The Cape Town City Council today, 24 February 2022, adopted the City of Cape Town’s 2020/21 Annual Report. The City once again achieved an unqualified audit, the only metro to achieve this 16 consecutive times since 2006. The City thanks residents for making progress possible, together.

• R20,5bn in investments secured, creating 21 500+ jobs and 7 600+ training opportunities since 2018.
• 16th Clean Audit.
• City Law Enforcement has more than tripled the arrest rate in the past five years.
• 98% of City-supplied informal settlements have access to electricity where it is possible to connect.
• 6 500+ social housing units in the overall pipeline across 50 land parcels city-wide, including 2 000 social housing units in the central Cape Town area.
• The MyCiTi bus service reached 10,9 million passenger journeys, exceeding the 2020/21 target of 10,2 million.
• Only metro protecting customers from Eskom’s load-shedding, with plans to do more.
• Over 1 100 km of fibre-optic cable installed across Cape Town, connecting 556 buildings.

The City’s latest Annual Report contains five Strategic Focus Areas (SFAs). These align with the current Integrated Development Plan, which is in the process of being updated via a public participation process:

SFA 1 – Opportunity City: Create an environment where investment can grow and jobs can be created.
SFA 2 – Safe City: Create a safe living and business environment for residents
SFA 3 – Caring City: Build a metro that offers a sustainable environment, a sense of belonging, access to services, and help to those who need it.
SFA 4 – Inclusive City: Create a city where everyone has a stake in the future and enjoys a sense of belonging.
SFA 5 – Well-Run City: Underpinned by the principles of the 2016 King IV Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa.

Some of the highlights for each of the Annual Report 2020/21 Strategic Focus Areas include:

Opportunity City

• R20,5bn in investments secured, creating 21 500+ jobs and 7 600+ training opportunities since 2018.
• Lowest unemployment rate of South Africa’s metros.
• Serviced 4 800 enquiries from SMMEs via the City’s Business Hub since launch in August 2019, with 99% of service requests actioned within two working days in 2020/21.
• Over 1 100 km of fibre-optic cable installed across Cape Town, connecting 556 buildings
• Only metro protecting customers from Eskom’s load-shedding, with plans to do more
• Invested R50 billion into infrastructure over the last decade, with the aim to do more

Safe City

• Law Enforcement has more than tripled the arrest rate in the past five years, and 1 100 additional officers have been delivered to date through the Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP) in partnership with the Western Cape Government
• Cape Town has established Africa’s largest CCTV safety surveillance network of 2 528 cameras and counting, including 835 Metro Police cameras, 1 084 freeway and public transport cameras, and 609 registered private cameras.
• R3,5 million in patrol equipment to accredited neighbourhood watches in 2020/21, with the City now supporting 197 accredited NHWs as part of a city-wide community safety network
• The City is on track to deliver 1 100 Law Enforcement officers through LEAP by the end of October 2021
• South Africa’s leading City for firefighting services with two new fire stations operationalised in 2020/21, bringing the total to 32 fire stations, with over 1 210 firefighting and operational staff, and a 350-strong fleet
• Cape Town received ‘role model city’ status from the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNSDR)

Caring City

• 40% of households in Cape Town receive water and sanitation services free of charge (Gauteng avg. = 15,6% water, 1,6% sanitation).
• 27% of City-supplied households get free basic electricity (Gauteng avg. = 15,4%).
• 100% access to refuse removal once a week, including 99,79% of informal settlements benefitting from a door-to-door service, and skips in areas where this is not possible.
• 98% of City-supplied informal settlements have access to electricity where it is possible to connect.
• Access to adequate sanitation is up from 92,4% to 95,5%, with over 33 800 toilets installed in informal settlements since 2012/13, and 230 000 households receiving basic water and sanitation services in recognised settlements.
• An estimated 207 000 people have benefitted from over 64 800 housing opportunities delivered by the City since 2012/13.
• The City spent a solid 99% of its Informal Settlement Upgrading Partnership grant, and 97% of its Urban Settlements Development Grant capital budget in 2020/21 despite Covid-19, with most of the remainder to be used in the new financial year.
• 6 500+ social housing units in the overall pipeline across 50 land parcels city-wide, including 2 000 social housing units in the central Cape Town area
• Over 12 250 title deeds to beneficiaries since 2013/14.

Inclusive City

• The MyCiti bus service reached 10,9 million of passenger journeys, exceeding the 2020/21 target of 10,2 million.
• The City’s call centre answered over 2,2 million calls in 2020/21 (non-emergency) from residents in the regional language of their choice – English, Afrikaans, or isiXhosa.
• Cape Town is SA’s only metro with a social development budget aimed at people living on the street, with 707 EPWP employment opportunities for homeless people in 2020/21. This is part of broader efforts since 2016, including 1 600 shelter placements, 1 550 EPWP work placements, 575 reunifications with family, and three Safe Spaces opened with 700 total capacity.
• Over 8 200 patients have been screened at City Matrix® Substance Abuse Treatment sites since 2016, achieving over 80% negative drug test rate for clients who complete the programme.
• All 80 fixed City clinics use an Online Clinic Appointment System (OCAS) with 13 000 appointments per week, and near 100% ‘ideal clinic’ status by national quality standards.

Well-Run City

• Only metro to achieve 16 consecutive unqualified audits since 2006
• Voted the most trusted metro in the country for the seventh time in a row according to the 2020 Consulta Citizen Satisfaction Index
• Improved Service Request system, upping live communication with residents through SMS or Email status updates, including four status levels viewable live on the City’s ‘Report a Fault’ online portal

Source: City Of Cape Town