Cape Town: The city is all set to all-time record for infrastructure spending. Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has announced that the City of Cape Town has successfully invested R9.5 billion in infrastructure in 2024-25, as an all-time record for a South African metro.
Overall, the City of Cape Town has spent 92.3% of its capital budget with Safety and Security of the top-performer for percentage spent at 99.7% while Water and Sanitation was the top spender in rands with 95% spent of its sizeable R4 billion capital budgets.
In his address to City Council, Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said that the only way for Cape Town to avoid the crises that have befallen every other city in South Africa is to invest in infrastructure at a much higher level.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said that it is one thing to allocate record budgets for infrastructure and quite another thing to actually deliver these large projects in a very complex construction environment.
This result is most pleasing with a full 92.3% and R9.5 billion of the capital investment budget having been successfully invested. This shows that we are delivering on the pledges to invest in more of the basic infrastructure that makes the city work.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said that they are building Cape Town, project by project into a City of Hope with a growing economy that is able to absorb many more people into work.
According to Mayor Hill Safety and Security with the best percentage spend of 99.7% of its R472m capital budget largely invested these funds in fire station and metro training facility upgrades, vehicles and safety technology, such as CCTV, bodycams and digital coordination systems.
He said that they all know how important their work is to the communities of Cape Town and what a big focus Safety and Security is in the new budget for the coming financial year. This performance really speaks to their intent to do whatever it takes to make the city safer and take back the neighbors from criminals.
Reportedly, other top performers for percentage spend in 2024-25 were Urban Waste Management with 96.3% of R400 million budget and Corporate Services with 97.4% of R432 million.
At 95% spent of its R4 billion capital budget, Water and Sanitation was the top spender in the City of Cape Town’s group of four directorates which each need to invest over R1 billion per year in infrastructure, which together make up 79% of the entire capital budget.
Considering this Mayor Hill Lewis said that the Water & Sanitation projects accounted for almost 40-C out of every infrastructure rand spent in the city this past financial year. To achieve a spending performance of almost 95% on such a big budget takes some doing.
Lewis added that the projects funded by the Water & Sanitation capital budget are a vital part of realizing their vision for Cape Town and future-proofing the city for decades to come.
Every section of pipe replacement, every wastewater works upgrade, every pump station that gets refurbished, every source of water that is added to the City of Cape Town supply, is an investment in the dignity and health of Capetonians, and is literally changing people’s lives.
Furthermore, other directorates investing over R1 billion this year include Energy (92.5% spent), Human Settlements (92%), and Urban Mobility (84.4%). Invested in Hope Budget highlights for 2025-26.
For the upcoming three years, Cape Town plans to spend an SA-record R40 billion on infrastructure under the Invested in Hope Budget, with 75% of this spending directly benefiting lower-income households.