Numerous housing activists and civic groups intercepted Western Cape Premier Alan Winde, urging action on converting Cape Town CBD parking lots into social housing.
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On Saturday, as part of Freedom Day observances, activists marched to these parking sites, advocating for their transformation into affordable housing. They proposed a plan that could result in 969 social housing units, 969 market-priced apartments, and transitional housing for 732 individuals.
Among these parking spaces, three are owned by the Western Cape government and one by Pretoria, specifically Parliament’s parking lot.
During the march through the Gardens area of the CBD, activists diverted to intercept Premier Winde at a coffee shop on Buitenkant Street. Buhle Booi, representing the housing activist organisation and law center Ndifuna Ukwazi, presented Winde with the housing proposal for the parking lots. Booi urged Winde to review the coalition’s report and release the land for social housing.
Winde addressed the crowd through a loudspeaker, informing them that he had reached out to Ndifuna Ukwazi and the social movement Reclaim The City. He explained that, in light of the recent Tafelberg judgment, he had requested a meeting to discuss nine sites targeted for development by the provincial government within the inner city.
‘I am happy to add the parking lot to that discussion,’ Winde said to a chorus of ‘thank you’ from the crowd.
‘I also want us to have a discussion about District Six. I want us to have a discussion about the illegally occupied pieces of land like Helen Bowden [Nurses Home] – we need thousands of homes in these places – like Woodstock Hospital,’ he continued.
Mpho Raboeane, the acting director of Ndifuna Ukwazi, said that the organisation viewed Winde’s desire to meet after the Tafelberg court victory as insincere. Raboeane highlighted that they had been attempting to engage with the province regarding the situation of individuals occupying Helen Bowden Nurses Home since 2017.
‘What’s confusing to us is that it is actually the province that appealed the Tafelberg case. So, if there is a commitment to spatial justice like he says, then why did they take it to the Supreme Court of Appeal?’
Recently, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) upheld an appeal by both the Western Cape government and the City of Cape Town, overturning two previous High Court rulings that deemed the sale of a Sea Point property, known as the ‘Tafelberg’ site, as unlawful. This decision came amidst fervent efforts by housing activists to repurpose the prime site for social housing, which clashed with the Western Cape government’s decision to sell it for private development in Sea Point.
The SCA’s ruling validated the legality of the sale for private development, concluding a contentious legal battle between housing activist group Reclaim the City and the Western Cape government. Originally, the provincial government sold the Tafelberg school property to the Phyllis Jowell Jewish Day School NPC in November 2015 for R135 million.
In response to public outcry and legal challenges, both the provincial government and the City of Cape Town sought to appeal parts of the judgment in 2022. The SCA emphasised that both entities could not evade their obligation to consider racial, social, economic, and physical integration, as well as the proximity to residents’ places of employment when implementing social housing programs.
In a previous ruling in 2020, the Western Cape High Court nullified the property sale, ordering the provincial government and the City to address the lingering effects of apartheid-era spatial planning in central Cape Town and its surroundings.
According to News24, the province is interested in the Tafelberg site for potential development. To navigate the future of the now-defunct site, the provincial government appointed an assessor and invited interested parties to register for involvement in the project.
Raboeane confirmed that Ndifuna Ukwazi had indeed received a letter from Winde’s office following the Tafelberg judgment. She questioned why the province had initiated contact only after winning the court case.
‘It says to us that they want to negotiate, but from a position of power. Why are they not coming to the people to meet on an equal basis and to hear from the people directly what they need and what they want to do with a site like Helen Bowden?’
Raboeane acknowledged that the province’s allocation of nine sites for inclusive housing was a positive step. However, she expressed concerns that the province’s definition of affordability might not align with the financial realities faced by the majority of South Africans.
‘We are keen to hear what’s being put on the table, but we have reservations about how genuine they are about changing the make-up, the face, and the colour of the inner city of Cape Town,’ she said.
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Picture: Ziyaad Douglas / Gallo Images
