GOOD Statement by Anton Louw,
GOOD City of Cape Town Councillor
03 July 2025
The GOOD Party notes reports in Business Day and REI.co.za, highlighting a concerning trend that professionals are increasingly leaving Cape Town for Gauteng, citing high living costs and safety concerns.
According to Landsdowne Property Group CEO Jonathan Kohler, a growing number of residents are prioritising value, space, and security, factors that Gauteng increasingly offers over Cape Town. While the Mother City remains attractive for short-term rentals and ultra-luxury investments, it is rapidly becoming unaffordable for ordinary working families.
One of the central reasons cited is the cost of living, particularly the steep municipal rates and tariffs imposed by the DA-led City of Cape Town. These relentless increases are squeezing residents, undermining affordability, and accelerating the exodus of skilled professionals and working families. The recent budget approved by council sees tariff increases ranging from 4% to well over 20%.
Cape Town remains South Africa’s least integrated city. Instead of addressing this failure by fast-tracking the delivery of well-located affordable housing, the City has unveiled plans that double down on apartheid-era spatial planning, cramming more people into already overcrowded and underserved townships on the Cape Flats. The recent amendment to the Municipal Planning By-law reinforces this segregation, championed by the same National Party-era politicians, now wearing DA colours, who still hold powerful positions in the City and Provincial governments.
This continued spatial injustice increases the cost of living and doing business, with workers pushed to the city’s periphery, forced to travel long distances, endure daily gridlock, and bear rising transport costs. These burdens are either carried by residents or passed on to businesses, further undermining the City’s competitiveness.
Cape Town’s congestion is now among the worst globally, reportedly ranking as the 7th most congested city in the world, a symptom of its failure to build a truly inclusive, well-connected city.
GOOD has repeatedly raised concerns about the DA’s unaffordable budget decisions and reckless tariff hikes. These reports confirm that the City is being turned into a playground for the ultra-wealthy and short-term landlords, while working professionals, families, and small businesses are priced out.
Cape Town should be a city for all, not just for the rich.
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