Another tale of two cities
80-year-old evicted from his home of 43 years
IN YET another tale of two cities, the cost of property in the Cape Town CBD has reached unprecedented levels, a new study has shown, as housing woes have worsened for some of the metro’s poorest residents.
The CBD is largely white, the poorest almost exclusively black African and coloured. In Woodstock 80-year-old Kenneth Blaine and his family spent Monday night destitute after they were evicted from the home they had lived in for 43 years. This while in Hout Bay residents yesterday protested the City’s decision to use land for a depot instead of for affordable housing in the overcrowded and poor coloured part of the seaside area with some of South Africa’s most expensive real estate, whiteowned, alongside.
As A Year in Review by the Cape Town Central City Improvement District (CCID) – released yesterday – showed, new property developments in the City were worth in excess of R950 million, and 39 new developments worth in excess of R13.5 billion were either recently completed, under construction or in the pipeline, housing activists disrupted an auction of Blaine’s house.
Activist group Reclaim the City’s Woodstock spokesperson, Faghmeeda Ling, said the City had told the family only on Monday that the house was on the auction list.
“On Monday afternoon the Sheriff arrived at 29 Plein Street in Woodstock and moved Uncle Kenny Blaine, his family, and all their belongings on to the street. Uncle Kenny had lived in the house for over 40 years. Reclaim the City members, many of whom have themselves been evicted, sat with him on the pavement the whole night to keep him company and help him protect his few belongings from thieves,” said Ling.
According to the CCID report, property in the Central City had soared by nearly 40%, from R30.628bn in 2016/17 to R42.860bn in 2018/19. An additional six new developments worth in excess of R968m have been reported this year thus far, report researcher and economic research analyst Sandra Gordon found.
Blaine said yesterday that the house’s deed was in his deceased mother’s name, and that he has been trying to take ownership of the property since 1981.
The family said the rent payments were up to date.
“It is really sad that the City does not care about poor people. We sat with Uncle Kenny the whole night on Monday, we tried to go to homes but they said they were full. If the City of Cape Town wishes to evict Uncle Kenny then they must ensure he will not be made homeless and if necessary provide him with emergency housing. Nobody should be sent to a relocation camp,” Ling said.
City spokesperson Luthando Tyhalibongo said the City had been engaging with the occupants since 2014 and had followed due processes.
“A notice was served on the occupants in July 2019. Numerous extensions were granted to the occupants since 2014 to vacate the property and they were granted adequate time to find alternative accommodation. The family has today reoccupied the property, illegally. The City is reviewing its position,” he said.
Cape Town mayor Dan Plato, in responding to a question on the high cost of property in the CBD, taking into consideration most locals can’t afford to buy property in the CBD, as well as responding to a request for comment on how this impacts affordable development in the CBD, said: “In the challenging economic times being experienced across South Africa, we have managed to retain the lowest unemployment levels in the country. The value of property is one of the indications of the health of an economy, and with a healthy economy more job opportunities are created for our residents.
“In addition to our housing policy that aims to link communities with transport and business hubs, we also have a number of low-cost and social housing programmes in and close to the city to make sure that we foster an inclusive society that can benefit from our growing economy.”