The City of Cape Town has won $1 million (R16 million) in the Bloomberg ‘Mayor’s Challenge’ 2025 for a community-designed project to address waste management in informal settlements.

Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis’s proposal was selected from 630 applications worldwide, with 24 cities receiving the prize alongside operational support and additional funding to scale up their innovations.

The project aims to improve waste management in partnership with informal settlement residents to reduce illegal dumping and create cleaner, healthier communities.

“Cleaning up informal settlements is a problem that has vexed me and the city for years. That’s why I nominated this project for consideration for the Mayor’s Challenge Prize,” said Hill-Lewis.

“We are most appreciative of this prize money and support, and we will use the money to scale up our pilot project on waste management in informal settlement communities. Our project recognises that success can only be achieved with the insights and collaboration of residents.”

The initiative was piloted in Dunoon and will be expanded to include community-led waste separation-at-source projects, design and testing of greywater diversion infrastructure systems, and exploration of a new model for informal settlement waste and cleansing services.

The competition took place over two phases, with Cape Town competing among 50 cities during the finalist phase. According to Bloomberg Philanthropies, winning projects were selected for novelty, potential impact, and strength of implementation plans.

The project aims to transform how waste services are contracted and operated in informal contexts, with a model that could be replicated across Cape Town and in other municipalities and metros.

Hill-Lewis said the city is working towards better, cleaner, more dignified living conditions for all residents, in line with its mission to build a city of hope for all.

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