Cape Town’s property rates will increase by 7.96% during 2025/2026 to assist in funding major safety and infrastructure investments, says the City of Cape Town and based on its own analysis of 2025/2026 draft Budgets tabled by each metro, it currently offers the lowest property rates for both residential and commercial.

The next metro, Joburg, is 42% higher for commercial and industrial property rates and 33% higher for residential property rates, and despite significantly lower rates than Joburg, the municipality says it will invest 53% more in infrastructure over the next three years (R39.7 billion versus R24.3 billion).

For every R1.00 in property rates, Capetonians assist to help fund ‘Policing, Traffic, Fire, and Disaster Services’ (29 cents), ‘Infrastructure Investment’ (14 cents), ‘Free and Subsidised Services to the Poor’ (15 cents), ‘Customer care, IT, and Service Delivery’ (15 cents), ‘Parks, Public Spaces, Environment, and Libraries’ (13 cents), ‘MyCiTi Public Transport’ (6 cents), ‘Economic Growth, Tourism & Informal Trading Programmes’ (4 cents), and ‘City Clinics & Health Services’ (4 cents).

The 7.96% increase in property rates for 2025/2026 will help to fund major safety and infrastructure investments, with each metro offering the ‘widest qualifying’ criteria for rates and indigent relief as at 2024/2025 including:

• Highest Free Water Allocation (15KL)
• Widest qualifying criteria for 100% rates rebate (R450 000 property value, <R7 500 monthly income).
• Widest qualifying criteria for lifeline electricity (R500 000 property value, <R7 500 monthly income.
• Pensioners: Widest rebate and lifeline electricity criteria (<R22 000 monthly income, regardless of property value).

The rate-in-rand is a statutory formula used by municipalities to calculate property rates, showing how much a person would pay in rates for every rand of their property value:

2025-2026 Rate in Rand (Residential)

• Cape Town – 0,007159
• Johannesburg – 0,009545
• Tshwane – 0,010117
• Mangaung – 0,011068
• Ekurhuleni – 0,011520
• eThekwini – 0,014254
• Buffalo City – 0,015122

2025-2026 Rate in Rand (Commercial)

• Cape Town – 0,016824
• Ekurhuleni – 0,023050
• Johannesburg – 0,023862
• Tshwane – 0,029300
• eThekwini – 0,036234
• Mangaung – 0,037642
• Buffalo City – 0,037804

2025-2026 Rate in Rand (Industrial)

• Cape Town – 0,016824
• Johannesburg – 0,023862
• Ekurhuleni – 0,028810
• Tshwane – 0,029300
• Mangaung – 0,037642
• Buffalo City – 0,037804
• eThekwini – 0,047200

*Nelson Mandela Bay formulas were unavailable at the time of writing. NMB 2023/24 formulas: Residential (0,012073), Commercial (0,024146), Industrial (0,030183).