STATEMENT BY BRETT HERRON, GOOD MEMBER OF THE WESTERN CAPE PROVINCIAL PARLIAMENT AND SECRETARY-GENERAL
28 AUGUST 2020
WHILE GOVERNMENT LACKS THE COURAGE TO CREATE INCLUSIONARY HOUSING PRIVATE DEVELOPERS ARE STEPPING UP
I welcome the inclusion, by the developer, of affordable housing within the recently approved Harbour Arch development.
More than one in 10 of every units will be affordable, according to the announcement of the developer.
This is a good start and welcome progress. In 2017 and 2018, my team, together with several external partners, worked to draft the City of Cape Town’s Inclusionary Housing Policy. This draft was completed in 2018 and approved for public comment. It has however never seen the light of day.
Inclusionary housing, which is affordable housing embedded within large commercial developments such as Harbour Arch, will begin to bring Cape Town developments in line with approaches in Europe and the Americas, where similar rent-controlled apartments ensure that more working class families can afford to live closer to where they work.
Inner city affordable housing is an important step that all spheres of government, and developers, must take to redress the past forced eviction and separation of poor, largely coloured and black families, from well-located parts of South Africa towns and cities.
The voluntary inclusion of affordable rental housing in this luxurious development shows private developers willing to step up while government lacks the courage to lead.
Ends