Soaring property prices in the Western Cape are being driven by demand, says Western Cape Premier Alan Winde.

“Everybody will say that in the inner-city of Cape Town, or perhaps in one of our coastal towns, that property is not affordable. The prices are just growing exponentially.

“We say it is a supply and demand issue…because there is massive demand – everyone wants to come and live here ­– the prices just keep going up.”

Speaking at a Western Cape Infrastructure Ministerial Round Table held in Cape Town on Thursday, Winde said the demand issue had to be solved through increased supply, but that this implied densification.

“We need to densify, we need more housing units into the market across the spectrum – from affordable, to rental, to right at the top.

“So we all agree on this, but everybody says not in my backyard. Not here. You must go densify somewhere.”

‘Somewhere else’, however, was not necessarily where investors were interested in building housing units, said Winde.

He said this meant that government had to work with society to address the sentiment of developments not happening ‘in my backyard’.

“We have to get that right; we have to build that trust with society.”

Winde said the same problem existed with the construction of data centres and renewable-energy solutions, for example.

The Cape Town Municipal Planning Tribunal earlier this month approved land-use applications for two large-scale data centres near Cape Town International Airport, sparking controversy over their expected power and water demand.

Winde said local and provincial government had “worked for years” to lure tech companies to the Western Cape, with fierce competition in Africa to land these types of investments.

“Surely we need data centres, as this is the engine of the future economy. So, we want this future, but then we say ‘not in my backyard – not here’.”

Winde said the same was true for the development of solar farms, for example.

“We hate loadshedding and coal as a power source, but then we say ‘whatever you do, do not put a solar farm in this town. Do it over there, not here’.”

Renewable energy was the answer, however, to expensive Eskom power and in providing the province with energy security, said Winde, adding that these competitive advantages would assist in attracting investors to the Western Cape.

Again, the same problem existed with homelessness, with Western Cape residents demanding solutions to homelessness, but refusing to accept the establishment of homeless shelters in their communities.

Winde said it was necessary to put the right checks and balances in place and for residents to air their grievances. He emphasised, however, the province was driven to keep on attracting private investment, especially in infrastructure, as a solution to its many challenges, including that of unemployment.