Another DA Dog-And-Pony Show over Schulphoek

Pic: Vuyo Nxodo. Dubai, with the controversial and unihabited housing project, Mandela Square, in the foreground.*

It is said that the definition of insanity is making the same mistake over and over again, but expecting different results. Insanity seems to be an integral part of DA culture if the situation at Schulphoek is anything to go by.

The Western Cape Minister of Human Settlements, Mr Tertius Simmers, and the DA-led council and municipality are leading people to believe that there is progress at the Greater Hermanus Stakeholders meetings about the “mixed-use” development at Schulphoek.

The truth is, there is no progress. All that appears to be happening is that Mr Simmers, the DA, and the wealthy property owners are putting on a dog-and-pony show to feign public participation in a development that the majority of residents from Zwelihle do not want.

Minister Simmers claims that the Western Cape Government is “committed to accelerating human settlement delivery while promoting social inclusion through the development of integrated, resilient, safe and sustainable human settlements in an open opportunity and safe society”. Why then are all inputs and requests from the Zwelihle community ignored? Why is 90% of the stakeholders forum made up of white monopoly capitalists, business people, government officials, and residents of other areas in Hermanus, and not the people of Zwelihle? Why is the Minister intent on building a development that the people of Zwelihle do not want? Why does the Minister not seem to be able to grasp that one cannot move forward and create integrated human settlements until the inequalities of the past have been addressed?

The simple answer is that the Minister has latched onto the Schulphoek development as a “strategic project” that will “completely transform this area’s landscape” in order to achieve his personal objectives and ambitions, and those of his party.

If, as he claims, he was truly concerned about the people of Zwelihle living in “safer and improved conditions” he would be listening to their wants and needs and ideas. He, and his administration, would not be manipulating the membership of the stakeholders forum and the establishment of the social compacts to consist of people who are not a part of the community of Zwelihle or, if they are, represent a small minority of the Zwelihle residents.

The Greater Hermanus Stakeholders Forum is not representative of the Overstrand population and is certainly not representative of the people of Zwelihle who are meant to be the main beneficiaries of the Schulphoek land.

Perhaps Mr Simmers suffers from selective hearing? He hears the “loud call” of the stakeholders forum for the development to continue, but cannot hear the calls of the people on the ground that they do not want the development being proposed.

In October last year, the community of Zwelihle submitted a proposal to Minister Sisulu, Minister Simmers, the Mayor, and the Municipal Manager. This proposal has been summarily ignored. The organisation of meetings, from non-existent agendas to laughable minutes, to a complete disregard for the Zwelihle stakeholders not having the luxury of access to resources to participate in virtual meetings, is indicative of the blatant disregard the administration of the Western Cape Government and the Overstrand Municipality has for the people on the ground.

Have they forgotten that Hermanus was wracked by months of protests and turmoil the last time they refused to listen or engage with the people they claim to care about? Have they forgotten the damage their inaction caused to the already threadbare social fabric of the greater Hermanus community? Does the DA think that putting on this dog-and-pony show to allay the fears of their wealthy supporters in Hermanus and feign community engagement will make their dream of establishing the first integrated human settlement a reality?

It is obvious that either they are insane because they have not learned from their mistakes and keep doing the same thing, or they don’t actually care about anything other than developing Schulphoek to suit their strategic objectives and appease the white monopoly capitalists who own property here.

Mr Simmers and his administration are railroading a process to suit their own objectives. If they had learned anything from the protests of 2018 they would, instead, be using this process to show that they are capable of engaging with a community and working with them to find solutions that meet the actual needs of the community.

Do not be fooled by claims that progress is being made and the “mixed-use development” is being expedited. This is pre-election rhetoric and wishful thinking. The people of Zwelihle have made it very clear that they do not want this development. It is not practical, it does not address the needs of the people, and is a disaster waiting to happen.

The Minister needs to start listening to the people or Hermanus will, again, find ordinary citizens having to resort to protest to be heard and then be called “criminals” and “thugs” by the DA. What is criminal is the manner in which this administration continues to manipulate this process to suit their own agenda and their pockets at the expense of the dignity of the people they claim to serve. This is insanity.