Kommetjie residents are considering legal action after the city's mayco approved the development of 254
houses, overturning a decision by the spatial planning committee.
If one were cynical, as I am, one would suggest
the city waited until after elections to make or publicise the decision. It would not have been wise to irritate
voters – Kommetjie residents – just before.
However, with their tails up after a two-thirds majority
win, and having entered elections defiantly justifying development in sensitive
areas (mayor Patricia de Lille said Camps Bay residents are “protecting
privilege” by opposing the Maiden’s Cove development, a hypocritical stand from
one who socialises with Clifton millionaire developers), did DA’s voters in
Kommetjie really expect them to have a change of heart? Come on.
A month before elections Mark Jackson started the
“Save Cape Town” Facebook campaign, requesting residents to withhold their
votes. Writing in “Herron’s spin isineffective” (July 18) of Maiden’s Cove I said: “I cannot believe ... residents
of ward 54 – and others – will vote for the DA.
If they do, they deserve everything that is coming to their wards”.
My words are prophetic, but it didn’t take a
visionary to figure out what will happen.
In ward 69 – Kommetjie and surrounds – the DA took 59% of the vote.
It’s fair to say the middle-class overwhelmingly voted DA, the same
people who now want to take “their party” to court. Are they that naive? I repeat, they deserve what is coming.
However, I qualify my harshness because what is
happening in Kommetjie, Maiden’s Cove and elsewhere affects us all.
Property prices in Kommetjie are exorbitant (asking
price for a modest 2 bedroom bungalow on Protea Avenue is R3.4m!). Residents are probably relatively affluent so
setting up a legal fund to fight the city should not be too onerous, far less so
than an unwise development.
I don’t usually go out there, but when I did earlier
this year traffic into Sun Valley via Ou Kaapse Weg and especially the M65 into
and out of Kommetjie was horrendous, bumper-to-bumper, moving slowly.
Ian Neilson says “council applied its mind very
strongly” to this issue. Yeah, right (like
they applied their minds to the Cape Town Stadium that costs – my estimate – in
excess of R200m a year). They definitely
applied their minds to revenue streams from developers.
If they have not done so residents must ask the
city for transport and environmental impact studies of developments on affected
areas – it’s public information. Ask my “friend” Brett for the transport plan. If they refuse (they rudely refused my request
for the stadium’s financials), get it via access to information, or hire
consultants. These are important for a
legal challenge, but I’m sure they’ve thought of it already.
A last piece of unasked for advice, the DA’s Achilles
heel is De Lille. She is a loose
cannon. I’m not a lawyer, but a legal and
political challenge should interrogate her inappropriate relations – personal and
business – with developers. She is a personal
friend of the Maiden’s Cove developers and has socialised at their homes.
Having a personal relationship with developers
and then stridently going to bat for the development is highly suspect, and
questionable. She should have recused herself. But ethical requirements only apply to the ANC, don't they.
And the DA questions the ANC’s relationships with
the Guptas? It would be interesting to
see how she responds in court, if it ever got there.
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