GOOD Speech delivered today at the City of Cape Town Council Meeting by Jonathan Cupido, GOOD City of Cape Town Councillor:
Speaker, we are not debating a race today. We are debating whether this Council still respects the law, the budget process, and the people of Cape Town. Because what is before us is simple.
Council is being asked to approve a three-year agreement that commences on 10 May 2026. A Budget that is still in draft form, which is still under public participation and that this Council has not yet approved. Yet we are being asked to commit the money anyway. Under the MFMA, that is not allowed.
You cannot spend money that is not yet approved and lock in future expenditure while the public is still being asked for input. But it gets worse.
The City’s own approved budget already allocates R720,000 per year to this exact event.
Today, we are asked to approve: R1 million plus over 3 years, an increase of over 50% with no clear explanation, no formal adjustment, and no indication whether this replaces or sits on top of the existing allocation.
Speaker, are we funding this event once or twice? Because if Council does not know the answer, then Council is being asked to vote on incomplete and misleading financial information. And then, quietly, we are told venue costs will be waived. Departments must absorb the rest with no numbers, no totals, and no transparency.
Speaker, this is how costs are hidden. This is how accountability is avoided. Residents are being invited to participate in the budget process.
But the reality is this: Decisions are already being made. Money is already being committed. And the public is being asked to comment on a process that has already been decided. The Systems Act guarantees meaningful public participation. This is not meaningful. This is a performance.
The GOOD Party will not support pre-committed budgets, misaligned financial information, or a process that treats residents as an afterthought.
This item must be deferred. Let the budget be approved first. Let the law be followed.
Let the public process mean something.
Because right now, Speaker, this Council is being asked to rubber-stamp a decision that has already been taken.
And that is something we will not do.
GOOD Manifesto on Corruption: A commitment to fighting corruption and promoting transparency in government.
Abyss Tamer
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