THE City of Cape Town has excelled by outperforming all of its service delivery targets for the financial year ending on 30 June 2009.

Tabling the 2008/09 Annual Report at the first Council meeting for 2010, Executive Mayor Dan Plato said that the City had achieved record levels of expenditure, as well as its sixth consecutive unqualified audit. Over the past financial year, it had also attracted R1,24 billion in investment.

“These results confirm the effectiveness of the City’s strategy of serving its 3,5 million residents and 902 000 households by means of infrastructure–led economic growth,” he said.

Last year, an independent survey by Empowerdex rated the City of Cape Town the top-performing municipality in South Africa for service delivery. It surpassed 231 local municipalities, 46 district municipalities and six metropolitan municipalities. Service delivery was rated in terms of housing, water, electricity, waste removal and sanitation, based on current status and progress over time.

“Over the past year the City has managed to spend almost all of its capital budget on infrastructure development, as well as 97% of its operational budget,” said Plato.

“In concrete terms, we have ensured that 100% of households enjoy access to basic levels of sanitation and water. The required target is one tap for every 25 informal households. The City has installed a tap for every 11 informal households.

“A total of 5 199 subsidised electricity connections were installed in informal settlements, and 99% of known households across the city now receive solid waste removal services.

“Despite the global economic crisis, we have created a total of 10 613 permanent jobs and 16 379 temporary jobs through the Expanded Public Work Programme (EPWP).”

City Manager Achmat Ebrahim said that the annual Community Satisfaction Survey clearly indicates that residents are happy with improvements in service delivery.

“The City is seen to excel in the areas of essential services such as refuse removal, water and sanitation. All residents rated community facilities such as libraries, community centres and civic halls as high, as well as Fire and Emergency Services,” he said.

Other achievements include the re-integration of 316 street people into their communities, the adoption of an environmental agenda to preserve the Cape Peninsula’s biodiversity; Cape Town having the highest number of accredited health clinics and a reduction in the infant mortality rate.

“Despite its ongoing excellent performance, the City cannot afford to rest on its laurels. Rapid urbanisation continues to place more strain on the City’s resources. Our challenge is to manage the available resources to the benefit of every resident.

“The only way to succeed is for the City to continue on its path of economic growth through infrastructure–led development,” said Plato.

Source: Cape Town