[imagesource: Getty Images / Nils Kahle]

If you build it, they will come.

The above quote may be from 1989’s Field of Dreams but it also applies to just about every property in Cape Town and the surrounding areas.

Semigration continues at a rate of knots and the population of Cape Town is on the up, according to Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC, Anton Bredell.

The Western Cape accounts for just under 12% of the national population, based on Stats South Africa’s Mid-Year Population Estimates, with 65,8% of people (around 4,7 million) living in the Cape Town metro area.

That picture up top comes from an August article on Architectural Digest, by the way, outlining ‘Why Cape Town Should Be on Every Traveller’s List’.

Politicians certainly aren’t worried about an influx of tourists spending their powerful currencies here. Addressing the provincial Standing Committee on Public Accounts, IOL reports that Bredell offered some words of warning about the population increase:

“I think that we don’t talk enough about the topic. Some 108 000 people moved to the Western Cape last year.

“On resources alone, we need 21.7 million litres of extra water a day. Now if you start to add up and you work towards 2030, if this curve continues, we will need to build a Bloemfontein for the City of Cape Town.”

By building a Bloemfontein, he means infrastructure to support a further 900 000 people which would include roughly 60 primary schools and 54 high schools, as well as hospitals and other essential services.

Bredell also pointed out that was just for Cape Town’s growth and didn’t include the surrounding areas.

I suppose a big plus is that, if you’re moving from Johannesburg, for example, you (somewhat) leave behind being locally governed by the ANC.

Ask residents of areas like the Cape Flats, however, and they’ll say it doesn’t really matter who is in charge when they live in daily fear for their lives.

[source:iol]