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SA Metro Spending Claims: Budget Figures Weaponized for Political Narratives

President Ramaphosa told Parliament that Cape Town underperformed other metros on basic services since 2011 — Africa Check rated the claim misleading and a related claim about townships unproven.

MISLEADING ≈

FILED SEP 30, 2026 · UPDATED SEP 30, 2026 · 3 SOURCES

Ramaphosa's Service-Delivery Claim

In parliamentary replies in October and November 2025, President Cyril Ramaphosa said Cape Town was 'the worst-performing' metro between 2011 and 2022 on expanding access to refuse removal, piped water, electricity and flush toilets [1][2].

Africa Check rated the claim misleading: while Cape Town's percentage-point gains in service access were smaller than other metros', the city added more households in absolute terms once its larger size and higher starting baseline were taken into account [1]. A technically accurate statistic — smaller percentage-point gains — was used to imply a worse record than the underlying numbers support.

The Townships-Spending Claim

Ramaphosa also said that 'per capita investment in infrastructure and service delivery remains significantly lower in townships and informal settlements than in more affluent areas' of Cape Town [2].

Africa Check rated this claim unproven: the presidency provided no supporting documentation for the analysis, and independent budget experts could not verify it [1].

Opposition Counter-Claims

DA NCOP member Frederick Badenhorst responded that Cape Town directs 75% of its three-year, R40-billion infrastructure budget — R30.1-billion — to lower-income households, and that this pro-poor allocation alone exceeds the entire budgets of other metros [1].

Africa Check rated the 75%-to-the-poor figure unproven, since which specific projects count as benefiting lower-income residents is disputed, but confirmed that Cape Town's R30.1-billion pro-poor allocation figure is correct and does exceed other metros' total budgets [1].

A Rail Claim That Held Up

One claim from the same exchange checked out: Ramaphosa's statement that 35 of the region's dormant or nonfunctional passenger rail lines had been restored was rated correct by Africa Check, with Prasa confirming 35 of 40 commuter lines back in service by late 2025 [1].

That figure reflects continued progress: as of April 2024, Prasa had restored 31 of the same 40 lines [3].

Conclusion

The Cape Town infrastructure exchange in Parliament mixed a misleading statistic, an unproven claim from the president, an unproven-but-partly-correct rebuttal from the opposition, and at least one claim — on restored rail lines — that held up under scrutiny [1][2][3]. Budget and service-delivery figures in South African political debate are frequently accurate in their raw numbers but misleading in how they're framed — voters need the underlying context, not just the headline statistic.

SOURCES · 3

  1. [1]Africa Check via Polity: Ramaphosa in Parliament — polity.org.za

    72/100 · polity.org.za

  2. [2]IOL: Cape Town Worst-Performing Metro — iol.co.za

    72/100 · iol.co.za

  3. [3]SABC News: Prasa Rail Line Restoration — sabcnews.com

    72/100 · sabcnews.com

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