Thread by @NdifunaUkwazi

[PRESS STATEMENT] Premier @alanwinde's appeal of the Tafelberg judgment shows lack of leadership to break from the past & advance spatial justice | bit.ly/3iOs6vm #Land4PeopleNOT4Profit #StopTheSale

@alanwinde @ReclaimCT 2/ Today, @WesternCapeGov @alanwinde lodged an appeal against the landmark Tafelberg judgment that sets aside the sale the Tafelberg property & affirms that the Province & the @CityofCT have a constitutional duty to redress spatial apartheid. #Land4PeopleNOT4Profit

@alanwinde @ReclaimCT @WesternCapeGov @CityofCT 3/ Judges Gamble & Samela found that the @WesternCapeGov & @CityofCT “did not have suitable policies in place to facilitate & promote access to affordable housing” & had “not taken adequate steps to address the legacy of apartheid spatial planning in central Cape Town &surrounds”

@alanwinde @ReclaimCT @WesternCapeGov @CityofCT 4/ For this reason, the court held that the @WesternCapeGov & @CityofCT had failed to comply with their constitutional obligations to advance equitable access to land & the right to housing in terms of section 25 & 26 of the Constitution #Land4PeopleNOT4Profit

@alanwinde @ReclaimCT @WesternCapeGov @CityofCT 5/ The court also ordered the @westerncapegov & @CityofCT to draw up a combined plan on how they will address the legacy of spatial inequality in central Cape Town to be presented to the court by 31 May 2021. #Land4PeopleNOT4Profit

@alanwinde @ReclaimCT @WesternCapeGov @CityofCT 6/ But the @WesternCapeGov & @alanwinde would rather defend their failure to redress spatial apartheid than commit to meaningful change - showing a lack of courageous leadership to use this direction from the court as much needed leverage to radically to break with the past.

@alanwinde @ReclaimCT @WesternCapeGov @CityofCT 7/ @WesternCapeGov's decision to appeal the ruling is irreconcilable with @alanwinde’s public commitments to “vanquish” spatial apartheid & “unlock” the blockages that prevented the Tafelberg site from being used for the development of social housing. #Land4PeopleNOT4Profit

@alanwinde @ReclaimCT @WesternCapeGov @CityofCT 8/ On 25 July 2019, @alanwinde promised that @WesternCapeGov “will commit to unlocking where we can [public land] blockages” & assured MLPs that the Province would “push as hard as [they] can on, for instance, Tafelberg" released for the development of social housing.

@alanwinde @ReclaimCT @WesternCapeGov @CityofCT 9/ On 29 August 2019 @alanwinde reiterated his commitment to unblocking the Tafelberg site for social housing in Provincial Parliament, stating “yes I did commit to it...we are working to try & find a solution & NOT TEN YEARS' WORTH OF EXTENDED LITIGATION”. #Land4PeopleNOT4Profit

@alanwinde @ReclaimCT @WesternCapeGov @CityofCT 10/ Instead of delivering on these promises, @alanwinde has chosen to follow @helenzille’s line of command & defend the indefensible decision to sell Tafelberg & the @WesternCapeGov's failure to fulfil its constitutional obligation to use its land to advance spatial equality.

@alanwinde @ReclaimCT @WesternCapeGov @CityofCT @helenzille 11/ And, in doing so, @alanwinde & @WesternCapeGov are spending exorbitant amounts of PUBLIC MONEY fighting civil society in the courts rather than showing leadership & acquiescing to its constitutional & legislative obligations. #Land4PeopleNOT4Profit

@alanwinde @ReclaimCT @WesternCapeGov @CityofCT @helenzille 12/ In 2019, the @WesternCapeGov provincial housing backlog stood at well over half a million families at 600 000, of which 365 000 are in the @CityofCT alone #Land4PeopleNOT4Profit

@alanwinde @ReclaimCT @WesternCapeGov @CityofCT @helenzille 13/ The overwhelming scale of the need for housing means that @CityofCT itself believes that it will be OVER 70 YEARS before it can eradicate the housing backlog. #Land4PeopleNOT4Profit

@alanwinde @ReclaimCT @WesternCapeGov @CityofCT @helenzille 14/ Hundreds of thousands of families have been forced to live in inhumane conditions in peripheral townships & informal settlements because the state – at all levels – has failed to honour its constitutional obligation to use its own land to combat spatial apartheid.

@alanwinde @ReclaimCT @WesternCapeGov @CityofCT @helenzille 15/ Where you live in the city matters – it determines a person’s access to opportunities & the quality of the services. Building homes on the outskirts reproduced spatial inequality, entrenched social exclusion & creates poverty traps far from economic opportunities & amenities

@alanwinde @ReclaimCT @WesternCapeGov @CityofCT @helenzille 16/ The Tafelberg judgment recognised that @WesternCapeGov & @CityofCT "need to urgently address apartheid’s shameful & divisive legacy of spatial injustice & manifest inequality" & use public land to do so. #Land4PeopleNOT4Profit

@alanwinde @ReclaimCT @WesternCapeGov @CityofCT @helenzille 17/ @WesternCapeGov & @alanwinde's decision to appeal the Tafelberg judgment shows a lack of courageous leadership required to use this direction from the Court to radically to break with the past & meaningfully act on advancing urban land & spatial justice #Land4PeopleNOT4Profit