Steve Kretzmann

Two massive water-hungry and energy-hungry data centres are proposed next to the airport

An application that paves the way for two new data centres totalling more than 120,000 square metres in Cape Town’s airport industrial area has been approved by the Municipal Planning Tribunal.… Read more

Tenants and objectors are concerned about how required heritage report was ignored in adjacent massive River Club development

The provincial government plans to allow five-storey buildings and more than 1,300 housing units to be built within the Oude Molen Eco-Village alongside the Black River, but their required Heritage Impact Assessment has been turned down.… Read more

With a backlog of 600,000 housing units and the state only providing 2,500 a year, the City has to incentivise the private sector to step in

• The City of Cape Town has a huge housing backlog and a legacy of apartheid spatial planning.

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.… Read more

The City’s auctioning of 53 parcels of land without any requirements for the provision of social or affordable housing is not aligned to the City’s affordable housing commitments, states the Development Action Group.

In a statement released on 25 Feb, the Development Action Group (DAG) noted the High Court’s dismissal of applications seeking to postpone the City auction.… Read more

Short-term letting through various platforms, including Airbnb, locks up 70% of residential units in the central city

There is a severe shortage of rental stock for local residents in Cape Town’s inner city, and what is available is priced beyond the reach of the majority of Capetonians.… Read more

Scientists show pollution of the estuary is not sufficiently diluted, but persists in the environment

Sewage pollution is believed to be causing the persistent presence of drugs such as paracetamol and antibiotics in the ecologically important Zandvlei Estuary at Muizenberg, Cape Town.… Read more

Subsidies on water, sanitation, and refuse charges for indigent households and homes caring for vulnerable people have not necessarily been automatically applied since 1 July

• Homes catering for the disabled are supposed to benefit from rates rebates and service charge subsidies under the City’s new 2025/26 budget.