CITY OF CAPE TOWN 2 JUNE 2014 STATEMENT BY THE CITY’S EXECUTIVE MAYOR, PATRICIA DE LILLE City thanks ratepayers for helping us make progress possible, together Today the City Manager and I will be sending a letter to Cape Town’s biggest contributors to the City’s purse. They, together with all of the ratepayers of our city, help us to realise our vision of a caring, safe, inclusive, opportunity and well-run city. We are grateful for the contribution of every single ratepayer in the city – all of whom help us make progress possible, together. Below is the full text of the letter: Dear City of Cape Town ratepayer, The City of Cape Town has once again had another very successful year. That success includes significant investment in the infrastructure of the city, continued operation and maintenance at a high level, and delivery of services to all of Cape Town’s four million residents. The success of the City has been confirmed in a number of ways, including receiving a second clean audit from the Auditor-General as part of the ninth consecutive unqualified audit for the City. We recognise that the past few years have been challenging for the city’s economy Despite these stressful times, our ratepayers and consumers continue to pay their rates and service charges, and we would like to thank you as one of our ratepayers for keeping to your side of the social compact. It is only ratepayers such as yourself who keep this city going through your ongoing contributions. This is how we make progress possible, together. The contribution you make through paying your rates and service charges has allowed the City to make the following provisions within our R34 billion budget: • Delivering on our commitment to be a caring city by providing free basic services to 1,8 million residents • Creating approximately 36 000 job opportunities through the Expanded Public Works Programme, thereby providing financial relief to vulnerable residents and enhancing service delivery • Ensuring that we are able to prioritise the need for redress for past historical imbalances by making the budget as pro-poor as possible, with 67% of the budget spent on direct service provision to the poor • Allocating R6,2 million to capital expenditure to expand quality infrastructure • Allocating R3,1 billion to repairs and maintenance – 11% more than in the current year – which emphasises our commitment to maintaining our existing infrastructure and sets Cape Town apart from many other metros in South Africa • Allocating R3,9 billion to delivering a world-class public transport system through an integrated rapid transit network that now links the city from Atlantis to Hout Bay, with many more expansions to come • Allocating R1,35 billion to developing housing opportunities • Allocating R1,7 billion to safety and security to help deliver on our commitment to create a safe city • Allocating R150 million to broadband connectivity to link residents, especially the previously disadvantaged, to the information super-highway We have tested the proposed budget against the risks in our engineering infrastructure. The projections show that the three-year budget up to 2016/17 will have eliminated a large portion of the bulk services backlog in the city, while we have a clear understanding of what the priorities will be beyond 2017. This provision is not only about delivering services; it is about continuing to build an enabling environment for economic growth. By ensuring that there is a reliable supply of electricity and water, that the roads are in a workable state, that the street lights and traffic lights work, and that workers are able to get to and from their places of work easily and cheaply, we ensure that economic activity can take place, that jobs can be created and that our residents have the required income to live a better life. We know that people will only have that better life if they have a job. A better life will remain out of reach if they only rely on government hand-outs. In addition to the delivery of basic services, there are particular programmes of economic intervention – such as the financial incentives to create jobs in Atlantis, the broadband project to bring the new economy to all our residents, and the extension to Cape Town International Convention Centre to build on the success it has had in bringing in visitors to spend money in our economy. Once again, we thank you for your continuing contribution to the operation of the City. This is making progress possible, together. End Issued by: Integrated Strategic Communication and Branding Department, City of Cape Town Media enquiries: Pierrinne Leukes, Spokesperson for the Executive Mayor, City of Cape Town, Tel: 021 400 1302 or Cell: 084 272 7614, E-mail: [email protected]
Posted on: Tue, 03 Jun 2014 10:01:38 +0000
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