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Tafelberg School at Sea Point.
- The saga surrounding the Tafelberg school site had been rumbling since 2017.
- It was then that the Western Cape cabinet decided to sell the site to raise funds for the education department facilities.
- Prime Minister Alan Winde said they would study the sentence carefully.
The Western Cape government says it is “deeply committed to addressing residents’ need for affordable housing and repairing the spatial legacy of apartheid.”
This, in response to a ruling in the Western Cape Superior Court on Monday, by Judge Patrick Gamble, with Judge Monde Samela.
The provincial government sold the site to the Phyllis Jowell Jewish School NPC in November 2015 for 135 million rand. But this was questioned by the organizations Reclaim The City, Ndifuna Ukwazi and several people.
At trial:
- The court overturned the sale of Tafelberg to the day school, as well as the province’s subsequent decision in March 2017 not to withdraw from the sale;
- The court said the province did not first offer the land for use to the provincial housing department; and
- The court ruled that the province and city of Cape Town “had not taken adequate steps to address the legacy of apartheid spatial planning in and around central Cape Town.”
In response, Western Cape Prime Minister Alan Winde said Monday: “The WCG [Western Cape government] is deeply committed to addressing residents’ need for affordable housing and repairing the spatial legacy of apartheid … we have a year-round building program that develops a range of affordable housing options that are close to economic and educational opportunities and public transportation routes, and that will allow residents to build lives they value, for themselves and their families. ”
Worthy
Among the province’s products to offer “dignified and connected living spaces” are the development of the Conradie Better Living Model in Pinelands, and the social housing opportunities incorporated into the development of the Helen Bowden Nurses’ Home site on the campus. Somerset Hospital near the V&A Waterfront.
Winde said:
The Helen Bowden site has already been rezoned to accommodate planned development, but progress has been completely stalled by continued occupation of the site, as initially encouraged by Reclaim the City, and which the occupants have since refused to vacate.
The provincial human settlements department was trying to streamline the housing database process to deliver housing “to those who deserve it most, despite significant cuts in funding for national housing grants.”
Winde said the land was sold, in the last political term, to raise funds for important educational facilities. Since then, the fiscal shortage has intensified ever since, including due to the Covid-19 response. The provincial government would study the 200-page ruling in its entirety, Winde said.
The court gave the province and city until May 31 to inform the court with a “combined policy” to address the legacy of spatial planning in and around central Cape Town. “
Sisulu welcomes the decision
The Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, Lindiwe Sisulu, welcomed the ruling and said that the ruling “has made it possible for the government, through the Regulatory and Social Housing Authority (SHRA), to build social housing for the eligible beneficiaries while correcting ‘space apartheid’ in central Cape Town, the legacy of segregation imposed by the apartheid government through its pre-1994 space plan. “
She said:
We remain committed to responding to the housing needs of our people. This will only be achieved if we have access to well-located parcels of land and spheres of government that take advantage of these state-owned lands for the development of human settlements.
“I sincerely hope that all affected parties respect and abide by the Superior Court’s ruling and put the needs of the people we are here to serve first. We should all focus on restoring the dignity of our people through the provision of shelter. decent and affordable, “Sisulu said.
