Intervention Forces City of Cape Town to Restore Walmer Estate MyCiTi Services

GOOD Statement by Roscoe Palm, GOOD City of Cape Town Councillor:

The GOOD Party welcomes the City of Cape Town’s decision to finally restore MyCiTi card-loading services in Walmer Estate following sustained pressure, oversight, and direct intervention by the party.

For more than three months, residents of Walmer Estate were unable to load points onto their MyCiTi cards after the City abruptly removed card-loading facilities from two longstanding community businesses, Liberty Grocers and Coronation Bazaar.

The decision left commuters, particularly elderly residents and daily public transport users, facing unnecessary inconvenience and hardship.

Through ongoing engagement with the City’s Urban Mobility Directorate, GOOD sought answers as to why these vital services had been withdrawn. Officials subsequently revealed that the businesses had been placed on a “bottom five” exclusion list as part of an internal load-balancing process.

Throughout this period, the community was provided with little transparency and no meaningful explanation regarding when services would be restored.

Following a final demand for accountability on Wednesday morning, City officials confirmed that contractors had been dispatched to conclude the necessary agreements and expedite the reinstallation of the card-loading facilities. The City’s transport team further indicated that there were now no remaining barriers preventing the restoration of these services.

This outcome represents a significant victory for the people of Walmer Estate. It is a victory for commuters who depend on public transport, for elderly residents who should not have to travel further to access essential services, and for local family-owned businesses that have served the community for decades.

The GOOD Party believes that public transport services should be accessible, reliable, and responsive to the needs of communities. Decisions that affect residents’ daily lives cannot be made behind closed doors without proper consultation or consideration of their impact.

While we welcome the City’s commitment to restore these services, oversight will continue until the installations are completed and residents can once again access convenient MyCiTi card-loading facilities within their community.

GOOD will continue to hold the City accountable and ensure that promises made to residents translate into on-the-ground delivery.

GOOD Manifesto on Support for SMEs: Promoting policies that support small and medium-sized enterprises.

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