Cape Town - The City of Cape Town council has adopted a recommendation to commence the public participation process regarding the proposed release of two properties in Woodstock and Salt River for social housing.
The New Market Street site in Woodstock is expected to yield 365 mixed market units and 165 social housing units, while the Pickwick site in Salt River would offer 600 social housing units.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said the City has more than 6 500 social housing units in the pipeline across 50 land parcels citywide, including 2 000 social housing units in the central city area, and a further 2 500 opportunities – either under construction phase or close to it – along the Voortrekker Road Corridor and near important economic nodes.
Human Settlement mayco member, Malusi Booi said the public participation process would commence next month.
ACDP councillor Mongezi Mabungani said the Salt River proposed project had been wallowing in the council’s stagnant bureaucracy for the last two financial years. He urged the City to speed up the remaining requirements to get this development under way soon.
“While the ACDP appreciates that social housing is a complex housing model, we do not accept the excuse by councillor Malusi Booi, mayco member for human settlements, that it is the heavy statutory environment that has caused the delay.
“Only one of 11 social housing projects announced five years ago in Cape Town has been completed. This is unacceptable. There are surely ways for the processes to be actioned concurrently. There are about 6 500 other social housing units planned across 50 land parcels and a way must be found for processes to be speeded up,” he said.
Mabungani said the party welcomed the effort to provide housing that would restore the dignity of the people and create a healthy environment to live in.
However, Good party councillor, Shireen August said redoing the consultation would be a grievous mistake, a waste of public money, and re-engaging efforts already explored.
“The findings of the consultation process and feasibility studies remain public information to this day and yet, this council, under a new administration is calling for the duplication of a process that already took place, was budgeted for and the findings shelved like all the meaningful research and development prospects of the time that would have seen this City become a service delivery giant for the poorest residents in Cape Town,” she said.
August said the need for spatial integration was dire and inner-city social housing should be built as a matter of urgency. She called on the City to utilise the findings of the consultation she said was already conducted.
Three political parties, the EFF, PAC, and the ANC voted against this sale of land.