SCA finds 'no obligation' for Western Cape, City of Cape Town to offer social housing in metro central

In a far-reaching decision on the protracted Tafelberg property dispute, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has found that there is no legal obligation on the Western Cape government or the City of Cape Town to "provide social housing at a specified location".

"The real questions are (1) whether the province and the City had an obligation to provide social housing at a specified location - central Cape Town, and (2) whether they failed to meet this obligation. As apparent from the roles and responsibilities, and functions of the provincial and local governments set out above, there is no such obligation," Judge Nambitha Dambuza wrote on behalf of a full Bench.

According to Dambuza, the roles and responsibilities placed on the province and the City by the Housing Act and Social Housing Act contained "no obligation to provide social housing in a specific location".