In Strandfontein, 98-year-old Gadija Jaffer decided that waiting nearly six decades for a municipal home was long enough. She chose to boycott the recent local government elections entirely, Daily Voice reported on November 9, 2026.
Jaffer first applied for a government house in 1968, though municipal records log her official application date as August 1988. Despite reading independently, walking unaided, and retaining a sharp memory, the pensioner told Daily Voice that repeated hollow promises kept her away from the polls.
“They promised me a house and still I am waiting, that is why I did not vote,” Jaffer said. When officials suggested an old age home, she refused unless her daughter could join her for round-the-clock care. “I want a two-bedroom house because my daughter who looks after me will be with me.”
Her daughter, 72-year-old Sharifa Jaffer, acts as her primary caregiver and sharply disputed municipal claims regarding past housing benefits and family records. Sharifa cast her own ballot, noting her mother’s long history of voting before this year’s special vote process.
“How can [my sister] get a house in my mother’s name? My mother was the applicant,” Sharifa told Daily Voice. “They don’t know when to stop with their lies. Where is the title deed? She does not have the title deed.”
The City of Cape Town rejected allegations of neglect. It pointed to a 2020 data audit showing that Jaffer and her daughter previously received an individual housing subsidy. Officials explained that although the property was registered in the daughter’s name, it counted as a municipal housing benefit under applicable policy.
That home was sold in 2011. The sale prompted the City to reset Jaffer’s registration date to November 2012 following renewed contact. Consequently, the municipality stated that Jaffer cannot receive another subsidy-linked house and now qualifies only for non-saleable municipal rental units.
Municipal officials reviewed her case for priority placement at a pensioner cottage. However, the family declined because the facilities cannot accommodate a live-in caregiver. The City noted that its pensioner cottages are reserved exclusively for elderly residents capable of independent living, as municipal infrastructure lacks full-time frail-care support.
Provincial social development officials also engaged the family in February, confirming the relatives declined elderly care programmes because they specifically seek a family home. The City confirmed Jaffer remains active on its Housing Needs Register for future rental vacancies once her waiting-list date is reached.
Former Ward 43 candidate Riyad Isaac condemned the municipality’s handling of the protracted dispute.
“It saddens me to see that I have been addressing this matter with the City for so long and every time, there seems to be a better excuse than the previous one,” Isaac told Daily Voice.
