Cape Town's R69bn draft budget focuses on infrastructure goals, with R2.3bn plan to end load shedding

• Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis tabled the City's R69.9 billion draft budget on Wednesday.
• The draft budget will be out for public participation until May. 
• Hill-Lewis said the budget is progressive and pro-poor. 

Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis tabled the City of Cape Town's "Building Hope" Budget for the 2023/24 financial year on Wednesday during a full council meeting.

The R69.9 billion draft budget will now be open for public participation until May.

"It is about building the future we want for Cape Town. Building a city of hope for all. This budget is the result of many months of hard work by some of the smartest people in Cape Town," the mayor said. 

Hill-Lewis believed the budget was progressive and pro-poor. 

"It enables us to make big investments across the metro - investments that will not only serve the needs of Capetonians today, but will also meet the requirements of a rapidly growing Cape Town tomorrow," he said. 

The City tabled a capital expenditure budget of a record R10.9 billion and set an ambitious goal to build infrastructure totalling R30 million every day of the year, including weekends.

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"And we're not stopping there. We will be ramping up our investment over the next three years. Next year capital expenditure will break new records at R14bn, and the year after that, it will be R18bn."

"Looking even further down the road, over the next 10 years, we will spend R120bn on infrastructure projects, the bulk of which will go towards upgrading and expanding water and sanitation infrastructure across the metro," he said.