The ANC Youth League has slammed the DA after the constitutional court ruled that the DA-led Western Cape provincial government and the City of Cape Town failed to fulfil their constitutional obligations to advance equitable access to land and to progressively realise the right to adequate housing in well-located areas of Cape Town, including the city centre and Sea Point.
The crushing defeat for the blue party was delivered by the apex court this week following lengthy litigation in which the applicants had been losing.
Not only have the applicants now emerged victorious, but the order of the Supreme Court of Appeal that favoured the respondents, mainly the Western Cape provincial government and the City of Cape Town, has been set aside and annulled.
“It is declared that the obligations of the provincial government of the Western Cape and the City of Cape Town in terms of sections 25(5), 26(1) and 26(2) of the Constitution, and the legislation enacted to give effect to these rights, require that, in taking reasonable legislative steps and other measures, within their available resources, to progressively realise the right to adequate housing,” reads the ruling.
It goes on that the location of such housing must be treated as a relevant factor in determining what constitutes adequate housing and equitable access to land, having regard to the constitutional imperative to redress the spatial injustice inherited from apartheid.
Moreover, reasonable measures to fulfil these obligations must include the provision of affordable housing falling within the area of the formerly defined restructuring zone “CBD and surrounds (Salt River, Woodstock, and Observatory)” and, to the extent that it did not fall within the restructuring zone as so defined, Sea Point (collectively Cape Town CBD and Sea Point).
Court orders compliance report
The ruling insists that the city and the provincial government have historically failed to comply with these constitutional obligations, and thus both must now submit within 30 days a report to the Cape Town High Court of how they are going to comply this time around.
The ANC’s kindergarten, the ANC Youth League, is fuming at what they believe is a ruling that exposes the scam of the DA’s tagline, claiming that they govern well where they govern.
“This judgment is a constitutional indictment of a model of governance that has entrenched, rather than dismantled, apartheid spatial injustice. It confirms what the ANCYL has consistently argued: that the Democratic Alliance remains fundamentally opposed to genuine transformation,” said Youth League secretary-general Tsakani Shiviti.
“Apartheid deliberately excluded Black people from centres of land ownership, economic opportunity, and development. The preservation of that spatial order is, by its very nature, anti-Black. Rather than confronting this historic injustice, the Democratic Alliance has chosen to defend and preserve it.”
Tony Leon scandal
The so-called young lions also took the opportunity to lambast the DA for its recent scandal involving former leader Tony Leon, who is facing serious allegations of state capture.
Leon has been exposed by the aggrieved former agriculture minister John Steenhuisen, who shed light on the improper role played by Leon’s Resolve Communication to facilitate meetings between ministers and businessmen with interests in the state.
Shiviti said this was further evidence that the DA was throwing stones at everyone while they themselves live in a glass house, which is now crumbling.
“The party that has built its political identity on claims of clean governance must now subject itself to the very standards of transparency and accountability that it routinely demands of others,” she said.
“Accordingly, the ANCYL will formally approach the Public Protector to request a comprehensive investigation into the allegations relating to Resolve Communications, the role of Tony Leon, the conduct of Paul Boughey, and any public representatives who may have abused public office or improperly advanced private interests.
“We will also lodge formal complaints with the Public Service Commission, requesting an investigation into any public officials whose conduct may have breached the constitutional and ethical obligations of the public service.”
- The Constitutional Court ruled that the DA-led Western Cape government and City of Cape Town failed to ensure equitable land access and adequate housing in well-located areas, including Cape Town CBD and Sea Point.
- The ruling overturned a previous Supreme Court of Appeal decision favoring the Western Cape government and ordered both to submit compliance reports within 30 days.
- The ANC Youth League criticized the DA, accusing it of preserving apartheid-era spatial injustices and opposing genuine transformation.
- The Youth League also condemned former DA leader Tony Leon amid state capture allegations linked to his company, Resolve Communication.
- The ANCYL announced plans to request investigations by the Public Protector and Public Service Commission into alleged misconduct related to Tony Leon and other officials.
