More than 50 municipal land parcels across the city are being sold to the highest bidder while locals suffer a housing availability crisis
The City’s plan to auction the iconic turtle-shaped Good Hope Centre along with other parcels of municipal land across the city on 26 February was met with protests, legal challenges, and a request for postponement from the SA Human Rights Commission.
Urgent legal challenges to the auction by a loose coalition of organisations and the GOOD political party, were on Tuesday (24 Feb) dismissed by the High Court, according to a City statement.
The plan to auction off the Good Hope Centre, which has not hosted public events for years and was for some time rented by a film company, was first announced in November last year.
Then on 16 February, the City announced the date for the auction, 26 February, along with 52 other residential, commercial, and industrial sites.
The residential sites are in Kraaifontein, Westridge, Atlantis, Durbanville, Goodwood, Eerste River, Coniston Park, Bridgetown, Athlone, Maitland, and Vredehoek.
“This upcoming auction is a sterling opportunity for private-sector investment across the metro, with each site being carefully packaged to attract capable investors,” stated the City’s 16 February press release.
Releasing of municipal land to the private sector at reduced prices on condition the purchasers build social or affordable housing is one of the most effective ways of leveraging housing for low and middle income residents (see this story). But is not a precondition of any of the planned sales.
As a result, a broad coalition of community organisations, indigenous and traditional councils, political parties, and civic movements, from across a wide spectrum of civil society entities across the country, is opposing the auction of public land.
In a press statement this week, the coalition described the sale as a “slap in the face” to the poor and landless.
The coalition accuses the City of prioritising “wealthy private developers” above the constitutional right to housing.
“Instead of using this land to address our massive housing backlog and provide social amenities, the City is selling it off to the highest bidder.”
Their press release on 23 February states affected communities were not properly informed of the sales, in violation of the Municipal Finance Management Act and municipal asset transfer regulations.
The press released called for “thousands” to protest the auction outside the Good Hope Centre on 24 February. A protest was held but only about 50 people attended.
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) met mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis on 20 February to try get them to postpone the auction “in the interests of cooperative governance and constitutional compliance”, according to their press release on Monday 23 February.
“The Commission has received concerns from various interest groups and social movements regarding the potentially adverse human rights implications of the proposed disposal,” stated the SAHRC.
“Stakeholders and concerned parties have raised concerns that the permanent alienation of public land may entrench spatial injustice and peripheral settlement patterns for marginalised communities. These stakeholders argue that while revenue generation is necessary for municipal service delivery, the sale of public land – in the context of homelessness, inadequate access to shelter, land hunger, and historical injustice related to land dispossession, displacement and gentrification – should always be treated as a last resort.”
The SAHRC said the City was relying on public participation processes and in-principle approvals that took place between 2019 and 2022, much of which was during or just after the covid pandemic. “The Commission views these processes as no longer temporally relevant.”
The SAHRC stated that during their meeting on 20 February the Mayor said the City wants the portions of land to be used for social or affordable housing projects. But this is not a condition of sale attached to the land. “The Commission is therefore unsure how the City’s stated intentions will be realised without enforceable legal conditions.”
“The Commission believes that the balance of convenience favouring the public interest supports a temporary postponement to allow for a comprehensive review of the disposal process,” stated their press release.
However, in a statement released late on 24 February, the City welcomed the High Court’s dismissal of challenges against the land auction and stated the auction would go ahead.
“We’ve said from the start that our land release process is lawful and transparent, and we are glad that the court has seen through these meritless applications. A total of four have now either been struck off the roll or dismissed with costs,” stated mayco member for economic growth, James Vos.