Cape Town and the national government butt heads over rail takeover

Johnathan Paoli

Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said that the city’s lawyers are preparing legal proceedings to force the national government to hand over its rail network responsibilities to the country’s metros.

Earlier this week, President Cyril Ramaphosa referred to broad consultations taking place ‘behind the scenes’ with metros about the rail takeover strategy.

However, the DA mayor refuted this, saying the city has been attempting to secure a meeting with the national government concerning the rail network devolution throughout the year but to no avail.

The mayor said that the city is preparing to initiate an intergovernmental dispute against the national government over the inadequate communication between the two spheres of the state.

Hill-Lewis said that he was heartened at the president’s confirmation of the cabinet decision in 2022 regarding the devolution, but that he was of the opinion that the president was unaware of what was actually happening.