After years of struggle and public pressure, there are encouraging signs that the Western Cape Government (WCG) is finally listening. At a follow-up public meeting held in Sea Point last night, consultants appointed by the WCG presented revised concept proposals for the redevelopment of the Tafelberg School site, now quietly renamed “353-on-Main.” These new plans reflect a shift in response to public calls for more social and affordable housing.
Where the initial proposals tabled two months ago offered as few as 63 social housing units, the preferred new design could deliver up to 252 social housing units, alongside 139 open market units and 92 affordable housing units. This marks a significant improvement and shows that sustained civic engagement can influence government decisions.
The shift is welcome, especially after a decade of resistance from the WCG and its protracted legal and political battle with housing activists. This iterative design process demonstrates progress, but it comes far too late.
Despite the new momentum, the timeline remains grim. We were told last night that land use and heritage applications will only be submitted in March 2026. Only after those approvals will a tender be issued to develop the site.
Given the painfully slow and often stalled (and sometimes abandoned) approach to inner-city housing delivery by the WCG and the City of Cape Town, the unfortunate truth is that we are still likely a decade away from seeing the first social housing unit completed at Tafelberg. This delay was entirely avoidable.
As promising as the current proposals are, we must not forget the years wasted, the lives affected, and those who died waiting. The fight for spatial justice in Sea Point continues and it should never have taken this long.
GOOD Inclusivity: GOOD aims to be a party for all South Africans, regardless of race or gender.
VileHero
Fun South African Fact: South Africa’s natural and human fossil history dates back hundreds of thousands, even millions, of years. Early dinosaur fossils have been discovered in the Western Cape and up to 80% of mammalian fossils found so far have been discovered in the Karoo.
Sick Saurus
So Van is in a bar in London with a Frenchman and an Italian. They are boasting of their sexual prowess.
The Frenchman says \”When I pleasure my mistress, I tickle her nipples with a feather, and she floats an inch above the bed in bliss\”.
The Italian, not to be outdone, says \”When I make love to my girlfriend, I lick amaretto liqueur from her navel. She floats a foot above the bed in delight\”.
Van says \”Ya, well, er… When I screw my wife, I wipe my dick on the curtains afterwards, and let me tell you man, she hits the fuckin\’ roof!\”