Housing is a human right

Peter Martin, Retreat

March is Human Rights Month. Housing is a human right. The Bill of Rights in Section 26 stipulates that “everyone has the right to have access to adequate housing”. It further states that municipalities, in this instance the City of Cape Town administration and governing party, must take reasonable legislative steps and other measures to achieve the realisation of this right. Hence, the City is compelled to fulfill people’s constitutional human right to access to housing.

Access to housing is not only a human right, but also a basic need. People need houses to feel warm, safe and secure. The Constitution in section 153 (a) prescribes that a municipality (City) “must structure and manage its administration and budgeting and planning processes to give priority to the basic needs of the community”.

There is also a moral obligation on the City to prioritise and fulfill people’s right to access to housing. South Africa has a lengthy history of land and property dispossession and discrimination due to the policy of apartheid. The City should therefore be morally driven to correct the injustices of the past and fast-track housing. 

This does not seem to be the case in the City as the Retreat (Crestway) Housing Project demonstrates.

The Crestway Housing Project was first reported in the Southern Mail on December 1 2021. (“500 houses planned for Retreat”, Southern Mail). The report stated that the City was to build 500 state-subsidised houses on land behind Crestway High School. The housing project would have run from February 2023 to December 2025. That time (2021) the City mentioned that feasibility studies were being conducted at the site.

On January 27 the Southern Mail reported that the Retreat Housing Project had been pushed back and would only start in 2028 (five years later) and would be completed by 2033 (“Retreat housing pushed back”, Southern Mail). The reason given by the City for this pushback is that an environmental authorisation must be issued before work can start. This is despite the fact that it was mentioned in 2021 that feasibility studies are already being done at the site. 

While the Crestway Housing Project is pushed back, the City is steamrolling a tens of millions rand canal waterways project in Coniston Park despite opposition from local residents. The waterways project is to prevent silt and litter from entering Zandvlei. In other words, to provide a clean, unpolluted Zandvlei to people living in the vicinity and for rich people to enjoy their rich people's sports like sail boating. The environmental requirements for this project have been completed within a short space of time. Further upstream Muizenberg is being revamped at a cost of hundreds of millions of rands mainly for the benefit of surfers, tourists and the rich. This while poor indigenous people are denied their constitutional human right to have access to adequate housing.  

So what can be learned from the aforementioned? Firstly, the City is not serious about fulfilling peoples’ right to access to housing. Secondly, people should stand up for their human rights. And thirdly, people should support and vote for leaders who stand for human rights.

Luthando Tyhalibongo, City spokesperson, responds:

The City works according to the spirit of the Constitution, which outlines rights but also qualifies rights in terms of reasonable feasibility and resources. The City’s Human Settlements Directorate continues to spend between 95% and 100% of its budget for housing.

The Crestway project timeline is within reason for intricate housing projects although it is always best that projects are generally completed as fast as possible. The feasibility study (as mentioned in the letter) is the precursor to any further work on the project. It is a natural project flow to have the feasibility done to inform further requirements. The feasibility stage identified the Environmental Authorisation required, which is well under way. Once the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is approved we will be able to finalise the designs and start with procurement. There is also a court order in place to interdict persons from illegally occupying the land.

The Project Engagement Committee (PEC), and specifically the beneficiary representatives, have been kept abreast and included in all discussions.

The other projects mentioned are not to the detriment of the housing project, but rather undertaking required canal and wetland rehabilitation as part of a city-wide programme. Zandvlei is a vital Cape Town asset, serving as a recreational space for residents from across the city and the Cape Flats.

As too, the Muizenberg beachfront is one of the most popular and inclusive coastal nodes in Cape Town with thousands of visitors flocking here from all over the city. To assert that this is the playground of the rich is a complete fabrication. One of the key project elements is to replace the existing seawall to among others protect the beachfront from future impacts of climate change such as increased wave action due to sea level rise and more frequent storm surges.