Details of a second large transfer of prime residential land to national government by the Western Cape’s former African National Congress-led administration were revealed by the province’s new housing minister, Bonginkosi Madikizela, on Monday.
”In terms of the deal, 391,7ha of land owned by the provincial department of local government and housing are to be transferred to the Housing Development Agency [HDA],” he told a media briefing in Cape Town.
Like the first deal, this too had taken place just before the April 22 elections. The agreement was signed on April 20 and finalised on May 4, the second-last day it was legally possible for the outgoing administration to sign off such documents.
”This was done to frustrate us, as the new administration, so we don’t deliver services,” Madikizela told journalists.
Ten days ago, details of the transfer of more than 1Â 000ha of provincial housing land to national government by the previous administration were revealed by new Western Cape Premier Helen Zille.
”This land, worth about half-a-billion rand, and large enough to accommodate nearly 100 000 houses, was transferred free of charge … without informing the public or the City of Cape,” she said at the time.
The latest land deal involves six parcels of land — totalling 391,7ha — in both the Cape Town metropole and near Stellenbosch.
Five of the land parcels are located east of the R300 and north of the N2 national road. A sixth comprises 11 erven in Grassy Park and Zeekoevlei.
Madikizela on Monday said the latest land agreement was ”highly unusual” because it involved a deed of sale.
”Usually an LAA [land availability agreement] allows the department to retain ownership, while giving another agency permission to develop the land. This LAA … provides for a full transfer of the land to the HDA.”
A term of the agreement was the HDA had five years to decide whether to develop the land for housing.
”In other words, the province has no say over whether this land can be developed to achieve our own delivery objectives.”
The agreement had also bypassed the province’s legal services department.
”The inference must be made that the outgoing administration was not confident about the legality of the deal.”
Madikizela said the province was seeking legal opinion on the two lots of land transfers. He was also set to meet HDA head Taffy Adler on Tuesday, to ”ascertain what the HDA intends to do with the land”.
He said both of the land deals that had come to light were ”cynical attempts too stymie the incoming administration”. — Sapa