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Overview
Map
Transcript
Pre-agenda
Chamber conduct and security officers
Farewell tributes to Chief Whip
Councillor of the Year 2026 award
Question on electricity costs
End-of-term arrangements and recess
Question on houses at Pinelands depot
Question on inter-metro jobs comparison
Question on jobs breakdown
Question on population growth and megacity plans
Mayor's final-term address
Agenda
1. Confirmation of previous minutes
1. Adjustments budget 2026/27
2. SANRAL radio trunking contract
3. Invasive alien plants clearing
4. Auction of erven in Thornton
5. Street transfer Bordeaux Ave Constantia
6. Servitude over Erf 1034 Hout Bay
7. Public place transfer Simon's Town
8. Street transfer Auber Ave Mandalay
9. Closure of Erf 175151 Seawinds
10. Public place closure Elsies River
11. Engineering professional services contract
12. Independent power producer programme
13. IT service management solution
1. Council's system of delegations
2. Post-retirement medical aid realignment
3. ICLEI membership continuation
4. Street transfer Marston Rd Diep River
5. Street transfer Rushmore Way Tokai
6. Haven Night Shelter demolition Bellville
7. Long-distance bus terminus Stikland
8. Erf transfer Durbanville
9. Erf transfer Kraaifontein
10. Public passage transfer Gordon's Bay
11. Public place transfer Somerset West
12. Erf transfer Somerset Heights
13. Public place transfer Glencairn
14. Atlantis Thusong Centre donation
15. Street closure Kobodi St Philippi
16. City land use Claremont school
17. Voortrekker Road upgrade Maitland
18. Water reuse and desalination advisory
19. Loeries Creative Week support
20. Business support policy
21. Performance management policy
1. Municipal planning amendment by-law
1. Freight management strategy
2. Road safety strategy
3. Atlantis SEZ debt remission
4. City land use Goodwood Mall
5. Friends of the Library agreements
6. WCEDP grant budget virement
1. Remuneration policy
2. Human settlements professionals contract
3. One Young World Summit funding
4. Eskom water abstraction agreement
5. Traffic fine receivables virement
1. CCID city land lease
2. Cannons Creek school land lease Pinelands
1. Mixed use development Mitchells Plain
2. Mixed-income development Goodwood/Parow/Bellville
3. Vasco da Gama FC land lease Parow
1. Alderman/Alderwoman title conferment
2. Belhar Drive renaming
3. Eendrag Park renaming
4. Community Services committee report
5. Corporate Services committee report
6. Energy committee report
7. Finance committee report
8. Future Planning committee report
9. Human Settlements committee report
10. Innovation committee report
11. Safety and Security committee report
12. Spatial Planning committee report
13. Urban Mobility committee report
14. Urban Waste Management committee report
15. Water and Sanitation committee report
16. MPAC annual report
1. Question from Cllr Cottee
1. Future Planning Q4 progress report
2. SPVs and Wesgro annual report
3. Cape Town water outlook June 2026
4. Executive Mayor's resolutions
5. MPAC quarterly report
6. MPAC meeting minutes
7. Supply chain management report
8. SCM regulation 36 report

City of Cape Town Council

Meeting 20/08/2026

Notifications MCP

Subjects

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BEFORE AGENDA, from 00:00:00
AGENDA, from 01:15:34

Urban Planning

Belhar Drive renaming

Agenda #2August 20, 20262 speakers · 6 minutes

6′

minutes

Democratic Alliance2′

Patriotic Alliance2′

Summary

AI-generated text

The Council considers the results of the public participation process for the proposed renaming of Belhar Drive to John van der Rheede Drive. Mr. Addinall (PA) opposes the renaming, arguing that the late Mr. van der Rheede's community involvement was mainly in Highbury and Kuils River and that an organisation from Kuils River should not drive the renaming of a Belhar road. He proposes instead naming it after Mr. Muhammad Kassim Nordien, an 86-year-old living community activist still involved with the Belhar Ratepayers Association, arguing that people should be honoured while still alive. An ANC speaker and Mr. Sawant (DA, Ward 19) strongly dispute the premise, clarifying that the road in question is Belhar Drive in Kuils River, Wards 19 and 11, and recounting Mr. van der Rheede's record as a teacher at Belhar High School, ANC councillor, and chair of the Highbury Foundation, including his role in rehousing 300 families displaced by fire in the early 1990s. The debate is marked by repeated points of order, with PA councillors insisting the report and map refer to Belhar, and the Mayor indicating the recommendation must be amended. The Speaker names and removes several councillors for disorderly conduct, and the item is effectively left as amended before Council moves on to item 50.

Main issues

Whether the road being renamed is in Belhar or in Kuils River, and the accuracy of the report and map
Appropriateness of honouring a deceased person from a neighbouring area rather than a living Belhar activist
Conduct and process in Council, including repeated points of order and expulsions during the debate

Street renaming in Cape Town is governed by the City's policy on naming and renaming of public places, streets and facilities. Under that policy, a proposal is advertised and residents and affected parties are invited to comment. The results are reported to the relevant sub-council or committee, and the full Council takes the final decision. Applicants are usually community organisations or ward councillors. Public participation matters because a renaming affects residents' addresses and records, and it can carry local historical or political weight.

Belhar and Kuils River are neighbouring areas in the Cape Flats and northern suburbs. Belhar Drive runs through the boundary area between them, and the road falls under different wards (the item refers to Wards 19 and 11). Because suburb names and ward boundaries overlap here, descriptions in reports and maps can cause confusion about which community a road belongs to. I could not retrieve any recent news or official City documents on this specific proposal, so the points on policy and geography come from general knowledge. The City's Council agendas and minutes on capetown.gov.za are the best place to confirm the final resolution and the wording of the amended recommendation.

Such renamings are often used to honour local figures such as teachers, activists and civic leaders. They commonly prompt debate over whether to honour people posthumously or while still living, and over whether the proposing organisation is local to the road.

Statements(5)

AI-generated text

AA

Ashley AddinallPatriotic Alliance

Opposes the renaming of Belhar Drive to John van der Rheede Drive. While acknowledging Mr. van der Rheede's contribution as an educator, the core objection is that Mr. van der Rheede did not live in Belhar and his strongest community involvement was in Highbury and Kuils River, and that an organisation from Kuils River should not be driving the renaming of a road in Belhar. Instead, the Patriotic Alliance proposes naming the road after Mr. Muhammad Kassim Nordien, an 86-year-old living activist still involved with the Belhar Ratepayers Association. People should be honoured while still alive — why do we always wait until people are no more with us before we want to give them their flowers? Belhar must honour its own.

Unknown Speaker 39

Supports the renaming, recounting Mr. van der Rheede's record as a respected community leader, activist, and former local councillor in Kuils River who also served as chairperson of the Highbury Foundation and ANC local branch. His achievements include helping rehouse 300 families displaced by fire in the early 1990s, championing early childhood development centres, and supporting local NGOs and schools. Crucially, the report contains an error: it should not say Belhar Drive in Belhar, but Belhar Drive in Kuils River, Wards 19 and 11, which undermines the opposition's premise that a Kuils River organisation is renaming a Belhar road.

ES

Ebrahim SawantDemocratic Alliance

Strongly supports the renaming as ward councillor for the area. Corrects the opposition directly: this is not in Belhar, this is in Kuils River — just as there can be a Bird Street in Cape Town and a Bird Street in Kraaifontein, Belhar Drive does not belong to Belhar. Mr. van der Rheede previously refused to have his name attached to a street in Highbury because the process lacked community participation and the contractor was profiting excessively, so history has gone full cycle in awarding this road to him now. The residents of Kuils River have overwhelmingly supported the name change. During apartheid, Mr. van der Rheede taught in the classroom by day and taught dignity, unity, and resistance by night, and this road is more than tar and stones — it is a path John paved long ago.

CD

Cheslyn DanielsPatriotic Alliance

Raises a point of clarity challenging the speakers who claim the road is in Kuils River, insisting that the report clearly refers to Belhar and not the area the councillor is talking about.

Unknown Speaker 6

Repeatedly interjects during Mr. Sawant's speech, insisting that Council is being misled and calling on the Speaker to intervene, apparently supporting the PA's position that the report refers to Belhar rather than Kuils River.

The discussion

6′

minutes

Democratic Alliance2′

Patriotic Alliance2′

2 speakers · 2 parties

Decision

No decision from Diavgeia has been linked to this subject yet.

Location

Belhar Drive, Kuils River