Cape Town - Bo-Kaap ward councillor Brandon Golding has given a commitment to respond to disgruntled residents’ demands by Thursday.
The community has been going on the rampage since last week to voice their dissent with the gentrification of the Bo-Kaap and its history, and the high increases in municipal services.
In a statement, the Bo-Kaap Civic and Ratepayers’ Association said permission had been given for huge developments in their area. “Trucks are causing damage to roads (and) we have no idea what kind of damage is being done to walls of old homes. These apartments are going to have high occupancy by affluent people. There will be increased traffic and an increase in rates.
“The City also plans to increase water and electricity by huge percentages. We cannot afford the hikes, as so many of our community are already on the poverty line. We need to protect our heritage, the place of birth of Islam in the Cape,” it said.
Aboubaker Keraan, 65, cannot cope with the increasing costs of living in his home. Video: Sisonke Mlamla/Cape Argus
Resident Gamidah Jacobs said they were fighting for the area to be declared a World Heritage Site, to prevent further property development in the area.
“These sold properties result in the increase of our rates; our taxes are also going up Foreigners buy our houses and change it to what we don’t want to see in this area,” she said.
Aboubaker Keraan, a 65-year-old man living with his family of five, said: “We are protesting almost every day, but no one in the City council is hearing our cry. I do not know whether they want us to be violent for them to consider our cry? However, I am hoping this won’t go to that point of violence.
“We cannot afford the rates increases which they want us to pay. The municipality is failing us,” he said.
Golding said the City, on a continuous basis, considers and identifies immovable property assets no longer required for municipal purposes. “These properties are disposed of and the process is governed by the Municipal Finance Management Act and the Municipal Asset Transfer Regulations.
“Some of the steps include confirmation that the asset is no longer required to provide municipal services and authorisation for the sale by the council after considering the comments obtained from the public through a public advertising process,” he said.
The most recent sale through a public auction by the property management department in the Bo-Kaap was conducted in June 2016 for Erf 142717 that was 140m2 in extent. The zoning is single residential and the price was market-related. The purchaser was a Ms Goliath from the Bo-Kaap, Golding said.
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