Draft 2050 Cape Town Long Term Plan

The City of Cape Town is asking for comments on their long term 2050 plan. To read or download this plan please follow the link

We have prepared our comments which are available in the form below. To send as is then simply fill in the form below. You can edit these comments as you want.

draft 2050 Cape Town Long Term Plan

Introduction: The Deja Vu of Disappointment
One approaches the \"City of Cape Town Long Term Plan 2050\" not with hope, but with a weary sense of déjà vu. Another grand vision, another glossy document, another set of lofty pronouncements designed to obscure the stark, unyielding reality of decades of demonstrable service delivery failures. This isn\'t a blueprint for the future; it\'s a testament to the city\'s enduring capacity for rhetorical flourish over tangible progress.
In 2006 the then Mayor promised a budget for infrastructure. 2025 the current mayor promises a budget of hope. Massive rates and services increases to fund infrastructure that the very same City had allowed to crumble over the preceding 20 years. What we need is more lofty ideals. Note a budget of hope but an administration of commitment.
1.	\"Vision 2050: A Fantasy for the Privileged Few.\"
The very notion of a \"long-term plan\" from an administration consistently failing on basic, short-term promises is farcical. This document does not start be reporting the status quo, conveniently omitting the daily indignities faced by communities who due to the lack of infrastructure development over the last two decades lack reliable water, sanitation, and electricity. 
2.	\"Infrastructure: A Bridge to Nowhere, Paved with Broken Promises.\"
Any talk of \"world-class infrastructure\" or \"smart city initiatives\" is a cruel joke when the existing infrastructure crumbles. The pipes burst, the roads are riddled with potholes, and public transport remains woefully inadequate and unsafe. Our integrated transport network is anything but. Before dreaming of futuristic networks, perhaps the city should focus on maintaining what little it has, rather than allowing it to decay into costly, preventable crises.
We have loss making transport infrastructure. Which will for ever be a burden to the ficus and the rate payer. But instead of learning from these errors the City seeks greater densification in these areas and greater losses and subsidies. It is complete madness that the City that created an integrated transport policy. Produced a bus system that integrates with nothing. The key to greater population growth and an integrated City is rail. ‘Without Rail the City of Cape Town Will Fail’. The BRT simply cannot carry the passenger numbers required and needs to be a support to our rail system not a stand-alone addition. If the City continues to develop as it has their will perpetuate the need for private vehicles. We will see gridlock and slower movement of goods and people around the City. Lower growth, longer travel times, lower quality of life and increased pollution. Learn from the mistakes of the past. Infrastructure first densification second.   
3.	\"Sustainability & Resilience: Buzzwords to Mask Inaction.\"
These terms are fashionable, but where is the evidence of genuine commitment beyond a paragraph or two? When load shedding is a constant reality, when water security remains a precarious annual gamble, where are rivers, oceans and even our nature reserves are polluted by the City of Cape Town any claims of \"resilience\" ring hollow. It\'s not about planning for abstract future threats; it\'s about failing to manage current.
4.	\"Economic Inclusion & Opportunity: A Door Slammed Shut in the Faces of the Poor.\"
How does a \"long-term plan\" address the widening chasm of inequality when the daily realities of informal traders, unemployed youth, and those living on the margins are consistently ignored? Promises of \"job creation\" and \"economic growth\" in such documents often translate to opportunities for a select few, while the vast majority remain trapped in cycles of poverty exacerbated by poor services. An example of this is one of the City’s top nature reserves. Run by the City of Cape Town. It seeks to restrict numbers putting jobs and economic growth in jeopardy. Simply because the City of Cape Town employee’s have no concept of business and those decision makers refuse to engage with those affected by their decisions. 
In 2015 the City signed to the C40 Cities project. This measure will eliminate single-family zoning.  The City of Cape Town is intent on turning our single residential areas into the mass of concrete and glass high rise blocks. Reminiscent of Soviet Communist ideology. This is an attack on those people who have worked to buy their Single Residential property and their property rights. It now raises rates on these properties to make this unaffordable to those who have worked so hard to buy their own homes. Property markets require diverse offerings at all levels, not just one. You cannot tax yourself to growth. Raising rates while expecting growth is naive or dishonest.   
5.	\"Community Engagement: A Performative Tick-Box Exercise.\"
The section on \"community engagement\" is likely boilerplate. The city\'s history is replete with examples of plans imposed, rather than co-created, with the communities most affected. \"Consultation\" often means informing residents of decisions already made, rather than genuinely incorporating their needs, voices, and lived experiences into the planning process.
6.	\"Good Governance & Accountability: The Elephant in the (Council) Room.\"
This is the critical, often unspoken, flaw. No long-term plan can succeed without a fundamental shift in governance towards transparency, efficiency, and genuine accountability. Until issues of alleged corruption, bureaucratic inertia, and a perceived disconnect from public needs are frontally addressed, this plan remains a well-intended (or cynically crafted) piece of fiction.
7.	\"Service Delivery Targets: Vague, Untraceable, and Destined for Failure.\"
Expect broad, unquantifiable goals rather than specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) targets. This allows for convenient obfuscation when 2050 rolls around, and the city finds itself still grappling with the same fundamental problems it purports to solve today. Where are the concrete metrics? Where are the consequences for non-delivery? There has been profound lack of accountability over the last 20 years. River polluted by failed infrastructure that the City was aware needed to be replaced. But not one City official held to account. We see Municipal Spatial Planning Documents that do not align with District Plans. District Plans that do not align with Local Spatial Development Frameworks. And not in small way but with massive differences. Densification planned in areas on the very City limit. No plans for increased infrastructure. Our planning is a copy and paste tick box exercise that on many occasions have not been put to the public. Rather than a genuine plans for the future.  
Conclusion: A Vision Built on Sand
The \"City of Cape Town Long Term Plan 2050\" is less a vision and more a monument to administrative hubris. It will, no doubt, be beautifully presented, filled with aspirational language and impressive graphics. Yet, without a radical overhaul of the city\'s approach to equitable service delivery, its commitment to genuine accountability, and a willingness to confront its own historical failings. Leaders in the City need to understand that proper service delivery is done via social media. It’s done on the ground. World class City’s do not succeed due to ‘hope’ they succeed due to clear vision and actual service delivery. The City needs to consider the entire economy in its planning not just the needs of the development community. More than 55 residents and ratepayers’ associations are contesting the City’s current budget, citing widespread concerns about its actions. The Cape 2050 vision requires genuine community involvement and support, not just slogans. The City should prioritize consultation with residents, use ward committees effectively, and enable councilors to represent their communities rather than party interests.

You can add formatting using markdown syntax - read more

BCC yourself

2 signatures

Greater Table View Action Forum

Draft 2050 Cape Town Long Term Plan

draft 2050 Cape Town Long Term Plan

Leave a Reply Cancel reply