GOOD Statement by Axolile Notywala, GOOD City of Cape Town Councillor:
There is no denying that Cape Town faces a deepening housing and affordability crisis. Despite this, we see no sense of urgency from those in power; instead, we are met with denialism and deflection.
For many Capetonians, rents are rising faster than incomes. Housing is becoming unaffordable even for the middle class. Evictions and homelessness increase daily, and many residents are being pushed out of well-located areas into the peripheries.
I first encountered the process of developing an affordable housing policy, including an inclusionary housing section, in October 2024, two months after becoming a City of Cape Town PR Councillor. At that time, a drafting process was presented to a Human Settlements Portfolio Committee working group, complete with clear timelines.
A draft policy was expected by the Committee at its meeting on 7 November 2024 to seek permission for public participation. This never happened.
The initial presentation indicated that the draft would undergo public participation from 8 November 2024 to 28 February 2025, with the aim of Council approval in June 2025. This never happened.
In February 2025, during a workshop on the City’s Integrated Human Settlements Sector Plan Review, I questioned the status of these timelines. I was informed of delays due to the need for further stakeholder engagement on the inclusionary housing section. I was promised a draft for public participation by the end of 2025. This never happened.
On Thursday, 5 February 2026, at the Human Settlements Portfolio Committee meeting, I again questioned the status of the policy. I received the same response as a year ago: “Consultation is ongoing.” Additionally, the portfolio was informed for the first time that the City is working on a short-term rental policy, a development the media seemingly already knew about.
I was told the policy development process now sits with Future Planning and Resilience, another portfolio committee on which I serve. However, no timelines were provided for either the affordable housing or the short-term rental policy. Neither has appeared on the agenda for Future Planning and Resilience, which held its first meeting of 2026 on Monday, 2 February.
“These delays are extremely troubling, especially noting that a draft discussion document on inclusionary housing was first presented to the City of Cape Town by Brett Herron to the City’s Mayoral Committee of the time eight years ago, in October 2018. This begs the question as to what or who the real blockage is on the development of an affordable and inclusionary housing policy in Cape Town. It is a well-known secret that some of the DA’s big funders are in the property development space.
As defined in the October 2024 presentation, inclusionary housing is:
“A land-use policy or financing mechanism whereby the municipality incentivises the development of affordable housing on the basis that a certain percentage of housing units in market-rate developments are required to target low- or moderate-income households, or a contribution towards affordable housing is made through other means.”
This begs the question: who or what is the real blockage? It is a well-known secret that some of the DA’s major funders operate within the property development sector.
Affordable and inclusionary housing cannot be continually kicked down the road while public outcry grows and the crisis worsens. The City of Cape Town must fast-track this policy and end the culture of denialism. The people of Cape Town deserve urgency, transparency, and decisive leadership now.
GOOD Skills Training: GOOD emphasizes the importance of skills training for the workforce.
Houston
Iceland: You have two cows. They freeze to death.
Guillotine
Fun South African Fact: Three different destinations make up South Africa’s capital cities. This is to represent the South African government being divided into three sections. Cape Town is the legislative capital, Pretoria is the administrative capital and Bloemfontein is the judicial capital. Interestingly, Parliament meetings take place for six months in Cape Town and six months in Pretoria.