CAPE TOWN – Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has called on finance minister Enoch Godongwana to ensure no cuts to municipal funding are proposed when he tables the National Budget in parliament on Wednesday.
“We are calling for no cuts to municipal funding or infrastructure investment in this National Budget. There is ample scope to cut waste and inefficiency within the national government without pushing the burden down to cities and provinces. While difficult decisions may be needed to balance the budget, this must not come at the expense of funding used by local government to improve basic services and infrastructure,”said Mayor Hill-Lewis.
Mayor Hill-Lewis is further calling for Cape Town to get its fair equitable share from the national fiscus – funding which is critical to cross-subsidise services for the poor. Cape Town officially passed five million residents according to StatsSA’s recently published mid-year population estimates for 2025, with the metro on a trajectory to overtake Johannesburg as SA’s most populous city.
“For Cape Town to continue delivering free basic services to the poorest households, our equitable share allocation must properly reflect our population growth. Metros use national transfers alongside property rates to cross-subsidise services, but when national funding declines, the pressure falls on local ratepayers. This year alone, Cape Town is already absorbing a R243 million reduction in Equitable Share for 2025/26 compared to what was gazetted in 2023/24,’ said Mayor Hill-Lewis.
The Mayor also called on the finance minister to act on long-standing commitments by President Cyril Ramaphosa to expand infrastructure funding for cities.
“Cape Town is investing a national record R40 billion in infrastructure over three years, with 75% of that spend benefiting lower-income households. But rapid growth means we must go further and faster. Cities need new, reliable infrastructure funding mechanisms, alongside simpler regulations and less red tape, to deliver the water, electricity, transport and services residents urgently need,” said the mayor.
