Level 3 lockdown, getting back to business and introducing the City’s biggest rates relief package
1 June 2020
As we enter the first week of Alert Level 3 of the national coronavirus lockdown, I want to call on our residents to please continue observing the recommended safety protocols during this pandemic as we are yet to experience its peak in our city.
I am fully in support of businesses opening in a safe and responsible manner. Our economy simply cannot afford to remain curtailed any longer with only a limited number of businesses operating. Our residents need to earn a living. While the lockdown has been necessary to allow our health system to ready itself for the peak of the pandemic, it has had a dire financial impact on many businesses and residents. We have taken this into account when revising the City of Cape Town’s annual budget, and have introduced the largest rates relief package we have ever had in the city.
Earlier this week, during the City of Cape Town’s first ever digital council meeting, we signed off on a R3 billion social package to support the indigent, disabled, pensioners and residents most in need.
We increased the thresholds in order to provide relief to more of our residents than ever before.
Prior to the national lockdown, South Africa already faced severe economic challenges including a sluggish national GDP growth rate and a high national unemployment rate. Both growth and unemployment have been further negatively impacted by the lockdown.
Within the constrained fiscal environment, we are ensuring that every rand we spend will help to stabilise our economy and support its growth.
Relief measures
Many across Cape Town have lost their jobs or fallen on hard times, and hence Council has taken significant steps to offer relief to households most in need as we begin the process of rebuilding. Despite an estimated R2 billion COVID-19 impact on the 2020/21 Budget as a result of funds having to be reprioritised to address the pandemic, as well as a drop in rates revenue from residents, we have signed off on South Africa’s lowest rates increase of all metros. We have delayed and reprioritised a number of projects in order to ensure our budget continues to allow us to deliver the best services to our residents during these challenging times.
We are expanding indigent relief to persons earning R7000 per month or less, and to those with a property value below R300 000. We are increasing the rates discount for many in these categories, and offering a 100% property and refuse rebate, 10,5 kilolitres of free water, 7,35 kilolitres of sanitation, and up to 60 kilowatt hours of free electricity.
The City’s Social Package means that more people can now qualify for relief. Special COVID-19 arrangements allow residents to apply for relief via a quicker and easier process, with a range of interest-free payment options available for struggling residents who have fallen behind on their rates.
The City has a responsibility to factor all of this in, while still finding ways to deliver on our core mandates.
Our call for regulation amendments
With the new national disaster regulations that are applicable from 1 June 2020, it was announced that parks, beaches, fields, and reserves will remain closed. I heard the calls from our residents for these to be opened, and I have written to the National Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, and requested that this section of the regulations be amended to allow for the opening of beaches, parks, fields and reserves in a safe and responsible manner. I am pleased to hear that SANParks have now opened the Table Mountain National Park for public access.
The majority of Capetonians have acted responsibly during the lockdown, and as these spaces, by their very nature, encourage social distancing, I believe they should be opened. Until we have clarity from the national government though, please understand that they unfortunately remain closed for now.
Winter readiness
Lastly, as winter appears to have arrived this week with a heavy cold front bringing much-needed rain, we have made sure that we are on track to deal with the coming winter season.
Our Winter Readiness Task Team, represented by more than 20 City Departments as well as other governmental agencies had their first operational meeting after months of preparation. This team coordinates the City’s response in addressing, among other climate impacts, the risk of flooding and damage to infrastructure.
The team has been preparing for months, and while they have already identified a number of high risk areas, they will be paying particular attention to the various COVID-19 hotspots that have been identified.
In the event of flooding or storm-related emergencies, residents should phone the City’s Public Emergency Call Centre on 021 480 7700 from a cell phone or 107 from a landline.
To read more about how you can play your part this winter, click here.
As many of our residents head back to work this week, I wish all of you a safe and productive return to the office, factory, shop floor and wherever you may work. Please remember to wash your hands regularly, wear your face mask, practice social distancing, and we will get through this as One City Together.
Issued by Greg Wagner, Spokesperson to the Executive Mayor, 1 June 2020
