Grant Pascoe
Cape Town is being treated to a strange show. Instead of governing, the Mayor has started acting. One day he is in a hard hat pretending to be a construction worker. The next day he is sweeping a pavement like a neighbourhood caretaker. Every move is neatly filmed, edited and uploaded. Not as proof of service delivery but as campaign material.
Residents Expected to Clap for a Mayor in Costume
This performance is not random. It is strategic. The Mayor knows exactly where the DA is losing support. That is why most of these staged visits are happening in coloured working class areas. He is trying to claw back votes in Strandfontein, Athlone, Mitchells Plain, Elsies River, Bishop Lavis, Blue Downs and Delft. But instead of running a city, he is running a pageant.
Filling potholes, cleaning rivers and fixing damaged homes are basic municipal duties. Residents have already paid for them through high tariffs. They are not favours. They are not charity. Yet we are expected to clap [for a mayor in costume] every time a broom is lifted in front of a camera.
The Rising Cost of Failing Service Delivery
Meanwhile the cost of living in Cape Town keeps rising. Electricity increased. Water and sanitation increased. A pipe levy added. Cleaning service fees climbed. Then the mysterious line called “sundries” which is code for “we charged you again and will not explain why.” People are paying more than ever while still living with dumping sites, sewer spills and broken infrastructure. No staged video can hide that.
The real workers are the municipal and EPWP staff who fix this city every day without applause. They do not arrive for five minutes to pose. They do not pretend to be heroes. They are.
Cape Town does not need an actor in borrowed overalls. It needs someone who understands how to keep systems running without waiting for likes and shares.
