Angry Makhaza residents take to the streets

Residents of the Makhaza informal settlement in Khayelitsha on the Cape Flats staged service delivery protests on Wednesday morning, police said.

"There was a tense situation this morning [Wednesday]. It is all about service delivery," said Captain Frederick van Wyk.

Protesters barricaded roads with burning tyres but the situation had calmed down by 11.20am.

"The police were called to the scene. We just talked to the people. It is calm again," said Van Wyk.

No injuries were reported. - Sapa

Western Cape could be stripped of powers

Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Sicelo Shiceka has warned the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape provincial government that they will be stripped of their powers if they fail to deliver basic services to poor residents soon.

Shiceka, along with MP Marius Fransman, visited Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha yesterday where residents slammed Western Cape government officials and ward councillors for failing to address service delivery complaints.

"If the city doesn't sort this out, they will lose their powers and the province must intervene. And if they don't sort it out, national will intervene," said Fransman.

- Cape Argus

It should be noted that Marius Fransman was the ANC MEC of Housing in the Western Cape for many years; this lack of delivery to which he refers is HIS OWN lack of delivery. He is part of the ANC management for which the labour minister apologises below... & it was HIS department that has given D6 back to the people twice already...

ANC says sorry for 'greed'

Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana yesterday made an unprecedented apology to the people of the Western Cape on behalf of the regional ANC.

Mdladlana added that "the truth is that the Western Cape ANC owes the people an apology for allowing itself to be torn apart by factionalism, abuse of power, patronage and greed. Good people who have genuine contributions to make have been marginalised. Structures are weak, particularly in coloured areas, and comrades fight one another for positions and personal gain."

- Cape Times

Progress on District Six land claims

Hundreds of former District Six landowners are closer to restitution - more than 13 years after they filed their claims.

The Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform is expected to confirm before Wednesday that 300 out of 800 landowners, who asked to be moved back to the area, will be accommodated.

This follows a month-long process of completing all outstanding owner claims, including the verification of documents and updating of claimant information to ensure compliance with the required regulation.

All claims had to be lodged before the end of 1996

The Commission on Restitution of Land Rights appointed two service providers, FG & W Development Projects cc and Sekhona IT Solutions, to interview claimants at the Moravian Church in District Six at the end of last week.

Beverley Jansen, the Western Cape Land Claims Commissioner, said owners had now been called to verify their claims.

The providers had to get personal information from each of the 300 owners, their siblings or other blood relatives to confirm the claims.

"The verification process included an interview whereby principal claimants could update their details, and perhaps surviving brothers and sisters or family members needed to show how they fit into the claim," she said.

All claimants had to show all the relevant documents to prove they had valid claims.

All claims had to be lodged before the end of 1996.

"Nobody can lodge claims now, and all those who have filed claims and have proof are entitled to restitution," she said.

Jansen said owners would have to fit into the town planning of the area, which includes commercial enterprises, a school and clinics, following the finalisation of the District Six business plan due next year.

"This is now the final process. We are well on track. There is a national task team comprising all national, provincial and local officials working together. While the commission works with the various verifications, there are experts working on the other aspects like the architects and town planners," she said.

There was, however, more than enough land, and people from other areas seeking restitution might also be given land there, according to Jansen.

- Cape Argus

Hlalani residents march into Knysna in protest

A GROUP of residents from Knysna’s Hlalani informal settlement marched along the N2 into town on Friday to once more highlight their need for housing and electricity.

Marching under the banner of the SA Communist Party and accompanied by a strong police presence, the protesters sang and chanted until they reached the town centre, where they sat down to highlight their protest.

Residents have held repeated meetings with various municipal officials and have handed a petition to Mayor Eleanore Bouw-Spies.

Some have built their shacks on an old landfill site.

Earlier, Knysna development and planning director Lauren Waring said although there were 356 households in Hlalani, there was only space to accommodate 111 households in a formal housing plan. So 245 households would have to be accommodated elsewhere.

Money for housing projects is allocated by the Western Cape government and the town needs to develop areas in Khayalethu, Flenters, Rhobololo, Concordia and Hornlee with the R31-million it has received for the year.

A basic planning and cost exercise for Hlalani has shown that more than R16- million will be needed to develop the area.

- The Weekend Post

Slum Cinema & The 'couch-guy'

MEC feels the pressure of delivering homes

Western Cape Housing MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela says there is immense pressure on his department to speed up the delivery of homes.

In recent months, the province’s numerous housing initiatives have been plagued by problems and controversy.

Apart from the troubled N2 Gateway Project, the Western Cape Housing Department and city council have run into problems with various other programs.

This week the handing over of new homes in Athlone was cancelled because of complaints from some community members over the allocation process.

Last weekend angry Mandela Park residents vandalised over 40 newly-built houses in Khayelitsha.

Madikizela laid criminal charges against several people arrested in connection with the incident.

He expressed concern about the tendency of recipients of low-cost homes to sell the properties because they were desperate for money. - Eyewitness News

'I can't sleep easily peacefully at night'

Residents of a government-subsidised housing scheme in Wallacedene, Kraaifontein say they may as well be sleeping with open doors.

The keys to their homes are not unique, and in many instances residents have discovered that they can use their keys to unlock the doors of their neighbours.

Thembi Xawuka, who has been living in the "France" housing development said her house had been burgled in once and her sister, lives next to her also had been broken into.

"I've changed the lock to my front door but have discovered that other keys, used for several doors inside the house, can be used on the doors of my neighbours," said Xawuka.

She had since resorted to burglar bars inside and outside of her house to protect her property.

"Despite this I can't sleep easily peacefully at night because at the back of my mind I'm always fearful that someone might break into my house," said Xawuka. - Cape Times

Dagga should be legalised: Police and prisonwardens

Cosatu's congress could end on a high note, with police union Popcru pushing for dagga to be legalised.

The proposal was due to come up for debate today when delegates debate resolutions.

Popcru general secretary Nkosinathi Theledi told The Star that by legalising dagga, the police would be freed to focus on fighting more serious crime.

If adopted, said Theledi, the proposal would be forwarded to the SAPS top brass for consideration.

"Whether we like it or not, dagga is being used and it should rather be legalised.

"We are saying it should be regulated ... the age limit on who is allowed to use it.

"Research even tells us that there are cases where doctors prescribe dagga for patients with particular ailments.

"If it happens, then this will save police resources - instead of chasing after (dagga sellers and producers), they can look at bigger crime," said Theledi.

Theledi, who says he does not smoke dagga, said he was initially opposed to the idea, but had been persuaded otherwise by his union.

While the use of dagga may encourage some users to try harder drugs, Theledi said regulation - such as that on alcohol sales - should be enforced.

Legalisation would also "empower the people who produce it and will add to the economy", according Theledi, stressing it would be up to congress delegates to debate and finalise the issue.

Meanwhile, Cosatu deputy general secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali said that, for the first time, the issue of global warming would feature at the congress.

- The Star

and like 5 other countries around the world with less of the raw product and housing demand - you too can build sustainable carbon negative cannabrick homes from it; click the pic to find out how

Grootboom case was a disaster - Judge Willis

Judge Nigel Willis called the Constitutional Court's decision on the Irene Grootboom case "a disaster" because it was unimplementable, when he was interviewed for one of four positions on that Bench on Tuesday.

"In the end, the Grootboom case was a disaster," said Willis, when asked to comment on the court's work.

He said the court had acted with the best intentions, but had made "one or two errors of judgment"...

"I think it has missed the point sometimes," he said.

He was not saying the court had done too much or too little, but "I am talking about orders that are not practically implementable".

There were orders that he would not have put his name to, he said.

He cited the 2000 Grootboom case, which many described as a landmark case in terms of the government providing adequate housing.

Grootboom was about to be evicted from a sports ground in Wallacedene, Cape Town, with several hundred other people.

Their case went all the way to the Constitutional Court, which ruled that they could not be evicted until the government had provided a decent housing alternative for them.

"Mrs Grootboom died without a house despite the fact that many people said what a great decision it was," Willis said. Grootboom died earlier this year. She was living in a shack at the time.

He said there was "not even one house" built... - SAPA

Mandela Park backyarders threaten more chaos

A group of backyard tenants, accused of vandalising 49 out of 53 newly built homes, has promised to turn Mandela Park in Khayelitsha into a "no-go zone".

If the community follows through with the threat, it would be the second no-go area in Khayelitsha after residents in BT-Section, Site C closed off a section of Lansdowne Road passing their informal settlement and have made it impassible for more than a fortnight..

- Read more Cape Times

Violence in Mandela Park

Violence erupted in Khayelitsha's Mandela Park when about 100 angry backyarders went on the rampage after learning they would be allocated only 15 of the 57 new state-subsidised houses in Housing Project 823.

During Saturday's rampage the protesters set fire to one of the newly built, but as yet unoccupied houses, broke windows in 42 houses, carted off doors, wood, sinks and other building materials, and burned tyres in the street.

The violence follows a meeting between the Mandela Park backyarders and Housing MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela last Wednesday, during which they accused Madikizela of reneging on promises to allocate 23 of the 57 new houses, comprising the last phase of the development, to backyarders.

The 57 homes are the last of a total of 823 built there by the provincial government. Last Wednesday Madikizela announced that the number of houses set aside for backyarders had been reduced to 15 as some of the potential backyard beneficiaries could not be found.

Backyard community leaders claim that the original promise of 23 houses was made by Madikizela at a meeting in August after they had lobbied to see themselves included on the housing list.

The August meeting had been called after a protest in April when former housing MEC Whitey Jacobs was prevented from handing out keys to the first beneficiaries of the Mandela Park project.

Backyarders said the fact that the beneficiaries came from other areas such as Gugulethu and Khayelitsha's Site C, while they squatted in backyards behind houses immediately next door to the housing development, was unacceptable.

One of the leaders of the Mandela Park backyarders, Loyiso Mfuku, said: "The people are tired of promises, which is why they are reacting this way. The worst part is that the MEC lied to them when he promised 23 houses and then changed it to 15, saying 'it's a favour'."

Speaking during the weekend rampage, which saw everyone from pensioners to teenagers join in, Mandela Park backyarder Nokuthula Jacobs said "action speaks louder than words".

"Now Madikizela will definitely know we mean business. And this is not the end, it's just the beginning of things to come," said Jacobs.

Another protester, Mzwandile Mjo, said: "We want (Human Settlements Minister) Tokyo (Sexwale) to come in person to see what we are doing here, and hear why we are doing it because the MEC failed and lied to us. We will destroy these houses and no one will live in them."

Yesterday Madikizela branded the Mandela Park rampage "unacceptable".

"It's total hooliganism and we are going to take action.

"We will identify those who were leading (the protest) and vigorous action will be taken against them," he said, saying the law would take its course.

Police spokeswoman Captain Bernadine Steyn said 42 houses were damaged by a group of about 90 people. She said three youths, all aged 18, were arrested.

They face charges of malicious damage to property. - West Cape News

Sexwaleisms

"If you do not focus on the task at hand, then goodbye.

We need to find out why people are protesting.

Proper councillors should find out why people are backing those leading these protests, who present themselves as representatives of people's concerns."

Sexwale denied that the problem was that the ANC government had not delivered.

"This government has delivered a lot. In fact, the 2.5 million houses built since 1994 is only second to China. What is a challenge is the quality of houses that we build. Why do they crack only six months after we have built them? It is because we give tenders to our friends, families and girlfriends.

"This is the time for sober analysis. What are the social challenges and what are the real issues of the people?"

- Pretoria News

R241,5-million bill to close Gateway agent

The National Department of Housing has guaranteed Thubelisha Homes, a technically insolvent government housing agent, R241,5-million to help it close down "on a voluntary basis", a confidential letter leaked to the Mail & Guardian reveals.

Implications for the BNG are staggering / flailing when the company who was given the Breaking New Ground (BNG) mandate by government & flagship the N2 Gateway both fail.

Thubelisha was the implementing agent of Cape Town's disastrous N2 Gateway project. Starved of funding by the national government, which provided only R294,6-million of the R2,3-billion budget, it built only 821 units of a planned 22 000 in the pilot stage.

Mandated to implement low-cost housing countrywide Thubelisha had targeted a profit of R49,5-million and made a loss of R67,5-million.

In a letter to John Duarte, the acting executive officer of Thubelisha, written in March this year, housing director general Itumeleng Kotsoane guaranteed R241,5-million to shut the company down: "We have reviewed the closure cost estimates and confirm the commitment of the national Department of Housing to provide the funding required for closing Thubelisha on a voluntary basis, based on the estimated closure cost of R241,5-million."

Kotsoane and the Housing Department did not answer the M&G's questions this week. In an interview, Duarte -- husband of Jessie Duarte, chief operating officer in President Jacob Zuma's office -- confirmed the R241,5-million guarantee to close the company.

Duarte was brought in two years ago to manage Thubelisha's closure. Without guaranteed funding, he said, he could not have proceeded.

"Thubelisha had leased office premises and there are still three years left on some of the leases and equipment. Liquidation could be messy, as the idea was to transfer the operation's projects to the government's new housing development agency."

Parliament's watchdog committee, the standing committee on public accounts, visited the project last week to see whether structural defects highlighted by the auditor general had been dealt with.

The members found collapsed plumbing and walls and exposed electrical cables. The housing development agency would handle repairs to the Gateway flats, Duarte said. Thubelisha has only 10 staff members left.

Western Cape Premier Helen Zille said the project's progress was being delayed by Thubelisha's "collapse".

"It owes substantial amounts to building contractors but has not been able to pay them because it does not have the [paperwork] required in law for payments to be made by provincial government," said Zille.

- M&G

Ancestors Vision in Sunday Predictions - It came to me in a dream

Ouais et il y aura les maisons durables

conçu à partir du cannabis dans les terres de

Belgique - Thaïlande - Chine - Portugal

Norvège - Inde - Grèce & Emirats Arabes Unis

en peu de temps à être ...

Annonce

Yeah and there shall be houses sustainable

from cannabis crafted in the lands of

Belgium - Thailand - China - Portugal

Norway - India - Greece & UAE

in a short time to be...

Ad

Spit for money: SA's illegal trade in TB-infected saliva

Tuberculosis sufferers in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, were found to be selling samples of their sputum to healthy people to pass off as their own in a scam to gain medical grants.

An investigation by the West Cape News identified people with TB charging between R50 and 100 for saliva samples contained in bottles stolen from health clinics. The paper said that buyers of the samples were then able to get a card from a clinic indicating they have TB and use this to fraudulently obtain a temporary disability grant of R1 010 per month from the Department of Social Development.

A 54-year-old man told a reporter that he makes an average of R500 per month from selling his saliva to people seeking to trick their way on to the benefits system. But he said business was "not good" because so many people were infected with TB in the township that he had a lot of competition... - M&G

Somali shop owner's death 'not surprising'

Three suspects were behind bars after the body of a Somali shop owner was found dumped in an open field in the Khayelitsha area yesterday morning. Mohammed Mohammed Abdi, 28, was off-loading stock at his store in Mfuleni when two gunmen opened fire and wounded him and the driver of the bakkie, police reported... - Cape Times

bat caves of hemp and lime

A gleaming white cube that the Turner prize winner Jeremy Deller calls "a luxury hotel for bats" will be unveiled today to mark the centenary of the birth of the naturalist and wildlife artist Sir Peter Scott.

The box, which has an invisible black roof to make the interior warmer, is built of Hemcrete, an environmentally friendly mixture of hemp fibre and lime that holds layers of computer-cut fretwork panels, which are not just decorative but incorporate the small, dry, dark spaces bats love.

"It's great," Deller said. "I wouldn't mind living there myself." - guardian

Cape Town's no-go zone - Needs a peace pipe & Cannabrick Homes

The city council says it cannot open a section of one of Cape Town's busiest thoroughfares, closed due to violent housing protests, until it is safe for its workers to remove barricades.

Lansdowne Road, passing through Site C, Khayelitsha has been closed for more than a week as overturned shipping containers and several trenches dug by the community of BT-Section have made the road impassable...

City council spokesperson Kylie Hatton said workers would only remove the objects blocking traffic in the road "when it was safe to move into the area".

The community have for months violently shown their anger with the city council which, they insist, should move them away from the area and on to serviced sites where they could put up their shacks...

Last month an off-duty police officer who drove through several barricades on the road and confronted protesters, brandishing his service pistol, was beaten unconscious with rocks and had his gun taken from him.

The community's living quarters are often flooded in winter and during summer those living there run the risk of losing their homes to fires as they don't have access to electricity in their shacks...

- Cape Times

Cannabrick homes to be built in UK government drive

A prototype three-bedroom house, funded by the taxpayer, will go on show today. The home is part of a government drive to build more housing with a smaller carbon footprint.

The "renewable house" features walls made from Hemcrete - a mix of hemp and lime - and was built thanks to a £200,000 grant from the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC).

The National Non-Food Crops Centre (NNFCC), which built the home, said building it used half the energy that building a traditional brick home would use.

It claims energy bills for the home owners would be as low as £150 a year, and predicts building on thousands of houses could begin soon.

Dr John Williams, head of materials at the NNFCC, told The Guardian: "The forecasts are that we could roll this out very quickly if someone places an order for 25,000 homes.

"Increasing numbers of farmers are growing hemp because it fits in with their current growing cycles between April and September and it is a good break crop for wheat.

"If just 1 per cent of the UK's agricultural land was used to grow hemp, it would be enough to build 180,000 homes per year."

The hemp house provides a cheaper alternative to traditional brick and mortar housing, with a build cost of £75,000 excluding groundworks.

The hemp absorbs carbon dioxide when it is growing and the NNFCC estimates that 110kg (242.5lb) of carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere, the equivalent of a return flight from Plymouth to Manchester, for every square metre of wall.

- Telegraph

InternAfrica would again like to point out that South Africa has both more of the raw product available than the UK - and MORE of a housing demand.

Here is how to build your own Cannabrick home.

Cape Housing a poltical battlefield of non-delivery and promises

...there was the ANC’s attempt to hobble the new Western Cape administration’s ability to ramp up housing delivery by transferring available land to the national government when it became clear the election was lost, a tactic that brought back bitter memories of the previous ANC administration’s underhanded attempts to bring down the coalition governing Cape Town...

- BuinessDay - NEWS WORTH KNOWING

Cannabrick Construction - 10 Yrs of SA Gov Bureaucratic delays

Media - a 10yr linked history

CAPE TOWN 3 May 2005

USE DAGGA TO BUILD HOMES: INNOVATOR  A Cape Town-based housing innovator, who propagates using hemp to curb South Africa's growing housing problem, has not ruled out Constitutional Court litigation to compel government to revise its dagga legislation.  "There is a strong possibility we will initiate litigation, hopefully within this year," said Andre du Plessis.  Du Plessis said Cape Town would on Saturday join about 180 cities across 37 nations to highlight the many uses of cannabis.  Du Plessis said South Africa faced a massive housing backlog with cost being the biggest prohibitive factor.  He proposed to build low-cost houses using hemp.  "The solution must be safe, fireproof, bio-friendly and it should trigger sustainable development and wealth creation from grassroots up. Cannabis Is a proven industrial ingredient and when used to make bricks it provides the best value for money, while meeting all requirements," said Du Plessis in a statement.  He said cannabis had a traditional history in Africa going back almost 5000 years.  Du Plessis said Saturday's march would be for an end to the prohibition of industrial cannabis use in housing and agriculture.  He said it was important to acknowledge and legitimise the cannabis farming already happening in the country's rural, impoverished areas.  
"We will ask our Minister of Housing to give this legitimate solution a chance."
  Du Plessis said dagga, a common name for cannabis, was banned in South Africa in 1909.  South Africa is one of the world's largest producers of dagga, with approximately 120,000 hectares a year cultivated, using local strains. 

 At Saturday's march a memorandum would be delivered to a representative from the Department of Housing, highlighting the use of cannabis in housing and agriculture, and everyone's right to secure ecologically sustainable development.  A five minute demonstration of "how to build a cannabrick" would follow.

- ANCDAILY NEWS BRIEFING

Rapid urbanisation 'a serious problem'

Rapid urbanisation is causing the demand for housing to grow faster than the government can deliver it, Minister of Housing Lindiwe Sisulu said on Friday.

"At this rate, we are not going to get very far. We have a serious problem," she told the annual conference of the Black Management Forum in Johannesburg.

Of South Africa's 2,4-million informal households, only 800,000 are on the government's waiting list, she said.

Africa's urban growth rate is currently 4%, twice as high as that of Latin America and Asia, and its speed has caught governments unaware.

"We have created 1,8-million houses in the last 10 years, but it hasn't taken us very far."

Referring to the recent eviction of slum dwellers in Zimbabwe, Sisulu said other African countries risk finding themselves in similar situations unless governments take action...

"We are putting together a housing code so that we can apply a uniform standard and are going to have a 'living-worthy certificate'."

She rejected the idea of turning dagga plants into bricks as a cheaper alternative to building materials.

"It's a very cooling method of building a house, but not what we advocate."

- M&G

Cannabrick building in Spain

M. Carmen Jiménez Delgado^{, a,} and Ignacio Cañas Guerrero^a,

^aDepartamento de Construcción y Vías Rurales, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Agrónomos, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid 28040, Spain

Received 23 July 2004;

revised 10 February 2005;

accepted 13 February 2005.

Available online 21 April 2005.

Abstract

This paper is a review of the state of use of the earth building in Spain nowadays. We present researching organisations, modern projects carried out or the existing manufacturers for compressed earth blocks. Besides, we offer an overview of the Spanish general building regulatory system to find that earth construction is not included in it, although there is a pair of non-regulatory guides that could act as national reference documents and whose provisions we examine. Although earth as a construction material is unknown for most people, a growing interest is noticed in two ways, for rescuing the heritage and as a rediscovered environmentally friendly building material. In these areas, we find the problems of how to carry out the conservation works of the great built heritage, usually adobe and rammed earth, as well as the lack of skilled people at all levels, from designer to masons, because it is a forgotten technique.

Keywords: Rammed earth; Adobe; Compressed earth blocks

Article Outline

1. Introduction

2. Earth construction organisations

3. General building and earth building normative in Spain

4. Current activities related to the earth building practice

4.1. Construction of buildings

4.1.1. Luis Salazar house

4.1.2. Houses in ecovillage Amayuelas

4.1.3. “La Tenada de Covachuelas”

4.1.4. Theatre of Balaguer

4.1.5. Domingo Chorpos house

4.1.6. “Pinariega” house in Navapalos

4.1.7. Steve Graham house in Valdemaluque

4.2. Earth product manufacturers

4.2.1. CANNABRICK blocks

4.2.2. BIOTERRE blocks

4.2.3. Adoberos

5. Summary

Acknowledgements

- ScienceDirect

Cannabrick Housing Renovations in South America

Yet, cannabrick may work too, considering it is also a sturdy and very easily grown cannabis plant and water mix. It is also fire and water proof, which is great considering there are only really two seasons in this portion of Brazil, which is a rainy season, and a very dry season...

...Also, in the extremely poor and populous areas, where apartment buildings would be built as well, wealthy real estate companies and housing management companies can easily afford these buildings still allowing to sell or rent them for tremendously economic prices. Providing homes and jobs for individuals is not only a great feeling of accomplishment and pride, but it also means more money to flow into your pocket over time. From getting raw resources for so cheap because of the general thriftiness of concrete and cannabis, that can hopefully someday spread all throughout South America, all the way possibly to Central and North America. If there is poverty, we have a way to reduce it, and therefore we will not stop building homes...

- Kyle Hardy arizona.edu

Hemcrete®: Carbon Negative Hemp Walls

Buildings account for thirty-eight percent of the CO2 emissions in the U.S., according to the U.S. Green Building Council, and demand for carbon neutral and/or zero footprint buildings is at an all-time high. Now there is a new building material that is not just carbon neutral, but is actually carbon negative. Developed by U.K.-based Lhoist Group, Tradical® Hemcrete® is a bio-composite, thermal walling material made from hemp, lime and water. What makes it carbon negative? There is more CO2 locked-up in the process of growing and harvesting of the hemp than is released in the production of the lime binder. Of course the equation is more complicated than that, but Hemcrete® is still an amazing new technology that could change the building industry.

- inhabitat - design will save the world

Residents threaten Somali refugees

Somalis relocated from the Bluewaters refugee camp near Strandfontein to Blikkiesdorp emergency camp in Delft, fear for their lives after being threatened with being burnt alive for allegedly jumping the housing queue.

This after residents demonstrated, and claimed the Somalis were taking their homes...

- Cape Times

Ngoku ke yakha indlu yakho - Fundisa abanye

Peacefully Demonstrated outside the Department of Housing May 7 2005

1. Plant a cannabis seed. Water and allow the plant to grow and produce seed. Plant and water these seeds. Your goal is to grow enough to build a house, you will need about 1 acre to build a 5 roomed home.
   
   Tyala imbewu ntsangu (ye-cannabis). Nkcenkceshela imbewu uze uyinike ithuba lokuba ikhule ide ikhuphe eyayo imbewu. Uyothi ke uyityale nalembewu uyinkcenkceshele njalo. Injongo yakho kukukhulisa izityalo ezothi zonele ekwakheni indlu, uyakudinga i-acre (malunga nentsimi) enye ukuze wakhe indlu enamagumbi amahlanu.
   
   Plant 'n hemp saad. Water en laat die plante om te groei en saad te produseer. Plant en water hierdie sade. Jou doel is om te groei genoeg is om 'n huis bou, jy sal ongeveer een aker benodig om' n 5-kamer huis te bou.
   
   
2. Consider the many relevant points presented in the guidelines of Build your house step-by-step.
   
   Qwalasela yonke imigaqo oyibekelweyo kwincwadana i-Build Your House Step By Step.
   
   Oorweeg die baie relevante punte in die riglyne van die bou van jou huis stap aangebied-vir-stap.
   
   
   
   
   


3. Start planning where your house will stand. Consider everything about the environment you’ll be building in, like winter and summer sunshine, wind and rain – you don’t want to build on a floodplain, or your house will wash away. Be sure to plan all your water and waste requirements.
   
   Ceba indawo ozokwakha kuyo indlu yakho. Qwalasela yonke into ngomhlaba lo uzokwakha kuwo indlu yakho, izinto ezinje ngemimoya, ilanga, neemvula zehlobo nobusika, akekho umntu ofuna ukwakha indlu yakhe emgxobhozweni okanye apho iyothi ibe lilifa lezikhukhula khona. Uqiniseke ukuba unamanzi akulungeleyo ukwenza oku.
   
   Begin met die beplanning, waar jou huis sal staan. Oorweeg dit alles oor die omgewing en jy sal gebou in, soos winter en somer son, wind en reën - jy nie wil bou op 'n vloedvlakte, of jou huis sal wegspoelen nie. Maak seker om te beplan al jou water en afval vereistes voldoen.
   
   
4. Cut the grown cannabis plants down and leave in the field to rhett for a week. The morning dew and natural rotting process will loosen the fibers from the plant.
   
   a. Process the plant matter by cutting leaves and branches off, then hit small bundles the length of the plant over and upturned rake.
   b. The long fiber parts that remain in your hand are good for weaving rugs and making various other items your skills can accomplish.
   c. The seed can be gathered for more housing.
   d. Gather the small woody bits (the hurd) that have fallen, this waste is what will be used in the construction material.
   
   Sika / sarha izityalo uzibeke egadini ixesha elingangeveki ukuze zibole. Umbethe wasekuseni nezinye izinto zendalo ezibolisayo ziya kuyikhulula I-fibre ezityalweni.
   
   a. Yikhawulezise ngohlukanisa intonga zezityalo namagqabi, uhlale uyiharika rhoqo.
   b. Intonga ezi zinothi zincede kwezinye izinto ezifana nokwenza ingubo nezinye izinto onothi uzibonele zona ngokolwazi lwakho.
   c. Imbewu inokuqokelelwe ukwakha ezinye izindlu.
   d. Qokelela imithana ethe yaziwela njengokuba uzoyisebenzisa xa usakha indlu yakho.
   
   Sny die gegroei hemp/cannabis plante af en in die veld verlaat om rhett vir 'n week. Die oggend-dou en die natuurlike verrotting proses sal die vesel van die plant los te maak.
   
   a. Proses van die plantmateriaal deur te sny blare en takke af, dan is getref klein bundels die lengte van die plant oor en omgekeerde hark.
   b. Die lang vesel dele wat in jou hand bly is goed vir die matte weef en die maak van verskeie ander items jou vaardighede kan bereik.
   c. Die saad kan vir meer behuising ingesamel word.
   d. Versamel die klein houtagtige bits (die hurd) wat gedaal het, die afval is wat sal in die konstruksie materiaal gebruik kan word.
   
   


5. Wash the hurd, dry it, then wash it again. Be careful not to allow the matter to rot or decay during this process, by turning, airing and allowing the African sun to dry the hurd properly. Now combine in proportions 10:2:3:3 combine the cannabis/ntsangu/dagga Hurd(10), washed river sand 0.5mm(2), hydraulic lime(3) and water(3) to make the mulch (This process may need tweaking depending on your geographic location, humidity, rainfall etc)
   
   Hlamba ingqokelela yakho, uyomise, uphinde uyihlambe.Ulumkele ukuba lengqokelela ibole kwelithuba, yiguquguqule, uyivumele ibethwe ngumoya uvumele nelanga lase Afrika liyomise lengqokelela. Dibanisa ngokwalo mgaqo 10:2:3:3, dibanisa ke lemvuno yakho yomgquba wentsangu (10) kunye nesanti yasemlanjeni 0.5mm(2), ikalika (3) kunye namanzi (3) ukwenza udaka (Nale into ke iyokuthi ixhomekeke kwindawo leyo ukuyo nemvula zakhona njalo-njalo).
   
   Was die kudde, droog dit af, dan was dit weer. Wees versigtig om nie toe te laat die aangeleentheid te verrot of verval gedurende hierdie proses, deur die draai, voorlê en laat die Afrika-son om droog die kudde goed. Nou kombineer in verhoudings 10:2:3:3 kombineer die cannabis / ntsangu / dagga Hurd (10), gewaste riviersand 0.5 mm (2), hidrouliese kalk (3) en water (3) aan die deklaag te maak (Hierdie proses kan tweaking nodig, afhangende van jou geografiese ligging, humiditeit, reën, ens)
   
   
6. Now build your house! Ngoku ke yakha indlu yakho! Nou bou jou huis!
   
   
7. Teach others. Fundisa abanye. Onderrig ander.
   
   

You can use this “dagga-cement” for making bricks, shutter casting or the proven “pole-and-dagga” method. This last method allows for a sturdy, warm, fireproof and water proof home – built with pride and intuitive engineering, not a ‘uniform box’.

Be sure to consider all aspects of your house design and structural requirements. Although the cannabis-cement will become stronger than steel in time, it is not advised to build over 2 floors high without considering structural implications. With planning this cement can be used to build up to 4 floors high.

The cannabis-cement will dry over a period of a month (depending on the weather). At this point you will be able to add the roof. Seal your home’s walls with lime; lime external walls annually. Decorate your house with masonry to make it unique, and paint with coloured lime as per custom.

Always PLANT A TREE in a place that will provide shade, to commemorate this accomplishment.

Council will plant trees if citizens care for them. Call (021) 689-8938 http://www.trees.org.za/

Assist your family, friends or neighbors with your experience and expertise. Share information and technique; you can uplift yourself and your community.

Hemp Building

Technichanvre

Cannabis homes for the UK

Hemp, a plant from the cannabis family, could be used to build carbon-neutral homes of the future to help combat climate change and boost the rural economy, say researchers at the University of Bath.

A consortium, led by the BRE Centre for Innovative Construction Materials based at the University, has embarked on a unique housing project to develop the use of hemp-lime construction materials in the UK.

Hemp-lime is a lightweight composite building material made of fibres from the fast growing plant, bound together using a lime-based adhesive. The hemp plant stores carbon during its growth and this, combined with the low carbon footprint of lime and its very efficient insulating properties, gives the material a ‘better than zero carbon’ footprint.

Professor Pete Walker, Director of the BRE Centre for Innovative Construction Materials, explained: “We will be looking at the feasibility of using hemp-lime in place of traditional materials, so that they can be used widely in the building industry.

“We will be measuring the properties of lime-hemp materials, such as their strength and durability, as well as the energy efficiency of buildings made of these materials.

“Using renewable crops to make building materials makes real sense - it only takes an area the size of a rugby pitch four months to grow enough hemp to build a typical three bedroom house.

“Growing crops such as hemp can also provide economic and social benefits to rural economies through new agricultural markets for farmers and associated industries.”

The three year project, worth almost £750,000, will collect vital scientific and engineering data about this new material so that it can be more widely used in the UK for building homes.

The project brings together a team of nine partners, comprising BRE Ltd, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studio architects, Hanson Cement, Hemcore, Lhoist UK, Lime Technology, National Non-Food Crops Centre, University of Bath and Wates Living Space. As part of the project the University of Bath received a research grant of £391,000 from the Renewable Materials LINK programme run by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA). - Allvoices.com

How to build your own Cannabrick Home

Hemp Houses for Australia

One of the people excited about NSW’s newly legal industrial hemp crops is researcher Klara Marosszeky. She has been developing a commercial viable hemp building material, and will now be able to source her raw materials locally rather than trucking them all the way across the country.

A project of Klara’s has been hemp concrete. Mixing hemp hurds (the pithy core of the stem) with a lime-based binder, plus water and a little sand, sets off a chemical reaction akin to petrification. The fibre becomes a mineral and sets like cement and can be moulded into robust building blocks. These are fire-retardant, pest proof and light, while still having the ability to ‘breath’- allowing the passage of moisture vapour.

This is, strictly speaking, not new technology. Three years ago we mentioned that Ireland was revising the process. (They even wrote book on it: Building With Hemp.) The Irish were, in turn, picking up on work that had been done in France, where many stone-like buildings, including century old bridges, have used this remarkable material. And some time ago we noted a British brewer who had used hemcrete, as some call it, to construct their massive distribution centre. And just this month, American Lime Technology (AMT) announced they were now the exclusive North American distributor of Hemcrete construction materials.

But back to Klara Marosszeky, who has been pursuing her Australian variant of the process with the University of New South Wales since 2003. "We've developed the material for blocks, sprayed walls, panels and in-fill.” She said, adding “You can grow enough hemp for a house on one hectare in four months.” Part of her research has been in making the product 'commercially competitive', "because I realised there was no point in having a sustainable product that cost an awful lot to build with."

And at the end of the building’s life she suggests you can fertilse your garden with the refuse or break the material down and reconstitute it into a new wall. Via ::Echo News and ABC

Hemp has been developed for many other construction applications, including insulation, wood oil, and building bales.

- Tree Hugger

Cannabric

N2 Gateway Project: Housing Rights Violations as 'Development' in South Africa

The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) today released a report on housing rights violations in the context of the N2 Gateway development project in South Africa. The report is based on research conducted by COHRE during a fact finding mission to South Africa in 2008 and its amicus curiae (‘friend of the court’) submission to the South African Constitutional Court in the recently decided "Joe Slovo" case (Residents of Joe Slovo Community, Western Cape v Thubelisha Homes & Others, CCT 22/08[2009] ZACC 16).

The N2 Gateway project has been mired in controversy and complications. Various concerns raised both by the people of Joe Slovo and Delft in the context of the project epitomise South Africa’s housing crisis which is marked by a huge housing backlog and lack of transparency with regard to the housing waiting lists, compounded by a continuing top down approach to housing delivery. Engagement and consultation with communities is increasingly viewed as a formality that needs to be completed while implementing the project rather than a necessary prerequisite for ensuring that the project truly caters to the needs of the community in question and is respectful of their human rights.

The report - N2 Gateway Project: Housing Rights Violations as ‘Development’ in South Africa - can be Downloaded here

How to build your own carbon negative Cannabrick Home

Peacefully Demonstrated outside the Department of Housing May 7 2005

1. Plant a cannabis seed. Water and allow the plant to grow and produce seed. Plant and water these seeds. Your goal is to grow enough to build a house, you will need about 1 acre to build a 5 roomed home.
   
   Tyala imbewu ntsangu (ye-cannabis). Nkcenkceshela imbewu uze uyinike ithuba lokuba ikhule ide ikhuphe eyayo imbewu. Uyothi ke uyityale nalembewu uyinkcenkceshele njalo. Injongo yakho kukukhulisa izityalo ezothi zonele ekwakheni indlu, uyakudinga i-acre (malunga nentsimi) enye ukuze wakhe indlu enamagumbi amahlanu.
   
   Plant 'n hemp saad. Water en laat die plante om te groei en saad te produseer. Plant en water hierdie sade. Jou doel is om te groei genoeg is om 'n huis bou, jy sal ongeveer een aker benodig om' n 5-kamer huis te bou.
   
   
   
2. Consider the many relevant points presented in the guidelines of Build your house step-by-step.
   
   Qwalasela yonke imigaqo oyibekelweyo kwincwadana i-Build Your House Step By Step.
   
   Oorweeg die baie relevante punte in die riglyne van die bou van jou huis stap aangebied-vir-stap.
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Start planning where your house will stand. Consider everything about the environment you’ll be building in, like winter and summer sunshine, wind and rain – you don’t want to build on a floodplain, or your house will wash away. Be sure to plan all your water and waste requirements.
   
   Ceba indawo ozokwakha kuyo indlu yakho. Qwalasela yonke into ngomhlaba lo uzokwakha kuwo indlu yakho, izinto ezinje ngemimoya, ilanga, neemvula zehlobo nobusika, akekho umntu ofuna ukwakha indlu yakhe emgxobhozweni okanye apho iyothi ibe lilifa lezikhukhula khona. Uqiniseke ukuba unamanzi akulungeleyo ukwenza oku.
   
   Begin met die beplanning, waar jou huis sal staan. Oorweeg dit alles oor die omgewing en jy sal gebou in, soos winter en somer son, wind en reën - jy nie wil bou op 'n vloedvlakte, of jou huis sal wegspoelen nie. Maak seker om te beplan al jou water en afval vereistes voldoen.
   
   


4. Cut the grown cannabis plants down and leave in the field to rhett for a week. The morning dew and natural rotting process will loosen the fibers from the plant.
   
   a. Process the plant matter by cutting leaves and branches off, then hit small bundles the length of the plant over and upturned rake.
   b. The long fiber parts that remain in your hand are good for weaving rugs and making various other items your skills can accomplish.
   c. The seed can be gathered for more housing.
   d. Gather the small woody bits (the hurd) that have fallen, this waste is what will be used in the construction material.
   
   Sika / sarha izityalo uzibeke egadini ixesha elingangeveki ukuze zibole. Umbethe wasekuseni nezinye izinto zendalo ezibolisayo ziya kuyikhulula I-fibre ezityalweni.
   
   a. Yikhawulezise ngohlukanisa intonga zezityalo namagqabi, uhlale uyiharika rhoqo.
   b. Intonga ezi zinothi zincede kwezinye izinto ezifana nokwenza ingubo nezinye izinto onothi uzibonele zona ngokolwazi lwakho.
   c. Imbewu inokuqokelelwe ukwakha ezinye izindlu.
   d. Qokelela imithana ethe yaziwela njengokuba uzoyisebenzisa xa usakha indlu yakho.
   
   Sny die gegroei hemp/cannabis plante af en in die veld verlaat om rhett vir 'n week. Die oggend-dou en die natuurlike verrotting proses sal die vesel van die plant los te maak.
   
   a. Proses van die plantmateriaal deur te sny blare en takke af, dan is getref klein bundels die lengte van die plant oor en omgekeerde hark.
   b. Die lang vesel dele wat in jou hand bly is goed vir die matte weef en die maak van verskeie ander items jou vaardighede kan bereik.
   c. Die saad kan vir meer behuising ingesamel word.
   d. Versamel die klein houtagtige bits (die hurd) wat gedaal het, die afval is wat sal in die konstruksie materiaal gebruik kan word.
   
   


5. Wash the hurd, dry it, then wash it again. Be careful not to allow the matter to rot or decay during this process, by turning, airing and allowing the African sun to dry the hurd properly. Now combine in proportions 10:2:3:3 combine the cannabis/ntsangu/dagga Hurd(10), washed river sand 0.5mm(2), hydraulic lime(3) and water(3) to make the mulch (This process may need tweaking depending on your geographic location, humidity, rainfall etc)
   
   Hlamba ingqokelela yakho, uyomise, uphinde uyihlambe.Ulumkele ukuba lengqokelela ibole kwelithuba, yiguquguqule, uyivumele ibethwe ngumoya uvumele nelanga lase Afrika liyomise lengqokelela. Dibanisa ngokwalo mgaqo 10:2:3:3, dibanisa ke lemvuno yakho yomgquba wentsangu (10) kunye nesanti yasemlanjeni 0.5mm(2), ikalika (3) kunye namanzi (3) ukwenza udaka (Nale into ke iyokuthi ixhomekeke kwindawo leyo ukuyo nemvula zakhona njalo-njalo).
   
   Was die kudde, droog dit af, dan was dit weer. Wees versigtig om nie toe te laat die aangeleentheid te verrot of verval gedurende hierdie proses, deur die draai, voorlê en laat die Afrika-son om droog die kudde goed. Nou kombineer in verhoudings 10:2:3:3 kombineer die cannabis / ntsangu / dagga Hurd (10), gewaste riviersand 0.5 mm (2), hidrouliese kalk (3) en water (3) aan die deklaag te maak (Hierdie proses kan tweaking nodig, afhangende van jou geografiese ligging, humiditeit, reën, ens)
   
   


6. Now build your house! Ngoku ke yakha indlu yakho! Nou bou jou huis!
   
   


7. Teach others. Fundisa abanye. Onderrig ander.
   
   
   
   

You can use this “dagga-cement” for making bricks, shutter casting or the proven “pole-and-dagga” method. This last method allows for a sturdy, warm, fireproof and water proof home – built with pride and intuitive engineering, not a ‘uniform box’.

Be sure to consider all aspects of your house design and structural requirements. Although the cannabis-cement will become stronger than steel in time, it is not advised to build over 2 floors high without considering structural implications. With planning this cement can be used to build up to 4 floors high.

The cannabis-cement will dry over a period of a month (depending on the weather). At this point you will be able to add the roof. Seal your home’s walls with lime; lime external walls annually. Decorate your house with masonry to make it unique, and paint with coloured lime as per custom.

Always PLANT A TREE in a place that will provide shade, to commemorate this accomplishment.

Council will plant trees if citizens care for them. Call (021) 689-8938 http://www.trees.org.za/

Assist your family, friends or neighbors with your experience and expertise. Share information and technique; you can uplift yourself and your community.

Legal rows stall Cape housing progress

The battle over the transfer of more than 1000ha of prime Western Cape land to the Housing Development Agency is delaying a range of housing projects, including restitution in Constantia, Western Cape Premier Helen Zille complained this week.

“There was an unlawful land transfer. We simply want to get the land restored. This is a matter of right and wrong, not political squabbling,” said Zille.

She said the former ANC provincial government had illegally transferred the land, worth about R500-million, the day before the April elections.

The Mail & Guardian has revealed how the provincial government is refusing to hand over the title deeds, as lawyers it has consulted believe the transaction is “invalid and unenforceable”.

Minister of Human Settlements Tokyo Sexwale has now asked law firm Edward Nathan Sonnenberg (ENS) to consider the disposal agreements. The legal team includes Chevan Daniels, the son of the chief state law adviser, Enver Daniels.

Chevan Daniels said he saw no conflict of interest: “At the time of our appointment, the director general of the department was aware that Enver Daniels was my father. The team acting for the department … included two other directors of ENS and … my views and advice were subject to rigorous peer review by fellow directors.”

Enver Daniels told the M&G he was not aware his son was part of the team advising Sexwale’s department and he had given no official advice on the transfer.

Prime properties in Constantia promised to the regional land claims commissioner, Beverley Jansen, for the resettlement of about 80 claimant families are included in the land transferred to the Housing Development Agency, set up to fast-track housing delivery.

Zille said Sexwale had cancelled a meeting this week, despite the urgency of the matter. She warned: “If we can’t have a meeting soon we will proceed with the intergovernmental relations process to achieve an outcome by other means.” - M&G

WC affordable project launched

Watergate Estate, the Western Cape's first privately-funded, affordable housing development, was launched in Mitchells Plain, with Western Cape premier Helen Zille and Cape Town mayor Dan Plato attending to endorse the project officially.

The R1,2bn project, to be developed by New Age Property Developments, will enable families with a joint monthly income of between R7,500 and R15k to own a home for the first time. The prices of properties on the estate will range from R329,900 to R409,900, and some major banks have committed to giving eligible buyers bonds of 100%, payable over 20 years.

The project, which will accommodate some 4,500 families, is in line with the government's Urban Renewal Programme (URP), a national strategy to uplift the most deprived areas, Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha in the Western Cape being among them. The URP focuses on investment in economic and social infrastructure, human resource development and enterprise development.

At the ceremonial ribbon-cutting ceremony, Zille was reported to have said that Cape Town's housing backlog would be dramatically reduced by projects such as Watergate Estate. A significant proportion of people on the City's waiting list would be able to buy the homes in the development "and have self-respect and an affordable bond, and become part of the middle class of South Africa, raising their children and building everybody's future".

The mixed-use project, dubbed the "Gateway to Mitchells Plain", will occupy a 35ha site at the intersection of AZ Berman Drive and the R300 motorway, and is located opposite the Mitchells Plain General Hospital, which is nearing completion.

Watergate Estate will be developed in three phases over a five-year period, with 357 homes to be constructed in the first phase, followed by a further 2,400 homes in the second phase, which will also include a shopping mall, soccer field, and public facilities such as a multi-purpose community hall, park and undercover walkway leading to the newly upgraded Mandalay station. In addition, provision will be made for daycare facilities and places of worship.

The third phase, which is currently being planned, will comprise more upmarket homes, with a starting price of around R400k, according to Colleen Webb-Burgess of Webcol Properties, the marketing agent for the development.

The houses to be built in Phase 1 will comprise two- and three-bedroomed freestanding and semi-detached homes, ranging in size from 48sqm to 62sqm. In Phase 2, lock-up-and-go apartments, housed in three-storey high, walk-up blocks, will also be available.

It is anticipated that the installation of services on the site will begin next month, and building of the first houses will start around November 2009. The estimated construction cost for the whole of Phase 1 is about R99m, according to Webb-Burgess.

She says the response from potential buyers to the launch of the project has been phenomenal. "The homes are being offered on a first-come, first-served basis, but, as we are conscious of the lack of housing in the entire community, we will make every effort to meet housing needs. The details of all qualified buyers who can't be accommodated in Phase 1 will be kept on our records until the Phase 2 homes become available."

For more information contact Colleen Webb-Burgess on 021 761 0496 or send an email.

- Propterty24

Sexwale to act on N2 Gateway

Cape Town - Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale vowed on Thursday to act after Parliament's watchdog public accounts committee found officials had left houses in the N2 Gateway project in disrepair and lied about it.

Sexwale's advisor Chris Vick said the minister was awaiting a formal report from the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa), "including its recommendations and comments on information provided by departmental officials - and will then act without any equivocation".

Vick recalled that Sexwale visited the project last month and expressed concern about the poor craftsmanship and living conditions in many of the housing units.

Scopa chairperson Themba Godi, who also visited the project in August, returned with committee members on Wednesday and found that defects pointed out by the Auditor-General in a report had not been repaired.

Officials lied

He said human settlements officials who recently told Scopa the problems had been resolved, had lied to the committee.

"What we have been told by the officials during the meeting has not happened, the committee has been misinformed," Godi said.

"Members of the committee were outraged at officials who gave an inaccurate report."

The defects identified by the Auditor-General included cracks in the walls and floors, peeling paint, doors not fitted properly, loose fittings and uncovered drain pipes and blocked drains.

Scopa is finalising a report on the N2 Gateway Project with recommendations and will submit it to the Speaker of the National Assembly.

- SAPA

N2 officials misled Parliament

National housing officials have "deliberately misled" Parliament about repair work being done at the N2 Gateway.

A parliamentary site visit to the flagship housing project yesterday revealed walls covered in damp, exposed pipes and electrical cables, blocked drains and collapsed walls.

"We are being misled at the expense of the poor," said chairman of Parliament's standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) Themba Godi.

The parliamentary delegation, that included representatives of the Scopa and Human Settlements portfolio committee, was shocked by the appalling conditions of many of the units which have not been repaired despite assurances from director-general of Housing Itumeleng Kotsoane during a recent Scopa briefing that these problems had been resolved.

"Unfortunately, once again this committee has been misled. We, as a committee, are very concerned and outraged that the officials have deliberately given us misinformation."

Godi said he would complain to the office of the Speaker of the National Assembly about the misinformation presented by housing officials to Scopa.

Scopa will also make recommendations to Parliament about the N2 Gateway's problems.

Godi said Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale, who visited the N2 Gateway in August, was "eagerly awaiting" the recommendations.

"This was a flagship project and we need to appreciate the lessons we have learnt."

Godi said Scopa's report would be referred to Parliament for the concerns raised to be dealt with at the highest level.

The Department of Human Settlements said it was "at great pains" to ensure the defects identified were dealt with.

"There has never been any intention to mislead Scopa. This is a complex project involving all three spheres of government and we remain totally committed to ensuring its success in partnership with all stakeholders," said a departmental statement.

- Cape times

The real lessons from the N2 Gateway

The next posting in this blog is a load of utter rubbish spewed by Director General of the Ministry of Housing/Human Settlements Itumeleng Kotsoane setting out the lessons learned from the N2 Gateway pilot project/showcase/disaster. The REAL LESSONS to be learnt from the N2 Gateway are as follows:

Lesson 0: Motive. Why build the N2 Gateway where it is? Not the "housing for all" excuse. The reason the N2 was built where it is, is to hide the "unsightly" informal settlements from arriving eyes. The idea was to build all along the N2 corridor so that the suffering of the people was out of sight. Out of sight out of mind! Rubbish motive... rubbish project...

Lesson 1: Site evaluation Before doing any real work on a project a proper investigation should be done into the site. This does not have to take long, but it should be long enough to spot the fact that the planned work is in a flood plain. Dig a hole and see what is under there!

Lesson 2: Planning No spade should be lifted until the ENTIRE project is planned. Include some lebensraum while you are at it. The N2 Gateway is shit! The communal areas are terrible. It's all dingy in there and it's obvious no one thought about where the water must go when it rains.

Lesson 3: Budget A complete AND REALISTIC budget must be drawn up before work starts. Not only does the budget have to be drawn up, but the best price for each item which is needed should be costed and CONFIRMED. No point rocking up at the supplier 6 months later to find that prices have doubled.

Lesson 4: Execution Construction companies for construction, IT companies for IT jobs. Having an IT company which "did not submit a substantial document; but one that merely comprised a 20 page generic submission" doing the project management for this size construction is a recipe for disaster. True to the recipe.. disaster! Would a construction company order only 3 patterns of keys for the whole development? I think not!

Lesson 5: Decision making - "M3" - the cabal of 3 who were/are responsible for the mess. Lindiwe Sisulu, Dick Diyanti and Nomainda Mfeketo. "Somebody needs to go to prison" There are three nomineess. Take your pick.

Lesson 6: Thubelisha The idea that an outside agency can be created to come in and "fix everything" is mistaken. What is Thubelisha? Who does it answer to? Where are the accounts of Thubelisha? Thubelisha came to the N2 Gateway with no presence in Cape Town and has not managed to collect the rental for the development. Next stop the Housing Development Agency!

Lesson 7: Why is the problem getting worse? For Cape Town the answer lies in the Eastern Cape. The failed housing projects there and the lack of economic activity... ie the failure of Coega