GOOD Speech by Brett Herron,
GOOD Secretary-General & Member of the Western Cape Parliament
13 November 2025
Note to editor: This speech was delivered by GOOD Secretary-General & Member of the Western Cape Parliament Brett Herron during today’s interpellation mini-debate on housing plans for Wingfield informal settlement
The question I originally asked was about future housing plans for these residents, making up Wingfield Informal Settlement, and about any basic services plans, in the meantime.
On Friday, the 3rd of October, I received this response:
“The property in question is made up of two erven, neither belonging to the WCG.
These are: Erf 168241 – Ndabeni Communal Property Trust.
Erf 21204 – National Government of the Republic of South Africa.
Queries concerning future plans for the property should be directed to the registered owners.”
The answer from a government that wears “FOR YOU” on their backs would be unparliamentary to say…but the “F” and the “YOU” is close enough.
This is a disgrace.
It’s a government shrugging its shoulders while people suffer, indifferent, uncaring, and unwilling to lift a finger because “it’s not their land.”
Conveniently, and according to the Minister, not their problem.
This tired excuse of “ownership” as a reason for doing nothing has become a pattern, one that has lost all moral and legal weight.
The Fischer v Persons judgment, one that the Minister should know well, made that clear.
In that case, the City of Cape Town argued that it couldn’t intervene because the land was privately owned. The Western Cape High Court rejected that argument outright.
The court ruled that constitutional duties to provide housing can’t be sidestepped by pointing to a title deed.
More than that, the court ordered the City to buy the land so displaced residents could be permanently accommodated.
That judgment set a landmark precedent: when the government has a constitutional obligation, it cannot hide behind ownership while people’s dignity and security are on the line. And this doesn’t only apply to the City.
The Constitution gives national, provincial, and local governments a shared responsibility to ensure access to adequate housing.
No sphere gets to wash its hands of that duty.
So, if the courts could compel the City to purchase land in Fischer, why can’t the province do the same, or at the very least, take proactive steps instead of sending dismissive answers?
These questions came from those residents. I guess I’ll go back and tell them the Minister and the Western Cape Government have no interest in answering their questions.
This is not about convenience or technicalities. It’s about constitutional responsibility. The province cannot say, “It’s not our land,” and walk away while people remain displaced and desperate.
The courts have already told us: the state, in any form, must act reasonably to prevent the perpetuation of inequality, displacement, and indignity.
The longer the government hides behind ownership, the longer it delays justice for those who have already waited far too long.
Speaker, let’s be clear: this is not about who owns the land, it’s about what this government owes the people living on it.
While I was asking about the residents in an informal settlement in Kensington, the response raises questions about this government’s attitude to settlements across the province.
When the Minister, in reply to a different question of mine, told us that there are 1274 informal settlements across the Western Cape, with approximately 405 040 households, did he include those on this land and others who do not live on Provincial land?
If not then then we have a much bigger crisis of informality and this answer tells us that this government doesn’t give a damn.
Speaker, the Minister was morally and legally wrong to express such indifference.
The province has clear constitutional and moral duties, and pretending otherwise is cowardice.
Section 26 guarantees the right to adequate housing. Section 27 guarantees the right to basic services, dignity, sanitation, and safety. Those rights don’t vanish because the land belongs to someone else.
Whether or not this government owns the land, those residents are part of this province and deserve to be seen, planned for, and protected.
The tired excuse of “ownership” has become a shield against accountability.
After Fischer v Persons, that defence no longer stands.
The courts made it clear: the government cannot hide behind a title deed while people live without shelter, toilets, or safety.
Housing is a shared constitutional duty across all levels of government, and no one gets to opt out because it’s inconvenient.
This is a moment for courage. The province could be engaging with the national government and the Ndabeni Trust, exploring joint land acquisition, service partnerships, or inclusion in the province’s housing development framework.
I was going to suggest relocation, but let’s be honest, this government can’t even manage the ones it’s already promised.
Just ask Siyahlala, where people have been “waiting for relocation” since 2018.
These are not radical measures.
Instead, the province sends replies declaring “not our land,” as though that absolves it of responsibility.
That is not governance; it is neglect.
Waiting for a court order to force action is not leadership; it’s moral failure.
The province has both the means and the mandate to act now: to plan, to coordinate, and to deliver services that restore dignity and safety.
This is not about land titles. It is about lives, about whether people in Wingfield, or the people in any of the 1,274 other informal settlements, will continue to be treated as invisible.
The Western Cape Government must step up, accept that land ownership is not a barrier to action, and commit to integrating this community into a tangible housing and service delivery plan.