Grant Pascoe
The City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Priority Programme Monthly Report – July 2025 shows that the Mayor’s flagship “end load shedding” project is losing time and money and raises the question of whether he is even monitoring his own initiative.
The report confirms R75 million in unspent funds on projects the Mayor identified as top priorities. This includes R40.7 million in Generation Development and R8.5 million in the Energy Efficiency of Buildings programme. These funds were meant to deliver new power capacity and energy savings, but are sitting unused because of procurement delays, cancelled contracts and poor project execution.
Millions Wasted, Deadlines Missed
Key projects are in trouble. The Battery Energy Storage pilot, Demand Response Programme, Smart Grid upgrades and Steenbras Hydro refurbishment have all missed deadlines. The Dispatchable IPP 2 project, intended to secure additional power supply, was cancelled in June 2025. Even Steenbras, the City’s most important energy asset, has no appointed project manager.
The financial and operational failures in this report directly undermine the Mayor’s own plan. This is not opposition criticism; it is the City’s own internal assessment. If the Mayor cannot track spending, enforce deadlines or fix blockages, then his so-called priority programme is a priority in name only.
Mayor’s Flagship in Disarray
The Mayor made this initiative the centrepiece of his leadership. The July 2025 report makes one thing clear. Either he is not watching it closely enough, or he is ignoring the warning signs in his own documents. Cape Town needs answers and decisive action before more time and money are lost.
You can access all the detailed meeting documents in PDF form on the city’s web page Executive Committee Services (ECS) Meeting Details.
