Cape Town - Three groups of Hout Bay residents are divided on the way forward for redevelopment after a fire ravaged Imizamo Yethu earlier this year.
One group of Imizamo Yethu residents argues the process of super-blocking adopted by the City of Cape Town will displace them and won’t result in better housing.
A second group, residents of formal homes near to Imizamo Yethu, oppose the City expanding housing opportunities on to land that is part of the Table Mountain heritage site demarcated by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco).
A third grouping backs the City’s plans to develop a housing project on the site and push ahead with super-blocking.
The three hectares of veld that is an enclave of Table Mountain separates Hughenden Estate from a section of Imizamo Yethu.
The Hout Bay Residents Forum, a newly established group, claims city mayor Patricia de Lille is trying to please community leaders in Imizamo Yethu by letting them expand on to this land.
The forum’s Brett Nussey claims the council is also considering buying some properties in Hughenden, and surrounding areas, to further extend Imizamo Yethu.
He said a report they had commissioned showed that the land in question is not suitable for housing because it is a 30-degree slope with rocky terrain on a natural heritage site.
Nussey said when Imizamo Yethu was declared a disaster area in April after the fire, De Lille was given the power to override some by-laws, but the mayor had since overstepped the line by trying to purchase properties and tracts of land at the Hughenden estate.
The forum’s Melissa Risi said: “Our Cape Floral Kingdom is under threat by (a) rogue mayor. In an attempt to appease leaders in Imizamo Yethu, (she) has earmarked Erf 2286, which is a world heritage site on the Table Mountain National Park."
“After being made aware of this, in a meeting with residents in her chambers on the March 11, mayor De Lille said she was unaware of the status of the land and the decision to break an international treaty. The residents, however, found this to be a vague reply.”
The forum suspects the City is behind offers to buy some of the homes in Hughenden, which were apparently made via a www.property.co.za agent on behalf of a developer called “McGuyver”, with whom the forum plans to meet.
Helen Hoekstra, sales manager at www.property.co.za, said this was untrue and that the company reserved the right to keep the identities of their clients confidential.
However, on Thursday, the City admitted “exploring the possibility of buying privately owned properties (in Hughenden) to increase the housing opportunities in Imizamo Yethu”.
Lungisa Bezile, an Imizamo Yethu community leader who is pro-super-blocking, said the forum’s opposition amounted to a case of “Not in my backyard”. He said that Hughenden residents, “mostly white, don’t want us in their backyard; they’re just using the Umesco demarcation as a ruse”.
Bezile accused the opposing faction in Imizamo Yethu of being in cahoots with the “white people of Hughenden” to delay expansion of the community.
He said the City would definitely build houses on the land, but the rival faction claims the City isn’t fully committed to building houses for Imizamo Yethu residents.
Rival community leader Clifford Nogwava said the super-blocking process would displace thousands of residents who had lived in Imizamo Yethu for more than 25 years.
The process would see the City rebuilding equal-sized shacks, a one-size-fits-all option that would not be a happy solution for people with big families.
“Why is the City still building shacks in 2017? We’ve been watching our shacks burn for over 25 years, yet the City wants to build more. This shows that the City isn’t really committed to building houses for the people,” he said.
Nogwava said residents wanted to know the timelines - how long the shacks would be there - but the council had failed to respond and this had led to Tuesday’s protest at the civic centre. Brett Herron, Mayco member for transport and urban development, said the residential densities in Imizamo Yethu were greater than those in many other areas in the Cape Town metro.
“(This affects) residents’ quality of life and the provision of basic services. However, previous applications for high-rise residential blocks were opposed by residents’ associations - including High Court litigation - and so more land space is required to provide housing opportunities,” Herron said.
In addition to the land purchases, the City, together with SANParks, had identified a small pocket of land, adjacent to Imizamo Yethu, of approximately 3ha in size, he said - a reference to the Unesco site.
Herron said the City was investigating whether this site was suitable for housing.
“The 3ha land parcel is situated on an oddly shaped portion of land extending in among an existing residential area - thus, the 3ha land parcel is already surrounded by residential properties,” he said.
“The entire Table Mountain National Park, stretching from the north of Cape Town down the Cape Peninsula to the Cape of Good Hope, measures more than 22100ha and is a Unesco site with World Heritage Status. The area that the City is investigating for the provision of housing opportunities represents 0.01% - 3ha of the 22100 - of the national park.”
Roni Amelan, Unesco spokesman, said the organisation was aware the City might implement projects in or near the World Heritage site of Cape Floral Region Protected Areas.
“We also know the municipality has written to NGOs stating its commitment to preserve the site, in keeping with South Africa’s undertaking when it asked the World Heritage Committee to inscribe the property on the World Heritage List,” he said.