Cape Town – In yet another tale of two cities, the cost of property in the Cape Town CBD has reached unprecedented levels, a new study has shown, as housing woes have worsened for some of the metro’s poorest residents.
The CBD is largely white, the poorest almost exclusively black African and coloured. In Woodstock, 80-year-old Kenneth Blaine and his family spent Monday night destitute after they were evicted from the home they had lived in for 43 years.
This while in Hout Bay residents yesterday protested the City's decision to use land for a depot instead of for affordable housing in the overcrowded and poor coloured part of the seaside area with some of South Africa's most expensive real estate, white-owned, alongside.
As "A Year in Review" by the Cape Town Central City Improvement District (CCID) - released yesterday - showed, new property developments in the City were worth in excess of R950 million, and 39 new developments worth in excess of R13.5 billion were either recently completed, under construction or in the pipeline, housing activists disrupted an auction of Blaine's house.
Activist group Reclaim the City's Woodstock spokesperson, Faghmeeda Ling, said the City had told the family only on Monday that the house was on the auction list.
“On Monday afternoon the sheriff arrived at 29 Plein Street in Woodstock and moved Uncle Kenny Blaine, his family, and all their belongings on to the street.
"Kenny had lived in the house for over 40 years. Reclaim the City members, many of whom have themselves been evicted, sat with him on the pavement the whole night to keep him company and help him protect his few belongings from thieves,” said Ling.
According to the CCID report, property in the Central City had soared by nearly 40%, from R30.628bn in 2016/17 to R42.860bn in 2018/19.
An additional six new developments worth in excess of R968m have been reported this year thus far, report researcher and economic research analyst Sandra Gordon found.
Blaine said yesterday that the house's deed was in his deceased mother's name, and that he has been trying to take ownership of the property since 1981. The family said the rent payments
were up to date.
“It is really sad that the City
does not care about poor people.
We sat with Uncle Kenny the whole
night on Monday, we tried to go to
homes but they said they were full.
"If the City of Cape Town wishes to
evict Uncle Kenny then they must
ensure he will not be made homeless
and if necessary provide him with
emergency housing. Nobody should
be sent to a relocation camp,” Ling
said.
City spokesperson Luthando
Tyhalibongo said the City had
been engaging with the occupants
since 2014 and had followed due
processes.
“A notice was served on the
occupants in July 2019.
Numerous
extensions were granted to the
occupants since 2014 to vacate the
property and they were granted
adequate time to find alternative
accommodation.
The family has
today reoccupied the property,
illegally. The City is reviewing its
position,” he said.
Cape Town mayor Dan Plato, in
responding to a question on the high
cost of property in the CBD, taking
into consideration most locals can’t
afford to buy property in the CBD,
as well as responding to a request
for comment on how this impacts
affordable development in the CBD,
said: “In the challenging economic
times being experienced across South
Africa, we have managed to retain
the lowest unemployment levels in
the country.
"The value of property is
one of the indications of the health
of an economy, and with a healthy
economy more job opportunities are
created for our residents.
“In addition to our housing
policy that aims to link communities
with transport and business hubs, we
also have a number of low-cost and
social housing programmes in and
close to the city to make sure that we
foster an inclusive society that can
benefit from our growing economy.”