Sexwale Should Consider Returning Land to Cape

HUMAN Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale was his ever-charming self at yesterday's media conference following his first meeting with the provincial housing MECs, even seeking to take some of the venom out of the national government's tense relationship with the Democratic Alliance by referring tongue-in-cheek to the "Republic of the Western Cape".

We hope he was being serious, though, when he spoke of the need for the two spheres of government to work together to address the housing backlog, and that the issues that were raised at the meeting would be passed on to the Cabinet at the lekgotla scheduled to take place later today .

High on that list should be the outgoing African National Congress (ANC)-controlled Western Cape government's extraordinary decision, on the eve of the recent election, to transfer 1000ha of prime land, worth as much as R500m, to the Housing Development Agency, a newly formed body that now falls under Sexwale.

On the face of it, the move appears to be an astonishingly petty attempt to hobble the now DA-controlled provincial housing department and prevent it from carrying out Premier Helen Zille's grand plan to use accelerated service delivery in the Western Cape -- the only province not controlled by the ANC -- as a stepping stone to increased national support for her party.

ANC provincial spokesman and former finance MEC Garth Strachan insists the timing of the transfer is mere coincidence, and that the process was set in motion more than three years ago. Others in the party say the decision was prompted by disputes that arose over which sphere of government should be in charge of housing delivery after the ANC lost control of Cape Town to a DA-led coalition in the 2006 municipal election.

That may be, but there are indications that the transfer itself was at least speeded up with the looming election in mind, since neither the public nor the Cape Town metropolitan council were informed, contrary to the original provincial cabinet resolution. In addition, the move comes to light in the context of a clear strategy by the ANC in the Western Cape to frustrate the new administration, with little regard for the implications for service delivery.

Indeed, it has been clear since the DA triumphed in Cape Town that the ANC has great difficulty accepting the outcome of elections that do not go its way, and has no compunction in blocking others' attempts to improve poor people's standard of living if this is deemed politically expedient.

Even if the land transfer is legal, which is a matter for debate and possibly the courts, the fact is that the ANC's track record on housing delivery is at best patchy in Cape Town. The DA-led city council, on the other hand, delivered more houses in its first year than its predecessor managed during the three it was in power.

When the people of the province went to the polls last month they voted for change. Instead, the ANC has contrived to ensure they get more of the same mediocrity, at least when it comes to housing delivery.

- Business Day - News Worth Knowing

Housing is the new ANC-DA battleground

BATTLEGROUND wc: The African National Congress government and the Democratic Alliance-controlled Western Cape have embarked on what is shaping up to be a long struggle for control of housing delivery.

SA HAS just witnessed the first round of an intense power struggle between the national government and a Western Cape controlled by the Democratic alliance (DA).

The transfer of about 1000ha of prime land by the previous provincial administration to the recently formed national housing agency set the scene for the first battle between the two.

Apart from the indignation at the transfer having taken place the day before the general election, and the perception that the African National Congress (ANC) wanted to hobble the DA’s delivery efforts in the province, what is really at stake is the struggle over the control of housing delivery.

More battles lie ahead as the national government tries to tighten its hold on housing delivery, and expand the concurrent powers that the constitution assigns to national and provincial governments.

The Western Cape is trying to claw back more of these powers.

On the immediate horizon is a fight over the proposed amendment to the constitution to allow the national government to force municipalities into a harmonised national system of electricity reticulation.

Another big battle can be expected when proposals emerging from a review of provinces are made, probably next year. These are likely to include the transfer of provincial powers over housing and education to the national government.

At the heart of these struggles is the battle for dominance of competing political ideologies, between the ANC’s belief in the centralisation of the state and the DA’s support for decentralisation.

This boils down to the difference between the concept of a developmental state with a high degree of state involvement in the economy and the liberal idea of a minimalist state leaving market forces to hold sway.

Commitment to the developmental state saw the creation of the National Housing Development Agency, intended as the national driver of the government’s “breaking new ground” housing policy across all three spheres of government. The policy aims to eradicate or upgrade all informal settlements by 2014-15.

The agency is meant to speed up housing delivery by cutting red tape and buying up land much faster and at affordable prices. Officials stress, however, that the agency is only one mechanism, and does not exclude initiatives by other spheres of government.

The housing policies of the ANC and the DA reflect ideological differences over the role of the state. The ANC believes the state is responsible for providing low- cost housing while the DA believes it should be merely a facilitator of individual effort.

The DA policy puts more emphasis on in situ upgrading of informal settlements and greater participation by beneficiaries. It argues that the state does not have the financial means or the capacity to provide built houses to the 2,2-million people without them. Since 1994, the government has spent more than R100bn to build about 2,8-million houses.

“A policy which obliges government to provide as many houses as possible as fast as possible has failed to provide the quality or quantity required,” DA housing policy states.

“Providing homes for themselves is, first and foremost, the people’s responsibility, not the government’s. Access to land first, and basic services second, are immediate priorities. Once people have these, they can live more healthily and with greater dignity, and they can begin to create opportunities for themselves.

“Self-help approaches are frequently cheaper than a managed delivery process.”

But a housing expert says the government was also involved in settlement upgrading and servicing, and this has not always worked out better than the construction of houses. It was invariably more expensive in the long term. Government policy has also addressed the need to overcome apartheid urban planning by creating integrated settlements. The DA resisted this as it would depress middle class property values, says the expert.

The bottom line, ideologies aside, is that this ANC-DA fight is ultimately about securing votes, for which successful service delivery is the key.

- BusinessDay - News Worth Knowing

Fire over 'secret' land deal

Western Cape Premier Helen Zille's description of a land transfer by the province's former ANC-run administration as "secret" continues to draw fire from the party that approved it.

If it was a secret, it was "surely the most publicised secret in the world", former ANC provincial housing MEC Whitey Jacobs said in a statement on Tuesday.

On April 21 this year, the then ANC administration signed off the transfer of more than 1000 hectares of prime provincial housing land - most of it in the Cape Town metropolitan area - to national government's Housing Development Agency.

"This land, worth about half-a-billion rand, and large enough to accommodate nearly 100 000 house, was transferred free of charge... without informing the public or the City of Cape Town," Zille told a media briefing in the city on Friday last week.

'How can she claim the deal was secret when it was raised in Parliament'

The attempted land transfer had been "done secretly, in bad faith and with an ulterior motive", she said at the time.

Jacobs said plans to transfer the land had a long history, and sketched a time line of events from 2007 to date.

He said there had been references to the land parcels during this period, including a reference to it by then Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu in her 2007/08 Budget vote speech in Parliament.

In 2007, a memorandum of understanding relating to the transfer of the land parcels had been signed between Sisulu and the then MEC for public works and transport in the Western Cape, Marius Fransman.

"Before my appointment as MEC for housing in July last year, I read about these land parcels being transferred from the province to national government in both national and regional newspapers.

"Immediately after my appointment, in an interview with the Cape Times, I made reference to the MOU between the province and national department of housing regarding the specific land parcels.

"That interview triggered a series of newspaper articles in a number of newspapers relating to one of the land parcels under discussion, in Constantia," Jacobs said.

All the land parcels under discussion were specifically earmarked for the development of integrated human settlements.

"If this is what Premier Zille calls a 'secret', then perhaps my English is not up to scratch and I should go and look again what 'secret' means." he said.

On Monday, former provincial premier Lynne Brown said Zille was "being deliberately misleading again".

"How can she claim the deal was secret when it was raised in Parliament in the past two budget votes of the national minister of housing, and was the subject of press statements and articles in local and national media over a period of more than a year?" she asked. - Sapa

When being neighbourly is dangerous

Two weeks ago Eskom cut down dangerous electricity lines between Du Noon and Site 5 after an electrical box exploded. But residents simply reconnected the illegal wires.

Across the Western Cape, people in informal settlements tap electricity from luckier neighbours who have officially installed electricity boxes, often providing a desperately-needed, albeit small, income in exchange for the service.

Site 5 has no electricity - a source of conflict between Eskom and the City of Cape Town, which says it has asked the power provider to "get on board" many times.

Residents 'fixed up the wires and put up another pole'

But in the meantime, the residents have to live.

Site 5 resident Fransi Mluleki said: "Eskom cut the power because the main switch blew up. They say they can't give electricity as it's private land."

Residents "fixed up the wires and put up another pole".

The spiderweb of electricity lines dangling across Potsdam Road speaks for itself.

Du Noon resident Monica Samani shares her one-bedroom home with her husband, six children, friend Tanya Rubushe and her four children.

'The people of Site 5 are desperate for electricity'

Unemployed, they depend on social grants, and, like many other families living there, survive on charging Site 5 neighbours for electricity.

"The people of Site 5 are desperate for electricity. Maybe if we are hungry we ask for a loaf of bread," said Samani.

The result is dangerous. Other than the overhead power lines, electrical wires are also connected through wet sewer channels beneath the road and live connections are exposed to the elements, and fingers.

"It is dangerous. Sometimes we get a shock when we touch the fridge," Rubushe said.

But without these hazardous connections, people in Site 5 would be without power.

Councillor Vincent Bergh said the city had tried for three years to get Eskom "to come to the party". He had written many letters to Eskom urging it to provide electricity to the informal settlement.

"We've tried various things to get them to assist us, but nothing works," said Bergh.

In a letter to Bergh "about two to three months ago", Eskom said they would "provide services (only) if they (council) de-densify Du Noon".

Bergh was hoping to "reach an agreement with Eskom" at a council meeting tomorrow.

"I would love to come to an agreement. This issue is on the council meeting agenda.

"They must provide power to the people," he said.

Eskom could not be contacted for comment. - Cape Argus

My houses will rock – Sexwale ...

"Poverty sucks. Humanity and human settlements should rock.” This is the message from Minister of Human Settlements Tokyo Sexwale.

He said his mission over the next five years was to “wage a war against poverty (because) at the end of the day no government should be building houses for people”.

Speaking yesterday after a lengthy meeting at the Johannesburg Securities Exchange in Sandton with all stakeholders in his department, he said: 

“I want to lift the 2,2 million people on the housing backlog out of poverty so we do not need this ministry anymore”.

The chairperson of the portfolio committee, chairperson of the South African Local Government Association and all nine MECs held a meeting with Sexwale.

This was ahead of today’s three-day Cabinet lekgotla. Talking about his acceptance of his new role in government, Sexwale said: 

“I have spent the last 10 years creating a lot of wealth for big companies and rich individuals, and it’ s now time for me to once again familiarise myself with the people I know best – the poor”.

He said the JSE was a symbolic place as he hoped to rope in the top 300 companies on the stock market to lend a helping hand to government in achieving its goals.

Sexwale insisted that his ministry not only had a new name but was going to adopt a new approach to housing, “making it more human-orientated”.

Referring to shoddy building practices, he said he had inherited a mess and was facing litigation about things he knew nothing about.

He said the government would be moving away from the match- box RDP style of housing, which he called Uno houses, as this was one of the things he went to prison for fighting against. 

“Housing development is about infrastructure development,” said Sexwale, adding that human settlement was about people having “their homes near clinics, schools, roads and taxi ranks”.

Highlighting the problems he had inherited, Sexwale said he was going to flush out “fly-by-night contractors, lack of spending, bad building material, theft and lack of planning and coordination".

- Sowetan

Sexwale urges business to help eradicate housing backlog

Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale has called on businesses to become involved in government's efforts to address the backlog of 2 million houses. He was addressing the media after introducing his provincial MECs in Sandton today.

He labelled his newly appointed MECs as his "war cabinet" against poverty and hoped they would create settlements where people could "play, stay and pray".

Sexwale blamed underspending, corruption and improper planning for the current housing backlog which the country is facing. He says although challenges are enormous, eradicating poverty is a priority in his department.

Sexwale also says that his department wants to move away from the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) housing and provide proper homes to people. He says he will engage banks to create new forms of finance.

He added that he will present the information he received from the MECs at a Cabinet Lekgotla on Tuesday.

– SABC Additional reporting by Sapa

Who is still to blame for this human settlement mess?

Premier Helen Zille and national housing department officials are blaming each other for blocking housing delivery after the transfer of 1 000 hectares of land, owned by the province, to the newly-formed Housing Development Agency (HDA).

Worth R500 million but transferred free, it includes sections of the Porter Estate in Constantia, Oude Molen, Plumstead, Ravensmead, Philippi and George. Zille says some of it could be used to temporarily house flood victims.

At a press conference on Friday, Zille said the provincial government was seeking legal opinion after the transfer of the land by then premier Lynne Brown's administration a day before the election that unseated the ANC from governing the province.

But Department of Human Settlements director-general Itumeleng Kotsoane said the land had been transferred only after then housing minister Lindiwe Sisulu had written to Brown asking for its release.

Kotsoane said the reason for this had been because the Democratic Alliance-led Cape Town City Council had "taken away" land which had been earmarked for the N2 Gateway in 2005 when it took over from the ANC in March, 2006.

He said the transferred land would be used to "expand" the reach of the N2 Gateway project, which a recent report tabled by the auditor-general in Parliament stated had not been properly managed.

Prince Xhanti Sigcawu, general manager for the government's soon-to-be-wound-up housing parastatal Thubelisha Homes, said Zille's argument was based on the granting of housing accreditation to the Cape Town City Council.

"In February, 2006, everyone (the City of Cape Town, provincial government and national government) took a decision that Thubelisha Homes would lead housing delivery in the city.

"We have not failed in delivering houses - this is just a political game being played (by Zille)," Sigcawu said.

He said charges by the provincial government that the transfer could have been illegal were open to interpretation.

Sigcawu said: "There's no way that government would implement this knowing that the transaction was illegal.

"The decision to give land to the HDA is because there's no other land that can be given to the N2 Gateway project."

He added that the project was envisaged to deliver 15 000 housing units by the end of the year and would ultimately seek to deliver between 22 000 and 30 000 housing units with the additional acquired land.

Zille's spokesman Robert MacDonald said the previous provincial government had held on to the land for years, contrary to the Housing Act, and should instead have transferred it to the council for development.

"The city has proven itself to have the capacity to deliver houses faster than any other sphere of government in the Cape Town region (doubling the rate of delivery over what the ANC provided in its three years in office).

"This is also clear considering that the City of Cape Town gets and invests 70 percent of all the housing money allocated to this province each year," MacDonald said.

Brown said earlier there had been no secrecy around the deal as it had been raised in Parliament and in the media.

Former Housing MEC Whitey Jacobs said "Zille's bluster" masked a fundamental issue that the DA did not want low-cost housing developed in such a way that it broke down racially-exclusive suburbs.

- Cape Times

Renewed Cape Clashes Between Police, Shack Dwellers

About 250 protesters from an informal settlement near Milnerton in Cape Town ran amok on Thursday (21/05/2009) night, digging up a portion of a busy road, burning tyres and stoning police.

Police fired rubber bullets to disperse the crowd and chased the protesters between the shacks of Doornbach informal settlement, home to about 10,000 people. Five people were arrested for public violence.

The outbreak of violence followed similar protests on Sunday night and a series of failed meetings between the City of Cape Town and representatives of the residents.

The residents are demanding that the city buy them land for housing along the N7 adjacent to nearby Du Noon township.

The protest is the fourth related to service delivery that has rocked Cape Town since April elections.

Doornbach informal settlement is situated on private land along Potsdam Road - the busiest road in the City's northern regions.

Following Sunday's protest city housing director Hans Smit met residents on Monday afternoon. Community leaders were selected to attend a meeting to resolve the problem at the Blaauwberg sub-council offices on Wednesday afternoon.

Smit said at the meeting the city's "bigger plans in the area" had been explained to community leaders, but he said the leaders had come to the meeting expecting that they would "walk away with land".

The land residents were demanding, Smit said, was zoned for industrial and other development purposes and was being sold for R180-million. He said the city did not have the money to buy this land.

However, some of the residents were going to be allocated RDP housing in Parklands in "two to three years". He said the meeting had agreed to an upgrading of services in the informal settlement in the meantime.

But community members said when this information had been relayed to residents on Thursday evening they had been dissatisfied and taken to the streets.

Western Cape police spokesman Inspector November Filander said police had opened fire with rubber bullets "shortly after 7pm" and later arrested the five people.

Although the situation on Friday morning was calm, three private cars were stoned and had their windows smashed.

Potsdam Road was initially closed on Friday morning, but later opened for traffic.

Community leader Fezikile Lokotho, 35, said residents believed the city was "undermining them". He said residents had vowed to continue digging up Potsdam Road until "someone of high authority" came to hear their concerns.

Interviewed on Thursday evening, Khanyisile Skeyi said he had been caught in the mayhem when coming from funeral prayers. He said a rubber bullet had grazed his ankle.

" I am very angry. Police were supposed to ask me where I was coming from, not just fire at innocent people," said Skeyi.

- West Cape News

'We do things for ourselves'

Taking responsibility for her own future, Bukiwe Matakane committed 50 cents a day for two years to finally realise the dream of owning her own home.

For more than a decade the mother of four lived in a shack, but she's now the proud owner of a two-bedroomed brick house in Victoria Mxenge, in Philippi.

It was all thanks to her decision to join the Federation of the Urban and Rural poor, a community organisation working with residents to build their communities, by saving as little as 50c a day. Matakane eventually raised R378,

Nothing got Matakane down in the long, arduous journey to this point, which even included making her own bricks.

"We do things for ourselves," the proud homeowner said, explaining that the concept was centred on daily saving.

"I used the money I had saved to put in sewerage pipes. I put away windows, doors and anything else that I bought along the way that I knew would finally translate into the home I now have."

Other than her savings, and the materials she bought, Matakane's house was finally built using a R17 250 housing subsidy.

"I used to make bricks," she said. "This is what you can achieve when you work together... I helped dig the trenches, put the slabs in, build the walls and put on the roof."

Patrick Magebula, the federation's national president, said the work done by his organisation went way beyond just ensuring people saved money to secure their own futures.

They aimed to also empower residents to make decisions and actively participate in planning their houses, collecting quotes, learning from professionals, and sharing skills.

"In all nine provinces we have working groups who can show local and provincial governments that they can save, manage the design - and - these resources," he said.

But Magebula pointed out that if the government could provide land, it would make the task of building houses much easier.

"If (it) can provide serviced land... communities would build their own houses and government programmes would have to catch up along the way," he said.

The federation has built 15,000 houses. It requires each collective to have three treasurers and a committee that sets criteria and assesses a community's need for development.

On Thursday last week the City of Cape Town's director of development services, Noahman "Bloemie" Hendricks, said informal settlements were "here to stay" unless residents played a role in developing their communities.

He was speaking at an informal settlements dialogue forum in Guguletu.

- Cape Argus

Residents fight against City of Cape Town

The Abahlali baseMjondolo organisation in the Western Cape said early Monday morning that it would be approaching the Cape High Court for an urgent interdict against alleged "unlawful and criminal evictions.

The organisation said in a statement that they would apply for the interdict late on Monday morning to prevent alleged unlawful evictions in the Macassar village by the City of Cape Town.

"Macassar Village back-yarders have been made homeless by the extremely high rents that they are charged to erect shacks in other people's backyards."

The organisation also said for the past week, homeless residents occupied an empty piece of land owned by the City of Cape Town with the intention of apparently housing them and their families.

"Land is the building block of any healthy and sustainable community. We are merely fighting for our own livelihoods which have been denied to us by past governments and this current government," it said. - Sapa

Zille reveals 'ANC's secret'

The former ANC-run Western Cape administration approved the transfer of more than 1 000 hectares of prime provincial housing land to national government the day before the April 22 elections.

"This land, worth about half-a-billion rand, and large enough to accommodate nearly 100 000 house, was transferred free of charge... without informing the public or the City of Cape Town," the province's new premier, Helen Zille, told a media briefing in the city on Friday.

She said most of the land fell within the Cape Town Metro.

Zille handed out copies of an agreement to transfer the land from the province to the national Housing Development Agency, dated April 22, 2009 and signed off by then transport and public works MEC, Kholeka Mqulwana.

According to an attached annexure, among the properties is the 18,8 hectare Oude Molen property, as well as land in other parts of the Cape Town Metro, including erven in Constantia, Parow, Plumstead, Southfield and Philippi.

It also lists land in other parts of the province.

Zille said her new provincial administration would seek legal advice to try to stop the transfer.

"It represents a massive loss of assets to the province and appears to have been designed to undermine the new administration's capacity to deliver on housing and other projects in partnership with the City of Cape Town.

"The new cabinet of this province has resolved on Friday morning to take steps to reverse this move if possible."

Responding to a question, she said the province still legally owned the land up to the point the deeds office completed the transfer-of-ownership process.

She said the attempted land transfer had been "done secretly, in bad faith and with an ulterior motive".

The land was one of her administration's key assets, and it was inappropriate to try to "strip" the province of the properties.

The former administration had acted for political reasons, she said.

Contacted for comment, former premier Lynne Brown acknowledged the transfer had been approved and signed off, but said this had been long planned.

"There was nothing illegal in what was done. It undermines nothing. There is a huge backlog in housing in this province.

"We had to ensure the land was used for housing. This agreement... was first entered into long ago," she told Sapa. - Sapa

Dan Plato says backyard dwellers must "retreat"

The defiant backyard dwellers who are continuing to illegally occupy a piece of land in Macassar should retreat, Mayor Dan Plato said. (from IOL)

Tension has grown over the past three days, with the protesting group not backing down on its intention of permanently occupying land close to the N2.

(photograph by Sam Clarke, Independent Newspapers, used without permission since they didn't protect it.. more great pics here)

On Thursday Plato said the protesters should stay away from the city-owned land, which had been budgeted for and earmarked for 2000 housing units. Once environmental impact studies were completed, work would start, he said.

If the group was allowed to squat there, they would "start shouting for services" such as electricity and toilets, he said. (Best excuse ever heard on InternAfrica! Dey Shouting at us!)

Plato claimed he had heard that certain elements had orchestrated the land invasion through misinformation.

They were sleeping in proper houses while causing trauma for the families spending nights out in the cold, he said.

On Tuesday, police and law enforcement agents razed structures the group had erected and confiscated their building materials.

A fracas broke out as the group clashed with the police, resulting in the injury of one policeman and several other people, and three arrests.

Professor Martin Legassick of the University of the Western Cape, a supporter of the backyard dwellers, was also held but later released.

A day later, the backyard dwellers said they had again erected about 70 structures on a nearby piece of land. The structures were demolished on Thursday by the law-enforcement agents, and building materials confiscated.

When the Cape Argus visited the area on Thursday, the situation was relatively calm, but police and law-enforcement agents were there with a Casspir and several police vans.

The backyard dwellers, some with beds, mattresses and blankets still lying on the land, claimed that local councillor John Heuvel had betrayed them by ordering law-enforcement agents to raze their structures despite an agreement with him.

"People are desperate, my brethren.

"We don't need violence.

"We need a place to stay," said Gert Smit, 38.

Women with children said they had nowhere to go on the cold and rainy nights.

Their spokesman Mzonke Poni said the group would stay on the land and the way forward would be discussed on Friday night.

Aluta Continua!!

Two boys burn to death

Two children burnt to death in Kuils River on Thursday, when the wendy house they were living in caught alight, Cape Town police said.

"Two boys, aged four and seven, were left alone in the wendy house, after their mother went to work," said Captain Isaac van Niekerk.

"The wendy house was situated in the backyard of another person's house."

He said the children did not have to go to school on Thursday and were sleeping when the incident occurred at 8am.

"The children would normally get ready for school at the main house after their mother left for work. The woman from the main house would get them ready and give them something to eat. Today they slept in, as there was no school."

He said the woman from the main house noticed the flames, and alerted the fire brigade, who arrived when it was too late.

"Wendy houses are highly flammable as they are wooden.

"So it quickly became engulfed in flames and had already burnt to the ground when the fire brigade arrived. We suspect that the children were asleep when it happened, as there was no sign of them trying to flee the house."

Van Niekerk said the fire was caused by an electrical fault.

"The house had electricity running through it, we think that a fault caused the fire. This is a very sad incident indeed and police are investigating," he said. - Sapa

Eskom to blame, not the ANC - Plato

Cape Town Mayor Dan Plato says Eskom's inability to electrify the informal areas of Khayelitsha is the spark that ignited service delivery protests earlier this month.

Plato believes Eskom's removal of illegal electricity connections was the cause of the outrage of hundreds of people who did not understand that the city was unable to provide them with electrical connections.

"If Eskom hadn't removed those connections, my take is that we wouldn't have seen such uprisings," Plato told his mayoral committee on Tuesday.

'This is the difficulty the city is facing'

The City of Cape Town has about 680 000 electricity customers and Eskom has 137 000. Many informal parts of the city not yet electrified fall within Eskom's supply area.

On Tuesday the committee agreed to support Eskom in its application to the Department of Minerals and Energy for finance through the Integrated National Electrification Programme, to electrify more than 50 000 dwellings, including all informal settlements in Khayelitsha.

In a report to the committee, the city notes: "Over the last decade the city made steady progress with the electrification of the informal dwellings within its licensed area of supply.

"However, progress in the Eskom-licensed area of supply has been less than satisfactory."

As the service authority for the distribution of electricity, the council is required to formally approve the electrification of informal settlements in the Eskom-licensed area of supply.

The city has compiled a list of settlements approved for up-grade, including 7 905 houses in Monwabisi Park, 4 929 houses in Silvertown, more than 2 000 houses in Du Noon, as well as homes in Crossroads, Phola Park and Wag 'n Bietjie.

Plato said that because most informal settlements were in flood-prone areas, and at least 1 500 Khayelitsha shacks were on the road reserve, Eskom would be defying policy if it electrified the areas. It was largely those living in the road reserves who had "run amok" in protest over service delivery.

"This is the difficulty the city is facing. It is a dramatic service-delivery issue that the City of Cape Town has no control over. Other political departments must take note of what's happening," said Plato.

On earlier claims by Helen Zille that the uprisings were politically motivated, Plato said today that he was only focusing on service delivery issues of the affected communities.

"I will leave the political stuff for other people," he said.

Plato is due to meet Khayelitsha residents tonight.

Committee member for utilities Clive Justus said that in its response to the National Energy Regulator (Nersa) on Eskom's application for a 34 percent electricity tariff increase, the city would ask for authority to provide electricity in some of the areas under Eskom's control.

Eskom spokesperson Fani Zulu said the power utility had been compelled to disconnect illegal connections, or face liability for injury.

He said Eskom relied on government funding to electrify the areas, and for municipalities to identify them.

- Cape Argus

Developer threatens to give land to vagrants

An irate developer battling neighbours over his plans for a prime R5-million property near Tyger Valley Centre is holding local ratepayers to ransom by threatening that if he does not get approval, he will give away the land to squatters.

To prove his point, Gert Joubert visited the site on Tuesday with a bakkie-load of seven homeless people from the area. Then he showed them around, promising them the 2 400m2 plot if the Kenridge Ratepayers' Association and the Bellville Municipality did not meet his demands within three months.

Finally, he sent them on their way with R100 each, "for their time", after they indicated they were more than willing to be part of his plan.

'This not a publicity stunt. This land is useless to me'

At issue are the property's zoning rights.

A disgruntled Joubert said he had bought three adjacent plots in Alf Road in Tygervalley 10 years ago for R1m.

He bought the "very difficult piece of land" with the intention of building a nine-storey block of upmarket flats.

Since then, he had been fighting a losing battle with the Kenridge Ratepayers' Association to have the land zoned for development. He said the association had deemed the development unacceptable because it would be "too high".

It would also cause traffic congestion, and residents "were not happy with having the parking area situated above a municipal water facility".

Joubert said he was now "gatvol", and his answer was to simply give the land away to the homeless.

"This not a publicity stunt. This land is useless to me. Every month I pay my rates and taxes, and I've spent about R5 000 to have rubble removed, so I'm the only one suffering financial difficulties," Joubert said.

The homeless people brought to the site said they deserved the land. One, Koos van Staden, asked Joubert whether he would be allowed to build a "hokkie" on it.

Another, Herman Theunissen, interjected, saying he was tired of not being able to walk the streets of Durbanville without being labelled a thief and a criminal.

Ratepayers' association chairperson Taki Amira said Joubert was being "pathetic and childish".

Neighbours objected to his plans because their sunlight would be blocked. Traffic would also be increased, and the proposed parking area would be built above a municipal water pump.

He said zoning laws and by-laws did allow for some of Joubert's proposals. However, if Joubert planned to house the homeless there, Amira said he would have to make the necessary applications and follow procedure.

City spokesperson Charles Cooper explained that the ratepayers' association provided comment only, and that the city's planning department made recommen-dations in the event of objections.

"This issue pre-dates the establishment of the Northern Planning District in 2008, and neither the District Manager, Mr Charles Rudman, nor any of his planners are aware of Mr Joubert's proposals," Cooper said, adding that Rudman had invited Joubert to contact him to discuss the issue.

Moving homeless people on to the land would also need planning department permission.

Joubert, who owns the Shelley Point development along the West Coast and runs other property developments in St Helena Bay, fired off a warning to his neighbours.

"When I said I wanted to build a nine-storey block I was told the residents didn't want rich people looking down at them. Now I'll give them poor people to look up at them," he said.

- Cape Argus

'Millions for stadiums, but no houses'

MACASSAR Village housing protesters burnt tyres and stoned the police, who then fired on them with rubber bullets to disperse the crowd, arresting four people, including a University of the Western Cape professor, for public violence.

The informal residents had illegally cleared a piece of land alongside the N2 owned by the City of Cape Town and erected structures vowing not to move from the area.

The protest turned ugly yesterday, resulting in the arrest, and subsequent release of Professor Martin Legassick, along with three other men.

Furious backyard dwellers said they were fed up with the government's promises of housing, and were tired of paying "exorbitant" rentals.

Police spokeswoman Captain Bernadine Steyn said two officers were injured from stones thrown at them by the protesters when they clashed over the efforts to shut the N2 to traffic.

The protesters later marched to the local police station to demand the release of their colleagues. They were expected to march to the Somerset West police station today.

After his release, Legassick said he had not been arrested, but rather "taken in" briefly after an altercation with the Crime Intelligence Unit, which had "taken a picture of me because I'm white".

"People here are desperate for houses. They say they would rather die than move away," Legassick said.

The backyard dwellers, who are part of the housing lobby group Abahlali abaseMjondolo, last week cleared the land and downplayed the invasion by saying it would be used for "games for backyard dwellers during weekends".

But on Monday night they moved on to the land, erecting several shacks which were subsequently demolished yesterday morning by the city's anti-land invasion unit.

When the Cape Argus arrived there mid-morning yesterday, building materials, mattresses, blankets, cooking utensils and clothing were scattered about.

The protesters insisted they would not leave.

By afternoon the defiant group had started rebuilding. The structures were demolished again and this time authorities confiscated the building materials.

Angered by the authorities' intervention, the protesters twice tried to block the N2 and burn tyres, but a huge contingent of armed police prevented them from doing so.

Singing and dancing in protest, the residents promised "to keep the police on their toes 24/7" with protest action.

"We have no place to stay. The government has millions to spend on building stadiums for 2010, but I have been waiting for a house for the past 20 years," said mother-of-three Clarissa Benjamin, 47.

Steve Hayward, head of the anti-land invasion unit, confirmed that his department had taken down the structures and confiscated the building materials.

He added that they would continue to do so until the protesters stopped their operation.

The city had laid a charge of trespassing against the protesters at the local police station, he said.

The authorities would also consider applying for a court interdict against them, according to Hayward.

He urged the protesters to stop their action and engage with their local councillor to resolve the matter.

He noted that the land was intended for the development of housing in the next two years.

Mzonke Poni, a spokesman for the protesters, said the city had shown its arrogance by confiscating the building materials and evicting the group from the land.

He alleged that law enforcement officers had broken possessions and said charges would be laid against them.

The group would apply for legal aid today to seek a court interdict against the evictions.

"For us to win this battle, we need support. We need to claim this land. The strength of our struggle is based on numbers," Poni told the agitated group, to loud applause and cheers.

- Cape Argus

Cold front leads to Cape protests

Residents of Doornbach informal settlement in Cape Town took to the streets on Sunday night in protest against their living conditions, digging up a portion of a busy road, burning tyres and barricading the road with wood and cement slabs.

Protesters said police had fired rubber bullets to disperse the crowd at about 9.30pm. Police confirmed that rubber bullets had been fired on Sunday night after protesters had refused to disperse.

Although there was a steady drizzle late on Sunday night, it failed to prevent about 1,000 protesters from gathering.

A Golden Arrow bus which tried to drive through the barricades on Potsdam Road was stoned.

Wearing winter coats or covered in blankets the protesters sung songs slamming Western Cape Premier Helen Zille, accusing her of poor service delivery.

They demanded that new Cape Town mayor Dan Plato hold a meeting with them to address their concerns.

Residents said their protest was sparked by a fire in the settlement on May 10 which left about 80 people homeless and heavy rains over the weekend which flooded their shacks.

“A few days ago it was fire. Now it’s floods. We need our own land where we can live decently,” said community leader Albert Mazula.

Mazula said shacks in the settlement, situated along Potsdam Road adjacent to Du Noon township and home to about 5,000 people, had been flooded as a result of heavy rain on the weekend.

“That’s why we decided to barricade the road to draw attention from the authorities to come and see the conditions we are leaving in,” he said.

Artwell Russon , 36, a father of three young children, said he was “sick and tired” of staying in a shack.
“It’s winter and our children will get sick here,” said Russon.

A heavy police presence monitored the situation on Sunday night and Monday morning. Potsdam Road was closed overnight and remained closed to traffic on Monday morning.

Police spokesperson Captain Frederick van Wyk said the demonstrators had stoned police and passing cars on Sunday night.

“Rubber bullets were fired after people were asked to disperse and they refused,” he said. He said no arrests had been made.

- West Cape News

More barricades on way - protesters

Residents of Site 5 in Du Noon have vowed to continue burning tyres on Koeberg Road and the N7 freeway if the provincial government ignores their demands for land and services.

This morning the area was quiet, according to community representatives after residents had burned piles of wood on Koeberg Road last night.

At around 11am, resident Zoliswa Gila said she and others had gathered at the Doorndag Community Hall, waiting for feedback from councillor Vincent Berg, who is the Blaauwberg area subcouncil chairperson.

Meanwhile community leader Peace Stemela said there were no protests this morning.

Residents are demanding that a piece of privately owned land near the N7, which is set to be sold to a private company, instead be sold to the provincial government so housing can be built on it for them.

Cape Town Traffic Services media spokesperson Merle Lourens said this morning that Potsdam Road, which runs through the informal settlement, was opened to traffic at around 11.30am.

After the weekend's torrential rain, residents also complained on Sunday that their shacks were flooded.

"It is better to be out in the streets protesting because our houses are full of water now and we want to move from this place," said Gila on Sunday.

Another resident, who declined to give his name, said mayor Dan Plato should see the way they lived. "We want him to come here; we have had enough of this place. We want land where we can get water and electricity," he said.

Albert Mazula, also of Site 5, said that shacks were built too close to each other, which had made it difficult to move belongings when a fire broke out recently, razing at least 30 homes.

A fourth resident, Mzonke Madlokazi, warned that residents would close Koeberg Road and the N7 for the whole week if they were ignored by the provincial government.

"Houses were promised to us a long time ago and they said we must vote if we want to complain. We voted, so now we are complaining," he said.

Residents alleged that shots were fired to disperse protesters picketing outside community leaders' houses yesterday.

Table View police this morning confirmed yesterday's protests, but declined to comment further, saying only that a statement would be released later today.

- Cape Argus

Du Noon residents demand land

Residents of Site 5 in Du Noon, have vowed to continue burning tyres on Koeberg Road and the N7 freeway if the provincial government ignores their demands for land and services.

The residents, who started protesting yesterday are demanding that a piece of privately owned land near the N7 freeway, which is set to be sold to a private company, instead be sold to the provincial government so that housing could be built on it for them.

Cape Town Traffic Services media spokeswoman, Merle Lourens this morning said that Potsdam Road, which runs through the informal settlement, was still closed to traffic.

However, she said it was due to be re-opened this morning after debris, dumped by protesters last night, was cleared.

After the torrential rains that hit the province at the weekend, residents yesterday also complained that their shacks were flooded.

"It is better to be out in the streets protesting because our houses are full of water now and we want to move from this place," said resident Zoliswa Gila.

- Cape Argus

Flood victims get use of city land

Political change in the province has led to the city council and the provincial government agreeing on the city being given access to land for emergency use for flood victims and being granted accreditation as a housing developer.

While accreditation would be finalised next month, the city would from today start using tracts of provincial land for the council's winter readiness programme, mayoral committee member for housing Shehaam Sims said.

An agreement struck at Friday's meeting between Sims, new Housing MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela and officials from their departments, followed DA leader Helen Zille's move to the legislature as premier.

The meeting also decided that a task team of city and provincial officials would be set up to ensure that day-to-day housing issues were addressed efficiently.

'They are passing it with flying colours and have enough capacity'

"Land for emergency use has already been identified, and by Monday will be ready for use. There are areas which will have a serious impact on people because municipal services could not be provided immediately, but these will be installed after people have moved on to the land," Sims said yesterday, adding that zoning had already been done.

She said accreditation meant the city could now approach the national government directly for funding. This would result in less red tape and a marked decrease in the time it took to access funding, Sims said.

"The advantage is that a six to 18 month process can be cut to three or six months. This will mean quicker delivery and obviously more housing opportunities per year.

"Accreditation has been a stumbling block for the DA-led council during constant battles with the then ANC provincial government."

Sims said accreditation required the city to have a five-year plan, environment impact assessments and approval of housing projects and its intended beneficiaries.

"About 70 percent of the province's housing work takes place in the city. There is now an environment where officials from the city and the province can work together," she said.

Madikizela said, with the city and province under DA control, the city would become a fully fledged housing developer.

"They city satisfies the accreditation requirements. They are passing it with flying colours and have enough capacity. The only problem is that the city does not have enough land. We agreed the city must identify provincial land for residential purposes and that the first thing we'll do is deal with emergencies as a result of flooding," he said.

Madikizela said the province's role was one of oversight and that there would be regular meetings to monitor the council's progress.

"I'm relieved relations are improved, but one big problems is budget constraints. We do not want to raise expectations because these constraints will impede the speed of delivery," he said.

Sims said: "It was quite sad that the ANC tried to stand in the way, but the city was still able to deliver an average of 7 500 houses. The target is 9 900 for this financial year."

- Cape Times

Cape Town relief efforts in full swing after storm

Disaster response teams in the City of Cape Town have intensified relief efforts after heavy rains battered several informal settlements on the Cape Flats this weekend. Browns Farm, Kosovo and Crossroads are some of the areas hardest hit by floods.

The disaster team's spokesperson, Charlotte Powell, says they're busy mopping up and at this stage there are about 29 informal settlements, 697 structures and 1900 people affected by the storm. “The relief agencies continue to provide humanitarian relief in terms of blankets, clothing and food. Disaster management remains on high alert for any other contingencies,” says Powell.

Cape Town mayor, Dan Plato, has promised to relocate informal dwellers who squat in flood-prone areas on the Cape Flats. He said this will be done after consulting the affected communities. Plato has visited Khayelitsha's BT section yesterday which has been hardest hit by floods.

- SABC

'I couldn't sleep here ... it was flooded'

Shack dwellers spent Sunday mopping up after the first storm of the winter season lashed Cape Town on Saturday, flooding several informal settlements and removing a 14m-high sculpture from its perch.

But the weather office said Cape Town was unlikely to see much worse than on Saturday, when 1 700 people in 28 informal settlements were directly affected by the heavy rains.

According to Cape Town Disaster Management, the worst flooded areas were: Lotus Park, Lusaka and New Rest in Guguletu, Du Noon in Milnerton, Freedom Farm in Belhar, Kosovo in Phillipi, BT Section in Khayelitsha Site C, TRA Section in Masiphumelele and Masisendani near Strandfontein.

Like many of her neighbours Nosibusiso Ndlovu, a resident of Taiwan in Site C, Khayelitsha, used yesterday's relatively good weather to clear her shack after the rain caused pools to form inside on Saturday night.

'Saturday was much worse'

"Saturday was much worse - we had to use buckets to carry out the water," she said, pointing to the front entrance of her shack.

Thembisile Qhapha, a community leader in Taiwan, said many people could not prevent their homes being flooded because the informal settlement was on low ground.

"People have been digging little trenches to try to stem the flow of water into their homes. It has helped to relieve the problem, which could have been worse," said Qhapha.

Thando Sindelo, of BT Section, spent two nights away from his shack because of a leaking roof and flooding.

"I couldn't sleep here because it was flooded - my bed was also soaked because the rain came through the roof."

In Gardens, a strong gust on Saturday caused a 14m high statue made of recycled steel and granite to topple outside Longkloof Studios.

Charlotte Powell, a spokeswoman for Cape Town Disaster Management, said the worst hit areas were on the Cape Flats, because of the high water table and limited run-off capacity.

By late yesterday, she said, only Blue Hall in BT Section was being used to house those left homeless by the floods. She said the city's transport, roads and stormwater directorate was providing sand at informal settlements and the housing department was assessing the damage to homes and providing flood kits where required.

She said no major roads had been closed and no rockfalls or mudslides had been reported.

Keith Moir, a forecaster at the Cape Town weather office, said all the "action" happened on Saturday and the weather would improve this week.

"There's no rain on Tuesday, clear skies on Wednesday and from Thursday we'll get back into a maritime flow off the sea with foggy areas, but some rain is expected in bits and pieces on Friday," said Moir.

- Cape Times

More than 700 destitute after Cape Flats flooding

About 700 people have been affected by flooding caused by storms in a number of informal settlements on the Cape Flats. Cape Town Disaster Management teams say at least 11 informal settlements have been flooded.

Disaster spokesperson, Greg Pillay, says they are currently evaluating the extent of the storm damage. “… We have 11 informal settlements that are affected and there's approximately 700 people left destitute and we are providing disaster relief in the form of meals and we are also providing them with blankets,” says Pillay. He says another cold front is expected to hit the Peninsula soon.

Meanwhile, Cape Town mayor, Dan Plato will visit informal settlements today to see for himself the damage caused by the rains. Plato visited some communities affected by heavy rains to hand over canvas covers and warm meals yesterday. He says many homes have also been flooded in Uitsig near Ravensmead.

- SABC

Backyard dwellers take over land

About a thousand disgruntled backyard dwellers in Macassar Village, in the Strand, are set to butt heads with the City of Cape Town after they decided to illegally clear and occupy a piece of land on the margins of the N2.

The city has threatened to seek a court interdict against them if they do not halt the operation.

The backyard dwellers, part of housing lobby group, Abahlali baseMjondolo, said their patience with the government on housing delivery had "run dry".

They also said that they were "tired of paying rent".

A Cape Argus team visited the area yesterday and saw women, some with children in tow, and men busy at work cutting bushes with machetes, saws and spades.

The group's spokeswoman, Ronell Muller, first downplayed the land invasion, saying that they were clearing the land in order to host games for backyard dwellers at the weekend.

"We will see what happens after the games," she said.

Pressed to clarify her response, she said: "If they are open spaces why not allow people to build houses."

Muller, who is a mother of two, said she was retrenched last year and was now failing to pay rent and struggled to send her children to school.

"Some of the people here have been waiting for houses for more than 20 years," she said.

Diniwe Xhakwe agreed.

"We don't have any place to stay.

"Unemployment here is high and we are still waiting for houses," said Xhakwe, a mother of three, who is also taking care of her late sister's two children.

Xhakwe, unemployed, said they were "not doing this (taking the land) by force".

She said "tough circumstances" had pushed them over the edge.

Jeffrey le Roux, a father of two, said the group had lost patience with government.

"Every time they tell us to come for housing in three or five years time. I have been renting for 10 years," he said.

Le Roux said his family survived on his R960 disability grant, which barely covered bills and food.

Vusimuzi Sihamba, 29, said: "I want to build my house here."

In a statement, the group said it would continue with its "cleaning campaign on the land that we have identified ourselves until Friday (today)."

Steve Hayward, head of the city's anti-land invasion unit, said the land had been reserved for a housing development for those on the waiting list.

He said development on the land were set to start in the next two years.

"We have zero tolerance towards land invasion," he said.

"We won't allow the Johnnies-come-lately to occupy the land." - Cape Argus

Refugee shacks demolished

Despite the severe winter weather expected to hit the Mother City at the weekend, the City of Cape Town has dismantled shacks that were "illegally erected" at the Blue Waters refugees camp site, situated near Strandfontein.

City spokesperson Pieter Cronje said the refugees had been warned that if they did not dismantle their shacks themselves, the city would do it for them.

A private contractor, acting in the presence of city law enforcement officials, said he had dismantled about 13 shacks on Thursday.

The Cape Argus visited the camp after the officials had left and found the refugees trying to rebuild the shelters.

Cronje said the city had told the refugees many times to take down the shacks, but no one had heeded the warning.

"The shacks were built quite a while ago and we warned them that they were illegal. So 13 shacks were dismantled and those that remain will be dismantled shortly," explained Cronje.

One refugee camp leader said they did not understand why their shacks had been dismantled only now.

"It is winter now and we were trying to protect ourselves, because the tents were leaking. "Besides, the city provided the material, we never went out to look for floor boards (the material used to build the shelters)," said John Kisonezi.

The refugees said they were upset that the shacks had been destroyed, saying that their children would get cold.

Kisonezi alleged that, at some point during the dismantling of the shacks, a six-month pregnant Somali woman was injured in a scuffle with a security guard and had to be taken to hospital for treatment.

Cronje said he was aware of the incident, but could not confirm the reason for the scuffle.

He said that law enforcement officials were investigating the incident.

The city said it would seek an eviction order for the refugees still living at the Blue Waters and if they were unopposed in their application, the matter would be heard in the Cape High Court on May 26.

- Cape Argus

Farmers told to make way for housing project

More than 300 Faure farmers face the threat of eviction, thanks to plans by the Western Cape Housing Department to use the land they farm on for a housing development.

The land, between Khayelitsha and Eerste River in Faure, is owned by the provincial government. But some of the farmers have lived there for more than 10 years.

The Housing Department won an interdict application in the Cape High Court in April which orders the farmers to immediately stop working the land. Now the farmers have written to Premier Helen Zille, pleading with her to intervene.

If the housing development went ahead, they said in the letter dated last Thursday, they would lose their income since most were self-employed.

The farmers said while they not trying to impede the work of the housing department, they had to make a case for the right of agriculture to be afforded the same priority.

They made it clear that while they could not afford a long court battle, they would not give up without a fight.

We get the feeling that this development was suddenly spawned when the department heard about people squatting illegally on what they then realised is their land, the farmers, under the banner of the iThemba Farmers Association, said.

Association chairman Craig Jonkers said they were calling on the provincial government to change its mind on the proposed housing development, and for the public to support their fight.

We are poor and the government is not giving us jobs, so we try to help ourselves.

Now they want to take everything away, Jonkers said. Ricardo Jacobs, chairperson of the Surplus People's Project, which is supporting the farmers, said: When will they learn that housing developments without proper consultation fail, like they failed in Delft, Langa and Crossroads?

Housing Department head Shanaaz Majiet said they had acquired the land for integrated,
sustainable human settlement development.

The development envisaged would provide not only houses, but also include a social and economic element.

- Cape Argus

Three provinces protest against slum bill

A provincial law that apparently seeks to eliminate slums in KwaZulu-Natal has got even far-flung parts of the country in a huff.

The bill with a burdensome title - the KwaZulu-Natal Elimination and Prevention of Re-Emergence of Slums Act - has not even been implemented yet, but already between 300 and 500 activists from Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape have been in the Constitutional Court in Braamfontein, Joburg, to demonstrate their opposition.

Clad in red T-shirts, the activists expressed their dissatisfaction, mostly by singing protest songs outside the Constitutional Court.

There were also church leaders from different denominations who attended the hearing to show support for those who might be affected by the intended act's provisions.

The Land Affairs Department has joined KwaZulu-Natal MEC Mike Mabuyakhulu as respondents in the case.

Abahlali baseMjondolo, the South African shackdwellers' movement - whose membership includes more than 20 000 residents of informal settlements in the Durban area alone - has been spearheading the attack on the bill, which is intended as a model for all provinces.

Advocate Wim Trengove, for Abahlali baseMjondolo, argued that the law seemed to be in conflict with the National Housing Act and national housing policy, as well as with certain provisions of the Prevention of Illegal Eviction From and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act.

Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke remarked that while the act's aims were to improve the living conditions of communities, it carried no detailed plans to ensure that this happened.

Also, the phrase dealing with improving the living conditions of communities came only at the end.

Lawyers for the government responded that the act had not yet been implemented and it was therefore premature to challenge it.

- The Star

At least 4 die in CT backpackers fire

Cape Town - At least four guests died and seven were injured in a backpackers hostel fire in Cape Town on Friday, said Western Cape police.

The fire broke out at 05:00 at Two Oceans Backpackers on Loop Street, said Superintendent Andre Traut.

Eyewitness News reported that four bodies had been recovered.

Seven guests were being treated for injuries, four of them serious, said Traut.

The hostel accommodation was full to capacity at the time of the incident.

"We're now looking at the circumstances around the incident and to determine whether someone was at fault. And to determine what killed the guests," said Traut.

- SAPA

Homeless, hopeless after fire

Residents of Site 5 in the Du Noon informal settlement, near Milnerton, have begun rebuilding after 30 homes were razed by fire in the most recent of several shack fires since the start of last weekend.

Nobuhle Tyatyeka stood watching as men, using a starter kit of five zinc sheets, 10 poles, a roll of plastic and three bags of nails, put together a section of her replacement home.

"All I have (left) are the clothes I have on," the devastated woman said.

Tyatyeka's eight-year-old daughter, who is in Grade 2 at Sophakama Primary in Du Noon, could not go to school on Tuesday.

"She has no school clothes. Everything was damaged in the fire."

Tyatyeka, a domestic worker in Parklands, said her family had to take refuge in her husband's car when the shacks went up in flames on Monday night.

The fire broke out just after sunset, leaving almost 50 families homeless.

The Majija sisters, 33-year-old Christine and 27-year-old Nokuthula, who have three children between them, were also left homeless by the fire.

Both unemployed, they said they had no money to replace their home.

Nokuthula Majija said she had lost all her clothing.

Her sister said her identity document had gone up in flames, which would further hamper her efforts to find a job.

Asked what they would do, the sisters simply shook their heads in despair.

Although fires in Du Noon continue to disrupt people's lives in the informal settlement, Disaster Management has warned that the residents face an even more severe threat of flooding, once the winter rains really set in.

In a bid to help combat the threat, they have stepped up their winter campaign.

Disaster Management spokesperson Charlotte Powell said the "risk-reduction campaign" was focused on 24 high-risk settlements in a bid to "reduce vulnerability".

"We go out and talk to people about the dangers and how they can protect themselves against flooding," she said.

Suggestions included checking roofs for leaks, keeping the water channels clear of rubbish, and calling the emergency services number as soon as any problems occurred.

Leaflets detailing information about helping to prevent fires and flooding were also being distributed.

Among the examples of safety measures was the one suggesting people keep a bucket of water or sand in their homes to immediately douse fires which may occur.

In the event of a fire, people should also not move all their furniture out into the streets because these needed to be kept clear for fire and rescue vehicles and staff.

In a recent media statement, the City of Cape Town said it had allocated R18,4-million for a cleaning service to help minimise stormwater blockages as part of its forward planning for the winter storms.

A total of 616 temporary staff would be employed to make it work.

In the event of a life- or property-threatening emergency,

call 107 from a landline,
or
021 480 7700 from a cellphone.

To report flooding, blocked drains or service disruptions, call 0860 103 054.

- Cape Argus

Fire leaves families homeless

Twenty-five families spent Tuesday patching together what remained of their lives after a fire razed a part of the Doornbach informal settlement, leaving them homeless.

The fire started just after 8pm on Monday and left more than 85 people homeless, but no one injured, before it was put out several hours later.

Hlumile Stemela, ward councillor for the area, said he had asked officials from Home Affairs to help victims of the fire to receive new birth certificates and identity documents as many of them were dependent on social grants and needed the documents.

Food parcels and blankets were given to victims on Monday evening and on Tuesday.

Cape Town disaster management spokesperson Charlotte Powell said an investigation would be launched into the cause of the fire, adding that no one had been arrested. - Cape Times

Sexwale's appointment could be a headache

The appointment of businessman Tokyo Sexwale as minister responsible for housing could create a conflict of interest headache for the ANC.

Sexwale is assessing the effect of his business interests on his new portfolio, while the ruling party says he will have to declare.

President Jacob Zuma announced that Sexwale would head the Ministry of Human Settlements, previously the Housing Ministry.

Sexwale is executive chairperson and co-founder of diversified business group Mvelaphanda Holdings, which has interests in construction, mining, banking and property. The ruling party tried to avoid deploying Sexwale to portfolios that would create an obvious conflict of interest for him such as Mining, which is now a separate ministry, or Trade and Industry.

Housing is a little more remote

But the Human Settlement portfolio could create an even bigger headache as Mvelaphanda has invested in construction firm Group Five, which specialises in construction and engineering.

The company's website boasts that its building and housing components are concentrated around mass and residential housing, healthcare and educational facilities and commercial retail developments.

Ironically, some small construction companies complained to now Justice Minister Jeff Radebe about Group Five and other big construction consortiums' dominance in the sector during an elections meeting in Sandton late last year.

The Housing Department deals mostly with the mass construction of low-cost houses as part of the ANC's promises to eradicate shacks and provide decent houses.

Economist Iraj Abedian of Pan African Investments said while a portfolio such as mining would have created an immediate problem for Sexwale, his appointment as Minister of Human Settlements also created a potential conflict of interest for the businessman.

"Housing is a little more remote, but (conflict of interest) doesn't disappear because Mvelaphanda has massive property development (interests) which could create a conflict of interest as evident as in mining," he said.

Abedian said, however, that Sexwale would be forced to leave the business world altogether due to his inclusion in cabinet.

"The fact is whether he is Minister of Finance or Housing; he would have to leave his businesses. He can't be (executive) chairman of Mvelaphanda and minister of whatever at the same time," he said.

ANC spokesperson Lindiwe Zulu said: "People think he will start giving himself tenders, but he's way beyond that. He has made enough money already," she said.

She said Sexwale would be required to declare his business interests. Sexwale's spokesperson Chris Vick said Sexwale's business interests would be declared and recorded in the register of members' interests to ensure transparency.

Meanwhile, the ANC cautiously avoided giving its national executive committee member Siphiwe Nyanda a security-related portfolio to avoid a conflict of interest as he has a stake in arms companies.

Nyanda, a former military general, has been appointed Minister of Communications.

- Pretoria News

Sexwale to head human settlements ministry

Tokyo Sexwale has been announced as the Minister of Human Settlements.

Announcing his new Cabinet on Sunday, President Jacob Zuma said the Department of Housing will be called the Department of Human Settlements to take on a more holistic focus.

Going through the list of those who will take up seats in his Cabinet, Mr Zuma said: "Minister of Human Settlements - Tokyo Sexwale."

A highly respected businessman, Mr Sexwale has held many senior positions in the African National Congress. He was imprisoned alongside Nelson Mandela on Robben Island were he was expected to serve a life sentence.

As President of South Africa in 1994, Mr Mandela appointed Mr Sexwale as Premier of Gauteng.

In 1998 he left public office and entered the world of business. He formed Mvelapanda Group, a Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed BEE consortium.

He also serves on the board of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Local Organising Committee.

Mr Sexwale was named Tokyo because he enjoyed karate as a youngster. - BuaNews

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“Why do we deserve the worst?” ask protesting Cape residents

Working under a hot sun, single mother Nolukhanyo Mgovuka, 35, plunges her spade into the hard gravel of a community-dug trench that scythes across Lansdowne Road in Cape Town. “We are willing to take rubber bullets from the police, if the City of Cape Town pretends we don’t exist. This is nothing, the N2 we are coming,” said Mgovuka, referring to the nearby national road that runs into central Cape Town.

Angry residents of BT Section informal settlement in Khayelitsha took to the streets last Monday in a protest they say is about a lack of electricity in their area.

The protests, which were the first in the City since April elections which saw power shift from the ANC to the DA, lasted the whole of last week and continued this week.

Rubbish has been burnt in the streets and there have been reports of buses being stoned.

In the last few days, residents have dug a trench across busy Lansdowne Road, neatly removing the tar and gravel beneath it to prevent traffic from using the road.

Digging trenches across roads is fast becoming the protest weapon of choice in Cape Town, with the Khayelitsha residents following the example of Du Noon and Masiphumele townships, where residents have also dug trenches in previous protests.

In between her shoveling on Wednesday, Mgovuka said she had not eaten the whole day, but that residents had “had enough of empty promises” and would continue to fight for better services.

Mgovuka said her shack had burnt to the ground twice last year because she did not have electricity and had to use candles for lighting and paraffin for cooking.

She said if people had electricity the area would be “safe to be alive”.

With electricity, she said she would be able to buy a fridge and start selling meats to make a living.

She said the community was angry with the City of Cape Town because of the lack of services. But residents also blamed ANC ward councilor Nontsomi Billie for the lack of services.

Billie, they point out, who lives in DT Section, which is next to BT Section, has had electricity installed in her area.

Dumisani Mbele, 44, said residents who made use of illegal electricity connections were subject to harassment from authorities.

He said because of a lack of toilets, residents who crossed Lansdowne Road to use bushes on the other side as a toilet had been hit by cars.

Mbele, an unemployed father of six children, the youngest of which is four, said he was concerned that his children were not getting the same treatment as other children.

Due to the lack of electricity, they could not watch TV, iron clothes or eat food kept fresh by a fridge.

The protests sparked accusations from now Western Cape premier Helen Zille that the ANC was behind the action, but this was hotly denied by the ANC.

Mbele, like other residents, denies any political element.
Rather, he said, the protest was a “weapon” so that poor people could be heard.

“Why do we deserve the worst? We will continue to fight,” he said.

Contacted for comment, Billie said there had been a meeting last week about the service delivery demands of the community. Further meetings had been held between the community and officials from the City of Cape Town.

Billie said people in BT section needed to be relocated to a safe area, because their informal settlement was situated on a flood plain, but “unfortunately” the City had said there was no land available.

City of Cape Town mayoral committee member Dan Plato said the City had “no problem” with installing electricity in BT section and had engaged with Eskom to ensure that services were provided.

Plato said at a meeting held with the community yesterday on Wednesday an agreement had been reached for the protests to be stopped.

A team had been sent out on Thursday to clean up the streets and take note of what services were needed for the area, he said.

— West Cape News

A baptism of fire - Cape Town smoulders still

As Helen Zille is sworn in as the Western Cape's new premier on Wednesday, violent service delivery protests that have rocked Khayelitsha for more than week have now spread to Athlone.

On Tuesday, Zille claimed the ANC was driving the protests, but the party denied it had anything to do with the prolonged action, saying it was a reflection of people's frustration over service delivery.

The party accused Zille of "conspiracy theories" and "grandstanding".

ANC provincial secretary Sipho Kroma said the ANC supported the people's right to express dissatisfaction with poor service delivery, but that protests should remain lawful.

Residents of Pookesebos in Athlone blocked part of Pooke Road with burning trees, tyres and rubbish.
On Tuesday afternoon about nine Metro police and SAPS cars were on the scene. Officers closed streets leading to Pooke Road, which was covered in thick smoke.

Residents said their demands included the provision of electricity, speed bumps and houses.

"We are sick and tired of empty promises, and are telling the government now that the wait is over... We want service delivery," said resident Devlie van Wyk.

Van Wyk said people had accepted the status quo for far too long, and had now decided to "rise up".

Read the full story in today's editions of the Cape Argus newspaper.

Politics still does not serve the city of Cape Town

The ANC, which on Wednesday begins its role as the official opposition in the province, has rejected as "conspiracy theories" charges by incoming premier Helen Zille that it had orchestrated violent protests by the people of an informal settlement in Khayelitsha.

The ANC's provincial secretary, Sipho Kroma, said Zille was trying to deflect attention from the City of Cape Town's poor service delivery to the people of BT section of Site C, Khayelitsha.

Reports have quoted Zille as saying that, at a weekend meeting, the ANC opted to make the province "ungovernable".

"This latest conspiracy is a thinly-veiled attempt by the outgoing mayor and in-coming premier to deflect attention from poor service delivery by the City of Cape Town to poor people - and to falsely blame the ANC for violent service delivery protests in Khayelitsha," Kroma said.

'It seems that no one is taking responsibility here'

He said there had been no weekend ANC meeting attended by the party's officials, nor was the ANC aware that decisions had been made to make the province "ungovernable".

"The truth is that the ANC would not author service delivery protests calling for the removal of an ANC councillor," Kroma said, referring to Nontsomi Billie, the councillor for the area.

"Khayelitsha residents are rightfully fed-up with poor service delivery."

Several calls and text messages seeking comment from Zille had not brought a response by last night.

Meanwhile, Golden Arrow has diverted its buses from using a section of Lansdowne Road in which one of the company's vehicles came under attack on Monday from people in BT section.

Company spokesperson Vuyisile Mdoda said commuters who lived along the road were being inconvenienced as they now had to walk some distance to catch a bus.

Protesters have dug two trenches into the road and strewn rubbish, taken from two shipping containers, across it, making it difficult for vehicles to pass.

Taxi drivers are also having to use alternative routes and say this costs them money as they lose passengers.

Ernest Madulube said protests had made the road dangerous for his minibus taxi and himself.

"It seems that no one is taking responsibility here.

"(The disruptions) should not have lasted for more than two days.

"The city council should have done something by now."

- Cape Times

N2 is next, say Site C protesters

Residents of Site C in Khayelitsha have cut off access to a section of Lansdowne Road by digging more trenches in the road and have threatened to target the N2 next if they are not provided with basic services.

"We want to take this to the N2 where it will affect the white people," said one of the men behind the protests. He said while they were trying to make a point in Site C, they wanted their struggle to be seen and felt by the affluent.

Last week they dug one trench across Lansdowne Road, which had since been half-filled with rocks to make it easier for motorists to get across.

But at the weekend, four more trenches were dug, making it nearly impossible for taxis and smaller cars to cross without damaging their vehicles.

Late on Sunday shattered glass, rocks, and rubbish lined the road. Residents had moved five large rubbish containers into the middle of the road and emptied the contents into the street, while logs were also used to barricade the road.

Children seemed to make the most of the situation by playing street soccer in the virtually empty road, where protesting residents said many lives had been claimed in the past as residents were forced to cross it to empty buckets, or to use the bushes by the railway line as toilets.

Residents also set a DA billboard with a smiling Helen Zille's face alight. But the man said that they did not particularly care which party was running the province; all they wanted were services.

Those living in the BT section along the railway line have been burning tyres, stoning vehicles and digging trenches in Lansdowne Road since Monday.

On Friday evening, a set of traffic lights were knocked to the ground and the bulbs stolen from their sockets. A resident predicted that someone would dig into the ground and make an illegal electricity connection.

Rubber bullet casings also dotted the road, with two people at a bus stop showing their wounds. One man had been shot in the elbow and the other in the buttocks. They claimed they were just standing around when police shot at them after dark.

Now locals are also claiming that they are being intimidated by taxi owners and taxi drivers. On Sunday several residents said a mob of about 40 taxi owners marched down Lansdowne Road, beating people with sticks.

Residents claimed that taxi owners had smashed shack windows with stones because the protest action was impacting on their business.

Because the BT section of Lansdowne Road is closed, all taxis and buses were forced to reroute and several people had to travel quite a distance to use public transport.

Police spokesperson Mthokozisi Gama said they would continue to monitor the situation, but said he was unaware of any incidents involving taxi owners or drivers.

- Cape Argus

Constitutional challenge to law on slums

A GROUP of KwaZuluNatal shack dwellers is challenging the constitutionality of the KwaZulu-Natal Elimination of and Prevention of Re-Emergence of Slums Act, intended to eliminate the province’s slums, stop sprawls re-emerging and to upgrade and control existing slums.

The group fears the law undermines national legislation such as the Prevention of Illegal Eviction and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act (PIE) and the Housing Act, which provide significant protection for people whose rights to land are insecure. The shack dwellers also fear that other provinces might copy the law.

The group also claims that officials have placed reliance on the Slums Act in an attempt to justify evictions and shack demolitions without court orders.

Abahlali Basemjondolo Movement SA is an organisation with 20000 members, residents of the Kennedy Road Informal Settlement in Clare Estate in Durban and of 16 other informal settlements in the greater Durban and Pietermaritzburg areas.

The organisation challenged the constitutionality of the provincial law in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court last year. It argued then that the Slums Act was an unreasonable, retrogressive measure that exceeded the powers of provincial government, was fundamentally irreconcilable with national legislation and threatened to infringe on the fundamental rights of the poorest, most vulnerable members of society.

Judge President Vuka Tshabalala dismissed the shack dwellers’ application in January. Tshabalala said the Slums Act was a reasonable legislative response to the plight of vulnerable people.

The residents applied for leave to appeal to the Constitutional Court. The matter will be heard on Tuesday next week.

In its written submissions to the Constitutional Court, the organisation said that where it was clear an eviction would have unjust or inequitable consequences — such as homelessness — then PIE required that the occupation be tolerated notwithstanding its unlawfulness.

In their written submissions, counsel for the residents Heidi Barnes and Kirsty McLean said: “We submit that this — the toleration of unlawful occupation in circumstances in which the alternative would be unjust or inequitable — is central to the scheme and purpose of PIE.

“Indeed, we submit that PIE effectively discourages the institution of eviction proceedings in these circumstances.”

The advocates also said the relationship between eviction, alternative accommodation and the state’s positive obligations to achieve the progressive realisation of the right of access to housing had been further clarified in two important Supreme Court of Appeal judgments.

“While they were decided in significantly different contexts, the effect of both judgments is that unless the state complied with its obligations … eviction orders would not be granted against people who would be rendered homeless as a result.

“We submit that it is clear that there is a constitutional obligation on the state to provide at least temporary accommodation to persons who will be rendered homeless as a result of eviction.”

The advocates said PIE, read in the context of the constitution, afforded unlawful occupiers two forms of protection. “First, the holding pattern established by PIE means that it is unlikely that eviction proceedings will be instituted against unlawful occupiers, at least by the state, if there is no suitable alternative accommodation available to them. Second, in the event that eviction proceedings are instituted against such unlawful occupiers, the state is required to provide alternative accommodation, of a temporary nature at least, to those who would otherwise be left homeless.”

The advocates also argued that the Slums Act regulated not housing but land, in particular land tenure, access to land and evictions. “Since land is not a competence of provincial government, it is submitted that the Slums Act is beyond the legislative competence of the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government and accordingly invalid.”

The advocates said it was highly desirable to determine the constitutionality of the Slums Act as soon as possible.

“The Slums Act is the first of its kind in the country, and may well be copied in other provinces. We respectfully submit that this court may take notice of the fact that a bill modelled on the Slums Act has been drafted in the Western Cape.”

- Business Day - New Worth Knowing