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YIMBY Seaboard Fighting for affordable housing and housing justice in Cape Town’s Atlantic Seaboard. https://www.yimbyseaboard.org/

We wanted to compare political parties’ positions on housing, we sent out 9 questions to political parties to answer. Un...
13/10/2026

We wanted to compare political parties’ positions on housing, we sent out 9 questions to political parties to answer. Unfortunately, only Democratic Alliance and GOOD bothered to answer…

Those who didn’t respond: MyANC , Economic Freedom Fighters , Patriotic Alliance , Action SA , Vryheidsfront Plus / Freedom Front Plus

We’ll share the breakdown of GOOD vs DA on these issues soon.

In the meantime, these were our questions:
1. How will you address the city’s spatial apartheid legacy?
2. What fiscal and regulatory tools will you use to capitalise on
property value increases on the Atlantic seaboard in order
to fund affordable housing?
3. What will you do to address the Atlantic seaboard affordability
crisis?
4. Will you adapt the Western Cape Province’s framework
inclusionary housing policy for the city?
5. How will you work with national government to unlock more
funding for state-subsidised social housing?
6. The city has announced it will sell erf 2187, the Three Anchor
Bay plot. Will you change the plan to ensure it offers
affordable and social housing?
7. Are you funded by property developers active on the
seaboard? If so, who are they and how much have they
contributed?
8. When was the last time you held a meeting with seaboard
small businesses? How often will you meet and report to
seaboard residents and small businesses?
9. What is your position on Ahmed Kathrada House and
Tafelberg?

Fantasy election time! Candidates Zohran Mamdani and Geordin Hill-Lewis square off on the issue of transportation.The Co...
06/09/2026

Fantasy election time! Candidates Zohran Mamdani and Geordin Hill-Lewis square off on the issue of transportation.

The Constitutional Court reminded the City of Cape Town how central transportation is to continued spatial apartheid – even if Geordin thinks it’s propaganda language. Zohran has come up against some road blocks for his ambitions on transport – but at least the ambitions are there!

Read our full breakdown of the issues in our Daily Maverick piece and follow us for more head-to-head comparisons!

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2026-08-12-zohran-vs-geordin-two-sons-of-cape-town-two-very-different-mayors/

ZOHRAN
Aims to purchase 2 500 new buses by 2030 🤔
Aims to open rapid bus corridors for under-served neighbourhoods 🤔
No free fares but it’s a long-term goal 🤔

GEORDIN
Called spatial apartheid “propaganda language” 😡
Spending R114 million on a wall between the N2 and poverty-stricken areas 😡
Spending R4.5 billion on MyCiTi bus route expansion 😃

Our fantasy election analysis looks at how Zohran Mamdani and Geordin Hill-Lewis compare on the issue of inclusionary ho...
30/08/2026

Our fantasy election analysis looks at how Zohran Mamdani and Geordin Hill-Lewis compare on the issue of inclusionary housing. It’s a term that needs some explaining…

Inclusionary housing is a policy tool cities use to encourage private developers to build a proportion of affordable units within their projects. In return for granting developers certain valuable, publicly-owned rights – like being allowed to build higher than standard regulations allow – the developers apportion some agreed-upon number of units for affordable housing.

Well, NYC actually *has* an inclusionary housing policy, and is prioritising it. Guess our vote goes to Zohran on this issue.

Read our full breakdown of the issues in our Daily Maverick piece and follow us for more head-to-head comparisons!

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2026-08-12-zohran-vs-geordin-two-sons-of-cape-town-two-very-different-mayors/

ZOHRAN
Established Affordable Housing Authority 😃
Executive director reports directly to the mayor 😃
Fast-tracking inclusionary housing 😃

GEORDIN
Ditched implementation of Provincial Inclusionary Housing framework policy ☹️
Failed to take advantage of building boom on the Atlantic Seaboard 😡
Zero affordable units built in new blocks on Atlantic Seaboard 😡

We put City-owned land on the platform – our fantasy election sees how these two candidates stack up.It’s not looking go...
25/08/2026

We put City-owned land on the platform – our fantasy election sees how these two candidates stack up.

It’s not looking good for Geordin Hill-Lewis on this issue. All these sales of City-owned land in Cape Town? Zohran gets our vote on this issue.

Read our full breakdown of the issues in our Daily Maverick piece and follow us for more head-to-head comparisons! https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2026-08-12-zohran-vs-geordin-two-sons-of-cape-town-two-very-different-mayors/

ZOHRAN
Land Inventory Fast Track Task Force established on first day in office 😃
Aim: maximise housing and public services on City land 😃

GEORDIN
Selling off City-owned land, including:
• Good Hope Centre ☹️
• Large Three Anchor Bay property with NO plan for affordable housing 😡
Constitutional Court orders City & Province to explain plans for affordable housing ☹️

vs .hill.lewis

Our fantasy election between two mayoral candidates takes a look at new housing stock as a voter issue!Affordable housin...
23/08/2026

Our fantasy election between two mayoral candidates takes a look at new housing stock as a voter issue!

Affordable housing was a central pillar of Zohran Mamdani’s election campaign. He has ambitious aims for building new homes – we’ll keep an eye on how those plans turn out.

As for Geordin Hill-Lewis, he has some explaining to do to the Constitutional Court.

Read our full breakdown of the issues in our Daily Maverick piece and follow us for more head-to-head comparisons! https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2026-08-12-zohran-vs-geordin-two-sons-of-cape-town-two-very-different-mayors/

ZOHRAN
Commitment: 200 000 affordable homes in 10 years 🤔
Commitment: 16 000 new apartments in 2 years – half for lower-income households 🤔

GEORDIN
12 000 affordable units stuck in the “pipeline” for 10+ years😡
Constitutional Court orders City & Province to explain ☹️

A few choice quotes from the Constitutional Court judgement regarding the proposed sale of prime Provincially owned land...
04/07/2026

A few choice quotes from the Constitutional Court judgement regarding the proposed sale of prime Provincially owned land in Sea Point – Tafelberg School. It was a momentous day for housing justice in our city, and only comes about because of the brave and tireless efforts of housing activists like Reclaim the City and Ndifuna Ukwazi.

The Provincial government clearly anticipated that the ruling would go against them, because they have committed to building social housing on the Tafelberg site, with over 400 affordable units in the Province’s plans.

The Court did not let the Province or City government off the hook for future housing obligations, either. The judges ordered them to change legislation to improve public participation processes, and to report back – within three months – on their progress on affordable housing.

Spatial apartheid is real, and the City and Province have a duty to address it!

There are ‘risks’ and ‘unintended consequences’ to any endeavour – but when it comes to making housing affordable, there...
23/04/2026

There are ‘risks’ and ‘unintended consequences’ to any endeavour – but when it comes to making housing affordable, there are far greater risks to doing absolutely nothing.

In a YIMBY Seaboard opinion piece in , we show that there are low-risk, ready-to-go policy tools that could make a difference on the Atlantic Seaboard, where development is exploding.

The mayor talks about “risks” and “unintended consequences” of Inclusionary Housing. But he’s ignoring the risks of doin...
14/04/2026

The mayor talks about “risks” and “unintended consequences” of Inclusionary Housing. But he’s ignoring the risks of doing nothing – runaway development with no planning for affordability. ‘Inclusionary Housing’ is a policy tool that requires developers to build a proportion of affordable units in new builds. Cities around the world use it – even Stellenbosch is doing it! But Cape Town? We get crickets… or rather, we get 35 square metre microapartments sold for millions as investment vehicles for short-term rentals, instead of actual homes.

Inclusionary Housing alone won’t solve Cape Town’s housing crisis – we need much more, subsidised social housing. But it’s a minimum-effort measure COCT could take right now, taking advantage of all the new developments on the Atlantic Seaboard.

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