Minister Carlisle Addresses Property Ownership in the Western Cape

Statement By Robin Carlisle, Minister Of Transport And Public Works

Marius Fransman was reported on Tuesday, 15 October, as stating, at the Cape Town Press Club, that "98% of the landowners and property owners actually is the white community (sic), and in particular, also people in the Jewish community." He subsequently amended this to say that 95% to 98% of all properties the Western Cape Government and the City of Cape Town were renting in Cape Town were in the hands of private property owners. In explaining how he arrived at this figure, he is quoted as saying that the figures were based on "the ownership profile of the people and companies that rented buildings to the Province and the City in Cape Town’s CBD".

Not only are these statements 100% wrong, but Mr Fransman knows they are wrong, as he either signed and/or dealt with most of the leases himself.

The leases the Province has in the Cape Town CBD are:

• Protea Assurance Building, owned by Oasis, a black owned entity which is also Sharia compliant
• Waldorf Building, privately owned by Mr Moosa Baba of Cameroon
• 35 Wales Street, owned by the Government Employee Pension Fund
• Golden Acre, owned by Growthpoint Properties - a JSE listed company
• Grand Central Building, owned by Ascension Properties, a black managed and substantially black owned JSE listed company
• Atterbury House, also owned by Ascension Properties
• Norton House, also owned by Mr Baba
• 11 Leeuwen, owned by the Benjamin Family Trust

Mr Fransman would have signed and/or dealt with every one of these leases in some regard at some time during his tenure as MEC for Transport and Public Works.

He therefore knew what he was saying was untrue, just as he knew that his accusations that the DA had taken building contracts in Observatory and Woodstock from Muslim businessmen and awarded them to Jewish businessmen was also untrue.

One wonders who Fransman most insults, the Muslim community; the Jewish community; or the long suffering ANC whom he purports to lead.

Should there be any doubts about these matters, I would be happy to debate them publicly with Mr Fransman.