People’s Land Campaign in limbo while Western Cape authorities dig in heels

In November 2024, the Cabinet approved the release of state-owned land in the Western Cape through the State Land Disposal Act of 1961, a motion that would provide poor and working-class families with tenure security, free from evictions and displacements.

This was in response to the call from 40 communities in the Western Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal calling on the state to donate parcels of vacant and underutilised land that would benefit thousands of people.

These parcels of land belong to the national government and the Western Cape government.

But the lack of intergovernmental coordination has exacerbated bureaucratic delays, reflecting a clear lack of priority for housing: this is evident in the actions of Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Dean MacPherson, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde and City of Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.

Many of the affected communities have lived in uncertainty for generations, lacking formal recognition of land rights. Others occupied land due to job losses during the Covid-19 pandemic, when rental accommodation became unaffordable and evictions escalated.

Instead of responding with compassion and solutions, the state acted illegally and violently, executing unlawful evictions that were widely challenged by civil society, including our organisation, Ndifuna Ukwazi. 

In 2023, Ndifuna Ukwazi, with social movements and communities, launched the People’s Land Campaign to assist as many of these communities in need of land security as possible.

In 2024, President Cyril Ramaphosa responded positively to the call, calling for inter-ministerial cooperation and the formation of a task team between various arms of government and the communities. The inter-ministerial task team was made up of the Department of Human Settlements and the Department of Infrastructure and Public Works.

Furthermore, the Housing Development Agency (HDA) was tasked with establishing a steering committee alongside the provincial government and the City of Cape Town to expedite the release of state-owned land.

However, despite these clear mandates, both the Western Cape provincial government and the City of Cape Town have refused to engage, deliberately stalling progress.

It is important to note that while the HDA collaborates with provinces and municipalities in the development of housing and human settlements, it does not and cannot replace these arms of government in fulfilling housing development functions. The lack of cooperation from these authorities highlights their reluctance to engage in meaningful land redistribution.

Rather than supporting policies that promote tenure security, these administrations have been accused of facilitating mass evictions and perpetuating harassment of vulnerable communities. Such actions directly undermine their stated goals of uplifting black and coloured communities, revealing a troubling disconnect between their rhetoric and reality.

The implementation of progressive policies such as land redistribution and the State Land Disposal Act presents a crucial opportunity to redress historical injustices. However, these policies cannot achieve their full potential without the active participation of those in power.

Little interest