GOOD Statement by Brett Herron,
GOOD Secretary-General & Member of the Western Cape Parliament
17 July 2025
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis’s attempt to paint critics of the City’s 2025/26 budget as enemies of the poor is disingenuous and misleading. His attack on the South African Property Owners Association (SAPOA) for challenging the legality of linking fixed tariffs to property values is nothing more than political deflection from a deeply flawed budgeting approach.
The GOOD Party supports the principle of a redistributive budget, one in which wealthy households contribute more to help fund improved services and opportunities in impoverished areas. But this budget is not that. It is not redistributive, it is punitive and increasingly unaffordable for working and middle-class families.
The true pro-poor elements of this budget, including free basic services and expanded sanitation provision, are not funded by cross-subsidisation from wealthy residents. They are funded through conditional grants from the National Treasury and the R4.7 billion local government equitable share Cape Town receives. Of this, the City has budgeted just R2.7 billion toward free basic services. A clear indication that the poorest residents are supported not by local generosity, but by national allocation.
By linking fixed service charges to property value, the City assumes that the market value of your home determines your income, a false and dangerous premise. It is creative accounting designed to plug revenue gaps by squeezing residents ever harder.
Cape Town’s residents deserve real fairness not financial burdens disguised as equity.