‘No kumbaya with criminals’: Hill-Lewis slams opposition to Cape Town’s R114m N2 wall

City of Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis. Picture: Gallo Images / Brenton Geach While a proposed nine-kilometre wall along Cape Town’s N2 highway has ignited public debate, the city’s mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis, has defended the project as a necessary safety intervention. The wall forms part of the City of Cape Town’s 2026/2027 draft budget, which was tabled by Hill-Lewis on Tuesday, 31 March 2026, ahead of the new financial year starting on 1 April.

The metropolitan municipality has earmarked R114 million for theN2 edge safety project, which includes both the design and construction of the barrier. The initiative, according to the city, is intended to reduce crime targeting motorists and limit pedestrian fatalities along the busy route. The plan has, however, faced backlash from sections of the public, with critics questioning its underlying purpose.

Some argue the wall is less about safety and more about concealing poverty in nearby communities such as Khayelitsha, Gugulethu, and Nyanga from those travelling between the Cape Town International Airport and the city. Others have gone further, comparing the project to the “Berlin Wall”. “The end is now in sight.

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Our last budget of this term of office, we are simply calling it our ‘city of hope budget’ because it represents the clearest indication of the progress that we have made and our ambitions for Cape Town,” he said. Among those ambitions is a continued focus on safety and security, with R6.8 billion allocated to that sector.

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