Residents and leaders in Parkwood have called for transparency from government about housing in the area.
Over the past month Prince George Drive has been closed sporadically due to protests about housing.
On Thursday June 7 residents again protested after a meeting with the City of Cape Town’s mayoral committee member for area south, Eddie Andrews.
At the meeting Mr Andrews gave the community feedback about selling rental units to residents who qualify. “Sadly though because Parkwood mostly has flats, those units cannot be considered as it’s not a stand alone house,” said Mr Andrews. Voice of Parkwood NPO chairperson, Paul Phillips, however, said only 10 units were available to buy. “The community reacted because this is not what was discussed.
The City has now come up with a plan to sell rental units to residents but only 10 can be sold because they’re free-standing. The flats cannot be sold.
“We want to know whether land will be made available to Parkwood backyarders but there has been no feedback from government,” said Mr Phillips.
Mr Andrews said the City of Cape Town is working with the Provincial Department of Human Settlements to address the concerns of the residents of Parkwood.
“A strategy is being developed to share information and resources in order to assess which solutions will best address the needs of Parkwood and other communities,” said Mr Andrews.
He said once this information has been compiled, a meeting will be held with Parkwood residents to discuss the various options and to obtain their input on how best to proceed.