Herron slams City’s spatial development

THE City’s intention to revoke by-laws of the Transport and Urban Development Authority (TDA) is anti-revolutionary and antitransformative, says former DA mayco member Brett Herron.

The TDA was established as part of former mayor Patricia de Lille’s Organisational Development and Transformation Plan (ODTP) to combine the functions of the old Transport for Cape Town with spatial planning and urban development.

Herron recently resigned from the party, citing a refusal by the DA caucus to dispose of the Salt River Market site for affordable housing as one of his reasons.

He said two terms of DA government have failed to address the apartheid spatial structure, and the move to repeal the by-laws that created the TDA was antitransformative.

“The City has not once since it was established as a metro in 2000, including during the period when current mayor Dan Plato was the mayco member for Housing, met its housing delivery target.

‘‘The achievement last year was possible through the joined up action and integrated management of key functions that lead to the successful delivery of housing.

‘‘The DA leadership likes to pretend that the restructuring of the City was designed by former executive mayor Patricia de Lille, as if she sat in a corner drawing up a new organogram on the back of a cigarette box.

‘‘On the contrary, it was the work of expert local government professionals designed for a modern city which faces enormous challenges of inequality and social, spatial and economic exclusion,” Herron charged.

Plato said he planned to amend the City’s governance structure, based on lessons learnt over the past two years.

The proposal to repeal the two by-laws, Plato said, is a step in facilitating the process.

Plato denied that the City had failed to address the apartheid spatial structure.

“The city council has, over the past three years, adopted progressive policies to address the legacy of apartheid spatial planning, to spatially transform Cape Town, to provide housing on well-located land close to work opportunities and public transport, and to spend the bulk of its capital budget in areas where the public money will benefit the most people, in particular the most vulnerable in our society.

‘‘The City administration is bound by these policies, and must implement these accordingly,” Plato said.