Cape Town receives a Clean Audit for 2022/23

29 January 2024

‘It gives me great pleasure to report that Cape Town has once again delivered a clean audit opinion, this time for 2022/23. Spending public money on its intended purpose, with careful record-keeping and legal compliance, is the very foundation of service delivery, and the bedrock of our efforts to ultimately lift more people out of poverty and into work.

‘A clean audit is far more than just symbolic recognition, it is the very basis for better service delivery for residents.

‘Good governance is the reason why Cape Town attracted over R3,5bn in property investments in 22/23, adding to our revenue base and sustainability. Good governance underpinned our ability to spend a record R6,94bn on infrastructure in 22/23, surpassing even the FIFA World Cup investment, with our planned spending set to dwarf all other metros. And good governance enabled us to pay 99,5% of supplier invoices within 30 days, ensuring consistent cashflow for especially small businesses,’ said Mayor Hill-Lewis.

Various other accolades are noted in the City’s 2022/23 annual report, including:

- Cape Town is SA’s most sustainable city according to the Municipal Financial Sustainability Index for 22/23, and the top ranked city in the Knights Sustainable Cities Index

- Ratings Afrika further found Cape Town to be the best municipality in SA in 2023

- Ratings agencies such as Moody’s have conferred a strong credit rating on Cape Town, with a stable outlook, even amidst a largely negative outlook elsewhere in the country.

‘This clean audit would not have been possible without a concerted effort from officials across the City who are committed to serving Capetonians with pride and integrity. Thank you Team Cape Town for ensuring that this record budget was spent lawfully, with every public rand going towards service delivery,’ said Councillor Siseko Mbandezi, Mayoral Committee Member for Finance.

Service delivery highlights from the City’s 2022/23 Annual Report include:

- Over 205 000 jobs were added in Cape Town last year, more than all other cities combined

- Sewer pipe replacement was doubled from 25 to 50km annually, with progress on major wastewater and bulk sewer upgrades

- Access to piped water increased to 99,1% from 95,7%, and access to adequate sanitation increased to 96,2% from 92,4%. Overall 5 200 toilets and 729 taps were installed in 22/23.

- Access to electricity increased to 94,9% from 91,7%, with 2 440 new connections far exceeding the 1 500 target

- In 22/23, we managed to reduce load-shedding levels by 14%, with the goal of preventing the first four stages of Eskom load-shedding by 2025/26. Three rounds of procurement are underway to buy power on the open market

- The City is undertaking SA’s largest body and dashcam rollout; the growing CCTV network alerting first responders to 22 500 incidents; and over 930 drone flights were incorporated into targeted policing operations. This is part of an overall R860m safety tech investment over three years.

- Strides were made towards 24/7 policing, with LEAP officers deployed on this ‘always on’ schedule, as well as the new Highway Patrol unit.

- Adding more boots on the ground enabled City enforcement agencies to conduct almost 7 000 drug raids in 22/23, resulting in 942 arrests. Overall, municipal policing arrests were 30% higher than expected.

- A new Ease of Doing Business Index has been launched to track ten critical indicators for enabling more investment into the Cape Town economy

- 18,3 million passenger trips were made via MyCiti, with the N2 Express service to Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha now one of the busiest routes in town, amidst continued progress on the major MyCiTi metro southeast expansion.

- All traffic lights have now been fitted with energy-saving LED lights

- 209km of road was rehabilitated, resurfaced or resealed

- Safe Space transitional shelter facilities are being expanded to help more people get off the streets, with R230 million budgeted over three years and 2 246 people successfully placed in shelters in 22/23.

- More than 1 300 social housing units reached critical land release milestones in 22/23, and we launched a new ‘no-cost transfer’ programme to enable the free transfer of public rental units, turning tenants into homeowners.

Issued by Media Office, City of Cape Town, 29 January 2024