President Cyril Ramaphosa says Cape Town has done worse than the average of all metros in the country in making a positive impact on the lives of its residents.

Ramaphosa was replying to a question in the National Council of Provinces.

The President cited StatsSA data and a budget analysis of the city of Cape Town, which found that in the decade 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 flushing toilets.

He said while the Metro has performed well in terms of its audited financial statements, what matters is the impact on people’s lives.

“On a per capita investment in infrastructure and service delivery, it is significantly lower in townships and informal settlements. It may well say that it has spent billions. But on a per capita basis, it continues to follow the racial patterns of the past. Because in the past, the apartheid government spent more money in white areas than it did in black areas. And the analysis says this is continuing right here in Cape Town. So, one cannot stand on Table Mountain and say I am doing better than others. You need to demonstrate that on a per capita basis you are changing the lives of people.”

[WATCH] President Cyril Ramaphosa says while the City of Cape Town performs well on financial governance measures, it has not shown significant progress in reducing inequality within the metro. pic.twitter.com/saeKaQl6Mx

— SABC News (@SABCNews) October 14, 2025