Welcome, President Ramaphosa, to the ‘One City That Works’

Dear Editor

In the wake of the fire at Parliament in January 2022, President Ramaphosa thanked the City of Cape Town for its swift response and support, saying “It does show that there are certain things that do work, even as we may think that the wheels are coming off on everything…that we do have one city that works… when the chips are down.”

As we welcome President Ramaphosa and the ANC to Cape Town for the party’s January 8th celebration, we are mindful that South Africa is in a similar situation to the buildings at Parliament.

While every city and government department that the ANC runs is a picture of ruin and collapse, Cape Town stands as the one city that works.

Wherever the ANC is in government, water systems are collapsing, traffic lights don’t work, basic systems are failing, and the hopes of poor and mainly black South Africans of finding work are crushed.

In contrast, in Cape Town we are making steady progress for all our residents despite South Africa’s serious economic and social challenges.

The Government of National Unity offers an opportunity to begin to rebuild, but it will take the right people working maturely to build rather than burn.

Rest assured, Mr President, our city government in Cape Town is working every day to bring the change that South Africans yearn for.

This week we have seen ANC leaders attempt to throw stones at ‘the one City that works’, even as they were chased from people’s homes.

We have added over 300 000 jobs since the start of this term in November 2021. Cape Town has SA’s lowest unemployment rate, and an SA-record R39,5bn infrastructure plan to create 130 000 construction jobs over the next three years.

This year, Cape Town is spending more on infrastructure directly benefitting lower income households than the entire capital budgets of other cities (R9bn, or 75% of budget in 24/25).

Our investments over three years are more than all three Gauteng metros combined, and include transformative flagship projects like the R6,3bn new MyCiti Bus route development to link Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain, and various other communities across the metro south-east with safe, affordable, and reliable public transport.

Our multi-billion rand projects aim to ensure reliable water, sanitation, and electricity services for all going into the future, even as we witness the constant supply disruptions in ANC-run cities where the necessary investments are not being made.

Even as we outspend all other cities on infrastructure benefitting especially lower income households, we are still able to maintain the country’s widest free basic services programme subsidising the poorest residents, as StatsSA’s non-financial census shows.

Cape Town, like all of our cities, faces serious challenges relating to rapid urbanisation as people move here in search of a better life, and it is our mission to bring about better, dignified living conditions in our poorest, fastest growing communities.

We view President Rampahosa and the ANC’s presence in our city this week not as an opportunity for the type of cheap politics we have seen, but as a genuine chance for the best-intentioned among us to take hands towards a better future.

So welcome President Ramaphosa to Cape Town, we have a lot to work on together for a better life for all.

Regards

Geordin Hill-Lewis
DA Mayor of Cape Town