Marina da Gama, Cape Town
Residents are proposing a City Improvement District to improve safety and the environment in Uitsig. Currently about 20% of owners pay to the guard at the entrance to Oudevlei Road. A CID will spread the burden equitably and make room for more security and environmental interventions.
Next date
TBC
Survey opens
A CID pays for extra services in our area, on top of what the City already delivers. The City must keep its current service levels.
May not be more than 25% of your property rate, but we aim to make it much more affordable than that.
Public safety (patrols and CCTV), cleaning, greening and maintenance. The owners’ survey shapes what goes into the business plan.
Survey first, then a draft plan with a 30-day comment period, then written consent from at least 60% of owners. Council makes the final decision.
Owners who receive a rates rebate pay nothing and still get the services, but cannot be members of the non-profit company.
A City Improvement District is a defined area where property owners pay an extra rate, on top of normal City rates, for services the City does not provide, such as extra safety, cleaning and greening in public spaces. A non-profit company, whose members are the paying owners, runs it for five years at a time.
Source: City Improvement District By-law, 2023, sections 1, 4 and 8No. The by-law says CID services must add to the City’s services, not replace them. The City keeps every duty it has today. The CID pays for extras on top, and can log faults such as broken streetlights or blocked drains with the City and follow them up.
Source: By-law, sections 3(3)(c) and 4(2)(c)(iii)That depends on what owners ask for in the survey and agree to in the business plan. Typical CID services are public safety, extra cleaning, verge and garden upkeep, and reporting faults to the City. The draft business plan will list exactly what is proposed and what each item costs.
Source: City Improvement District Policy, clause 8 (survey) and By-law section 4The levy is a rate in the rand on your property’s municipal value. Except in exceptional cases with owners’ consent, it may not exceed 25% of your property rate, so R1,000 a month in rates means at most R250. We strive to make it much more affordable than this. The business plan gives the real figure.
Source: City Improvement District Policy, clause 30.3Owners do. Every paying owner can be a member of the CID’s non-profit company. Members elect the board and approve each year’s budget at the annual general meeting. The board must follow the business plan that City Council approved. A councillor attends board meetings as an observer but cannot vote.
Source: By-law, sections 9 and 21; Policy, clause 26Yes. Once Council approves the CID, every owner inside the boundary pays, whether or not they signed. Owners who get a rebate or exemption on their City rates, for example qualifying pensioners and low-income owners, get a full rebate on the CID levy.
Source: Policy, clauses 30.6 and 30.7; By-law, section 22(3)No. A CID may pay for patrols in public spaces only, never for private homes. Patrollers must be PSIRA-registered and may not fine people, search them or enforce by-laws. They must work with SAPS, the community policing forum and the neighbourhood watch.
Source: Policy, clause 33After the public meetings, owners receive the City’s official consent form: one property, one vote. A residential CID needs signed consent from at least 60% of all property owners in the area. The 60% counts every owner, so a form that is not returned works like a no.
Source: By-law, section 5(5); Policy, clause 10A non-profit company with a board elected by paying owners. It must send audited financial statements to the City within two months of each year-end and publish an annual report. The City can withhold payments, order a forensic audit or ask Council to close a CID whose audits keep failing.
Source: By-law, sections 17, 18 and 28; Policy, clause 31.3The Marina da Gama Association covers the whole of the Marina. In Uitsig, it provides cameras at the boundary wall and license plate recognition at the entrance. There are also other portfolios, such as environmental care. The current services provided by the MDGA will continue if a CID is established. For more information, see the MDGA’s website: https://mdga.co.za/.
The San Marina Recreation Club’s members are all home owners in San Marina part of Uitsig. It is a completely separate entity to the proposed CID.
Want more detail? Read the City of Cape Town’s CID questions and answers.
The main focus areas are safety, grime, greening and social responsibility. The survey will ask homeowners what they are most concerned about and what a CID should invest in. This will give the steering committee important information to develop the business plan and budget. Opening and closing dates to be confirmed.
Survey coming soonA summary of the results will be published here once the survey closes and the answers have been counted.
Every official document, added as soon as it is ready.
Uitsig Peninsula property owners who volunteer their time.
Email us
uitsigcid@gmail.com