Housing activists taking the Tafelberg social housing case to Constitutional Court

Housing activists are taking the Tafelberg social housing case to the Constitutional Court.

In April, the supreme court of appeal ruled in favour of the Western Cape Government and the City of Cape Town that they have no obligation to build homes in the inner city, but Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU) & Reclaim The City say the SCA erred in its ruling.

COURTESY: NU

The activists argue that their case is about their province and municipalities failure to redress spatial apartheid within the CBD.

“NU’s application for leave to appeal points out, among other things, that the SCA mis-characterised the nature of the case. This is reflected in the SCA asking the wrong question of whether there is a right to social housing in a specific location instead of asking  whether the province and the City have taken reasonable measures to  redress spatial apartheid in central Cape Town,” NU said on Thursday.

“The province and City, in  opposing our application for leave to appeal, continue to minimise the  significance of central Cape Town, which is a point of origin in our  shameful colonial and apartheid history," said Disha Govender, Ndifuna Ukwazi Law Centre head

Head of Political Organising at Ndifuna Ukwazi, Buhle Booi, said: ‘’We call on every member of society to join us to ask Premier Alan Winde to acknowledge the long and painful history that followed the enactment of the Native Land Act. We are calling on him to renew his commitment to addressing the remnants of that history, which continues to influence the lives of many people of colour who are languishing in poverty on the peripheries.’’

‘’We are calling on Premier Alan Winde to release the Tafelberg site, which offers an opportunity to bring communities together to start mending the deep divides in our city. Our appeal is driven by a deep commitment to spatial justice and the need for social integration in Cape Town. We call on Premier Alan Winde to release the Tafelberg site to mend these divides of our history,’’ added Booi.

Western Cape Premier, Alan Winde says he is deeply disappointed by this decision. He says this move threatens to unnecessarily delay the development of the site amongst others things, affordable housing.

‘’Let’s sit around the table and come to an agreement that we need to find affordable inner city accommodation. We need to get them on board to try and develop what we try and achieve together instead of holding up the process by going back to court.’’

 

Done by: Mitchum George