Sheila Camerer has announced her retirement as chairwoman of the Constantia Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association (CRRA)
She made the announcement at an executive committee meeting held at Groot Constantia, on Monday.
Ms Camerer joined the CRRA executive committee in 2015 and was elected as chairperson in 2016. The former deputy minister of justice, South African ambassador to Bulgaria and long-serving DA member of parliament, said she had taken great pleasure in her community work.
“Since I was elected chair when former CRRA chair, the late Alec Pienaar, retired it has been six and a half years of interesting and rewarding work in the Constantia community, but it is time to step down.
“After I turned 80 more than a year ago, I have been trying to persuade one of my colleagues on the CRRA exco to take over, and now they’ll just have to do it.”
Under her chairmanship, the CRRA has been focused on stopping “inappropriate densification” in the Constantia valley. To that end, Ms Camerer said, the CRRA had hired top town planners to make a detailed submission to the review of the City’s southern districts spatial development plan. The results of the review, she said, were being carefully monitored.
“One of the things that really bothers us about the way things are going in Constantia is a technical condition that is added to applicable laws and by-laws allowing people to build three buildings on a property. It is giving rise to inappropriate densification in our view. The CRRA is having an ongoing discussion with land use management, including Kier Hennessey, the City’s principal planning professional,” Ms Camerer said.
“The review document has now been passed by the council, and Mr Hennessey acknowledged to us that a lot of what we’d submitted had been taken on board in what they gave to the council, but not everything. So we have got a bit of work to do to persuade them to take a different approach because it is pointless having an Arcadian valley atmosphere – with wonderful historic wine farms that hold historic legacy and it being a big tourist attraction – then having to approach it through horrible suburban encroachment. It doesn’t work.
“We are currently one of the top six tourist attractions within Cape Town. We are adding to the economy in that way, but to have a one-size-fits-all densification policy in a place like Constantia doesn’t make sense.”
John Hesom, the CRRA manager, said: “Sheila’s experience in government at national level, as well as her legal background, provided ample leadership skills for her to successfully manoeuvre the politics of the association’s agenda. Furthermore, she provided the CRRA with access to a high-level contact network that has been invaluable in giving direction to exco and the association during her tenure.”
The CRRA’s vice chair, Isabelle Franzen, will take over as acting chairperson until the next annual general meeting in October.
