What Changed in Cape Town This Week?
Every figure on this site has a date and a document behind it. This is the record of when each one moved, and why.
- 6 August 2026Savingslaunch25d ago
Savings goes live, and it fixes the comparison everyone gets wrong
Every rate National Treasury has published for RSA Retail Savings Bonds is now loaded — twenty-two years of monthly fixed rates, nineteen years of inflation-linked windows, and the top-up bond's quarterly rates. The page carries a calculator that shows interest before and after tax, the amount at which the annual interest exemption runs out, and the inflation rate at which an inflation-linked bond overtakes a fixed one at the same term. That last number is not published anywhere else we could find. The section appears three times on our sources page because its three rates are published on three different schedules.
Go to /savings → - 6 August 2026Waterlaunch25d ago
Water goes live — and the court case is the story
The City's 2026/27 water and sanitation schedules are loaded in full: four consumption steps for each service, at all three restriction levels, plus fixed charges for every meter size. The schedule in force is the no-restriction one. Alongside it, the property-value charges the Western Cape High Court struck down on 30 April 2026 — shown as historic, because the old basis beside the new one is the clearest explanation of what changed.
Go to /water → - 5 August 2026Transportlaunch26d ago
Transport goes live — and the map is the story
MyCiTi's gazetted fares are loaded in full, effective 1 July 2026: R19.50 for a short peak trip, R52.50 beyond 60km, and a monthly pass up 50% to R1 500. The more useful finding is where the network is not: MyCiTi does not yet reach Khayelitsha or Mitchells Plain, whose Phase 2A link to Claremont and Wynberg is still under construction. The corridors with the longest commutes are the ones the bus rapid transit system has not arrived at.
Go to /transport → - 5 August 2026Rentlaunch26d ago
Rent goes live on achieved rents, not asking prices
PayProp's Q1 2026 Rental Index puts the Western Cape average at R12 125 a month — the highest of any province, and 7.4% up on the year against a national 4.7%. Because PayProp measures rent actually paid rather than what landlords advertise, it anchors the page. Suburb-level rows are deliberately absent: no current source with a stated methodology could be found, and the page says so.
Go to /rent → - 5 August 2026Grocerieslaunch26d ago
Groceries goes live with twelve months of the Cape Town food basket
The Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice & Dignity Group prices a fixed 44-item basket in Cape Town every month and reports the city separately. Twelve releases are loaded, August 2025 to July 2026, item by item. July's basket is R5 367.30 for a household of seven — 96.5% of a full month on the national minimum wage.
Go to /groceries → - 5 August 2026launch26d ago
capetown.cool launches with four sections live
Dams, fuel, load shedding and electricity tariffs are live, each with its own named source, its own publishing schedule, and a freshness stamp worked out from the data. Rent, groceries, transport, data, schools and tax are stubs — they launch when they have sources, not before.
- 5 August 2026Load sheddingdata refresh26d ago
441 days without load shedding
Eskom reported the country has now gone 441 consecutive days without load shedding, and met demand 100% of the time between 1 April and 30 July. Daily energy availability hit 82.04% on 26 July, the best single day since 2017. The winter outlook to 31 August projects no load shedding.
Go to /loadshedding → - 5 August 2026Damsdata refresh26d ago
Dam levels slip half a point in the middle of the filling season
The City's reading of 3 August puts the system at 78.1%, down from 78.6% a week earlier and from 84.8% the same week last year. The City's water resource status reads Early Drought Caution, noting rainfall since May has been below expectations. Voëlvlei — the second-largest dam — has not moved in a week and sits 23 points below last year.
Go to /dams → - 5 August 2026Fueldata refresh26d ago
Petrol down 52c, diesel up R1.38 — the August adjustment lands
The new coastal maximum for 95 unleaded is R24.71, down 52 cents. Diesel moved the other way, up R1.38 on 500ppm and R1.23 on 50ppm, and paraffin rose R1.52. The petrol cut came almost entirely from the slate levy falling from 113.94c to 61.38c — petrol's own under-recovery for the period was 0.288 cents. Next adjustment 2 September.
Go to /fuel → - 29 July 2026Rentdata refresh33d ago
PayProp Q1 2026: Western Cape stays the most expensive province
National average rent reached R9 582, with annual rental inflation edging up to 4.7% from 4.5%. The Western Cape averaged R12 125 — about R2 500 above the national figure — while recording the lowest share of tenants in arrears in the country.
Go to /rent → - 29 July 2026Groceriesdata refresh33d ago
July basket up R69.26, but flat on the year
The Cape Town household food basket rose 1.3% to R5 367.30 in July, driven by maize meal (up R38.18 on 30kg), chicken portions and butternut. Year on year it is down R4.05 — essentially unchanged. Stats SA put national food inflation at 1.6% for June, a divergence worth watching.
Go to /groceries → - 1 July 2026Transportdata refresh61d ago
MyCiTi fares rise, monthly pass up 50%
The City's annual fare adjustment took effect on 1 July 2026. Short trips of 0–5km moved to R19.50 at peak and R15.00 off-peak, while the monthly pass went from R1 000 to R1 500. The City attributed the increase to sustained fuel costs it had previously absorbed.
Go to /transport → - 1 July 2026Watermethodology61d ago
Fixed water and sanitation charges go back to meter size
Following a Western Cape High Court ruling against property-value-based fixed charges, the City reverted to charging by water meter size and moved cleaning costs back into property rates. The proposed 10.2% cut to residential property rates shrank to just over 2% as a result.
Go to /water → - 1 July 2026Electricitydata refresh61d ago
City electricity tariffs rise 7.5% — the lowest of the major metros
The 2026/27 tariffs took effect on 1 July. Domestic energy is now 413.79c/kWh for the first 600 units, Home User 355.95c with a R424.30 monthly charge, and Lifeline a flat 283.04c. Cape Town's increase came in below Johannesburg's 8.63%, Ekurhuleni's 12.7% and Buffalo City's 14%.
Go to /power →
Dams
Every Monday
3 August 2026 · 4 weeks ago
Fuel
Monthly, on the first Wednesday
5 August 2026 · 3 weeks ago
Groceries
Monthly, at the end of the month
July 2026 · 2 months ago
Load shedding
Weekly, and immediately if it changes
4 August 2026 · 3 weeks ago
Electricity
Once a year, on 1 July
1 July 2026 · 2 months ago
Rand
Daily, when markets are open
5 August 2026 · 3 weeks ago
Rent
Every quarter, about four months in arrears
Q1 2026 · 8 months ago
Savings · fixed rate
Every month, at the start of the month
1 August 2026 · 4 weeks ago
Savings · inflation linked
Twice a year, in June and December
1 June 2026 · 3 months ago
Savings · top up
Every three months
1 July 2026 · 2 months ago
Transport
Once a year, on 1 July
1 July 2026 · 2 months ago
Water
Once a year on 1 July — and again if a restriction level is declared
1 July 2026 · 2 months ago