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Cape Town Suffers From “Financial Obesity”

Speech by Sandra Dickson, GOOD City of Cape Town Councillor. Note to Editor: This speech was given today at the City of Cape Town Council Meeting

The post CAPE TOWN SUFFERS FROM “FINANCIAL OBESITY” AS R21 BILLION CASH RESERVES GROW WHILE HOUSING PROJECTS STALL appeared first on For Good.

GOOD Speech given today at the City of Cape Town Council Meeting by Sandra Dickson, GOOD City of Cape Town Councillor:

The March 2026 Adjustment Budget shows this administration is capable of swift action on paper. The City has successfully processed new allocations of R10 million for special needs mobility and an additional R1 million to stabilise the baboon management transition.

However, that same administrative energy is absent when it comes to the R550 million windfall in investment revenue, which was left to feed the City’s Cash Balance.

Madam Speaker, the Mayor speaks of ‘innovation’ in his new 10% unlocking of funds from projects, introduced in January 2026.

Examples of Housing Projects that did not benefit:

The Sheffield Road Housing Project.

R30.6 million was cut from the ISUPG grant. Why? The National Treasury refused to roll over the total amount from 2024/25.

Reason: The City could not approve its own building plans fast enough to get a contractor on-site.

Other stalled projects are:

  • Gugulethu Infill Project:
  • Valhalla Park Integrated Housing:
  • Macassar BNG Housing:
  • Pelican Park Phase 2:
  • Despite high-profile inner city “sod-turnings” for projects like Leeuloop and Founders Garden, construction has yet to begin as of March 2026.

This reinforces the “all talk, no bricks” criticism from housing activists.

Different rules for MyCiti and Housing departments

Madam Speaker, in the Transport Department, projects are fast-tracked to handle bottlenecks, but in Human Settlements, this is not done. Why does a MyCiTi bus get a fast-track through the Planning Department, but a house in Sheffield Road gets stuck in a three-year queue?

Rising “Cash Reservoir” vs Delivery Paralysis

The February Financial Management Report shows a massive cash balance of roughly R21 billion in total. This includes R7.76 billion in highly liquid cash.

The City of Cape Town is currently in a state of “Financial Obesity.” It is cash-rich but delivery-poor, and it is now cannibalising its own project budgets by removing the 10% lock from all projects.

We don’t have a budget crisis. We have a willingness and capability crisis wrapped in the massive R7.76 billion cash cushion.

GOOD Economic Policy: GOOD promotes a mixed economy that supports both private and public sectors.

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  2. Voetsek! – Go away! [foot-sak] Usually said with an angry tone when telling someone to go away or get lost. You don’t want to be saying this to a local or worse, if a local says this to you – you’ve really angered them!