Statement from GOOD MPL Brett Herron, Secretary-General of the GOOD Movement
4 December 2020
The City of Cape Town yesterday denied that it cancelled inner city affordable housing projects initiated by me and Mayor Patricia De Lille before our resignations in 2018.
The City’s statement is a blatant lie.
If it didn’t cancel all the projects, as Mayco member of housing Malusi Booi’s falsely claimed, then:
- Why did the city write cancellation letters early last year to the property developers who submitted bids?
- Why did the Western Cape Property Developers Forum issue a statement condemning the cancellations? And,
- Why did Mayor Dan Plato and Booi, himself, confirm the cancellations to media 16 months ago?
The reason the city is lying is because there’s a by-election taking place next week in the very suburbs in which it cancelled the affordable housing projects.
The city is lying in order to try and curry favour with residents in these suburbs living under the shadow of gentrification and displacement.
Without the development of affordable housing, these residents – some of whom have lived in their homes for generations – fear being turfed out to Wolwerivier, or onto the Cape Flats, in a grotesque repetition of apartheid-era forced removals.
Since the advent of democracy the City has failed to develop a single affordable housing project in the inner city or surrounding areas.
But the City cannot admit that it is anti-integration during an election campaign, so it lies about it…
The truth, Mr Booi knows well – and was widely reported at the time – is that De Lille and I launched the City of Cape Town’s inner city housing project in September 2017. We led the process that saw a call for proposals being issued for five city sites:
- Pickwick Street, Salt River
- New Market Street, CBD
- Fruit & Veg, Roeland Street, CBD
- Woodstock Hospital, Woodstock
- Public Open Space at Woodstock Hospital, Woodstock.
The process required private developers to include a minimum threshold of social housing in development proposals for each site. We wanted a minimum of 1850 social housing units across the five sites.
The scope of the project also extended to a city site, in Canterbury Street, Gardens, that would be released in 2018 under similar rules, as well as a building on James Street in Salt River that would be converted into 43 transitional housing units to provide emergency housing to families who faced emergencies such as eviction.
Developers responded enthusiastically – the city received 13 proposals. But conservatives in the council, and their handlers, were less enthusiastic. Their lack of principles and honesty became prime drivers for our departure from the city, and the formation of the GOOD movement.
After our departure, the City pulled the plug on the entire initiative, without plausible explanation. In August 2019 mayor Plato indicated that he wanted the City to follow a different procedure. But the sites weren’t released for affordable housing again.
As a councillor, who took an oath of office, Booi is duty-bound to tell inner city residents the truth, even in the run-up to a by-election. He must be sanctioned for his lies.
Lying to families who are desperately insecure about losing the roofs over the heads – who feel they are being forced into the gutter by soaring rates, water and electricity bills – is nauseatingly disgraceful.
Malusi Pinnochio Booi and his puppet masters should hang their heads in shame.
Ends…