Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said the city was on track in achieving greater infrastructure investment than all three Gauteng metros combined, according to the municipality’s latest infrastructure report.
City touts R120bn infrastructure pipeline
The City claimed to have a R120bn 10-year infrastructure pipeline, which it described as a South African record. Cape Town officials said around 130 000 construction-related jobs would flow from capital investment in the current term of office alone, with an economic impact of R17bn.
According to the City, Cape Town had raised its investment levels significantly, with the 2027-’28 draft capital budget more than double the size of the first budget of this term, R14,7bn compared to R6,9bn in 2022-’23. The City projects its capital budget will exceed that of all three Gauteng metros combined by 2027/28, at R14,4bn.
Investment breakdown by sector
The City said 45% of investment goes to basic services including water, sanitation and energy, with 18% for transport, 11% for housing, and 8% for public spaces and amenities. “We are building South Africa’s city of hope by investing in the basic infrastructure needed to support a working city,” Hill-Lewis said at the report launch.
Comparisons with Gauteng metros
Cape Town officials provided several comparisons with Gauteng cities; the City claimed just 75% of Cape Town’s pro-poor capital budget exceeded Johannesburg’s entire capital budget — R10bn compared to Johannesburg’s total R8,7bn in 2025-’26.
Cape Town said it invested more in infrastructure than Johannesburg and Tshwane combined over the current term, with R25,7bn compared to R22,8bn for the two Gauteng cities from 2022-’23 to 2024-’25
Water and sewer infrastructure claims
The City highlighted pipe replacement as a key difference, saying Cape Town replaced three times more water and sewer pipe than Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni combined in 2024-’25.
Total kilometres of sewer and water pipes replaced according to the city:
- Cape Town: 401 km
- Johannesburg: 98 km
- Tshwane: 58 km
- Ekurhuleni: 26 km
Key investment areas
Transport
The City’s major transport focus remains the multi-billion rand MyCiti expansion from Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha to communities across the metro’s south-east, which officials call the biggest project of its kind in South Africa. The medium-term portfolio has been expanded to include additional road reconstruction, rehabilitation and stormwater projects. Outer-year investment relates to transport corridor development and congestion relief initiatives.
Water and sanitation
Cape Town’s new water programme strategy aims to increase and diversify the city’s drinking water supply by between 70 and 100 million litres per day over time. Wastewater expansions and sludge re-use projects through 2039 will support population growth and urban development. The City said resilience and service reliability is being strengthened through distribution network investments, pump station upgrades and public-private partnership mechanisms.
Waste management
The City is expanding current landfill capacity, with Coastal Park height expansion on track pending approval for 2026 as well as the Vissershok South landfill cell extension. New landfill is to be completed by 2036.
Energy transition
Cape Town claims to be emerging as a national leader in municipal energy transition, building what it calls a resilient, affordable and low-carbon energy system. The City is investing in generation projects, energy efficiency, and grid upgrades to enable what it describes as a dynamic, decentralised energy future.
Pro-poor spending highlights
For 2025-’26 the City lists major pro-poor investments including:
- R4,5bn for the new MyCiti bus route linking Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain to Wynberg/Claremont
- R2bn for replacing 100 km of sewer and 50 km of water pipes annually, mostly in lower-income communities
- Cape Flats sewer upgrade benefiting over 300 000 households
- R4bn Zandvliet plant upgrade, which serves Khayelitsha and beyond
- R3,5bn for road upgrades and repairs
- R3,4bn for informal settlement upgrades
- R1bn for street light upgrading and repair
- R397m for public transport station upgrades
- R272m for informal trading infrastructure upgrades
The full infrastructure report is available on the City’s website.
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