HOUSING MALAISE
Western Cape Premier Alan Winde blames activists for hampering Cape Town’s plans for affordable housing
On the eve of a court case over social housing in Cape Town, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde, speaking during the State of the Province Address, said activists were disrupting the government’s efforts to provide affordable housing.
Western Cape Premier Alan Winde has said affordable housing activists who have illegally occupied Cape Town buildings “hinder our ability to deliver thousands of opportunities for those who need it the most”.
Winde made the remarks during his State of the Province Address on Thursday at the provincial legislature chambers in Cape Town.
Read more in Daily Maverick: “Alan Winde highlights three key themes – energy, mobility, and policing – in between the heckling”
Winde said his government’s attempts to build better communities by delivering critical infrastructure and services were under attack from extortion mafias and syndicates.
“As always, it is the residents who suffer the most.
“It is not only extortion, it is also stealing other people’s rights to home ownership by illegally occupying sites that are earmarked for social housing and mixed-use developments, like the Helen Bowden site, Woodstock Hospital and other locations,” said Winde.
Government-owned sites near central Cape Town have been occupied by various groups, including members of housing activists Reclaim the City and Ndifuna Ukwazi, who call for social and affordable housing in well-located areas.
Read more in Daily Maverick: “Landmark moment for activists in the battle for affordable housing in Cape Town’s inner city”
“These illegal occupations hinder our ability to deliver thousands of opportunities for those who need it the most,” said Winde.
The premier said the province had delivered 394 social housing opportunities, with projects such as Maitland Mews (204 units), Regent Villas (Mitchells Plain, with 60 units) and Conradie Park Phase 1 (130 units).
Read more in Daily Maverick: “First Pinelands social housing units handed over, but Ndifuna Ukwazi says Western Cape has a long way to go”
Ndifuna Ukwazi was not happy with Winde’s remarks.
Nick Budlender, a researcher at the organisation, told Daily Maverick: “The premier’s claim that building occupations explain the province’s complete failure to build well-located affordable housing is not only inaccurate, it is also dishonest.”
Budlender said Helen Bowden and Woodstock Hospital, which have been renamed Ahmed Kathrada House and Cissie Gool House respectively, were vacant for a decade or more before being occupied, with no real movement on housing development at either site.
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“In fact, the province wanted to convert the Woodstock Hospital into offices for Cape Nature before activists intervened, rubbishing the premier’s claim that housing activists are responsible for the province’s lack of action,” said Budlender.
“There are many parcels of well-located land owned by the province that have been vacant and underutilised for a very long time.
“It is not occupations that have blocked these sites from being developed, but rather a deep lack of urgency and genuine political will,” said Budlender.
“The occupations were part of a strategy to force the province to fulfil its obligations to build well-located affordable housing, and given how much attention the topic now gets, it seems this strategy has been effective,” he said.
The Tafelberg case
During Winde’s speech about social housing, the leader of the official opposition, the ANC’s Cameron Dugmore, shouted: “Why did you sell Tafelberg?”
The Tafelberg case refers to the prime piece of province-owned land in Sea Point that was sold for R135-million to the Phyllis Jowell Jewish Day School. Revenue from the site would have gone towards providing an office building for the Western Cape Education Department.
However, activists wanted the 1.7ha site to be used for social housing. According to a 2017 feasibility study by Ndifuna Ukwazi, the site could accommodate up to 437 families in 317 social housing units and 121 market-related homes.
Ndifuna Ukwazi and Reclaim the City took the sale on review and won their case at the Western Cape High Court in August 2020.
Read more in Daily Maverick: “Landmark Tafelberg ruling: Western Cape High Court strikes a blow against apartheid spatial planning”
The sale was set aside and a declaratory order was issued against the Western Cape and the City of Cape Town, where both parties failed constitutionally to provide affordable housing to people who qualified. At the time, the courts ruled that the city and province draw up a combined policy to address this and report back to the court by 31 May 2021 with an update.
The province and the city then launched an appeal in September 2020, reported GroundUp. By April 2021, News24 reported the province had lost its appeal at the Western Cape High Court.
This week, Ndifuna Ukwazi said the case would be heard at the Supreme Court on 20 February, with issues including the clarification and compliance of the province and city with its constitutional obligations and key laws that relate to government land disposal and public participation in decisions regarding the disposal of land.
“The matter will have far-reaching consequences and will be of importance to all people who are interested in ensuring that public land is used for public good,” said Ndifuna Ukwazi in a statement.
In February 2022, the City of Cape Town announced that more land would be made available for social housing. At the time, the release included the Fruit and Veg site in Roeland Street in the CBD, which would yield up to 150 housing opportunities. DM
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Illegal Nick Budlender. Illegal.
Laws are not there to be broken because it suits a particular narrative. There are many many issues that the province has to balance and juggle.
You are breaking the law and it is wrong. Period.
Rate payers have rights too!
Infact, thanks to Tax and Rate payers, the disadvantaged have a better chance of accessing help through Social Services.
These housing activists need to be careful that they don’t kill the goose that lays the golden egg with their demands! They need to focus on real solutions and work with, not against the Cape Municipalities.
Although activists might have some unrealistic aims, the Western Cape government is not as perfect as it wants everyone to believe: buildings standing empty for years and years? Why? Like the community centre in Nomzamo, Strand- not sure what’s happening there now – but what a fight to get access!
Without the occupiers, the city would never have woken up to the need for affordable housing located closer to where people work. While these occupations are illegal, they are not violent – the heart of proper protest.
Budlender is quite correct
Nick Budlender, a researcher at the organisation, told Daily Maverick: “The premier’s claim that building occupations explain the province’s complete failure to build well-located affordable housing is not only inaccurate, it is also dishonest.”
Budlender said Helen Bowden and Woodstock Hospital, which have been renamed Ahmed Kathrada House and Cissie Gool House respectively, were vacant for a decade or more before being occupied, with no real movement on housing development at either site.
Activists are people who unfortunately see an unbridgeable divide between themselves and those who are in authority. The divide was very real in Apartheid but should not be so impenetrable in these democratic days.