Sea Point is beautifully situated on the Atlantic coast and is one of the most popular neighbourhoods for tourists and digital nomads. Walking or jogging along the promenade must be a dream. I've always wanted to go to the swimming pool, which is right by the sea, but I haven't managed it yet. I would be lying if I said that I particularly like Sea Point, but of course I wouldn't turn down a house there if someone gave it to me as a gift. Then I could do a double backflip with a twist from the 3-metre tower of the swimming pool in the morning before drinking my latte macchiato. I would also have a cleaner from Khayelitsha who would need several hours on public transport to get to Sea Point in the morning. There are 2,090 Airbnbs listed in Sea Point, but not a single social housing unit.
On 11 February 1966, Sea Point was declared a “white-only” neighbourhood. From that day onwards, thousands of coloured and black people were driven out. Thirty-five years after apartheid, coloured and black people are of course allowed to live in Sea Point again, but the rents are far too high for the vast majority of working-class coloured and black people to afford. Since the end of apartheid, the government in Cape Town has lacked the political will to reverse the injustices of apartheid and return land to the coloured and black working class. Social housing has also not been built. Sea Point has become a neighbourhood for the rich, tourists and digital nomads – with no place for the working class.
After work, the working class unfortunately has to leave the neighbourhood because they cannot afford to live there. When I search for rental apartments on housing portals, the cheapest offers start at 12,000 rand (about 600 euros) for just under 30 square metres. The minimum wage in South Africa is just under 5,000 rand. However, I cannot estimate how much a cleaner or waitress earns. There are so-called ‘maid quarters’ where domestic workers can stay overnight. In most cases, however, they are not allowed to live there with their families.
Fortunately, things are now changing in this district. After years of struggle, there are plans to build social housing in Sea Point. In 2010, a school in Sea Point (Tafelberg School) was closed and subsequently discussed as a location for social housing. Six years later, the then Premier of the Western Cape, Helen Zille, wanted to sell the land for as much money as possible. The plan was to build offices and expensive apartments, and the working class would once again have been left empty-handed. Housing activists from the Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU) and Reclaim the City (RTC) initiatives refused to accept this injustice and launched the #StopTheSale campaign. I still remember the struggle because I was so interested in the issue at the time that I went to a Reclaim the City meeting during a holiday in Cape Town.
Despite protests and nine published studies proving that social housing could be built on this site, Helen Zille wanted to sell the land. She and her government argued against the nine studies, claiming that social housing could not be built there. This once again illustrates that Helen Zille and the Democratic Alliance (DA) do not want to address the injustices of apartheid or the spatial inequalities resulting from apartheid, but rather want to allow them to continue: whites should live in the chic, central areas, while coloureds and blacks should only live in the outskirts.
However, the sale of the property did not go ahead. The activists filed a lawsuit against the sale in 2017, and in 2020, the Western Cape High Court ruled that the sale of the property was unlawful. According to the court, the Cape Town and Western Cape governments are failing to fulfil their obligation to combat spatial inequality resulting from apartheid and to build social housing in central areas. This was a slap in the face for Helen Zille and the Democratic Alliance – and a major success for Ndifuna Ukwazi and Reclaim the City, as well as for domestic workers, cleaners, waiters and others who have been fighting for social housing in Sea Point for years.
Success was followed by setbacks. Helen Zille and the DA were determined to prevent the construction of social housing and took the case to the Supreme Court of Appeal – and won. The sale was once again legal because there is no legal obligation to build social housing in certain neighbourhoods as long as the authorities fulfil their obligation to provide affordable housing overall. But that was not the end of the story:
The Constitutional Court was called in: the dispute was to be settled before South Africa's highest court. The hearing took place in February 2025, but the ruling was postponed and has not yet been announced.3 Nevertheless, there is good news:4 in mid-May, the Western Cape government presented plans for social housing. Social housing, affordable housing and expensive housing are now to be built on the site. Three options were presented, with at least 63 social housing units. Of course, I had hoped that only social housing would be built on the site, but in the end I will probably have to settle for only 50% expensive apartments. As an outsider, the plans came as a surprise to me because the court's ruling has not yet been announced, but I am all the more pleased about it.
It is a huge success for the initiatives and the working class. The fight for social housing has been long and arduous, but it seems to have been worth it. For the first time ever, there will be social housing in Sea Point! In a few years, people will move into their new homes and no longer have to get up at four in the morning to serve me my latte macchiato on time after my double backflip with twist from the 3-metre tower.
Sea Point for everyone! Especially for the working class!
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