Cape Town – Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has welcomed the Western Cape High Court’s decision to review and set aside the sale of the Tafelberg property in Sea Point.
Judgement was handed down on Monday.
The Western Cape government made the decision to sell the site to the Phyllis Jowell Jewish Day School for R135-million about five years ago, but social housing activists challenged the sale, arguing that the land must be earmarked for affordable housing opportunities.
Minister Sisulu said it would now be possible for the Social Housing and Regulatory Authority, to build units for qualifying beneficiaries while redressing spatial apartheid in central Cape Town.
Sisulu also said she had hopes that all affected parties would respect and abide by the court’s ruling and put people’s needs first. She added that the focus should be on restoring people’s dignity through the provision of decent and affordable accommodation.
“We remain committed to respond to the housing needs of our people. This will only be achieved if we have access to well-located land parcels and spheres of government avail such land for human settlement development,” said Ministry spokesperson Yonela Diko.
Sisulu said that the City of Cape Town was one of the metros with the highest housing backlog and now the availability of this property allowed the ministry to improve the backlog.
She added that government has set itself a target to deliver 30,ooo social housing units in its several provinces over the next few years.
