Solution for city tenants

YOUR article on the City’s plan to sell 12 houses it owns in Maynard Street in the City Bowl, and to evict those tenants who couldn’t afford the multimillion rand price tags (“City does a dirty on a dozen families”, August 11), reminded me that this has happened before.

The late Donald Paarman, in his autobiography Lunatic Surfer or Destiny?, tells the story of the old bungalow, on Glen Beach, which had been in the family for about 80 years, and which was one of a row of such Council-owned properties: “When the lease ran out, those old people got screwed by the City Council. They were all told to cough up about half a million each in order to buy their leased land. They were also informed that they would lose their homes and all the “improvements” if they could not raise the blood money. Half a million was equivalent to about ten million or more in today’s financial climate! The older people, and those who could not borrow the money, were forced out of their homes.”

That was about 50 years ago.

I find it ironic that the political party which now runs the City, condemns the District Six forced removals, but now has its own policy of forced removals. Of course, that’s no different to the political party which now runs the country and is planning its own forced removals through land expropriation without compensation. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

But I do have a suggestion for those tenants in Maynard Street. It is similar to the previous suggestion of interest-free loans to them, and is based on the exit levies charged by some sectional titles complexes. They would continue paying relatively low monthly amounts, but would then pay a large lump sum when they sell.