The City of Cape Town’s top requests to the government of national unity (GNU) are for municipal police to have the powers to investigate crime; the devolvement of passenger rail to the city; the release of national mega-properties for affordable housing; the increase of social housing subsidies and to stop grant cuts; and for national government to cut red tape to allow for economic growth.

Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis outlined Cape Town’s advocacy agenda for the GNU to the city council late last month.

He said the city was calling for the devolution of criminal investigative powers so that municipal officers could help build prosecution-ready case dockets, in an effort to gain more convictions for gang-, gun-, drug- and extortion-related crime in particular.

“This immediate boost for the State’s criminal investigation capacity can be achieved by a simple, but impactful, amendment to the South African Police Service (SAPS) Act.

“Under Section 64E(c), which specifies the powers of municipal police, the Act should simply state “prevention and investigation of crime”, instead of just “prevention of crime” – two simple words that will make all the difference for Capetonians, and residents of all cities where competent municipal officers could be doing much more to help SAPS and prosecutors.”

On passenger rail, Cape Town is calling for a clear deadline on the devolution of passenger rail to capable metros.

“[Transport] Minister [Barbara] Creecy indicated in her Budget speech debate that the Transport Department has completed a draft National Rail Devolution Strategy,” noted Hill-Lewis.

“I have, therefore, written to the Minister asking for confirmation of when the city will be able to comment on this draft strategy, and for a clear deadline to finalise the strategy so that we can get devolution done.

“Right now, the city is very close to finalising a Service Level Agreement with the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, which will set the stage for future devolution discussions.

“The city’s own Rail Feasibility Study is also at an advanced stage, and we expect to table the findings on various rail devolution scenarios in the council before the end of the year,” added Hill-Lewis.

“These scenarios explore how best to introduce private-sector involvement in passenger rail, within an integrated transport planning and management system involving all three spheres of government.

“This means that if we can simply establish our long-requested joint rail devolution committee with the national Minister and her department, we could fast-track devolution and be fully aligned by the end of the year.”

On affordable housing, Hill-Lewis said he had already had positive engagements with Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson regarding the release of national mega-properties which could be used for an estimated 100 000 affordable housing units in Cape Town.

“These properties include the expansive Wingfield, Youngsfield and Wynberg military bases, as well as the Acacia Park Parliamentary Village close to Century City, which we certainly don’t think is the best use of this land, nor the best way to house members of parliament.

“These are all massive, largely vacant properties in parts of the metro where affordable housing would be a real game changer for many thousands of Cape Town families.”

Hill-Lewis also flagged concern about “severe national subsidy constraints to really unleash the affordable housing sector”.

“This is probably the single most important issue holding up more social housing in Cape Town.

“Because, even if the city has gone through all the hoops to release land, including the reforms we have made to discount land and maximise social housing yield, the social housing developer still struggles with project viability due to bureaucracy and limited funding available via the Social Housing Regulatory Authority (SHRA),” lamented Hill-Lewis.

“Properly funding the SHRA, cutting the red tape around subsidies, and protecting pro-poor grants from cuts are key priorities for Cape Town.

“Housing grants and Informal Settlement Upgrade grants are among the most pro-poor and progressive ways you could possibly spend your budget, and, in a city like Cape Town, where these grants are spent well and responsibly, it is a life-changing investment.”

Hill-Lewis also welcomed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s commitment to cut the red tape holding back government infrastructure investment and economic growth.