Cape Town property auction halted? Human Rights Commission drags City to court over land sales

In February, Cape Town's iconic Good Hope Centre fetched R135 million at auction. The SA Human Rights Commission has now launched court proceedings to stop its transfer.

Human Rights Commission Files Interdict Against City of Cape Town Over Municipal Property Auctions

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has filed legal proceedings against the City of Cape Town at the Western Cape Division of the High Court to interdict the transfer of 49 municipal properties sold at a public auction in February, until a review of the City’s decision has been conducted. 

The SAHRC said on Wednesday it had raised concerns about the sale of municipal properties while the City of Cape Town faced an affordable housing shortage and spatial inequality persisted. It questioned whether the City had considered using the properties for affordable and social housing before putting them up for auction. 

The Commission also raised concerns that the proposed disposal of the properties was not subject to legally enforceable conditions requiring buyers to provide affordable or social housing. The SAHRC also questioned the adequacy of the public participation processes the City relied on to auction the properties, with some of these processes dating back to 2010. 

The Commission said it met with Executive Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis in February to raise concerns and to request a postponement of the auction until further engagement and consideration of the constitutional implications of selling the municipal properties. 

However, the Commission’s request was denied and the auction went ahead, which led to the court application to interdict the property transfers. With the court application, the Commission also seeks an order requiring the preservation of relevant documents. 

The human rights agency wants the court to declare the City’s decision to auction the properties unconstitutional, unlawful, irrational and invalid. 

“The Commission contends that the decisions failed to comply with constitutional and statutory obligations concerning housing, spatial justice, public participation and the disposal of municipal assets,” part of its statement reads. 

In February, the City of Cape Town announced that it had sold 50 diverse City-owned properties, including the iconic Good Hope Centre. The City argued that the sale of these properties would boost job creation and economic growth that would benefit the metro. 

The announcement drew controversy after Pastor John Anosike of Spirit Revelation Ecclesia announced that his church had managed to buy the building for R135 million. 

Various political organisations and lobby groups such as the GOOD party and the Khoi-San group hit back at the City’s decision to sell the municipal buildings. GOOD argued the City of Cape Town was auctioning the property for less than its valuation.