The City of Cape Town should by 2021
have a draft of an inclusionary housing policy for the working class, in what
Human Settlements Mayoral Committee Member Malusi Booi said would ‘potentially
facilitate and advance greater spatial equality’.
On Sunday 10 November 2019, Booi announced plans for the proposed
inclusionary housing policy, including a feasibility analysis, which he
described as “a policy (which) would look at enabling and encouraging more
affordable well-located accommodation over the long term, close to transport,
employment and economic hubs”.
Booi announced a feasibility analysis scheduled for January-June 2020,
which will look at development cost implications, levels of affordable housing
contributions and target-group income. The analysis, he said, “will primarily
inform such a draft policy”. Ultimately, the inclusionary housing policy would
give direction to “private sector partners for the future inclusion of
affordable housing in their developments where feasible”.
The policy in its draft form is expected between July 2020 and June 2021
— 2021 of course, is a local government election year for South Africa. Booi
says the policy is an attempt to “advance greater spatial equality and assist
in meeting the accommodation needs of households of workers such as our
teachers and nurses, social workers, police officers and young professionals”.
But does this mean that while the process between the development and
implementation of the policy is underway, developments can go ahead without
including any form of inclusionary housing?
“Unfortunately, currently there is nothing we can impose on them [the
developments], but we are looking at other means” — which include consultations
with developers on potential affordable housing.
However, inclusionary housing policy is not new. In 2018, former Mayco
member for Transport and Urban Development Brett Herron wrote in the Cape Argus: “I want to reiterate that the concept
document is a starting point for engagement on how the City could implement
inclusionary housing in Cape Town.”
Booi said of this policy then that “by its very nature it has to have
consultation processes” and said enough consultation needed to occur between
September 2018 and now — including consultation with the City’s Human
Settlements Portfolio Committee.
When asked about the updates to the social housing developments closer
to the CBD, Booi said of Pine Road in Woodstock and the Salt River Market site,
“we’re making great progress” and said more sites would be discussed for
housing.
He also sought to dispute “narratives” that the City of Cape Town
cancelled other sites proposed for social and affordable housing, including the
Fruit & Veg City site in Roeland Street in the CBD. Booi said this was not
true and explained the issues were with grouping the sites together, but now
these sites would be separated and redeveloped.
Booi denied there were any external pressures placed on the City to
provide affordable housing within the central city.
Activist groups such as Reclaim The City and its sister organisation,
Ndifuna Ukwazi, have long stated that housing in the city is unaffordable, with
high rates on new properties. These groups have campaigned extensively for new
property developments to have affordable housing units within their properties
in the CBD and surrounding areas.
This culminated in Ndifuna Ukwazi launching litigation at the Western Cape High Court “to clarify the powers and obligations of the City of Cape Town to advance spatial justice through the provision of affordable housing when it grants private land development applications.” https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2019-11-11-cape-town-cbd-a-step-closer-to-affordable-housing/
