Western Cape Premier Helen Zille’s land conspiracy is misleading and just more hot air, the African National Congress (ANC) said on Saturday.
”Premier Zille is being deliberately misleading again,” said former premier Lynne Brown in a statement.
”Zille said [on Friday] that provincial land was transferred to the Housing Development Agency ”secretly”, in bad faith and with an ulterior motive.
”Where do ‘bad faith’ and ‘ulterior motive’ enter the equation … Would she rather use the land for purposes other than housing the poor? Does she plan to sell it to private developers?” Brown asked.
The former, ANC-run Western Cape administration approved the transfer of more than 1 000ha of prime provincial housing land to national government the day before the April 22 elections.
Zille told media on Friday that the land, worth about R500-million and large enough to accommodate nearly 100 000 houses, was transferred free of charge and without informing the public or the City of Cape Town.
”How can she claim the deal was secret when it was raised in Parliament in the past two budget votes of the national minister of housing, and was the subject of press statements and articles in local and national media over a period of more than a year?” Brown asked.
Former Western Cape housing minister Whitey Jacobs said: ”We have never made any secret of the N2 Gateway Project. The land transfers are a matter of public record, and due and proper process was followed.
”Zille’s bluster masks a more fundamental issue. The Democratic Alliance does not want low-cost housing developed in such a manner that it breaks down racially exclusive suburbs. They don’t want to see integrated communities in which previously disadvantaged people have access to opportunities and amenities.”
Zille said that most of the land fell within the Cape Town Metro.
She handed out copies of an agreement to transfer the land from the province to the national Housing Development Agency, dated April 22 this year, and signed off by then Western Cape transport and public works minister, Kholeka Mqulwana.
According to an attached annexure, among the properties is the 18,8ha Oude Molen property, as well as land in other parts of the Cape Town Metro, including Erven in Constantia, Parow, Plumstead, Southfield and Philippi. It also lists land in other parts of the province.
Zille said her new provincial administration would seek legal advice to try to stop the transfer.
”It represents a massive loss of assets to the province and appears to have been designed to undermine the new administration’s capacity to deliver on housing and other projects in partnership with the City of Cape Town.
”The new cabinet of this province has resolved this morning to take steps to reverse this move if possible,” Zille said. — Sapa