Good Hope Centre auctioned for R135 million despite public outcry

Cape Town's iconic Good Hope Centre went under the hammer on Thursday despite recent protests, with the City of Cape Town's appointed service provider, the Claremart Group which sold the property for R135 million.

While the property has been sold, the City will likely continue to face further challenges after the ANC Caucus in Parliament announced that they are resolved to meet with the National Minister of Human Settlements in seeking a possible intergovernmental dispute declaration regarding this matter.

The sale follows the 2025 sale of another iconic property in Cape Town, that of the Golden Acre shopping centre which was sold to Putirex (Pty) Ltd for R781 million, a deal approved by the Competition Commission. The sale, covering over 55,000 square metres of retail and office space, includes plans to modernize the centre and convert its tower into residential units.

ANC Chief Whip, Mdumiseni Ntuli, said that their battle to stop the DA-led City of Cape Town from selling public land to foreigners, land that could otherwise have been used for housing and land redistribution, will continue.

“While the housing waiting list stands at over 400,000, the City continues to sell municipal land which could be used for both social and affordable housing, to the highest bidder.

“To make matters worse, the City has invited foreign nationals, both individuals and companies, to participate in the auction. This will not only dispose of strategic government land and buildings to foreigners, but given the strength of various foreign currencies, totally outprice South African buyers,” Ntuli said.

“This will result in property prices in Cape Town escalating even more, making land and housing simply unaffordable to the vast majority of citizens."

Ntuli said that the Municipal Finance Management Act stipulates that municipal land and buildings cannot be sold if needed for the provision of minimum basic services.

“Civil society groups have rejected the auction. The Human Rights Commission called on the City to suspend the auction, but it was ignored. As the ANC, we will focus on the amendment of the Municipal Finance Management Act to ensure that housing is included in the definition of basic services.

“We have also resolved to meet with the National Minister of Human Settlements to explore the possible declaration of an intergovernmental dispute with the City of Cape Town regarding this matter,” Ntuli said.

“The DA wants to sell our land - land that can be used for desperately needed housing and land redistribution - to their foreign friends.”

In response, the City of Cape Town highlighted their recent statement welcoming the Western Cape High Court’s dismissal of attempts to block the release of 50 City-owned properties for private sector investment, including the iconic Good Hope Centre. 

“We’ve said from the start that our land release process is lawful and transparent, and we are glad that the court has seen through these meritless applications. A total of four have now either been struck off the roll or dismissed with costs,” Mayco Member for Economic Growth, James Vos said.

The City added that many of the sites on auction are for commercial and industrial use, not residential.

“The residential properties on offer will result in housing opportunities to service the market in lower to middle-income communities, including Kraaifontein, Westridge, Atlantis, Goodwood, Eerste River, Coniston Park, Bridgetown, and Athlone.

“All sites have been thoroughly assessed as not required for municipal purposes, including state-subsidised housing,” the City said.

“The City has a separate land release pipeline for social housing, with more land released in this term than in the decade prior, with a pipeline of 12,000 affordable units. As stated, all legal steps have been followed on each site, including extensive public participation, in line with Municipal Asset Transfer Regulations,” the City said.

Vos previously said that releasing the Good Hope Centre precinct for redevelopment is a strategic move aimed at unlocking its immense economic potential. 

Claremart Group hosted the auction online on Thursday after it had been changed from an in-person event. The property, which they said would be a “trophy platinum property in anyone’s portfolio”, was the last lot in a four-hour auction.

The property was sold for R135 million.

GOOD's Deputy Secretary-General and City councillor, Suzette Little, said that the sale price of R135 million translates to an effective R129.3 million once the R4.7 million in recent upgrades, funded by the public, is taken into account.

"At the same time, provision has been made for a further R100 million in outer-year allocations linked to the site. On its face, this raises serious questions."

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