GOOD party blasts 'anti-poor' City of Cape Town budget

CAPE TOWN - The GOOD party has labelled the Cape Town municipal budget as anti-poor and anti-transformation.
 
The City of Cape Town council approved the city's 2024/25 'building for jobs' budget on Friday.

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Among other things, the city has proposed around R4.8 billion rand in social support for the indigent and pensioners who qualify for assistance.
 
Qualifying households will get 15 kilolitres of water free and up to 60 free electricity units per month.
 
Pensioners and social grant recipients will also benefit from a discount in municipal rates by raising the upper qualifying limit from R17,500 rand to R22,000 of monthly household income.
 
However, GOOD party councillor Anton Louw says this is just a smoke-and-mirrors approach by the city.
 
Louw said the budget introduces a series of unaffordable tariff hikes while making it difficult for indigent residents to qualify for a cheaper basket of basic services.

"The City makes a big noise about subsidised services for indigent residents, but when you look closely at the numbers, the subsidies benefit fewer and fewer people.

"Households with a prepaid meter and municipal property valuation of R500,000 or less, qualify for some free electricity. It sounds good on paper, but the fact is that there are very few formal homes in Cape Town worth less than R500,000, so the benefit doesn’t apply to many residents."