The City of Cape Town is solidifying its finances ahead of what it says is South Africa’s largest infrastructure investment by a metro.

The largest city in the Western Cape and predicted to be the most populous in the country in the near future, Cape Town will invest ZAR39.5 billion in infrastructure over the next three years, which is expected to create about 130 000 construction-related jobs.

Moneyweb reports that the City has already secured ZAR3.5 billion from Nedbank and ZAR2.7 billion from the International Finance Corporation and has agreed to almost ZAR2 billion in developmental finance from the Agence Francaise de Developpement.

The City says it will finalise the balance of the funding during the 2024/25 financial year, using a blended finance model that includes funding from its balance sheet and the markets.

The investment is only a small portion of the ZAR120 billion planned infrastructure investment in the city over the next decade.

According to Nedbank’s Capex Project Listings for 2023, released in February 2024, the Mother City accounted for the lion’s share of the ZAR100 billion worth of government infrastructure projects nationally.

In the 2024/25 financial year, the City plans to spend ZAR12 billion on infrastructure, largely targeting poorer areas

‘Lower-income households will also directly benefit from 75% – or R9 billion – of Cape Town’s R12 billion infrastructure spend in 2024/25,’ Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis announced on  26 June 2023.

‘Cape Town will soon be SA’s most populous city, and we are preparing for this by targeting our fastest-growing and poorest areas with infrastructure projects that will, over time, unstitch the unjust legacy of our country’s past,’ he said

2 July 2024

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