Red Flag Vlei

The Red Flag Vlei campaign was  launched by the Forum  to alert Cape Town’s citizens to natural and social spaces in our city that are under threat of inappropriate commercial development. The campaign aims to warn Cape Town's citizens that something of great value is in danger;   that the City proposes to disregard the needs of poorer citizens for accessible recreational areas, and to sell off a public open space which has been used by the community for generations.    The proposed mall threatened to 

• Destroy an irreplaceable site for community, educational, recreational, environmental and cultural activities 

• Sacrifice to private interest one of the few public open spaces with the potential to bring our divided city 
• Paved over of critically endangered Cape Flats Sand Fynbos, critical for biodiversity and the health of the Cape Foristic Biome.
• Severely compromised a hydrological system that serves the greater False Bay Wetlands, on which our sewerage system depends.
• Polluted or destroyed the homes of hundreds of birds, plants, leopard toads and other fauna

    The campaign was launched after months of knocking at the door of the City, with no response. In October 2013, we were  told that Councillors have instructions not to speak about this matter. We were  told that the Mayor cannot meet with us because of  “the Hawks investigation.”
      The Hawks were investigating a complaint of fraud laid against the developers by a private citizen. However, there was court case open. And the only negotiation called into question by the  investigation was the negotiation  between the City and the developers. But while the City claimed that this investigation precluded any discussion with the Princess Vlei Forum, Deputy mayor Ian Nielson  said in press interviews that negotiations with the developer were ongoing.
    We were concerned that the City was cynically using the Hawks investigation to deny us the opportunity of putting forward the case for Princess Vlei. So the Red Flag campaign was also a red card campaign to warn the City that they were not playing the game by their own rules of fairness and democracy; that their willingness to sell out to developers at Princess Vlei made a mockery of their claims of compassion, transparency and accountability.
    Although the City had now withdrawn its support for the shopping mall proposal, we will continue to award the vlei "red flag" status until we are confident that it is adequately protected from destructive development now and in perpetuity.

Read about the launch of the campaign.

Princess Vlei Forum Deputy Chairperson Elton Rinquest raises the flag for Princess Vlei

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