City ‘not serious’ about social housing
THE CITY is under pressure to implement its inclusive housing policy. This after the Municipal Planning Tribunal gave the nod for an exclusive R14 billion development on the Foreshore.
Ndifuna Ukwazi’s Zacharia Mashele said: “Despite the hot air, when it comes to actual decisions, the City of Cape Town and the Municipal Planning Tribunal demonstrate they are not serious about inclusion. Mayor Dan Plato should be taking a public position on the approval of Harbour Arch without any affordable housing, but he hasn’t. And we should all be asking why.”
Mashele said the tribunal had continually used the lack of inclusionary housing policy as an excuse for not being able to secure affordable housing in private developments. “This failure to provide certainty is having consequences for people desperately in need of affordable housing, and for developers who need policy certainty. In response to this, last month Ndifuna Ukwazi launched litigation in the high court against the City in order to clarify this uncertainty,” he said.
The R14bn Harbour Arch development is set to be built on a 5.8 hectare site, with 198 000m² of usable space.
“The Harbour Arch development is unashamedly the biggest and most exclusive development we will see in our lifetime and will entrench racial and class divisions that continue to suffocate Cape Town. Over the past few years, countless exclusive developments have been approved,” Mashele said.
Meanwhile, the Western Cape Property Development Forum (WCPDF) has turned its attention back to the inclusionary housing policy initiative.
Chairperson Deon Van Zyl said: “Newly appointed inclusionary housing work group convenor and WCPDF management committee member Kabous Fouche, of the Rohloff Group, has been engaging with City of Cape Town on the progress of Cape Town’s proposed policy.
“From an exploratory meeting held with Nolwandle Gqiba, the new executive director: human settlements at the City of Cape Town, to meetings with various civil society groups and other stakeholders, we are encouraged that the industry may see progress in the very near future, with valuable collaborations emerging.”
Human settlements Mayco member Malusi Booi said: “The City is in the process of developing an inclusionary housing policy. Background feasibility work and other analysis is being done, after which a draft policy will be compiled for public comment.”