GOOD Press Statement by Suzette Little
GOOD City of Cape Town Councillor & Caucus Chairperson
6 December 2024
The GOOD Party is concerned for the safety of Elsies River residents living in public housing.
Instead of repairing failing infrastructure, the City of Cape Town has essentially put a band aid on serious structural issue.
For years, residents have reported, crumbling cement, cracked landings and broken walls.
Recently a Doonside Court resident sent a mayday message to the City saying “stairs almost fell on this child while she was playing on stairs”.
But despite photographic evidence, all the City has done is place a steel plate over a crumbling frame.
There is no way these City-owned buildings would pass an inspection by a structural engineer (a basic requirement of the City’s own Building Development department).
The Mayor has boasted about Cape Town, by highlighting problem buildings belonging to other spheres of government. We ask Mayor Hill-Lewis to take a look closer to home and acknowledge his administration’s flaws.
Instead of pointing the finger, his own public housing units need to be declared problem buildings.
GOOD requests the urgent release of documents regarding all the City’s public housing, including certificates of occupation, health and safety certificates.
Ahead of the Manenberg Ward 30 by-election, the City’s human settlements Mayco member, Carl Pophaim, was seen conducting photo ops in the area.
Boasting about the City’s “recently launched public housing campaign which prioritises safety and maintenance at our residential units. The City is investing more than R1.2bn in maintenance and upgrades over the next few years.”
Do the residents of Elsies River need a by-election for their homes to receive the same attention?
As GOOD we call on the City to not wait for an inevitable disaster to happen.
We urge them to take proactive steps to avoid a tragedy.
Stop putting up steel plates and pretending the problem is fixed. Our resident’s safety should be top of mind.
Act now to ensure these buildings so our citizens have somewhere safe to call home.
Media Enquiries: media@forgood.org.za