Cape Town - It’s D-Day for the contentious Tafelberg site in Sea Point as the provincial cabinet is expected to decide on Wednesday whether it would proceed with the sale of the property, or if it would be used for so-called affordable housing.
Reclaim the City, which had protested against the sale of the land, said its members and supporters would embark on a 48-hour long occupation and picket at the Red House, close to the provincial legislature where the decision-makers would gather.
The Tafelberg property was sold to the Phyllis Jowell Jewish Day School in Camps Bay for R135million, but the sale was halted after Reclaim the City, which was supported by Ndifuna Ukwazi, petitioned the Western Cape High Court to intervene.
As per the court’s orders, the provincial Department of Transport and Public Works (DTPW) published the financial model for public comment, on November 18. The public participation process concluded a month ago.
“The Tafelberg site in Sea Point – a prime parcel of public land – was sold to a private buyer in late 2015. Since February 2016, Reclaim the City have protested the stripping of our public assets and demanded that the site be reserved for affordable housing development,” said Ntombi Sambu, a spokesperson for the campaign.
“Two rounds of public participation have followed, during which Cape Town residents demonstrated their overwhelming support for desegregation through affordable housing development in the inner-city and surrounds."
"By selling Tafelberg our government will continue a legacy of apartheid spatial planning, and a track record of buckling under private investors who have designs on our prime public land,” Sambu added.