​Hidden underneath the unacceptable racism and defamation which is reflected in this posting, is the very real issue of how to move away from the spatial constructs of our city. However, this type of post takes away from the constructive conversations that we require to seek solutions to a very complicated situation.

Here are the facts:

These are private evictions, of which the eviction orders have been granted by the Court. The City has not been ordered to provide accommodation yet. We await the outcome. With regards to the case referred to by Reclaim The City, it was ruled, among others, that the City of Johannesburg had to provide ‘occupiers with temporary accommodation’. The City does not dispute this. As per the law, we must await the Court order to do so.

In general we are working hard to enable subsidised accommodation for our more vulnerable residents in the near inner-city areas and across the metro. There are currently earmarked near-inner city social housing projects in the Woodstock and Salt River area. City-wide, we have budgeted approximately R230 million in this financial year for social housing projects alone.

We are also looking at innovative ways to help us carry the cost of public infrastructure and social housing developments, such as the social housing components that we’ve made a requirement of the Clifton Precinct and the Foreshore Freeway Precinct Developments. We hope to see more of these collaborations in the future. This would be the best way to approach issues related to gentrification and we are committed to getting private sector buy-in.

In the meantime, we cannot stand still and do nothing. That is why we have focussed on the expansion of the MyCiTi bus service to previously neglected and far-flung areas such as Atlantis, Imizamo Yethu and Hangberg, in an effort to connect previously excluded persons to world-class public transport infrastructure.

A key intervention to transform the metro over the next decades is our Transit-Oriented Development framework which, among others, will hold substantial benefits for lower-income households.

There is a lot of work that is being done but nothing is a simple as it is being made out to be. The sort of sentiment we have seen from Reclaim the City will not get us anywhere.

We urge Reclaim The City to come to us with well thought-out suggestions which satisfy the requirements of all applicable legislation, the Constitution and of due City process.

End