Press Release for immediate release, 7 November 2025
Civil society organisations to host a community workshop to mark the fifth anniversary of state inaction on the release of under-utilised military land in Cape Town for the development of affordable housing.
Nearly five years have passed since a group of civil society organisations called on President Cyril Ramaphosa and the national government to immediately release three large, well-located and under-utilised military sites in Cape Town for the development of affordable housing. The three pieces of nationally-owned land – Ysterplaat, Wingfield and Youngsfield – have the potential to create 67,000 homes for low-income households, addressing Cape Town’s gross spatial inequalities and affordable housing crisis. Despite sustained advocacy, Parliamentary oversight and budget allocations, these parcels remain trapped in political inertia – with no formal transfer or meaningful development having taken place.
The original submission, which was delivered on 7 December 2020 to the Presidency, and the Ministers for Public Works and Infrastructure, Human Settlements and Defence and Military Veterans, identified the legal mechanisms through which the state could release the sites, how the state could incrementally develop the sites using existing housing programmes, and offered schematic plans for how to develop each site.
The coalition, which includes the Cape Crisis Committee, Community Organisation Resource Centre (CORC), the Development Action Group (DAG), Legal Resources Centre (LRC) and Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU), has participated in a number of follow-up engagements regarding the release of the sites, with the latest engagement taking place in the first quarter of 2024. This meeting took place prior to last year’s elections with the office of the Deputy President in Cape Town. During this meeting, it was agreed that a subsequent meeting would be convened by the Deputy President’s office, involving Ministers and their representatives from Public Works, Human Settlements, and Defence.
The most recent correspondence from the Deputy President’s office proposed scheduling this meeting for 16 April 2025. However, it was postponed due to the unavailability of representatives from the National Department of Human Settlements.
To date, no significant timelines have been established, and the ongoing under-utilisation of these military sites is becoming increasingly untenable in light of the escalating housing crisis.
The DAG and CORC have been calling for the release of these sites since 2002.
A History of Misuse: Refugee and Migrant Containment
Between 2020 and 2025, Wingfield was repurposed to accommodate over 700 asylum seekers who had been evicted from Greenmarket Square. A second group was moved to a parking site at the Bellville Public Transport Interchange, which became known as Paint City. Conditions were overcrowded, unsanitary and insecure. Rather than being developed for permanent housing, public land has been used as temporary holding zones, denying displaced communities dignity, integration and access to opportunity.
A Renewed Call to Action
The state – at all levels – has a legal and moral obligation to expedite the release of well-located public land to enable the urgent development of affordable housing. In response to years of inaction, the coalition is hosting a workshop to amplify the voices of low-income communities and renew calls for the state to rapidly release these sites for the development of low-income housing in Cape Town.
Community Workshop to Develop a Plan of Action
- Date: Saturday, 15 November 2025
- Time: 9am – 2pm
- Venue: Community House, 41 Salt River Road, Salt River.
- RSVP by the 10th November: Zinzi Gatyeni Zinzi@dag.org.za
Read more here
Military land for homes not weapons!
Where you live matters: Releasing unused military bases for affordable housing
