Criticism mounts over 12.91% planned increase for rental units

OPPOSITION parties are outraged with the DA-led City’s plans for a 12.91% increase in rental costs for some of Cape Town’s poorest residents living in Council-owned Community Residential Units (CRUs), mostly on the Cape Flats. 

The City’s budget has come under severe criticism by residents and opposition politicians over what they said were unaffordable rates and tariffs proposed in its initial budget.

Despite some changes with the second draft, GOOD councillor, Axolile Notywala said “Under the guise of 'expanded rates relief,' the City’s Budget 2.0 claims to offer financial support, yet its so-called 'innovative' approach includes a 12.91% increase in rental costs for CRU tenants”. 

“This sharp hike is more than double the 4.40% increase initially proposed in the original draft budget.

"This decision was pushed through in a Special Human Settlements Portfolio Committee meeting on 29 April 2025, where every DA councillor present voted in favour of the increase. This happened as the City scrambled to defend its original draft budget amid public outcry over unaffordable rates and tariffs,” he said. 

"Rather than easing the pressure, the DA has chosen to squeeze Cape Town’s most vulnerable residents even further. Shockingly, DA councillors continue to justify the increase by claiming Cape Town has 'some of the lowest rentals in the country'. But the truth is, in a city where affordable housing is scarce and public housing is a last refuge for many, these increases are nothing short of punitive. If the City is serious about being 'pro-poor' then its actions, especially those affecting people’s homes and livelihoods, must match its rhetoric,” said Notyawala.

The City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements, Carl Pophaim said the increase was endorsed by the committee but will be considered for next year. 

“The proposal was tabled and endorsed by the Human Settlements Portfolio Committee but not carried by the executive in the final budget proposal. This increase was tabled as part of the original public participation process in order to fund a Public Housing Safety Unit to ensure safety and compliance in rental stock as well address anti-social behaviour. However, the change has not been affected in the latest budget out for public participation.

“It will be reconsidered at the January 2026 adjustments budget if feasible at the time. The proposal amounts to approximately R50 extra a month per tenant, noting this in the context of the lowest public housing rates in the country. The City also offers generous rebate and rental relief,” said Pophaim. 

Advocate Rod Solomons, convenor of the #SA1stForum and coordinator of the Push Back Against the City Of Cape Town's Proposed Unaffordable Rates and Service Increases campaign said this increase was “inhumane” and bordered on being “criminal”. 

“We need to know the names of those councillors who voted in favour of this diabolical decision so that they can be publicly shamed. This is another example of this tone deaf DA-led City paying lip service to being at service of all Capetonians. This is even more of a reason why Capetonians must object to this latest budget as proposed by the Mayor,” said Solomons. 

The National Coloured Congress (NCC) in the Cape Metro Region said they were “outraged” by the proposed increase but not surprised. 

“While thousands of working-class residents in CRUs struggle with collapsing infrastructure, unsafe conditions, and rising living costs, the DA has once again shown its contempt by proposing exorbitant rent increases with no regard for the socio-economic hardships faced by our communities,” said NCC spokesperson, Eben Muller. 

ANC caucus leader Ndithini Tyhido added: “We did not expect any better from a party that consistently votes against the interests of the working class and the poor, the very communities that trusted them with their votes. This astronomical increase is designed to further squeeze Cape Town’s pensioners, unemployed residents, and low-income earners out of their homes. It will severely disrupt their already precarious livelihoods in a city where the cost of living is spiralling out of control. Cape Town now holds the unenviable title of South Africa’s most unaffordable city, a reality that this administration seems determined to worsen. This decision, rubber-stamped by the Human Settlements Portfolio Committee, is an open admission that the City’s 2025/2026 budget is anti-poor and fundamentally indifferent to the plight of its most vulnerable residents.” 

In response to the criticism, the DA in the province shifted the focus to national government, saying the CRU programme was no longer “fit for purpose”. 

“As the DA Western Cape we fully acknowledge the financial pressures faced by many residents in Cape Town, particularly those living in CRUs across the Cape Flats. The Community Residential Units Program is no longer fit for purpose. The scale of urban migration, economic hardship, and housing demand has far outpaced what this framework can deliver. We therefore call on the national government to urgently review and reform the CRU Program, including how it is funded and structured,” said DA Western Cape leader, Tertuis Simmers.

Cape Times