Cape Town – President Cyril Ramaphosa and Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis have drawn sharp criticism from several political parties after clashing over the City of Cape Town’s service delivery record.
During a National Council of Provinces (NCOP) session, Ramaphosa acknowledged the city’s strong financial governance but said it had failed to significantly reduce inequality, citing census data showing Cape Town lagging behind other metros in expanding access to basic services like water, electricity, and sanitation.
“While the City of Cape Town tends to perform well on measures of financial governance, it has not demonstrated significant progress in reducing inequality within the metro.
“Census data shows that between 2011 and 2022, Cape Town performed worse than the average of all metros in expanding access to services such as refuse removal, piped water, electricity and flush toilets,” Ramaphosa said.
[WATCH] President Cyril Ramaphosa laments Cape Town’s anti-poor budget. While applauding the city’s financial governance, Ramaphosa says the metro has been the worst performing in the delivery of basic services that address inequality between 2011 and 2022.#Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/cPJl1oMTSX
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) October 14, 2025
Hill-Lewis fired back, accusing Ramaphosa of “damage control” and defending Cape Town as a model of progress under DA governance, while blaming the ANC for “decay, corruption, and collapsed services” nationwide.
“The simple irrefutable fact is that despite the enormous challenges of poverty and unemployment we face, Cape Town is steadily moving forward and is South Africa’s most functional metro city, while every other city in the country is moving backwards,” EWN quoted the mayor as saying.
ActionSA dismissed both leaders, arguing that the ANC presides over dysfunction while the DA governs a city designed to “privilege the affluent,” according to IOL.
GOOD party’s Brett Herron echoed this, pointing to Cape Town’s deep inequalities, service backlogs, and informal settlements despite its clean audits.
Freedom Front Plus MP Corné Mulder criticised the ANC and DA for turning service delivery into a political point-scoring contest ahead of the 2026 local elections, urging all parties to focus instead on the needs of ordinary citizens.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
