Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has described the record R12.3-billion spent by the city on infrastructure last year, which he said was the biggest investment yet by a city-government in South Africa, as the “minimum” level of investment needed.
To match the rise in demand for services and to support higher levels of economic activity far higher levels of investment would be required in the future, he added.
“Even at those record levels of investment, we are only just keeping pace with the rapid growth of our city,” Hill-Lewis said at the 2026 edition of the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium South Africa, where he pointed to rapid urbanisation as a key driver.
“That should give us some pause for thought and some perspective nationally. If a city is investing at record levels, but still regards this investment as the minimum required, we need to ask what level of infrastructure investment South Africa's cities and towns across the country will require to prepare for the years ahead.”
The leader of the DA said he had studied the infrastructure budgets of all the other major cities and had concluded that a major increase in infrastructure investment was required.
