Public Land 4 Public Good
Tafelberg site has been an ongoing struggle to realise social and affordable housing on the site since the 90’s. In 2015, Ndifuna Ukwazi and Reclaim the City objected to the sale of the site to be sold to a private buyer for a short-term cash injection to be used for new Provincial offices. We took the matter to court and organised to call to #STOPTHESALE. On the 31st of August 2020, the Western Cape High Court set aside the sale of the site, which was a factory for all the years campaigning and litigation. On 11 February 2025, the matter reached the Apex court where the matter is awaiting judgment. In 2025, the Provincial Government took a U-turn when it announced that it would embark on a 2 year public consultation period culminating in 2026. During this process we have learned that 229 open market units and 252 social housing units are possible. Open markets will subsidise social housing units.
On 27 April 2024, Ndifuna Ukwazi together with its partners assessed how land is used, in this campaign we asked ourselves how can the parking of government cars for part of the day be more important than providing roofs over people’s heads? Could the storage of immobile government vehicles on prime land be a higher priority than addressing the housing and segregation crisis? We looked at four pieces of public land in the city centre that are used to store government vehicles. We put forward an alternative vision with concrete design and financial proposals. We also interviewed Mayor of Cape Town, Geordin Hill-Lewis, who also agreed that these plots cannot be used for cars instead of housing.
The four sites are:
Parliament parking lot (owned by National Government).
Top Yard (owned by the Western Cape Government).
Two government garages on Hope Street (owned by the Western Cape Government).
Our proposals reveal that a precinct level development of these four state-owned parking lots could create a racially and economically diverse neighbourhood by providing:
969 social housing apartments.
969 market related apartments.
Homes for 732 people in transitional housing.
The same amount of parking for Parliament (in a multi-storey parking), as well as new communal and public space to improve the urban realm, and encourage economic stimulation by accommodating shops and informal traders.
Help us to:
- Challenge Parliament and the Western Cape Provincial Government to put policy into practice by seizing the opportunity to transform the face of Cape Town and address its violent history of spatial injustice by releasing these sites for much needed housing.
Apply pressure to: premier.winde@westerncape.gov.za | alan.winde@westerncape.gov.za
Video 1: Mayor – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUNyCzf8nDk
Video 2: Premier – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e84WoeHcyJA
Ndifuna Ukwazi advocates for the release of well-located land for social and affordable housing. With a staggering backlog of more than 400 000 people on the housing needs registry or waiting list, more and more families find themselves trapped in the outskirts far from job opportunities and good social amenities, this replication of apartheid must come to a culmination. To improve the quality of life, where people can spend less time stuck in traffic, the time wasted could be spent with their families. We call on the City to pursue their commitment to release and develop the 11 sites earmarked for social, affordable and transitional housing.
We are in a housing crisis. We are seeing a dwindling number of social housing provisions. The answer to this is more supply of housing that is truly affordable.
Social Housing Institutions are not able to build at scale due to budget constraints.
Have your say in the budget speech for calling for:
- An increase of Social Housing budget from 2%
- Tax break for the development of social housing
- Ensure land is released at a R0 nominal value.
The City did not respond to our initial request for information. We then submitted a PAIA request on 30 September 2025, and after granting the City a 30-day extension to the initial legislated response period, they finally replied on 27 November 2025, stating that the request was refused on the basis that no records existed of an evaluation of the feasibility of the provision of a quantum of social housing on the site. We also received a letter from Lance Boyd, Property Development Manager, explaining why the City has chosen to not pursue social housing or genuinely affordable housing on the site.
Private Sector
Ndifuna Ukwazi together with its partners, CORC, LRC & DAG made submissions to the Presidency in 2020 advocating for the release of military land, Youngsfield, Ysterplaat and Wingfield. These sites can provide 67 000 affordable homes. Former minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Patricia De Lille, made various promises which weren’t fully followed through, except that 32ha of Wingfield has reportedly been committed for housing.
- We call on the Minister of Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, Dean Macpherson, to release the site for social, affordable and transitional housing
Apply pressure to Email:
Military land campaign: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QB9uxPe1Yyk
Short-term rental and financialisation is at the heart of inaccessibility and unaffordability in Cape Town. Over the past years, we have seen a scourge of Airbnb and digital nomads coupled with the City of Cape Town selling off public land for short term capital injection. These exclusionist practices are further pushing out poor and working-class people to the peripheries, making it highly impossible to participate in the economy. Coupled with that, there are no regulations to ensure Capetonians are protected from these rising rentals that compete with international currencies.
Help us to:
- Call for regulations, i.e for rentals to grow on par with inflation, not international short-term rentals.
- Regulation of Airbnb. There are more people than there are houses in Cape Town, while more than 20 000 of these are listed for short-term rental.
Apply pressure to Email: geordin.hilllewis@capetown.gov.za | mayor.mayor@capetown.gov.za
Ndifuna Ukwazi has consistently called on the City of Cape Town to develop and release an Inclusionary Housing Policy that will guide future private developments to include affordable housing. In 2019, the City committed to developing such a policy. Almost seven years later, the policy has still not been released. This policy presents a critical opportunity for the City to take meaningful steps to alleviate the housing crisis.
Help us to:
- Call the City/Mayor to release the long-promised Inclusionary Housing Policy, as part of the City’s promised Affordable Housing Policy
Apply pressure to Email: geordin.hillLewis@capetown.gov.za | mayor.mayor@capetown.gov.za
Ndifuna Ukwazi together with its partners have been advocating for transitional housing for families facing eviction and displacement. Rental increase is not regulated to be on par with inflation, therefore, landlords usually increase rent at their discretion, further pushing poor out and working-class families. The prominent case is the Bromwell street matter, which was won at the Constitutional Court on 20 December 2024. The Court ordered the City to provide alternative accommodation to families by no later than 12 October 2026, secondly, the City must develop a transitional housing or temporary emergency housing policy.
Help us to:
- Call the City/Mayor to release the long-promised Transitional Housing Policy
Apply pressure to Email: geordin.hilllewis@capetown.gov.za | mayor.mayor@capetown.gov.za