City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality and eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality are both metropolitan municipalities, which makes them directly comparable: each holds the full set of municipal powers, with no district municipality above it. This puts them side by side on the figures they report to National Treasury and to Statistics South Africa.
The basics
| Measure | Cape Town | eThekwini |
|---|---|---|
| Province | Western Cape | KwaZulu-Natal |
| MDB code | CPT | ETH |
| Population | 4 772 846 | 4 239 901 |
| Households | 1 452 845 | 1 122 738 |
| Area | 2 441 km2 | 2 556 km2 |
| People per km2 | 1 955.3 | 1 658.8 |
| Council seats | 231 | 222 |
| Governing party | DA | ANC/EFF Coalition |
| Executive mayor | Geordin Hill-Lewis | Cyril Xaba |
Money
| Measure | Cape Town | eThekwini |
|---|---|---|
| Financial health grade | B | C |
| Score out of 100 | 81.1 (stronger) | 56.5 |
| Audit outcome | Financially unqualified | Financially unqualified |
| Operating revenue | R67.5 billion | R58.5 billion |
| Operating expenditure | R64.4 billion | R61.2 billion |
| Operating margin | 4.6% (stronger) | -4.7% |
| Current ratio | 1.70:1 (stronger) | 1.07:1 |
| Months of cash | 3.6 | 4.9 (stronger) |
| Irregular spending | 1.4% (stronger) | 7.4% |
Household services
| Service | Cape Town | eThekwini |
|---|---|---|
| Piped water inside dwelling | 85.4% (stronger) | 69.8% |
| Flush toilet connected to sewerage | 93.4% (stronger) | 80.4% |
| Electricity for lighting | 96.7% | 98.5% (stronger) |
| Weekly refuse removal | 90.2% (stronger) | 80.7% |
| Formal dwellings | 87.5% | 89.2% (stronger) |
People
| Measure | Cape Town | eThekwini |
|---|---|---|
| Population under 15 | 22.4% | 21.0% |
| Population over 65 | 6.7% | 6.8% |
| Higher education, aged 20 and over | 20.0% | 12.9% |
| No schooling, aged 20 and over | 1.9% | 4.4% |
How to read this
Rand amounts are not marked stronger or weaker, because the larger municipality will always spend more and that says nothing about how well it is run. The judgements above are made only on ratios and percentages, which are comparable regardless of size.
The financial health grade measures financial management, not service delivery. A municipality can score well on one and modestly on the other, which is why both appear here.
Put these two, or any others, side by side yourself in the comparison tool, or read the full Cape Town and eThekwini profiles.
Figures on this page come from National Treasury, Statistics South Africa and the Auditor-General, as set out in the sources and methodology. Read the methodology