Cape Town - The investigation into a piece of vacant land on the Foreshore sold to Growpoint Properties at a discounted rate “is coming”, mayor Dan Plato said. He said the outcome of the investigation would be announced soon.
“We are still busy with that. We closed our bosberaad (meeting) with a number of issues and among those that were discussed was the Site B probe,” Plato said.
“We made some decisions when we discussed that issue and will communicate all of that in due course,” he said.
In September last year, social housing advocacy group Ndifuna Ukwazi raised red flags after it obtained documents which appeared to implicate top City officials in auctioning off prime land in the CBD.
The City gave notice of an application by Growthpoint Properties to develop Site B, and the organisation noted it had asserted that it had the development rights to 46000m².
Ndifuna Ukwazi said this pointed to a significant loss of income for the City.
The organisation said that Growthpoint, a company with R122billion in assets, secured public land for a low price, as the land was valued at R140million, while it was sold to Growthpoint for R86.5m.
In November last year, former mayor Patricia de Lille ordered a forensic investigation into the auction of prime City property on the Foreshore that was severely undervalued.
De Lille said at the time that she was concerned that the City could run the risk of an audit query from the auditor-general, or someone reporting them to the public protector.
Three months later, the City had not released any new information on its probe.
The ANC’s caucus leader in the City, Xolani Sotashe, accused the City of dragging its feet: “We have questioned the City of Cape Town on its slow response to this and at the end of the day it's about integration. They will never support this and it doesn't exist in their vocabulary.”
Ndifuna Ukwazi co-director Jared Rossouw said the forensic investigation must be swift, the results must be made public, and officials and politicians responsible must be held accountable.
“Both the province and the City of Cape Town have a history of selling prime property for cash.
“The sale of good public land is unacceptable, considering the state's obligation to redress spatial apartheid and advance the right to housing.
“When this is absolutely impossible and land is sold, the city must secure a fair market value.
“On Site B, the City has, in effect, given a gift of our best land at a discount price to one of the wealthiest companies on the JSE,” Rossouw said.
@MarvinCharles17