22 November 2024
The City of Cape Town has extended the public participation process to release the old Woodstock Hospital site. The site has been unlawfully occupied since 2017. Archive photo: Ashraf Hendricks
The public participation process to release the old Woodstock Hospital site for the development of affordable housing has been extended.
This follows a Woodstock Residents’ Association meeting on Wednesday where some residents expressed concern that the site’s occupiers will be rendered homeless should the sale go ahead. A few residents welcomed the possibility of a new development, hoping it would increase their property values.
The City of Cape Town has said the site will be disposed of and could become one of the biggest social and affordable housing opportunities.
In August GroundUp reported that nearly 900 people living at the hospital who occupied unlawfully occupied it in 2017 as part of the Reclaim the City affordable housing campaign, face an uncertain future. Many of the occupiers moved there after being evicted or displaced from their homes in Woodstock due to gentrification. The occupiers have renamed the hospital Cissie Gool House.
The initial deadline for comments on the matter was Wednesday, 27 November. But the City has now extended it to the end of January 2025 to give enough time for more people to comment on the future development of the property.
Ashura Easton told Wednesday’s meeting she has been living at Cissie Gool House for nearly seven years. “There are a number of women-headed households residing at the (occupation). Who would then become homeless? It would be women with children, and the elderly living with their grandchildren,” she said at the meeting on Wednesday.
“I’ve got three children, and my second grandchild was born [on Tuesday],” she added.
Easton said it’s not that the occupiers don’t want to pay rates. “We’d love to put electricity in our box. We’d love to put something towards the water,” she said.
Lorenzo Johnson from the Development Action Group (DAG), whose family lives in Woodstock, told the meeting he was concerned about the sale. “We’d love to see an integrated, diverse inner-city where everybody can live and work together.”
He noted that he did not want to see families displaced and forced to spend a lot of money to travel in and out of the city centre.
Meanwhile another resident, Thurlo Mckie, echoed the sentiments of some residents who support the sale and development at the site. “It’s not easy to say, but I’m for the development by this private buyer. What happens with whoever is occupying the space right now … I’m sure the City would do something. But it would definitely uplift our property [values] and the whole environment,” he said
In a statement, Reclaim the City, called for solidarity with Cissie Gool House and urged the City to strongly consider that the development be done incrementally so as not to displace the current occupiers.
“The City must recognise these occupations as viable, lived alternatives and acknowledge our role as a solution amid a housing crisis. Our occupation has served as transitional housing for those evicted from the surrounding areas in Woodstock,” they said.
According to the City, the property is valued at approximately R87-million, including a potential residential development yield of about 500 units comprising open market and social housing.
In response to our questions, mayco member for human settlements Carl Pophaim said: “I’m so excited by the robust engagement around the City’s affordable housing agenda, particularly the inputs that have been critically constructive.”
“The City intends to engage the residents further concerning the proposed sale and development of the property, including the options available to them (the occupiers) to determine the appropriate response for each household. Every voice must be heard,” he said.