- Residents of Ruwari, Protea Heights, and Northpine are opposing the City of Cape Town’s plan to build a social housing development in their area.
- They fear the high-density project will devalue their properties, worsen traffic congestion, and strain already inadequate infrastructure.
- The City argues the development is essential for affordable housing and urban densification, but the community demands more transparency and alternative solutions.
Residents of Ruwari are expressing frustration, feeling that their dreams are being stolen by the City of Cape Town, whose development plans are encroaching on their way of living.
The City is planning to develop a low-cost and social housing scheme on the front porch of this peaceful, upper-middle-class neighbourhood, a move that has sparked strong opposition.
Around 100 residents from Ruwari, Protea Heights, and Northpine gathered at a public meeting near the proposed site last week to add their names to a growing list of petitions against the project. The meeting was organised by the Brackenfell Ratepayers Association, which has been actively lobbying against the high-density housing proposal since it was announced by Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis in November. The land in question, located on Affodil Street near the KFC fast food outlet, is slated for 115 social housing units, and 30 GAP houses that sells in the region of R300 000.
Residents fear that their property values will be obliterated by the rows of three-storey social-housing flats. The project is expected to accommodate up to 600 people, or more, changing the character of the quiet neighbourhood. Homes in Ruwari average between two and three million rand, and according to local estate agents property values have already plummeted since the announcement. Formal objections from ratepayers against the transfer of the land for the proposed plans were rejected following a recommendation by the mayor, who has been outspoken about the City’s strategy to increase density, with a focus on affordable housing. Residents however, argue that infrastructure are completely inadequate to support such a high-density development.
Resident, Mbongweni NSP (stet), says Ruwari currently suffer two to three major pipe bursts per week, along with traffic congestion in Affodil Street.
“How bad will it be when the development arrives? People worked hard to buy their homes here, and pay high rates to live the lifestyle they bought into, now they are taking it away from us,” she said. According to Hanene Lybrand Affodil Street is already almost inaccessible due to the dozens of cars illegally parked in the narrow street. “This development will bring more cars and taxis that will undoubtedly rank illegally, an issue not adequately policed in Brackenfell.”
Another resident who wishes not to be named says the plan is nothing but ridiculous. “We had to get big bonds at banks to pay back over 20 to 30 years to buy in the area. We paid millions for our dream houses and faithfully paid our rates and taxes. Is this what we get in return? We worked hard for what we have here. Our children grew up here and our homes are our legacy. The City is pulling the carpet out from underneath our feet.” When requesting the relevant reports drawn up by the City with regard to the land’s feasibility, the ratepayers association was met with resistance when the City denied them access to the documents. “These documents should be in the public domain. What do they have to hide,” asks Riaan du Preez.
At the public meeting Carlo Agostini remarked that the community is not against development in itself, but it has to be the right type of development for the area. “Should the City be allowed to get away with this, it will affect the way everyone in Brackenfell lives. There are a lot of public open spaces and parks in Brackenfell – land the City can allocate for low-cost housing. As ratepayers we should have a voice. We too are real people, with real concerns. The city claims that low-cost housing will not affect property values, but it will.”
Urban sprawl
But mayor Hill-Lewis holds firm in his housing policy. “Cape Town is increasingly a very desirable place to live for new residents across the income spectrum, from across the country… The paucity of reasonably affordable accommodation means many people who have decent jobs are forced to live in shacks because there is nothing available on the market for their income level. At the other side of the spectrum, there is enormous interest from South Africans of means to come and live in Cape Town’s finest neighbourhoods,” he wrote in a letter to the Financial Mail, responding to an article “Troubling developments in the Mother City”, on 28 November.
He says Cape Town faces a second and connected problem of urban sprawl.
“Every new extension of the city’s urban boundaries means new pipelines, cables, roads and public spaces which need to be built and maintained. This is a one-way road to eventual bankruptcy for the City. It is not feasible to keep expanding outwards. The city must densify.”
