Sikhethasikhetha.co.za

Metropolitan municipalityCPT· Part of Western Cape

City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality

Executive mayor: Geordin Hill-Lewis; DA
Wards: 116
Council seats: 231
Residents (Census 2022): 4 772 846

Who governs

DA majority (135 of 231 seats)

Mayor:en.wikipedia.org, Sep 2026 Coalition:en.wikipedia.org

2021 local election result

DA58.7% · 135 seats
ANC18.7% · 43 seats
EFF4.2% · 10 seats
GOOD3.7% · 9 seats
NCC2.8% · 7 seats
ACDP2.3% · 6 seats

All wards in Cape Town116

The big issues

Housing backlog, land and unaffordable homes
Cape Town has a housing backlog of about 600,000 dwellings and more than 270,000 shacks across 800-plus informal settlements, while surging suburban and inner-city prices push working families out and the City delivered only 928 subsidised homes last year.
GOOD mayoral candidate Brett Herron's vision for a just Cape Town, 8 Jun 2026
Sewage spills and coastal water quality
Persistent sewage leaks from ageing infrastructure such as the 1975 Trappies bulk sewer and the over-stretched Macassar treatment works have fouled Strand's beaches and left the Ramsar-listed Zeekoevlei closed, with the City's R1.3bn Macassar upgrade only due in 2031.
Strand residents demand action over persistent sewage leaks that threaten health and endanger beaches, 3 Mar 2026
Rates, fixed charges and the cost of municipal bills
A new general valuation roll and property-value-linked fixed charges (cleaning levy, basic water and sewerage, electricity wires charge) have pushed middle-class Capetonians' municipal bills up far faster than salaries or inflation over a decade, though the City says its rate-in-

Municipal website Find your ward and voting station on the IEC site

DA majority (135 of 231 seats).

Make your next question count.

Choose an issue and copy a clear question for your councillor. Nothing is sent for you.

What needs attention?Street or area (optional)

Hello. I would like an update on water supply in my area, Cape Town. What is the reference number, which team is responsible, and when should residents expect the next update? Please also share any published repair plan or budget.

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Take the quiz for Cape Town

See which parties match your views on the issues facing Cape Town.

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Your ward

Which ward are you in?

A ward is your part of the municipality, usually a few suburbs or a section of a township. You elect one councillor for it by name.

Cape Town has 116 wards, numbered 1 to 116.

Or search by suburb or township

Don't know your ward?

The IEC tells you. Check your registration on elections.org.za, or SMS your ID number to 32810, or WhatsApp 0600 88 0000. Your voting station notice also shows it.

elections.org.za ↗

What a ward councillor actually does

Your ward councillor is your ward's voice in the municipal council. Under the Structures Act they represent residents in council, chair the ward committee, run public participation, and tell the community what council decided. The Code of Conduct says councillors must report back to their constituencies at least every quarter. They do not run departments, hire staff, award tenders or give instructions to officials; the Code forbids interfering in the administration, which is led by the municipal manager. Ward committees (sections 72 to 78 of the Structures Act) are the councillor as chair plus up to 10 community representatives who advise on the IDP, the budget and local service problems.

Can do: represent the ward in council, chair the ward committee, hold public meetings, take service complaints to the administration and track the response, give input on the IDP and budget.
Cannot do: employ people, allocate tenders or houses, appoint municipal staff, or directly instruct officials (SALGA, and Code of Conduct item on interference in administration).
Ward committee: councillor plus up to 10 members representing interests in the ward. It advises and communicates; it does not take municipal decisions.
COGTA: the ward committee is council's recognised consultative body for the ward, including on the IDP and the budget process.
Realistic expectations: regular report-back meetings, a working ward committee, complaints logged and followed up with the administration, and clear feedback on what was fixed and what was not.

Seven questions to ask a ward candidate

Ask candidates about the job they are actually applying for. These questions are grounded in the councillor Code of Conduct, the ward committee rules and SALGA's explainer, except where we mark them as our own suggestion.

1. If you are the sitting councillor, how many council and committee meetings did you miss in this term? (Code of Conduct: a councillor must attend every meeting, and missing three in a row means removal.)
2. Do you live in this ward? If not, how will you stay visible and reachable? (The law does not require a councillor to live in the ward, but SALGA says they must remain visible and accessible.)
3. How, and how often, will you report back to residents? (The Code requires a report-back to the constituency at least every quarter.)
4. What exactly will you do about the top three problems in this ward, and which of them can a councillor fix rather than escalate? (SALGA lists water cuts, refuse, sewer spills, potholes and streetlights as things to escalate through a councillor, while the administration does the work.)

Holding the winner to account after 4 November

Go to ward committee and public meetings and ask for the quarterly report-back the Code of Conduct requires. Since November 2021 the Code sits in Schedule 7 of the Structures Act. It says a councillor must attend every council and committee meeting, is removed from office after missing three consecutive meetings, must disclose interests and withdraw from matters where they have one, may not be more than three months in arrears on municipal accounts, and may not interfere in the administration. If you think a councillor broke the Code, complain in writing to the Speaker, who must investigate, give the councillor a chance to reply, report to council in a public report and inform the MEC. Council can warn, reprimand or fine the councillor, or ask the MEC to suspend or remove them. For service failures, log a call with the metro call centre and keep the reference number, then give it to your councillor to follow up. If a ward seat becomes vacant, the MEC must call a by-election within 90 days.

Complaints about a councillor: Speaker's office. The Speaker's report on a breach is open to the public, and council can also set up a special committee to investigate.
Money oversight: every council must have a Municipal Public Accounts Committee (Structures Amendment Act 3 of 2021), and the Auditor-General reports on each municipality's audit outcome every year.
Service complaints: Johannesburg 0860 56 28 74 (0860 JOBURG), 24 hours; Tshwane 012 358 9999 or toll free 080 111 1556; Ekurhuleni 0860 543 000. Always get a reference number.

Why service delivery is about the whole council

Water, electricity, refuse and roads are delivered by the municipality's administration, working to a budget and an Integrated Development Plan that the whole council adopts, so a stable council majority and a capable administration matter more than any one councillor's ideology. The Auditor-General's 2023-24 report says the trend of poor audit outcomes continues and that many municipalities cannot produce credible financial and performance reports, so check your municipality's audit outcome and its finances on National Treasury's Municipal Money site before you vote.

The IDP and the annual budget are council decisions; ward committees and public meetings are where residents feed into them.
The record to check: the Auditor-General's MFMA report for your municipality, and Municipal Money (municipalmoney.gov.za) for income, spending and debt.

Sitting-councillor records use the 2021 ward set and include researched updates. A 2026 ward with the same number can cover a different area. Confirm your 2026 ward with the IEC.

What parties promise for Cape Town

Specific to this municipality, in the party's own words, with the source. National slogans are left out.

Democratic Alliance

Mayoral candidate: Geordin Hill-Lewis

Build Cape Town's own Metro Police Detective Unit so the city can investigate cases itself and ensure criminals do not just get arrested but actually go to jail.Source 2026-06
Replace 100 km of fresh-water pipe and 100 km of sewer pipe every year for the next five years to bring sewer blockages and overflows down further.Source 2026-06
Deliver reliable and affordable services by reducing Cape Town's reliance on Eskom and continuing to expand and improve the city's wastewater infrastructure.Source 2026-06
Ramp up the affordable rental units programme with the private sector, release more city-owned land for affordable and social housing, upgrade informal settlements and protect communities from unlawful land occupation.Source 2026-06

ActionSA

Mayoral candidate: Dereleen James

Make safety the top priority for Cape Town, arguing that unsafe communities deter investment, with the campaign launched in gang-hit Hanover Park.Source 2026-06
End decades-long waits on Cape Town's housing list and tackle a market where middle-class families cannot afford to buy a house.Source 2026-06
Prioritise education on the Cape Flats, calling it 'the most powerful tool you can use to change any community'.Source 2026-06
Address affordability so that no Cape Flats household has to choose between buying electricity and a plate of food.Source 2026-06

Patriotic Alliance

Mayoral candidate: Cheslyn Steenberg

Focus on rent regulation and introduce a City of Cape Town policy that deals with affordable housing 'head-on'.Source 2026-04
Ensure City land is accessible to the people rather than sold to the highest bidder at auction, as happened under the DA.Source 2026-04

GOOD

Mayoral candidate: Brett Herron (joint GOOD-RISE Mzansi candidate)

Make affordability and breaking Cape Town free of its apartheid spatial plan the 'master keys' of a GOOD-led city, targeting the 600,000-home backlog and 270,000 shacks in 800-plus informal settlements.Source 2026-06
Focus the mayoralty on Cape Town's socioeconomic divide, tackling inequality and creating opportunities for residents still living 'the living conditions of apartheid' on the Cape Flats.Source 2026-06

Only pledges we could source are shown; a party with no entry may simply not have published a local plan yet.

City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality

Who governs

2021 local election result

The big issues

Housing backlog, land and unaffordable homes

Sewage spills and coastal water quality

Rates, fixed charges and the cost of municipal bills

Make your next question count.

Take the quiz for Cape Town

Announced mayoral candidates

Taxi violence on the Khayelitsha-Somerset West route

Gang violence, drugs and policing on the Cape Flats

Your ward

Which ward are you in?

What parties promise for Cape Town