On Tuesday the 11th of February 2025, SERI appeared before the Constitutional Court in the matter of Adonisi and Others v Minister for Transport and Public Works: Western Cape & Others. In this matter, the Constitutional Court considered whether the Western Cape government and the City of Cape Town acted reasonably in fulfilling their obligations to redress spatial apartheid and to realise the rights of equitable access to land and adequate housing. It also includes clarification of what the law requires of the government in how it uses, manages and disposes of public land as well as how people are to be included and enabled to participate in decision-making regarding public land. SERI has joined the matter as amicus curiae.
The Tafelberg property is a piece of property located in the Cape Town suburb of Sea Point, an area that is very close to job opportunities, public transport routes and social amenities like schools, hospitals and clinics. It, however, remains largely inaccessible to low-income individuals due to apartheid spatial planning.
SERI joined the matter as amicus curiae in the Constitutional Court, at the heart of SERI’s submissions is the principle of non-retrogression as it applies to the disposal of public housing stock as well as the requirements of public participation as they apply to housing insecure communities. This principle prohibits the state from taking deliberate measures that result in a backward step in the enjoyment of rights. SERI submits that the Province and City’s policy to not provide affordable housing in central Cape Town, in preference to building units elsewhere and the selling of land to generate revenue is a retrogressive measure that requires justification and conflicts with jurisprudence that provides that a refusal by the state to provide emergency housing in the inner city is unconstitutional. Furthermore, international law, particularly the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the African Charter both of which South Africa has ratified, require that national government be involved in decision making that involves selling public housing. SERI further submits that the regulations of the Western Cape Land Administration Act that provide for consultation only after a sale is complete exclude meaningful participation of affected groups which is essential to consider alternative uses, such as social housing, protecting existing occupants, and imposing conditions on private buyers to develop affordable housing. Judgement was reserved.
- Read more about the case here.