GTAF today lodged a complaint with the City Manager regarding the City’s behaviour and handling of the Big Bay LSDF. Our complaint centres around procedural issues and conflict of interests of City officials.
- The BSA implemented a two-tier participation process. Those communities that donated to this process were granted access to the visioning process and access to the BSA’s Town Planner. Those communities who form the much larger number of residents in the LSDF area were only allowed to comment on the draft proposal.
- The City of Cape Town denied GTAF permission present a counter narrative to the BSA at ward committees. Yet the BSA was allowed free access to these committee which are legally part of our participative democracy.
- The City of Cape Town has failed to deliver to GTAF vital and pertinent information that we need to formulate our comments. The City of Cape Town is controlling access to this vital information in an effort to control the narrative.
- The BSA being aware of GTAF and our stance on densification failed to engage with us and all other community-based organizations at the inception of this process.
GTAF have raised these issues with the City and have been ignored. We had not alternative be to raise these matters with the City Manager.
This is no longer just an issue of Town Planning and an LSDF it is an issue to protect our rights to comment issues to affect our community, be involved in the decision-making process of the City and to protect our validity of our ward committees and our participatory democracy.