Cape Town, Naspers Parking deal to be examined

The Public Protector is to investigate the R106 million deal signed between the City of Cape Town and publishing group Naspers for a parking lot that could be worth less than half the amount.

On Wednesday the African National Congress' (ANC) chief whip Mathole Motshekga said that Public Protector Thuli Madonsela had heeded his party's call for the investigation that was made earlier this week.

The site located on the foreshore would be needed to allow for the expansion of the Cape Town International Convention Center in which the City of Cape Town has a 51% stake.

Cape Town deputy mayor Ian Nielsen, who was not available for comment on Wednesday, has defended the transaction saying that it was done at "fair market value".

In his letter to the Public Protector, Motshekga said according to independent property experts quoted in the media, the property in question was valued at no more than R50 million.

"In terms of the estimations by property analysts, the R3,000 per bulk square meter is way above what an average vacant piece of land would fetch in the City of Cape Town. The deal amount even surprised Mr Mansoor Mahommed, former City of Cape Town executive director who now works at a property development company, who regarded it as a 'high' price," the letter stated.

Motshekga said that should the deal be allowed to proceed, taxpayers would have to pay over R50 million more than the estimated value of the property.

He said this transaction, dubbed "an extremely sweet deal for Naspers" due to the extraordinarily and unjustifiably high price involved, raises serious questions regarding the nature of the relationship between the DA and Naspers.

"We are concerned that a company that, through its media publications prides itself on being the public watchdog and acting in the interest of the public, is expecting the public to fork out R56 million more on a piece of parking space," Motshekga said.