CAPE TOWN - With a growing population that’s about to cross the 5 million residents mark, Cape Town is in for a series of extension and upgrade projects as people continue to move their lives and businesses to the metropole.

“Our city is increasingly at the heart of national economic growth and will soon overtake Johannesburg as the country’s most populous city, with census data showing we are about to cross the 5 million residents mark,” said mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.

“Cape Town’s success has catapulted a new phrase – ‘semigration’ – into the national lexicon as people move their lives and businesses here. There is confidence in the Cape Town economy and the Cape Town property market, and our intention is to capitalise on that confidence by making Cape Town the easiest place to do business on the African continent.”

According to Census 2022, Cape Town had a population of 4,772,846, trailing Johannesburg at 4,803,262. This translated to 1.46 million households in Cape Town.

The working age population (15-64 years) constituted the largest portion of the population in Cape Town, at 70.9%.

The municipality has experienced new housing developments along the West Coast, increased pressure on water treatment plants and other services, while schools in the Western Cape, including in Cape Town, were reported at capacity for the 2024 academic year.

Hill-Lewis said the City’s R43 billion 3-year infrastructure budget was the largest of South Africa’s cities.

“To give you an idea of the scale of work we’re undertaking, 2023 saw construction begin on the two biggest infrastructure projects in the Western Cape Province.

“The second-biggest being the extension and upgrade of the Potsdam wastewater treatment plant, and the biggest being the Metro South-East corridor expansion of the MyCiTi bus service to connect Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain with Wynberg and Claremont.

“Of all the projects we’ve undertaken, it is perhaps the work we’re doing in the water and sanitation field that has excited me most. Mostly hidden underground and seldom mentioned until something goes wrong, the City’s network of sewer pipes, water pipes, pump stations and wastewater treatment plants is the most important public infrastructure in any city. It is the arterial network that sustains life and ensures dignity.”

The City had doubled its sewer pipe replacement, with plans to quadruple it next year. Hill-Lewis said the City was investing R1.4bn into major bulk sewer upgrades, including an upgrade project to the Cape Flats line, happening alongside upgrades to the Milnerton, Philippi and Gordon’s Bay lines.

Jobs in travel and tourism were also contributing to Cape Town’s growth, with Cape Town Air Access reporting that two-way air cargo volumes recorded over 5,200 metric tons traded in September.

Wesgro said cargo performance at Cape Town International showed positive signs for the third month in a row with 10% growth recorded in September when compared with the same period last year.

“We are excited by the strong rebound in tourism this year, which is boosting job creation in the province.

“This is evident in the positive growth in passenger numbers at Cape Town International Airport and George Airport.

“According to Cape Town Air Access, a private-public partnership powered by Wesgro, the domestic terminal at Cape Town International recorded a 19% year-on-year growth for November, with over 600,000 passengers moving through the terminal.

“The year-to-date domestic passenger growth (January to November) has remained steady at 15% when compared to the same period in 2022, reaching a total of 6.19 million passengers,” said Wesgro.

Tabling the Municipal Economic Review and Outlook 2023/24 (Mero) report recently, Finance and Economic Opportunities MEC Mireille Wenger said the Cape metro, George and Drakenstein municipalities were the largest contributors to the gross domestic product per region.

“In every single district across the province, and the Cape metro, both labour force participation and labour absorption rates increased between 2021 and 2022, showing more people are available and looking for work, and also finding work in the Western Cape.

“Looking at longer-term trends, it is encouraging to see that the Gini coefficient declined in the Cape metro area and the province between 2019 and 2022.

“The Human Development Index, or HDI, which measures health, education, and standard of living, of the Cape metro at 0.734 exceeds that of the province at 0.722 and the rest of the country at 0.654.”

Cape Argus

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