Western Cape's R64 million Table View land deal faces scrutiny

A Land purchase in Table View for more than R64 million has come under scrutiny, as questions mount over why the Western Cape Government bought the site when a neighbouring parcel, larger and more developable, had cost the state just R9 million.

Provincial Infrastructure has since refuted the claims, citing that the price tag was the same the City itself negotiated for. 

The GOOD party said the property was bought under the “pretext” of “the ‘urgent’ relocation (in 2018) of the Siyahlala informal settlement,” but seven years later, the relocation has not occurred and the trains are still unable to run. The party added that “the purchase was unnecessary because the City of Cape Town already owned land suitable for housing development in the immediate vicinity.”

GOOD Secretary-General Brett Herron said the Western Cape Government “must explain its irrational purchase of a piece of land in the Table View area for R64.4 million, when it paid just R9 million for a larger, more developable piece of land right next door.”

Herron, who served as the City’s MMC for Transport and Urban Development in 2018, said he opposed the purchase of “17 hectares of land in an industrial park in the Killarney Gardens precinct,” noting that “seven of the 17 hectares are undevelopable for housing as they form part of a wetland.”

He said a private landowner “had initially offered to sell the land to the City for R88 million, before reducing the asking price to R77 million, and then to R64 million.” City professionals, he added, “estimated the land to be worth about R20 million,” while the Industrial Park Owners’ Association “estimated its worth at about R21 million.”

Herron compared the deal to other transactions, saying: “The most recent comparable transaction at the time, land bought for housing development in the Annandale area, had cost R225 per square metre, while the developable portions of the land offered to the City would cost R542 per square metre. That’s nearly three times higher.”

In response, the office of Western Cape MEC of Infrastructure Tertuis Simmers said the Province bought the land at the City’s request after it confirmed “it urgently needed the site but could not complete its own procurement in time.”

His office said “the City had already investigated the property for future expansion, confirmed that the bulk of the 17ha is developable, and had itself offered to buy it for R64 million in 2017. The Province simply stepped in to secure the same land, at the same price the City was prepared to pay.”

Simmers office added: “The price was not set by the Province. It was based directly on the City’s own valuation and offers, revised from R58 million to R64 million in 2017 after negotiations with the seller. The Province paid the exact same amount the City had already deemed market-related and was prepared to pay at the time.” It said the HDA also conducted an independent price evaluation.

On rezoning and relocation, his office said: “The then Western Cape Department of Human Settlements submitted two rezoning applications, both approved. These were appealed by the Racing Park Owners’ Association. Once the final appeal was concluded, the Department proceeded with the installation of bulk services, as per the agreement with the City of Cape Town. Any matters related to relocation and the construction of top structures must be directed to the City of Cape Town.”

His office dismissed claims of inflated pricing: “The price paid is exactly the same price the City of Cape Town itself negotiated and was prepared to pay when Mr Herron was part of the Mayoral Committee. Mr Herron’s claim that the purchase price is ‘radically overpriced’ smacks of hypocrisy, as he was part of the collective in the City when this decision was taken.”

It confirmed that the Western Cape Government “will cooperate fully with any SIU process. All facts have already been transparently placed before SCOPA and will stand scrutiny. The SIU determines its own timelines, but we are confident that once the factual record is reviewed, it will confirm that the Province paid the same price the City had already agreed to, and followed due process throughout.”

The City of Cape Town referred all enquiries to national and provincial government.

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