South African rights commission takes Cape Town's sale of 49 plots to court
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Sowetan
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has approached the Western Cape High Court to stop the City of Cape Town from transferring 49 municipal properties to private buyers. It argues the land could be used for housing access and seeks an order barring the conclusion or registration of the sales, according to the affidavit cited by the Sowetan.
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has approached the Western Cape High Court to stop the City of Cape Town from transferring 49 municipal properties to private buyers. The commission asks the court to bar the city, its mayor and its municipal manager from proceeding with the disposal, including concluding or executing the sale contracts, approving the transfers or registering them at the deeds office.
In its affidavit, the SAHRC says the land is a public resource that could serve access to adequate housing, social inclusion and spatial justice, and criticises the city for treating it as a commercial asset without regard for its role in responding to housing demand. The commission says it learned in January 2026 that the city planned to auction 49 properties, then wrote to it for information on the plots, the legal basis for the sale, housing impact studies and public participation. It considers the municipal response insufficient on these points.
The SAHRC reports having met the executive mayor on 20 February 2026, when the city indicated the land could eventually be used for housing development. The mayor, however, reportedly confirmed that no formal sale condition would require buyers to build affordable or social housing, saying the city does not have the means to finance such housing but that the private sector has the necessary financial means.
The court action adds to the electoral and institutional challenges that have marked South African public life in recent weeks, from the UDM's challenge to an electoral recount in the Eastern Cape to the MK party's call for an audit of municipal results.
