The City of Cape Town has maintained that it offers the lowest monthly municipal bill among South Africa’s ‘big five’ metros.

This as the Municipality faces scrutiny over the proposed hikes in rates and tariffs from 1 July.

READ: City accused of using same tactics as Trump to hike Cape Town tariffs

However, Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said their analysis demonstrates that even after the proposed 2025/26 increases are factored in, Cape Town remains the most affordable major city for ratepayers.

“This analysis shows that even after the proposed 2025/26 increases are taken into account, Cape Town still offers the lowest total municipal bills of all major cities based on proposed rates and tariffs for properties under R5 million, along with the most functional services and largest infrastructure investment programme. While Cape Town delivers value for money in a functional, working city, the exact opposite is happening in other metros where residents are paying more and more for broken services and collapsing infrastructure,” said Hill-Lewis.

Hill-Lewis added that Cape Town’s monthly bills remain significantly lower despite the City investing 63% more in infrastructure than Johannesburg over the next three years.

“Monthly bills are significantly lower in Cape Town despite the City investing 63% more in infrastructure than Joburg over the next three years, with a South African record R39,7bn infrastructure budget that will see better roads, water, sanitation, electricity and community infrastructure for our city,” he said.

The analysis compared common household consumption scenarios of 10–30kl of water and 600–850kWh of electricity for properties valued below R5 million. In each case, Cape Town’s total municipal bill, including all rates, charges and VAT, was the lowest among major metros.

Households in Cape Town are expected to see major savings compared to their Johannesburg counterparts under the proposed 2025/26 tariffs:

• For a R1.5 million property: R500–R800 lower
• For a R3 million property: R740–R1060 lower
• For a R5 million property: R530–R850 lower

Even accounting for Cape Town’s typically higher property values, the City says its bills remain lower. For example, a R5 million property in Cape Town would still result in a bill over R700 lower than a R4 million property in Johannesburg.

Electricity Increase Limited to 2%

Cape Town households will also benefit from a notably lower electricity price hike, with an increase limited to just 2%, compared to Eskom’s 11,32% national increase to municipalities.

This relief particularly benefits higher-consumption households. Those with properties valued under R2 million using 750kWh or more of electricity and 10–30kl of water may even see total municipal bill decreases of up to 3%.

Additional relief measures include linking water and sanitation fixed charges to property value bands instead of connection size, providing further benefits to properties under R2 million.

Households with higher electricity consumption of around 1500kWh per month will experience modest increases depending on municipal property value:

• 3–5% for a R3 million property
• 6–8% for a R4 million property
• 9–10,5% for a R5 million property

The City said these cost controls are possible due to reforms that discontinue the 10% surcharge on each electricity unit previously used to fund other municipal services.

Cleaning services will now be funded by a ring-fenced tariff, offset by savings in electricity charges.

Cape Town’s alignment with the National Treasury’s Trading Service Reform Programme also positions the metro to access a share of the R54 billion performance incentive grant available over six years.

The City says it also has the lowest property rates across all commercial, industrial, and residential categories among South Africa’s metros based on the 2025/26 rate-in-Rand formula.

Moreover, the City offers the highest rates exemption in the country, with the first R450 000 of a property’s value being rates-free for properties under R5 million. By comparison, Johannesburg exempts the first R300 000.

Most Inclusive Social Assistance

Cape Town has tabled the most comprehensive social assistance package for 2025/26, offering:

• The highest free water allocation to indigent households (15kl)
• The widest qualifying criteria for 100% rates relief (R450 000 property value and income below R7 500 per month)
• The widest criteria for lifeline electricity (R500 000 property value and income below R7 500 per month)
• Pensioners benefit from the widest rebate and lifeline electricity criteria (income below R22 000 per month, regardless of property value)

According to StatsSA’s most recent non-financial census of municipalities, released on 27 March 2025, Cape Town has the highest number of residents benefitting from free basic services.

Hill-Lewis highlighted that the City’s “Invested for Hope” budget also prioritizes pro-poor infrastructure investment.

“Our Invested for Hope budget also contains the country’s biggest ever pro-poor infrastructure investment, with 75% of our record R39,7bn budget set to directly benefit lower income households. Over the next three years, these investments alone will create around 130 000 construction-related jobs.

“With SA’s lowest unemployment rate, Cape Town is already the city where a person is most likely to find a job, and we plan to do much more to grow our economy in the years to come to the benefit especially of lower-income households,” said Hill-Lewis.

Those who would like to check their new rates bill can use the City’s rates calculator. To comment on the budget, click HERE. The deadline is 2 May.

Our residential rates calculator can help residential property owners work out an estimate based on the proposed monthly rates and tariffs from 1 July 2025.

Enter the property value as stated on your municipal account.

See: https://t.co/XYnU7wTDgH#Finance pic.twitter.com/JGwlFzf3mu

— City of Cape Town (@CityofCT) April 24, 2025