In their plight to stop the planned social housing development on their doorstep, more than 1 400 residents from Ruwari, Northpine and Protea Heights have signed individual petitions to Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.
Spokesperson for the Brackenfell Ratepayers Association (BRPA) Riaan de Lange says these residents – all of whom feel they will be negatively affected by the development – insists the mayor meet with them to gain insight into their objections. “We want him to come and meet our community to hear our story and listen to the grievances of the ratepayers,” he told TygerBurger last week.
By giving the green light to this development in November last year, De Lange argues the City reneged on its own decisions made in 2019, when Subcouncil 2 did not approve the development on condition that the infrastructure first be upgraded. “Now, they are sweeping that decision under the carpet, while dismissing our objections about sewage, roads and water systems not being up to standard. Not to mention the devaluation of our property, or a lack of schools.”
De Lange says the City is ignorant to te devastating effect the massive low-cost housing development will have on the property values in the neighbouring suburbs.
“They refer to ‘studies’ done to prove that property values wont be affected, but at the same time won’t provide us with the report of the outcome of these studies, when we requested it. They don’t know what they are talking about.”
Game changer for families
The planned development in Affodil Street forms part of the Mayoral Priority Programme for accelerated land release for affordable housing, and will consist of 115 rental social housing units on three storeys, 30 gap housing units, and retail space. In his address to council in November Hill-Lewis said this would be a game changer for families in need of well-located affordable rental housing.
“Bit by bit, property by property, we are changing the affordable housing picture in Cape Town . . . take a step back and look at the full scale of our affordable housing pipeline, and you will see that housing in our city is undergoing a transformation”, he said.
However, residents hold firm that their objections were wholly ignored.
An estate agent in Brackenfell for 21 years, Petro Smallbones says she has been battling to sell houses in Ruwari since the first talks about developing this erf for social housing in 2019. At that time the Housing Tribunal upheld the residents’ objections and decided against the development. Smallbones says residents really thought the fight was over and done with, which makes the recent decision all the more curious.
“People who have lived in the tranquil neighbourhood for many years now want to sell their homes, but buyers are not interested in investing in properties next to social housing projects no matter what promises the City makes to manage it well,” she told TygerBurger.
According to City documents, empirical studies done concluded that social housing had no impact on property values in surrounding neighbourhoods.
Furthermore, it stated that the Western Cape Education Department is responsible for the provision of public schools, and that the shortfall thereof in the Brackenfell area will be addressed by the expansion of the existing schools over the next three to five years. It was also stated that the bulk infrastructure capacity in the area was sufficient to carry the extra load of the development.
In December more than 100 affected residents attended a public meeting next to the site to add their names to the growing list of petitions. At the meeting Carlo Agostini remarked that ratepayers are not in essence apposed against developement, but that development has to be the right type for the area.
“This will directly affect the way we live. As rate payers we should be heard. We too are real people with real concerns,” he said. De Lange says the BRPA had not yet received feedback from the Mayor’s office in reaction to the petitions. TygerBurger reached out to the Mayor’s office and is awaiting a response.
