The city also reported that it needs to address apartheid spatial planning to meet housing needs
CAPE TOWN, South Africa, September 5, 2018,-/African Media Agency (AMA)/- The Select Committee of Finance today received a briefing from the City of Cape Town Metropolitan on the alignment of the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) to the National Development Plan (NDP).
National Treasury reported today that the City of Cape Town has aligned its IDP to the NDP. The Select Committee on Finance Chairperson, Mr Charel de Beer, commended the city for its unqualified audit report over the past 11 years. He emphasised the importance of improving intergovernmental relations, specifically in the local government sphere to enhance service delivery.
The City of Cape Town reported that it faces a major challenge in building a safe city, as Cape Town continues to experience the highest number of contact crimes and robbery with aggravated circumstances in the country. The city’s high murder rate is closely linked to high levels of gang activity, linked to the drug trade.
The city also reported that it needs to address apartheid spatial planning to meet housing needs. New urban developments have to be linked to available and future transport networks. The city has identified open spaces and released 16 pieces of land to bring about integration, as there are 203 informal settlements around Cape Town due to urbanisation. The city must work closely with the Department of Human Settlements nationally and provincially to ensure that new housing developments meet the people’s transport needs, as people spend about 40% of their salaries on transport.
The city reported that rail transport is reaching a state of collapse with only 50 working trains out of 82 to service the city. The city needs to engage with the Passenger Rail Association of South Africa to deal with this crisis. The city has lobbied Parliament for support to acquire the interim assignment with Golden Arrow Bus Services (GABS) to provide services to the city, which is currently with the Western Cape Province. The city plans to integrate the MyCiti and GABS services and therefore will need to design MyCiti infrastructure and systems to accommodate GABS. The City has applied for the assignment to rationalise and integrate public transport, however this is with the Minister of Transport. Amendments with regard to the National Land Transport Act are before the National Council of Provinces.
The drought has meant that the city had to increase water tariffs and reduce the daily consumption of water per household. Collection rates have dropped due to the reduced water consumption. However, the city’s net cash flows have improved overall year-on-year, due to savings and underspend incurred on operating costs.
Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.
