A chunk of central Cape Town land worth hundreds of millions of rands has been secretly transferred to a bankrupt government entity, jeopardising one of Western Cape Premier Helen Zille’s flagship projects, says a Sunday Times report. Zille said she was in the dark about the transfer of the province’s prime land – between the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront and Cape Town Stadium – to the National Health Laboratory Service.

‘I am totally amazed that a land transfer in the deeds office can apparently happen without the rightful owners knowing about it,’ Zille reportedly said in response to Sunday Times questions.

A mammoth rezoning application for the Somerset Hospital site was due to go before a City of Cape Town planning tribunal tomorrow. But the application has been withdrawn from the agenda as provincial government lawyers scramble to unravel how 3.3ha in the 11ha Somerset precinct was transferred to the laboratory service.

‘We are trying to establish exactly how this land transfer happened without us knowing anything about it. It is certainly a curveball at a critical time,’ Zille said.

The land now owned by the NHLS is earmarked for hundreds of ‘social housing opportunities’ at the heart of a multibillion rand development also including shops and offices.

Full Sunday Times report (subscription needed)