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The City of Cape Town tells us, over and over, that it is “pro-poor” and fiscally responsible.  But when we strip away the spin, what remains is a city run for the benefit of insiders, political elites, and their families, while the poor are left with broken promises, stale bread, and blue t-shirts from the last election.
 
According to the 2023/24 Integrated Annual Report, trust in the City’s leadership has dropped significantly under Major Geordin Hill-Lewis. The people of Cape Town no longer believe in his administration. And the report gives a glimpse into why. It paints a damning picture of a City that rewards the connected and abandons the vulnerable.
 
The report revealed R625.7 million in tenders were awarded in violation of the City’s own supply chain rules. R130.2 million was spent on legal procurement not in terms with supply chain management.  R8.4 million spent on expired contracts. This mismanagement speaks directly to the competency of the City Manager and his lack of control.
 
The Urban Waste Management Directorate is under an internal and SAPS investigation for potential fraud regarding allegations of non-compliance with laws and regulations, specifically relating to community-based refuse collection and area cleaning in the informal settlements of Cape Town.
 
Buried in the City’s own report is a shocking revelation: almost R2.1 billion worth of contracts were awarded to relatives of City officials, state employees, and those connected to government. Although this does not mean there is an existence of wrongdoing, it does open the city up to a higher risk of tender fraud and manipulation. 
 
The housing backlog in Cape Town stands at 350,000 people. That’s 350,000 families waiting for a home, waiting for dignity, waiting for the government they voted for to deliver.
 
The City has only delivered 1,627 serviced sites of the promised 7,100. That means 78% of planned homes were never built. Thousands of families remain trapped in informal settlements and on the streets. 
 
There are 1.5 million households in Cape Town. 186,520 are registered as indigent. But 17.6% of households live below the poverty line. This means the real number of indigent households should be 255,000.
 
The failure of this government is not just about corruption and patronage. It's about the lack of basic service delivery.
 
This is not governance. This is an economic apartheid, where wealth is concentrated among the connected, and the poor remain locked out of opportunity.
 
The people of this City deserve answers. They deserve action. Because one thing is clear - this administration has lost the right to call itself pro-poor.
 

Issued by GOOD City of Cape Town Councillor & Caucus Chairperson Suzette Little