SACP Western Cape on the Western Cape High Court judgment on Tafelberg site

1 September 2020

The South African Communist Party (SACP) in the Western Cape Province welcomes the judgment delivered by the Western Cape High Court yesterday, Monday 31 August 2020, on the City of Cape Town’s sale of the Tafelberg Site in Sea Point, Cape Town. We also congratulate the applicants, in particular Ndifun’Ukwazi, who have pursued justice for the people of the City in the face of resistance from the DA-led Cape Town City and Provincial Government.

The Court ruled that both the city and provincial governments failed to comply with their constitutional and legislative obligations in this matter, and that the City admitted in Court that the City had built no social housing in the CBD in the last 25 years. This confirms the SACP’s view that the DA is determined to resist the transformation of Cape Town in line with the vision of a new and democratic South Africa. Rather, the DA-led administration seeks to defend and advance the interests of property developers to access public resources for private profit at the expense of opportunities for citizens in general and those in greatest need in particular. The inequalities established by apartheid have thus been perpetuated and even deepened by the actions of the DA leadership in the city and province.

The SACP in the Western Cape notes the Court’s ruling that “the Premier’s refusal to consult the human settlements minister was in breach of her duties to promote cooperative governance between the different spheres of government under Chapter 3 of the Constitution”. Helen Zille was the Premier at the time. This too confirms the SACP’s view that the DA leadership has been prepared to put at risk orderly democratic governance in advancing narrow private interests, an approach that puts all the city’s residents at risk of social tensions. Increasingly, we see evidence in service delivery protests, resistance to illegal evictions and vocal campaigns in opposition to the DA’s governance policies, most notably around land development where social and environmental issues are being neglected. In this Tafelberg case and in others, the City and Provincial Governments have acted with arrogance and defiance.

The SACP in the Western Cape further notes the Court’s ruling that both the City and the Province must draw up a combined policy to address this and report back to the Court by 31 May 2021 with an update on this plan and that the Court expects the defendants to comply with this ruling willingly and fully and without delay through legal appeals. The Court addressed the legal requirements of the Constitution’s more technical provisions around redress and cooperative governance. Thus, the Party in the province hereby reminds the leadership of the City and Province – and our people as a whole – of the simple commitments contained in the Preamble of the Constitution, the following of which we highlight here –

- Heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights;

- Lay the foundation for a democratic and open society in which government is based on the will of the people and every citizen is equally protected by law; and

- Improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person

The elected representatives of the people in the province and the city must be held to these commitments in all matters, including the resolution of the Tafelberg site issue, and uphold them if they claim any legitimacy in our constitutional democracy.

Through this judgment, the SACP calls on the City and Province to accede to the judgment and attend other related cases of gentrification in Salt River, Woodstock and Plumstead. Further, the City must begin to provide services to residents of the old nurses’ home in the Waterfront as well as old Woodstock hospital.

Issued by Benson Ngqentsu, SACP Western Cape Provincial Secretary, 1 September 2020