See Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis’ full address here. Read more below:

‘We are proud to table the City of Hope budget for adoption today with every part of our basic infrastructure investment still intact. This is alongside expanded relief to shield lower- and middle-income households from the impact of the recent court ruling limiting the ability of municipalities to cross-subsidise.

‘In this way, we are fulfilling our promise to Capetonians that we will do what it takes to move Cape Town forward, and avoid the tragic collapse of infrastructure and services that we are seeing in so many other cities right now.

‘Whether it is pipe replacement across our water and sewer network, the massive upgrades to our wastewater treatment works, the new Cape Flats MyCiti route across the Cape Flats to Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain, critical investments to our electricity grid, informal settlements upgrade programmes, or any of the hundreds of projects to improve public amenities, roads, waterways and public spaces – each and every one of them is vital to Cape Town’s future.

‘This budget ensures Cape Town continues to be South Africa’s beacon of hope, offering the best services and value for ratepayer contributions, the widest social relief measures for struggling households, and the lowest property rates of all the metros by some distance,’ said Mayor Hill-Lewis.

Around 130 000 construction-related jobs will flow from capital investment in the current term of office alone, with 75% of infrastructure spending directly benefitting lower-income households.

Infrastructure investment highlights over the three-year budget framework include:

• R16,7bn water and sanitation investment – 40% of total spending – including major wastewater works upgrades, quadrupled pipe replacement (a R2bn project), and expanded water supply sources
• R6bn in electrical grid upgrades and maintenance to prepare for a decentralised energy future with less Eskom reliance
• R3,7bn in road maintenance, pothole repairs, upgrades to roads and stormwater, and R653m in congestion relief projects
• A further R3,2 billion for the major MyCiTi Cape Flats expansion, the biggest of its kind in South Africa.
• R3,3bn for informal settlement upgrading and state-subsidised housing
• A further R203m for sports facility upgrades
• R300m for the Strandfontein Pavilion redevelopment.

The City of Hope Budget further includes an all-time record R6,8bn safety and security budget proposed for 2026/27.

Expanded relief for households

The City is protecting lower and middle-income households by further raising the rates-free rebate for those homes. The first R620 000 of property value will now be rates-free, up from R450 000, for all residential properties up to R8m. Indigent benefits will apply for all properties under the new R620 000 threshold. This expanded relief mitigates fixed charges for water and sanitation reverting back to a water meter size linkage rather than property value bands following the court ruling,

Pensioners will continue to benefit from the country’s widest rebate qualifying criteria, thanks to the previous raising of the monthly income threshold to R27 000, regardless of property value. Cape Town is also the only metro offering lifeline electricity to pensioners up to this threshold. In other cities, pensioners must be classified as indigent to qualify.

Comparing the budgets of the five biggest cities in South Africa, Cape Town offers the highest rates relief and widest pensioner and indigent benefits for each major relief category:

• 100% rates rebate for indigent households (property value of R620 000 or less, or R7 500 maximum monthly household income)
• Free Basic Water and Sanitation (15KL water / 10,5KL sanitation monthly for indigent households)
• Rates-Free Benefit (first R620 000 of property value rates-free for homes up to R8m)
• Lifeline electricity qualifying threshold (property value R500 000 or less, monthly household income of R7 500 or less. Usage <450kWh monthly-average to stay on lifeline)
• Pensioner benefits (10-100% rates rebate and lifeline electricity for pensioners with a monthly household income of R27 000 or less, regardless of property value).

Annual increases summary

• Property Rates: -2,09% reduction in rate-in-the-Rand due to General Valuation (previously -10,2% before the city-wide cleaning charge moved back into property rates after court ruling)
• Water and Sanitation: 4,5%
• Refuse collection: 3,75%
• Electricity: 6,64% on average (2,37 percentage points lower than the Nersa-approved 9,01% Eskom increase to municipalities.

These represent the lowest percentage increases for any metro in each of these categories for 2026/27.