Cape Town’s plan to create over 100,000 jobs
The City of Cape Town is investing billions into infrastructure, adding over 100,00 jobs.
“Over the next three years, the city intends to invest R43 billion in infrastructure at a rate far outpacing any other metro. These infrastructure investments will create an estimated 135,000 jobs over the next three years,’ said the city’s Executive Director for Future Planning and Resilience, Gareth Morgan.
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis previously said that lower-income households will directly benefit from 75%—or R9 billion—of Cape Town’s R12 billion infrastructure spending in 2024/25. This is larger than the entire infrastructure budget of any other metro.
That said, the city admitted that it is experiencing a shortage of a vital set of skilled professionals – engineers.
“The city is currently experiencing a shortage of professional engineers to support its main goal of infrastructure development. Many engineers within the city are reaching retirement age.,” said Theresa Uys, Mayoral Committee Member for Corporate Services.
“The city needs to plan ahead to mitigate any impact this may have on future service delivery. As cities expand, their industries and people need to be supported by adequate services, from electricity, water and other amenities to additional services that aid modern development beyond the basics.”
The City of Cape Town has, however, been part of the National Treasury-funded Infrastructure Skills Development Grant (ISDG) Programme since the 2014/15 financial year. The initial grant allocation was R1 million, and this has now grown to R12 million for the 2024/25 financial year.
“Since the inception of the programme graduates have been declared competent in their fields and were absorbed into permanent positions within the City,” added Uys.
“The programme’s main objective is to build a talent pool of scarce skills within municipalities across the country by training and mentoring graduates and to assist them with registering with their relevant statutory professional councils.”
125 graduates have directly benefitted from the ISDG programme at the City of Cape Town, with skills in Civil Engineering, Chemical and Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Biotechnology, Chemical Science, Environmental Science and Quantity Surveying.
Mega projects coming to South Africa
Cape Town is not the only area set for significant infrastructure investment in the coming years.
According to Nedbank’s Capital Expenditure Project Listing for the first half of 2024, roughly R800 billion has been invested in new mega-projects in South Africa. This trumps the R193.2 billion and R260.4 billion recorded in 2023 and 2022, respectively, following a huge jump in projects from all sectors.
The R200 billion of projects in the private sector was drawn by a jump in the total value of projects announced by the general government.
The largest private sector development is the new R18 billion Bankenveld District City in Johannesburg.
Calgro M3 and Eris Property Group are developing the new mixed-use ‘city’, which will feature residential, commercial, retail, industrial, educational, and healthcare components.
Other mega-projects include Cape Winelands Airport and a significant upgrade at Volkswagen’s Kariega manufacturing plant.
The 26 mega projects planned for South Africa in the first half of the year can be found below:
| Project Name | Company name | Estimated completion date | Estimated value (R million) |
| Structural reform infrastructure (Public housing project) | Department of Human Settlement and Infrastructure | Dec-28 | R43 700 |
| Eskom Tubatse pumped hydro storage project | Eskom | Dec-28 | R35 800 |
| Rooiwal Phase 2 wastewater project in Tshwane | City of Tshwane | Dec-28 | R35 800 |
| Private sector catalytic project | Housing Development Agency | Dec-28 | R34 000 |
| Eskom Mossel Bay gas project | PetroSA | Dec-28 | R30 000 |
| Southern Farms Human Settlement Project | City of Johannesburg | Dec-28 | R27 000 |
| City of Johannesburg capital expenditure budget | City of Johannesburg | May-25 | R22 000 |
| Bankenveld District City development | Calgro M3 & Eris Property Group | Dec-26 | R18 000 |
| Project to refurbish health facilities | Human Settlements and Infrastructure Development | Dec-28 | R16 000 |
| Umoyilanga Energy project | EDF Renewables and Perpetua Holdings | Mar-25 | R14 600 |
| ACWA Power Project DAO | ACWA Power | Jun-26 | R14 480 |
| ACSA infrastructure investment plan | Airports Company South Africa | Dec-28 | R12 220 |
| Mulilo Total Hydra storage project | Total Energies, Hydra Storage Holdings & Reatile | Jan-25 | R10 000 |
| Impofu wind power farms cluster | Enel Green Power South Africa | Jan-26 | R 9 000 |
| First Land Mixed Use and Agri-hub | City of Tshwane | Dec-28 | R8 500 |
| Schools project in Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal | Department of Basic Education | Dec-28 | R8 500 |
| Nkhomazi Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Mpumalanga | Department of Trade and Industry | Dec-28 | R8 400 |
| Mponeng extension project | Harmony Gold | Dec-27 | R7 900 |
| Bengwenyama Platinum group metals | Bengwenyama Platinum Group metals | Jul-26 | R7 385 |
| Cape Winelands Airport | RSA. Aero | Dec-27 | R7 000 |
| Volkswagen Kariega manufacturing plant | Volkswagen Group South Africa | Dec-27 | R4 000 |
| Witberg wind energy project | Red Rocket | Dec-25 | R3 400 |
| Namakwa Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in the Northern Cape | Department of Trade and Industry | Dec-28 | R2 900 |
| Springbok solar photovoltaic plant (PV) | SOLA Group | Jul-25 | R2 800 |
| Teraco solar photovaltaic plant | Teraco | Sep-25 | R2 000 |
| Bayside Canal upgrade | City of Cape Town | Jun-25 | R87.5 |
Read: The man who went from rural KZN to running a R390 billion bank
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