The City of Cape Town said it has carried out 51 reform actions across nine services used by businesses since 2022. The city said the work is part of a plan to cut red tape and make Cape Town the easiest place to do business in Africa.
James Vos, the city’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth, told Engineering News that the changes are already showing results. He said average wayleave approval times have dropped from about 40 days to six days.
“Our approach is straightforward. Government processes should help businesses grow, not stand in their way,” Vos said.
“Every unnecessary delay and complicated procedure costs businesses time and money that could be spent expanding operations and creating jobs,” he said.
Business licences are also being processed faster, according to the city. The median turnaround time fell from 44 days between July and September last year to 18 days between April and June this year.
Vos said the city runs the work through its Ease of Doing Business programme. He said the programme works across city departments to make processes simpler and to reduce delays for businesses dealing with the municipality.
The city said other reforms include simpler permits for informal traders and better electricity and water connections. It also said it has modernised revenue clearance certificates and made development applications easier to process.
New and improved digital platforms now let customers submit applications, track their progress and use municipal services more easily, the city said.
“We are tackling unnecessary bureaucracy through our Stupid Rule initiative, which has attracted more than 1 500 submissions from city staff identifying rules and processes that could be simplified or removed,” Vos said.
He said the city’s Cost of Doing Business Study is also helping officials understand the problems and costs that businesses face.
The city’s latest Business Satisfaction Survey gave its public services a quality score of 92. That is up from a score of 86 in 2023/24. The city said businesses reported better service in several areas.
Vos admitted that some areas still need attention. “We know there is still work to do, particularly in land use applications, building plan approvals and public land transfers,” he said.
He said the city is also pushing for national rule changes and for improvements at the Port of Cape Town. He said the cost of doing business goes beyond what the municipality controls.
Vos said digital transformation will be a main focus in the next phase. He said the city plans to build on the reforms already in place to make municipal services faster, simpler and easier to reach.
Source: this article is based on reporting by Engineering News. Image: Engineering News. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Business desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Anelisa Nkuna covers business and money news for Tzaneen Voice. Anelisa reports on the rand, fuel prices, interest rates, jobs, Eskom, Transnet, farming and company results. The aim is simple: explain what the numbers mean for household budgets, small businesses and workers in South Africa.