The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has gone to court to stop the City of Cape Town from transferring 49 municipal properties. The properties were sold at a public auction in February.
The commission filed papers at the Western Cape Division of the High Court. It wants the transfers put on hold until the court has reviewed the City’s decision to sell.
“The Commission contends that the decisions failed to comply with constitutional and statutory obligations concerning housing, spatial justice, public participation and the disposal of municipal assets,” the SAHRC said in a statement.
The SAHRC said on Wednesday that it had raised concerns about the sale. It said the City faces a shortage of affordable housing, and that spatial inequality in Cape Town has not gone away.
The commission questioned whether the City had thought about using the properties for affordable and social housing. It said this should have been considered before the properties went up for auction.
The SAHRC also said the sales did not come with legally binding conditions. Buyers are not required to provide affordable or social housing on the land, according to the commission.
The commission also raised doubts about public participation. It said the City relied on public consultation processes to approve the auction, and some of these date back to 2010.
According to the SAHRC, it met Executive Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis in February. At that meeting, it raised its concerns and asked for the auction to be postponed.
The commission said it wanted more talks and time to look at the constitutional effects of selling the properties. Its request was turned down, and the auction went ahead.
That refusal led to the court application. Apart from stopping the transfers, the SAHRC is also asking the court to order that relevant documents be kept safe.
The commission wants the court to declare the City’s decision to auction the properties unconstitutional, unlawful, irrational and invalid.
In February, the City of Cape Town announced that it had sold 50 City-owned properties of different kinds. Among them was the well-known Good Hope Centre.
The City said at the time that the sales would help create jobs and grow the economy. It said this would benefit the metro.
The sale of the Good Hope Centre drew controversy. Pastor John Anosike of Spirit Revelation Ecclesia announced that his church had bought the building for R135 million.
Political parties and lobby groups, including the GOOD party and a Khoi-San group, also criticised the City’s decision to sell the buildings.
GOOD argued that the City was selling the properties at auction for less than what they were valued at.
Source: this article is based on reporting by IOL. Image: IOL. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice News desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Kgomotso Maake covers news and politics for Tzaneen Voice. Kgomotso reports on government, Parliament, municipalities, courts, crime and service delivery across South Africa, with a close eye on how national decisions reach towns like Tzaneen and the wider Limpopo province. Stories are written in plain English and focus on the facts: who made the decision, what it means, and what happens next.