STATEMENT BY EXECUTIVE MAYOR ALDERMAN PATRICIA DE LILLE AFTER MEETING WITH THE SOCIAL JUSTICE COALITION
Today, I asked the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) to work with the City of Cape Town as constructive partners. I asked the SJC to use its specialist knowledge of Khayelitsha to assist us in providing the highest level of services possible to the people of that community.
We want the SJC to be our partners in service delivery and show their commitment to helping the people of Cape Town by positively engaging with government.
We must realise that we all bear responsibility for providing to our citizens and maintaining our city.
The City of Cape Town is committed to becoming a more caring and inclusive metro that provides basic services to all of its residents. According to numerous independent assessments, including from the National Department of Local Government and Traditional Affairs, Cape Town provides a higher proportion of basic services to its citizens than any other metro in the country.
There are still numerous challenges that exist, including limited resources at our disposal, urbanisation, hydrogeological conditions and densification. We are also limited by the extent that we can provide by a legislative framework that prevents the City from providing services on privately-owned land. All of these challenges must also be viewed in conjunction with our mandate as local government to make sure we provide for all areas of the city.