The City of Cape Town in the Western Cape, is a popular South African tourism hub, boasting the majestic Table Mountain, historic Robben Island, lush vineyards, and luxurious villas, apartments and houses.
However, behind the city there is massive poverty, gang violence, criminal activity and poor housing.
ActionSA premier candidate, Angela Sobey, who wants to lead this province of dual faces, spoke to The Star about addressing poverty, controlling gang violence, and creating jobs in the marginalised areas of Cape Town.
The Western Cape is notorious for its high rate of murder and gang violence. The third quarter crime statistics for 2023/24 revealed Khayelitsha and Gugulethu to be the top five stations where murder was reported, while 268 gang-related murders, 250 of these murders occurred in the province.
This is a major concern for Sobey as it marginalises vulnerable groups like women, the elderly and children.
She said socio-economic issues including drug abuse and trafficking must be addressed to end the poverty.
“ActionSA speaks not of the fight against crime through the prism of policing and the criminal justice system, but fundamentally speaks to the empowerment of our communities to address the socio-economic issues that exacerbate such criminality,” she said.
The ActionSA Western Cape premier candidate said the party would deter drug abuse by providing access to rehabilitation centres and introducing harsher punishment for drug trading.
Sobey promised increased security for crime infested communities, and revoking possibilities of parole for rape and murder convicts.
“We have made clear our intent to remove the possibility of parole for those found guilty of multiple rape and murder charges. We will expand South Africa’s police service and increase visible policing in vulnerable communities, like that across the Cape Flats.”
Western Cape’s spatial segregation, with inadequate housing for the poor and mushrooming squatter camps, is another area of concern for ActionSA.
Last year, IOL reported that the Western Cape housing database showed a housing backlog of 600 000, with 350 000 applicants on the housing waiting list.
Sobey said her the party would expropriate and privatise abandoned buildings turning them into modern and affordable housing, with the help of a fund to develop infrastructure for economic growth.
“Our approach to housing provision will be to expand access to affordable housing which is closer to economic opportunities. Critically, ActionSA’s Opportunity Fund will allocate 65% of its annual earnings to infrastructure and opportunity development projects,” she said.
“ActionSA’s infrastructure investment will focus on projects that holistically expand access to economic opportunity, including the development of schools, clinics, sports and recreation facilities, public transport, and housing opportunities. The party will expropriate hijacked properties, and land owned by the state that is suitable for affordable housing and release it to the private sector for the development of mixed-use buildings that includes affordable housing.”
Asked how she would enable poor townships to compete with Cape Town, she said developing infrastructure and local businesses: small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) is key to sustaining township economies, and creating jobs for young people.
“Together with our representatives in National Parliament, we ensure that we exempt SMMEs within their first two years of operations from restrictive labour and financial reporting requirements. This will reduce the burden on entrepreneurs and allow businesses to allocate more of their time and resources towards becoming profitable and expanding,” she said.
Sobey plans to close the digital divide gap between the rich and poor by providing fibre at reduced rates. The party will partner with the private sector to implement this project.
The Star
hope.mafu@inl.co.za