Cape Town - The City of Cape Town City caucus has decided to pass the groundbreaking plan for affordable housing to be built at the Salt River Market Site. The plans were passed in the last council meeting of the year on Thursday.
Councilor Dave Bryant said: “This government is committed to bringing people closer to the city Centre.”
After a robust session full of heckling and mud-slinging the city caucus successfully passed the project.
“This project will be known as one of a kind in our country. We reject the view that we blocked the project,” councillor Anthony Moses said.
In mayor Dan Plato’s opening speech he said: “Council also has the opportunity today to ratify the amendments made with regard to the Salt River Social Housing project, which will see even more social housing opportunities than the previous proposal.”
The city previously received pressure and criticism for shelving the Salt River Market development back in October. The development, which would be seen as groundbreaking because it included social housing, was sent back by the council.
Initially, Communicare proposed to buy the 1.7hectares of land, valued at R144million, for R1.8m to build a R715m high-rise building.
The recommendations for the development of social housing in Salt River were sent back to the portfolio committee to investigate.
This unleashed the ire of advocacy groups who accused the city of blocking the project.
Former mayoral committee member for transport and urban development Brett Herron resigned as a result of the plans being shelved.
Social housing advocacy group Reclaim the City supporters were also present in the full council meeting: “If councillors vote to dispose this land it will unlock other public pieces of land that lies underutilized and vacant. This has been our struggle and we shall take the fight for affordable housing forward & we say nothing about us without us,” said Reclaim the City's Nkosikhona Swaartbooi.