Her first point of defence revolves around Cape Town’s commitment to pro-poor infrastructure development. In the 2024/2025 financial year, Cape Town plans to make the largest infrastructure investment by a metropolitan municipality in South Africa.
“Lower income households will directly benefit from 75% — or R9bn — of Cape Town’s R12bn infrastructure spend in 2024/2025.”
According to Zille, R3.7bn of Cape Town’s total infrastructure budget will go towards informal settlement upgrades over the next three years. “This includes R126m for water, sanitation and waste management, R36m for electrification, R1bn for bulk services and R2.5bn for housing,” she said.
Cape Town has also set records in the provision of basic services to its residents, particularly in Khayelitsha.
“Census data (2024) shows Cape Town has the highest proportion of people benefiting from free basic water and electricity. The city is 10 percentage points ahead of the next metro for free electricity reach and 25 percentage points ahead for free water and sanitation.”
Zille highlighted that to improve safety and reduce infrastructure vandalism, the city has implemented security measures at key locations.
“Guards and CCTV have been installed at sewer pump stations in Khayelitsha to prevent vandalism and theft, which cause sewer spills and service disruptions.”
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