Africa-Press – South-Africa. Housing activists are fuming over the City of Cape Town’s decision to lease out the well-located Green Point Bowling Green site for a mere R3 000 per month.
Activists have slammed the City’s decision, saying it was a missed opportunity for the site to be used for affordable housing.
According to the municipality, the property has been leased to a crèche as well as bowling and bridge clubs, for three years, with a six-month cancellation clause.
The organiser for the lobby group Ndifuna Ukwazi, Buhle Booi, said it was a golden opportunity that could have generated municipal revenue for the City.
“If the City followed through on its commitment to developing the site as planned, it would not only provide desperately needed well-located, affordable housing, but it would also generate additional municipal revenue in the form of rates, and improve the financial and environmental sustainability of the City, by increasing densification,” he said.
It’s not the first time the City has been criticised for leasing well-located land for a paltry sum.
In 2020, the City announced its intention to lease Rondebosch Golf Club for a mere R1 000.
The City recommended a rental of R1 058 a year, including 15% VAT, and the lease would be for two years and 11 months.
According to the City, the Green Point Bowling Green site’s lease has ended, and the council has advertised its intention to renew the lease agreement for two years and 11 months.
The recommendation is currently out for public comment.
Jonty Cogger, Ndifuna Ukwazi’s attorney, said public land should be used for public benefit.
“The City spent a considerable amount of money getting consultants to develop plans for the site to be developed for mixed-use housing, and yet these plans have been gathering dust in a filing cabinet in the Civic Centre for several years now,” he said.
The City confirmed a portion of the property is already earmarked for mixed-use development, including affordable housing, as part of the City’s Land Release for Affordable Housing Priority Programme.
It said:
The City added that it wasn’t about a choice between affordable housing or other community uses.
“The City plans to do both on this property,” it said.
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