The City of Cape Town yesterday passed a major amendment to its Municipal Planning By-law, aimed at unlocking affordable rental housing in informal and lower-income neighbourhoods — a move Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis described as “a watershed moment.”

The amendment introduces a new land-use right that allows homeowners in 194 designated communities to legally build affordable rental units on their properties. These areas have seen rapid densification over the past decade, particularly through backyarder dwellings and informal structures.

While the Democratic Alliance (DA), which holds a majority in Council, voted in support of the amendment, it faced opposition from several parties, including the EFF, Al Jama-ah, the National Coloured Congress (NCC), GOOD, Cape Exit, the PAC, and the Freedom Front Plus. The ANC abstained.

In his address to Council, Hill-Lewis stressed the scale of the challenge: “1.2 million of our fellow residents live in informal structures in Cape Town,” he said.

“For those of us who did not grow up in townships, or in a backyard, it is hard to imagine what that means. To live with bitter cold and constant damp in winter, and scorching heat and constant threat of fire in summer.”

Hill-Lewis criticised the national government’s free housing programme, known as Breaking New Ground, for failing to meet rising demand. “Budgets are simply too small, the need too vast. Only a lucky few thousand per year, those waiting the very longest, will get a totally free house, while hundreds of thousands remain on the list. It is important that the public understand that.”

While acknowledging that economic growth and job creation remain the only sustainable long-term solution, Hill-Lewis emphasised the need for action now: “We also can’t wait for a faster growing economy. While that is undoubtedly the only sustainable long term solution, we also need a plan now.”

That plan, he said, is the by-law amendment.

“The amendments to the Municipal Planning By-law that we will vote on today will do more than any other programme, in any city, to help many more people make the leap from informal housing to dignified, affordable homes.”

The by-law now enables homeowners in selected communities to build rental units legally and safely, with connections to municipal water, sanitation, and electricity. These developments will also need to meet National Building Regulations.

Hill-Lewis acknowledged that micro-developers in townships have already been meeting housing demand at a scale the State cannot match: “The fact is that micro-developers in lower-income communities are already getting on with meeting housing demand by building many thousands more units every year than the State could ever possibly hope to deliver.”

He described the City’s role not as one of obstruction, but of enablement: “Now we are playing our proper role – not standing in the way, but enabling this form of housing delivery, driven by people’s own enterprise, ingenuity, and investment.”

The by-law also includes support measures, such as:

• Pre-approved building plans and development charge discounts;
• A pipeline of 12,000 affordable housing units on well-located land;
• South Africa’s first Land Discount Guidelines, allowing for discounted city-owned land to be used for social housing;
• Utility discounts for approved social housing projects.

While praising the amendment’s potential, Hill-Lewis also raised a broader point about transformation in the housing market: “For so long, property development has been an industry dominated by wealthy established developers who mainly develop in expensive suburbs… but today we are also blowing open the property development industry for thousands of new entrants – new property developers in the townships and in so many other areas.”

He also committed to streamlining approval processes and clamping down on unlawful construction.

 “This amendment also empowers communities, by greatly improving public participation in planning applications, and giving the City real teeth for the first time to stop illegal building work.”

While the City has not yet published the full list of the 194 qualifying communities, officials say these were selected based on population density and housing pressure. Questions have also been raised about whether existing infrastructure — such as sewerage and water systems — will cope with increased densification.

Residents who wish to legally develop under the new rules will need to follow a formal application process, including submission of building plans and proof of compliance. The City has promised to publish a step-by-step guide in the coming weeks.

Hill-Lewis concluded with a rallying call: “With one simple vote today we will kick the supply of affordable housing into a higher gear in Cape Town. So let us all throw our weight behind this important reform and take Cape Town one more step closer to a city of hope for all.”

tracy-lynn.ruiters@inl.co.za

Weekend Argus 

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