GOOD Statement by Brett Herron, Unite for Change Leadership Council Member & GOOD member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament:
The City of Cape Town and Western Cape Provincial Government must be called out for repeatedly recycling announcements about proposed affordable housing developments in well-located areas of the city without actually delivering any homes.
On Wednesday, it was the Prestwich Street precinct’s turn again (it was first announced for development 14 years ago). Prestwich Street confirms a well-established City/Province trend.
The proposed Pine Road project, (first announced in 2011); Pickwick and Newmarket, (announced in 2017 and reannounced in 2025); Roeland Street (announced in 2017, relaunched 2022, and reannounced 2025), Salt River Market (announced in 2018), and recently announced sites like Founders Garden and Leeuloop Precinct… So much hot air but zero homes built.
Packaging land releases and/or the identification of suitable land as “progress” is a fraud. Releasing land without Social Housing Regulatory Authority funding, a meaningful allocation from the Provincial Equitable Share, or credible implementation plans, has predictable results: The land remains unused while the housing backlog grows.
It’s reached a point of ridiculousness that has Government diverting funds away from infrastructure delivery to guard vacant land it has yet to develop – and then blaming its non-delivery of housing on the fact that it’s spending too much money on guarding.
This is not delivery but a cycle of delay.
GOOD Manifesto on Economic Inclusion: Ensuring all South Africans can participate in the economy.
What is Fraud? “Fraud” is any activity that relies on deception in order to achieve a gain. Fraud becomes a crime when it is a “knowing misrepresentation of the truth or concealment of a material fact to induce another to act to his or her detriment” (Black’s Law Dictionary). In other words, if you lie in order to deprive a person or organization of their money or property, you’re committing fraud.