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To sell or not to sell? An analysis of the Tafelberg sale in the light of the right to adequate housing in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
In 2015, the Western Cape Provincial government (‘WCPG') decided to sell the Tafelberg estate, an old school building located at Seapoint, a suburb of Cape Town. The property was no longer used and the WCPG wanted to generate additional financial means for the construction of an administrative build...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Public Law
2023
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| _version_ | 1867613280691814400 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Willems, Stijn |
| author2 | Barratt, Amanda |
| author_browse | Barratt, Amanda Willems, Stijn |
| author_facet | Barratt, Amanda Willems, Stijn |
| author_sort | Willems, Stijn |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | In 2015, the Western Cape Provincial government (‘WCPG') decided to sell the Tafelberg estate, an old school building located at Seapoint, a suburb of Cape Town. The property was no longer used and the WCPG wanted to generate additional financial means for the construction of an administrative building in central Cape Town. However, Reclaim The City and Ndifuna Ukwazi, two civil society organisations working around housing rights and social justice, criticised the sales decision. They called for the property to be used for the development of affordable housing in order to help addressing the lack of affordable housing in central Cape Town. Eventually, they challenged the sale before the High Court of South Africa, Western Cape Division, which put aside the sales decision in August 2020. In this dissertation, the Tafelberg case is analysed in the light of the right to adequate housing in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (‘ICESCR'). In order to make that assessment, the first part of the paper gives an overview of the content and interpretation of that right. The second part of the paper then focuses on the housing situation in Cape Town and on the Tafelberg case in particular. It is argued that the WCPG's decision to sell the Tafelberg estate is not compatible with the right to adequate housing in the ICESCR. The decision can be seen as a retrogressive measure that in principle is not allowed under the ICESCR. The arguments presented to the high court by the WCPG, cannot convincingly justify the adoption of such a retrogressive measure. The decision cannot be reconciled with the ICESCR's requirements that housing should be adequate and that priority should be given to vulnerable and disadvantages communities. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/36951 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:33:37.862Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publishDateRange | 2023 |
| publishDateSort | 2023 |
| publisher | Department of Public Law |
| publisherStr | Department of Public Law |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/36951 To sell or not to sell? An analysis of the Tafelberg sale in the light of the right to adequate housing in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Willems, Stijn Barratt, Amanda Human Rights Law In 2015, the Western Cape Provincial government (‘WCPG') decided to sell the Tafelberg estate, an old school building located at Seapoint, a suburb of Cape Town. The property was no longer used and the WCPG wanted to generate additional financial means for the construction of an administrative building in central Cape Town. However, Reclaim The City and Ndifuna Ukwazi, two civil society organisations working around housing rights and social justice, criticised the sales decision. They called for the property to be used for the development of affordable housing in order to help addressing the lack of affordable housing in central Cape Town. Eventually, they challenged the sale before the High Court of South Africa, Western Cape Division, which put aside the sales decision in August 2020. In this dissertation, the Tafelberg case is analysed in the light of the right to adequate housing in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (‘ICESCR'). In order to make that assessment, the first part of the paper gives an overview of the content and interpretation of that right. The second part of the paper then focuses on the housing situation in Cape Town and on the Tafelberg case in particular. It is argued that the WCPG's decision to sell the Tafelberg estate is not compatible with the right to adequate housing in the ICESCR. The decision can be seen as a retrogressive measure that in principle is not allowed under the ICESCR. The arguments presented to the high court by the WCPG, cannot convincingly justify the adoption of such a retrogressive measure. The decision cannot be reconciled with the ICESCR's requirements that housing should be adequate and that priority should be given to vulnerable and disadvantages communities. 2023-02-21T14:15:17Z 2023-02-21T14:15:17Z 2022 2023-02-21T07:32:19Z Master Thesis Masters LLM http://hdl.handle.net/11427/36951 eng application/pdf Department of Public Law Faculty of Law |
| spellingShingle | Human Rights Law Willems, Stijn To sell or not to sell? An analysis of the Tafelberg sale in the light of the right to adequate housing in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | To sell or not to sell? An analysis of the Tafelberg sale in the light of the right to adequate housing in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights |
| title_full | To sell or not to sell? An analysis of the Tafelberg sale in the light of the right to adequate housing in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights |
| title_fullStr | To sell or not to sell? An analysis of the Tafelberg sale in the light of the right to adequate housing in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights |
| title_full_unstemmed | To sell or not to sell? An analysis of the Tafelberg sale in the light of the right to adequate housing in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights |
| title_short | To sell or not to sell? An analysis of the Tafelberg sale in the light of the right to adequate housing in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights |
| title_sort | to sell or not to sell an analysis of the tafelberg sale in the light of the right to adequate housing in the international covenant on economic social and cultural rights |
| topic | Human Rights Law |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/36951 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT willemsstijn tosellornottosellananalysisofthetafelbergsaleinthelightoftherighttoadequatehousingintheinternationalcovenantoneconomicsocialandculturalrights |