The City of Cape Town (CoCT) says it has driven 51 reform actions across nine key business-facing services since 2022, as part of its efforts to cut red tape, improve municipal efficiency and make Cape Town the easiest place to do business in Africa.

“Through our Ease of Doing Business programme, we are working across city departments to simplify processes, reduce delays and make it easier for businesses to interact with the municipality,” says CoCT Economic Growth MMC James Vos.

“Our approach is straightforward – government processes should help businesses grow, not stand in their way. Every unnecessary delay and complicated procedure costs businesses time and money that could be spent expanding operations and creating jobs.”

Vos says the city is already seeing tangible improvements.

Average wayleave approval times have dropped from around 40 days to six days, while median business licensing turnaround times have fallen from 44 days between July to September last year to 18 days between April and June this year.

Other reforms include simplifying informal trading permits, improving electricity and water connections, modernising revenue clearance certificates and streamlining development application processes.

The addition and refining of digital platforms are also said to be making it easier for customers to submit applications, track progress and access municipal services.

“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,” says Vos.

“Our Cost of Doing Business Study is also helping us better understand the challenges and costs facing businesses.”

These efforts seem to be delivering encouraging results.

The city’s latest Business Satisfaction Survey recorded an overall public service quality score of 92, up from 86 in 2023/24, with businesses reporting improvements in several key services.

“We know there is still work to do, particularly in land use applications, building plan approvals and public land transfers,” acknowledges Vos.

“We are also advocating for national regulatory reforms and improvements at the Port of Cape Town, recognising that the cost of doing business extends beyond municipal processes.

“Looking ahead, digital transformation will be a major focus as we build on the reforms already implemented and continue to make municipal services faster, simpler and more accessible,” he adds.