Housing activists urge CoCT to start construction on land allocated for social housing

CAPE TOWN - Housing activists, Reclaim The City, have urged the City of Cape Town to start construction on land allocated for social housing.

This follows an announcement by Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis about more land being identified for social housing in Brackenfell, Westfleur and Belhar.

Reclaim the City's Woodstock chapter leader, Karen Hendricks, has cautiously welcomed the mayor's announcement.

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"Since 2021, some of the sites in the inner city have been released for affordable housing and we are now heading to 2025, and still those are empty plots and empty promises," said Hendriks.    

Hill-Lewis explained why it took up to two years to start construction.

"It's a long process, you've got to get a social housing process, building plans and get finance and then build... So it's a long process but the key thing is to get it started."

The mayor says the city plans to provide twelve thousand residential units across the metro.