CAPEXIT Councillor Prevented from Presenting Deep South LSDF Concerns on Behalf of Residents

PRESS STATEMENT FOR IMEDIATE RELEASE

Cape Town — CAPEXIT Party Councillor Jack Miller has expressed strong concern after being prevented by the Council Speaker, Felicity Purchase, from addressing the City of Cape Town Council on Thursday 4 December 2025 during the online Council meeting, on urgent public objections to the draft Masiphumelele Local Spatial Development Framework (LSDF).

The LSDF is a statutory planning framework that, once adopted, guides land-use decisions, zoning requirements, density targets, infrastructure provision, and the environmental footprint of an area. In this case, it proposes large-scale densification in Masiphumelele, projecting population growth from approximately 44,000 to over 110,000 residents within the next decade.

Cllr Miller was directly mandated by residents and ratepayer organisations in Subcouncil 19 — covering Noordhoek, Kommetjie, Ocean View, Fish Hoek, Sun Valley, and surrounding suburbs — to raise serious concerns about the scale of this densification project and its long-term effects. These concerns include escalating pressure on fragile ecosystems, urban-capacity limits, the burden on existing infrastructure and services, significant demographic shifts driven by economic in-migration, and the increased subsidisation of housing and basic services that would ultimately fall on Cape Town’s ratepayers.

Despite this clear mandate, Miller was prevented from speaking after receiving three penalties for the alleged “misuse” of the internal meeting chat function — an internal City of Cape Town platform used by councillors and officials during Council proceedings. Miller rejects the legitimacy of these penalties, stating that they were imposed unfairly and resulted in him being unable to fulfil his democratic and statutory obligation to present the objections of the tax paying public.

“I attempted to resolve the matter with the Speaker and explained that I had both a statutory and a democratic obligation to reflect the concerns of those who elected me,” Cllr Miller said. “Despite this, I was not permitted to address the Council on an issue that profoundly affects the Deep South community.”

Miller further stated that the DA-run City continues to pursue large densification and heavily subsidised housing schemes across Cape Town — including in Somerset West, Gordon’s Bay, Strand, Table View, and now the Deep South — despite extensive and organised community objections.

Residents who followed the Council meeting via the public YouTube livestream have since expressed outrage, describing the incident as an attempt to silence the legitimate democratic and governance process. Many have raised concerns that the LSDF will incentivise further economic migration into the peninsula, place greater strain on already-stretched infrastructure capacity, and increase long-term financial obligations borne by ratepayers.

The relevant segments of the meeting can be viewed at the following timestamps:

1:26:20 onwards

7:12:35 onwards

Recording link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZosX1cckt4

Contact:

CAPEXIT Party Councillor Jack Miller Email: jack@capexitparty.com

CAPEXIT Party Head Office Admin E-mail: jeanne@capexitparty.com