.
Further to this, the budget includes a R4.3 billion relief package to help residents with the rising cost of living. Of this, R1.69 billion will go towards rate rebates, and R2.37 billion will go towards free basic services for households with a monthly income of R7 500 and below. Some of the benefits include 15kl of free water, 10.5kl of free sanitation, and 60 units of free electricity if they consume less than 250 units and 25 units of free electricity if they use less than 450 units. Properties valued under R450 000 will receive a 100% rebate for property rates and refuse removal.
The City is also proposing a 50% increase in property rate relief, with the first R450 000 of property value now rate-free for all properties under R5 million.
The infrastructure budget also surpasses the World Cup investment by a record R11 billion. The 40% larger budget, at R10.9 billion, will allocate R30 million to new infrastructure each day of the year, including weekends, starting on the first of July.
Over the next 10 years, the City plans to spend R120 billion on infrastructure across the metro, the bulk of which will be focused on sanitation. This represents a more than 100% increase in infrastructure investment. R2.2 billion will be spent on new water sources, while R2.6 billion will be spent on better roads.
To improve safety, the city plans to spend R860 million on technologies such as CCTV, drones and dash cams. Other technologies will also include licence plate recognition cameras and radios.
To view the full budget speech, visit this link.
Also read:
Eskom’s not just affecting homes, it’s affecting city infrastructure too
Picture: Unsplash