Lies destroy your credibility, Cape Town mayor tells activists

The mayor of Cape Town has hit out at lobby groups for lying.

Dan Plato’s statement was sparked by Reclaim the City claims about the eviction of an 80-year-old Woodstock man from the council property he had occupied for 43 years.

The activist group claimed Kenneth Blaine had been given no notice of the eviction and had been forced to spend the night on the street.

But Plato said in this was an example of a lobby group that had “developed a very flexible relationship with the truth”.

He added: “This is dangerous territory as they will very quickly lose the trust of the public that they claim to represent.

“Propaganda and misinformation benefits nobody — these are the very tools that did untold damage to our country through the state capture years and they have nothing of value to offer to our residents.”

Reclaim the City said Blaine was evicted on Monday.

About a dozen activists disrupted the auction on Tuesday, forcing its cancellation. But Plato said what they claimed about the city’s treatment of Blaine was “blatantly untrue”.

He said: “The city has been engaging the residents of the property since 2014. For five years we have offered the resident alternative accommodation, and even offered to sell the council-owned property to him.

“All these offers were refused and the property was then set to be auctioned, with the resident notified two months ago. The resident claims that the property is registered in his deceased mother’s name. This is unfortunately also not true. The resident has also not been paying the rent, despite his claims to the contrary.”

Plato said the media needed to hold itself to a higher standard than simply reporting on a “he said, she said,” basis.

“The standards set over the past 10 years in this country are not what we should aspire towards. We need to be better,” he said.

“I trust that those members of the media who reported on this matter will correct these inaccuracies in their subsequent reporting.”

City of Cape Town spokesperson Luthando Tyhalibongo told GroundUp on Wednesday that the Blaine family had reoccupied the property.

Editor's note: Reclaim the City has denied saying the city council gave Blaine only 48 horus' notice of his eviction. This assertion has been removed from the article above.