Cape Times E-dition

DA, Good party exchange more barbs over affordable housing in City

MAYIBONGWE MAQHINA mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za

THERE is no shortage of land in Cape Town for well-located affordable housing, says Patricia de Lille, leader of the Good party.

“A (local) government that was serious about implementing affordable housing would get on with it, using land already in their custody instead of lying that they are waiting for national government to release land,” she told the media yesterday during a visit to various sites in the city centre.

The Good and the DA have been engaged in public spats over the release of state land for affordable housing.

It started when DA mayoral candidate Geordin Hill-Lewis wrote to De Lille, in her capacity as Public Works and Infrastructure Minister, asking that the national government release Acacia Park to provide housing for the people rather than politicians.

De Lille yesterday said the shortage of affordable housing was a painful reality for hundreds of thousands of families, who were forced to live in overcrowded and undignified conditions.

“I don't want to play politics with the needs and suffering of our people. I fought all my life so that we can have this country be free (and) I fought all my life against spatial injustices of apartheid.”

She said the housing at Acacia Park was intended for MPs who did not live in Cape Town.

“If the DA has a proposal to do away with state-provided housing for public office-bearers, then this must be tabled with the appropriate authority.

“In the case of the National Assembly, this would be the Speaker of Parliament. I am not in a position to terminate this arrangement and evict the MPs who use these homes.”

De Lille listed 11 parcels of land that were identified in 2017 in Woodstock, Salt River and the inner city for affordable housing, but said these were cancelled after she quit the DA.

“This illustrates that they are blue liars. They expect me as a minister to fix in two years all of their failures over 15 years of government,” De Lille said.

Hill-Lewis said his party's “analysis” was that land controlled by De Lille and the national government was 72 times bigger than all of the identified city-owned sites combined.

Speaking to a broadcaster, he said there was a huge shortage of well-located land.

“The fact of the matter is that the City has got small pockets of land in the city centre.”

METRO

en-za

2021-09-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-09-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://capetimes.pressreader.com/article/281560883946583

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