Cape Town - Housing activist organisation Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU) has lamented the fact that the City of Cape Town has not implemented its inclusionary housing policy, allegedly more than two years after its deadline.
This comes as detectives from the police’s Commercial Crime Investigation Unit conducted a raid at City human settlements Mayco member Malusi Booi’s offices on Wednesday night and confiscated electronic equipment and documents.
Police spokesperson Andrè Traut said the search was part of an investigation into alleged fraud and corruption at the Civic Centre offices.
NU said that on November 10, 2019, it was publicly committed that an inclusionary housing policy would be implemented by June 2021.
More than three years later, NU said the City was still without a policy.
“Support for an inclusionary housing policy for the City of Cape Town has come from civil society and from property developers, who are asking for a formal framework from which to implement inclusionary housing into their developments.
“However, the City of Cape Town has been silent on the development of the policy since announcing it in 2019,” NU said.
The organisation said that the Western Cape government on Friday, November 4, 2022, passed an Inclusionary Housing Policy Framework paving the way for the City to follow, while Stellenbosch Municipality earlier this month launched their draft Inclusionary Housing Policy for comment.
“The City of Johannesburg enacted their Inclusionary Housing Policy in 2019,” NU said.
The City said Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has reviewed the policy work done to date and has assigned officials to finalise the most feasible policy for Cape Town.
"The City’s policy must be capable of enabling a meaningful number of affordable housing units but, importantly, must not bureaucratise or compromise the viability of housing development as a whole in the City.
"The City’s Land Release for Affordable Housing Priority Programme continues to champion various reforms for more affordable housing, including faster municipal land release, title deed transfers, and support for micro-developers."
Cape Times