With a population that is about to surpass 5 million people, Cape Town will undergo a series of expansion and upgrade projects as people continue to relocate their lives and businesses to the metropole.
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‘Our city is increasingly at the heart of national economic growth and will soon overtake Johannesburg as the country’s most populous city, with census data showing we are about to cross the 5 million residents mark,’ said Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.
‘Cape Town’s success has catapulted a new phrase – ‘semigration’ – into the national lexicon as people move their lives and businesses here. There is confidence in the Cape Town economy and the Cape Town property market, and our intention is to capitalise on that confidence by making Cape Town the easiest place to do business on the African continent.’
Cape Town had a population of 4 772 846 as of Census 2022, trailing Johannesburg by 4 803 262. This equated to 1.46 million Cape Town households.
At 70.9%, the working-age population (15–64 years) made up the majority of the Cape Town population.
New housing developments along the West Coast have increased pressure on water treatment plants and other services, while schools in the Western Cape, including Cape Town, have been reported to be at capacity for the 2024 academic year.
Hill-Lewis stated that the City’s R43 billion three-year infrastructure budget was the largest of any city in South Africa.
‘To give you an idea of the scale of work we’re undertaking, 2023 saw construction begin on the two biggest infrastructure projects in the Western Cape Province.’
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‘The second-biggest being the extension and upgrade of the Potsdam wastewater treatment plant, and the biggest being the Metro South-East corridor expansion of the MyCiTi bus service to connect Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain with Wynberg and Claremont.’
‘Of all the projects we’ve undertaken, it is perhaps the work we’re doing in the water and sanitation field that has excited me most. Mostly hidden underground and seldom mentioned until something goes wrong, the City’s network of sewer pipes, water pipes, pump stations and wastewater treatment plants is the most important public infrastructure in any city. It is the arterial network that sustains life and ensures dignity.’
The City had doubled its sewer pipe replacement, with plans to quadruple it next year. Hill-Lewis said the City was investing R1.4bn into major bulk sewer upgrades, including an upgrade project to the Cape Flats line, happening alongside upgrades to the Milnerton, Philippi and Gordon’s Bay lines.
Jobs in travel and tourism were also contributing to Cape Town’s growth, with Cape Town Air Access reporting that two-way air cargo volumes traded in September totalled over 5 200 metric tonnes.
Wesgro reported that cargo performance at Cape Town International was positive for the third month in a row, with a 10% increase in September compared to the same period last year.
‘We are excited by the strong rebound in tourism this year, which is boosting job creation in the province.’
‘This is evident in the positive growth in passenger numbers at Cape Town International Airport and George Airport.’
‘According to Cape Town Air Access, a private-public partnership powered by Wesgro, the domestic terminal at Cape Town International recorded a 19% year-on-year growth for November, with over 600 000 passengers moving through the terminal.’
‘The year-to-date domestic passenger growth (January to November) has remained steady at 15% when compared to the same period in 2022, reaching a total of 6.19 million passengers,’ said Wesgro.
Finance and Economic Opportunities MEC Mireille Wenger recently tabled the Municipal Economic Review and Outlook 2023/24 (Mero) report, stating that the Cape Metro, George and Drakenstein municipalities were the largest contributors to the gross domestic product per region.
‘In every single district across the province, and the Cape metro, both labour force participation and labour absorption rates increased between 2021 and 2022, showing more people are available and looking for work, and also finding work in the Western Cape.’
‘Looking at longer-term trends, it is encouraging to see that the Gini coefficient declined in the Cape metro area and the province between 2019 and 2022.’
‘The Human Development Index, or HDI, which measures health, education, and standard of living, of the Cape metro at 0.734 exceeds that of the province at 0.722 and the rest of the country at 0.654.’
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