Cape Town mayor says 12 housing projects threatened by extortionists

Extortionists and illegal occupations are compounding Cape Town’s housing backlog.

On Friday, mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis told the Western Cape legislature’s standing committee on human settlements that 12 of the city’s housing projects were threatened by extortionists, unlawful occupation and “forceful community disruptions”. Hill-Lewis said about 4,500 state-subsidised housing beneficiaries were affected.

He called on police, contractors and the public to “ensure that there consequences for extortionists disrupting progress in city housing projects”.

“Together we can clamp down on this practice by ensuring criminal charges are laid each time, that evidence is carefully gathered, and those responsible are brought to book.”

Hill-Lewis said the city on Thursday approved a “R15m top-up budget for additional security for housing construction sites”.

“Where completed units are invaded, the city will not hesitate to initiate eviction proceedings to reverse this injustice and theft from the rightful beneficiaries.” he said

Threats to contractors and staff had affected housing projects around Cape Town, including Delft Eindhoven, Valhalla Park, Gugulethu, Bardale 4C in Mfuleni, Sir Lowry’s Pass Village, Sheffield Road in Philippi, and Beacon Valley in Mitchells Plain.

“Extortion threats take various forms. Local ‘business forums’ were behind these threats in the case of the Philippi and Mfuleni projects. In other instances, attempts by local subcontractors to muscle in on project work were behind disruptions,” he said.

“Intimidation tactics have become extremely violent in some cases, with four construction staff members shot and incidents of petrol bombing leading to the cancellation of two civil contracts worth R140m at the city’s Beacon Valley project.”

Councillor Malusi Booi, the mayoral committee member for human settlements, said the city was exploring several ways to enhance on-site security at construction projects, including approaching the courts for interdicts, more stringent security specifications for construction contracts, and the use of municipal law enforcement resources in addition to private security.

“In the past financial year, the city spent more than 97% of its funding for human settlements. Criminality and gangsterism are among the biggest impediments to complete spends, as we can see with the impact of cancellation of contracts already,” Booi said.

“Some R2,8bn in total has been allocated for human settlements over the next three years and we will continue to do all in our power to safeguard the projects and protect our rightful beneficiaries.”

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