Ramaphosa questions Cape Town’s service delivery record in disadvantaged communities

President Cyril Ramaphosa said the City of Cape Town cannot claim to be the best-run metro when the standard of services in its townships remains poor.

Appearing to backtrack on last month’s praise for DA-run municipalities, Ramaphosa today told the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) that Census data showed Cape Town had performed the worst between 2011 and 2022 in providing services to the city’s disadvantaged communities.

He was answering a question from the African National Congress (ANC)'s Kenny Mmoiemang on whether the government has identified the main causes of poor service delivery in the townships and informal settlements of the metro that has been run by the Democratic Alliance (DA) since 2006.

"One cannot stand on Table Mountain and say I am doing better than others. You need to demonstrate that on a per capita basis, you are changing the lives of people. That is what’s required."

Ramaphosa said while the City of Cape Town is often lauded for its clean financial statements, budget analysis shows that, on a per capita basis, the city is spending less in poorer communities than in affluent areas.

"You may well say yes, on the audited financial statements, it is shown that yes, it has done well, but in the end, what really matters is the impact on the lives of the people. And if a metro is said by census data to have performed worse than the average metros, that metro should be worried."