'Houses for pals dangerous'
2008-03-06 18:31
Cape Town - The lesson of the controversial N2 Gateway project was that a policy of houses for pals was dangerous, said Cape Town Mayor Helen Zille on Thursday.
It was "simply not feasible", in the context of a city waiting list of more than 400 000 extremely poor families, to start pumping billions of rands of state subsidies into middle-class housing for a small elite.
Zille was addressing a special council meeting on the situation in Delft, where local backyard dwellers illegally occupied homes meant for shack dwellers displaced in the Gateway project.
She said the people still living in shacks were angry because, instead of getting the houses promised to them, they were being forced to make way for homes they could not afford.
"Let me be quite plain, Speaker, it is the ANC's racist and elitist housing policy that lies at the root of this crisis," said Zille.
Conflict ahead
"The real lesson we need to learn is that the policy of houses for pals, just like the policy of jobs for pals, is dangerous and detrimental to our nation.
"Unfortunately, I doubt that such a lesson will sink in."
Community conflict about the project would probably continue in the months and years ahead.
The Gateway project is being run by state-owned property developer Thubelisha Homes, rather than the city.
The illegal occupants of the newly-built Delft housing were evicted last month, after a High Court order.
Many of them are now living in makeshift shelters in the open in the same area.
- SAPA