'State control of housing delivery has been disastrous'

The news that the State's Special Investigatory Unit has arrested nearly 2,000 government officials, most employed in housing delivery, on charges of fraud, corroborates a statement made by himself earlier this year, says Paul Henry, MD of Rawson Developers.

In that statement Henry said that the tender process for low cost housing needs to be changed and the actual work done placed largely back in the hands of private enterprise - with strict controls from an independent body.

Media reports have indicated that initially 7,353 government officials were identified by the Auditor-General for suspected fraud, 930 were arrested and 781 found guilty. R21,7 million was then recovered.

Subsequently the SIU identified another 25,659 civil servants as suspects on subsidy fraud, of whom 634 were arrested and 385 found guilty. This time R15,4 million was recovered.

A further 6,974 municipal council officials were also investigated and 151 eventually found guilty of fraud. 76 cases here are still awaiting trial.

Forty independent contractors involved in housing have been "restricted" from working with the Department again and ±20 await further investigation which could lead to prosecution.

SIU chief, Willie Hofmeyr, has been quoted as saying that with the connivance of officials, the Department was "taken for a ride" on contracts which had an average value of R100 million each.

"It is ironical," said Henry, "that the main reason given some years back for putting State and municipal officials in charge of housing was that it would eliminate corruption. We have to congratulate Minister Sexwale on his firm anti-corruption actions but it is now clear that what happened under the previous system pales into insignificance with what has been going on since the State was given full control."

(from IOL)

Radical plans to change the face of housing delivery

With a housing backlog of over two million and more than 12 million people in dire need of houses, government is embarking on radical changes that could turn the tide of housing delivery in the country, reports Chris Bathembu.

According to data from the Department of Human Settlements, some 2.7 million houses have been built in South Africa over the last 14 years. Officials acknowledge that the post 1994 South Africa marked the beginning of an unprecedented demand for houses as more people moved to urban areas in search of new economic opportunities that were being created by the new democratic order.

The demand became so high that the then Department of Housing was forced to look outside itself for solutions to meet its deadline for delivery when it announced the establishment of a Housing Development Agency last year.

Since its inception, the agency has facilitated the acquisition of land for housing developments across the country, allowing for more than 240 000 new houses to be handed over to new owners between 2008 and 2009. Spending on housing delivery had also increased from R4.8 billion in 2004/05 to R10.9 billion in the last financial year, increasing at an average rate of 23 percent. Authorities, however, admit that there have been challenges.

"It's a challenge and its going to take us time, but we will get there, it's going to take one step at a time," says Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale. He is adamant the new national housing policy could turn the tide in the delivery of houses, an issue that has become central to service delivery protests throughout the country.

One of the strategies listed in the policy, the People's Housing Process (PHP), will see the establishment of a new funding mechanism that will allow for more community-driven projects in the delivery of what is now being termed "human settlements". Government has also realised that the concept of just building houses without proper monitoring and maintenance has resulted in unscrupulous contractors costing the state more than R1 billion to rebuild badly constructed houses.

Sexwale says the growing demand for shelter and the mushrooming of informal settlements in most urban areas has necessitated a new approach to the housing challenge, one which will minimise corruption in the delivery of adequate houses.

"We don't just build houses anymore, that thing is not working, we are building human settlements...people must have clinics, police stations and the places where children can play and we are involving communities in that," he said during the launch of the first PHP-model housing development in Plettenberg Bay recently.

The model has also been introduced in Gauteng where 907 units were handed over to residents of DoornKop, Soweto two weeks ago. Once completed, it is expected to create more than 24,000 housing opportunities for people who qualify for subsidised housing and those who earn between R3500 and R7500 monthly. The development also forms part of the southern extension of the township.

The PHP policy further proposes an alignment of the existing housing delivery programmes but with a focus on partnerships amongst non-governmental organisations and community groupings. The process involves beneficiaries actively participating in decision making over the housing process and housing product.

"Beneficiaries are empowered individually and collectively so that the community ultimately takes control of the housing process themselves. This includes identifying the land, planning the settlement, getting approvals and resources to begin the development," says the policy. The basic entry requirement for the programme is that individuals need to be part of an already organised community group or must have indicated they want to participate in a community driven housing project.

Richard Dyantyi, special advisor to Sexwale, says plans are underway to introduce a voucher system from which organised communities would be given vouchers to access building material and short courses to enable them to start their own housing projects.

"These are the proposals that we need to debate and take to the people because a lot is involved with human settlement, you need parks, you need clinics....... so it's very important that we empower these communities so they can deliver human settlements that will be sustainable."

But the PHP has not been without challenges. One of the concerns raised during a conference to debate the policy had been the amount of time it takes for municipalities to release land for PHP projects, something believed to be causing delays for some community projects.

The PHP's policy framework and guidelines were at one stage also met with much resistance from some quarters as "they were too narrow in their focus" and apparently did not redefine the policy in a way that community-driven initiatives could be included. The department had, however since agreed to review the guidelines. Provinces are required to manage their demand databases "more effectively" to prevent confusion on waiting lists that has led to conflicts in many parts of the country.

"PHP encourages government supporting those communities who want to work with government to build human settlements in terms of a demand led approach ...this must be viewed and managed constructively so that is not seen as a means of queue jumping," reads the policy.

Dyantyi says if implemented correctly, the policy could benefit millions of people in need of houses and could be the answer to the country's housing delivery challenges. "What we are saying therefore, everyone needs to own this and it must be left squarely in the hands of government," he added.

- BuaNews

moladi school - if it's good for your kids it's good for you!

Greetings from Cape Town

An update as to where we were on Tuesday - Day 2 at the Hillwood Primary School in Grassy Park

moladi formwork being removed with the cast reinforced walls showing - built employing local unskilled labour

State home builders who do shoddy work to be banned

Western Cape Human Settlement MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela on Thursday said his department has compiled a list of all contractors who have built sub-standard state funded homes.

Madikizela and his officials conducted impromptu inspections at several developments in Khayelitsha, Mfuleni and Wallacedene last week.

The MEC said too many units were below the required standard.

He added, “We have identified the people who are not delivering good quality and we are going to deal with them because at the end of the day we are going to ... make sure we ban them.”

- Eyewitness News

Sexwale launches housing regulator

The government's efforts to deliver low-cost housing to low-income earners was given a boost with the establishment of a new housing regulator in Cape Town.

The Social Housing Regulatory Authority was established to define new standards in low-cost rental projects, the human settlements department said in a statement.

"There is an increasing demand for rental stock in urban areas, particularly on well-located land close to where people work," the department quoted Minister Tokyo Sexwale as saying at the authority's launch.

The body would be responsible for supporting and stimulating social housing projects, primarily multi-storey blocks of flats for low-income earners.

It would also be responsible for finding money to fund new developments and starting new developments in urban areas.

Chairman of the Social Housing Company Zora Ebrahim was appointed chairman of the new body. Gratitude Booysen from the SA Local Government Association was appointed deputy chairman.

Nontutuzelo Nogaga, Seeng Ntsaba-Letele, Maputhi Lamola, Collen Weapond, Shanaaz Majiet, Ahmedi Vawda and Sharon Trail were appointed as office bearers.

- Times Live

'Hemp house' built in North Carolina

(NECN) - Usually houses full of marijuana plants are getting busted -- not being hailed for their energy efficiency.

But in North Carolina, that is the case for a house that was built out of hemp.

It's reportedly the first ever "hemp house" permitted to be built in the U.S. The owners say last month's cooling bill for the 3400 square foot home was only about $100.

That's because of the thermal capabilities of hemp. The couple also says it only cost $133 per square foot to build the house, using industrial 'hempcrete.'

They say they wanted to use recyclable materials that are healthy and better for the environment.

Western Cape announces R1.8 billion for informal settlement upgrading

Informal settlements are going to be upgraded to the tune of R1.8 billion, receiving water, sanitation, electricity and refuse removal during this financial year - and other provinces have been challenged to follow the Western Cape's example.

The provincial government aims to provide services to 18,000 individual sites across the province during this financial year.

And over the next five years, the province aims to increase services to 31,000 sites.

Premier Helen Zille and Human Settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela announced the plan at a media briefing yesterday.

The department also intends building about 15,000 houses this year to try to eat into the backlog of nearly 500,000 houses.

An estimated 18,000 families migrate to the province, particularly Cape Town, from the rest of South Africa each year.

Constraints to building houses were funds and the availability of well-located land, said Madikizela.

The plan is to focus on "in situ" upgrading at informal settlements; temporary relocation areas and emergency housing programmes; and the provision of services at new sites.

Madikizela said that because the province would constantly be "chasing a moving target", it had decided to "place more emphasis on servicing sites".

"We have a lot of people with no services. We are now upgrading where they are."

The provision of basic services would include building roads, allocating numbers to homes and the provision of sanitation.

It has been estimated that more than 500,000 people in Cape Town do not have access to sanitation.

Zille said there was no way to "extend Cape Town's footprint".

"We would have to increase the city by 50 percent to accommodate people? we have to find ways of densifying and moving up. There is no other way," she said.

Zille's chief advisor, Ryan Coetzee, said their approach was based on "managing urbanisation".

This could lead to further challenges, he said.

"The more successful we are, the more attractive it will be for people to come here, which is not a bad thing. But we will have to try to manage that, when people do arrive."

Zille said: "Those who think that a faster rate of delivery of houses will result in fewer shacks are wrong."

Zille said other provinces, too, needed to "lift their game".

Madikizela's chief of staff, Anthony Hazell, said service sites referred to plots, and the upgrading was related to infrastructure installed on those plots.

At yesterday's briefing, officials also spoke on the challenges around housing allocation.

In one report commissioned by the Human Settlement department, it emerged that 90% of the beneficiaries of state-funded housing were letting their houses to others.

Zille said there were also cases where people had received houses in other provinces then moved to Cape Town to work here, making their homes in informal settlements.

Madikizela admitted there were challenges with the housing waiting list. But, he said, a private agency was helping the department to assess the credibility of the lists.

- Cape Argus

Radar report picks out worst disasters

Twelve "significant" disaster events between March 2003 and November 2008 have cost the province more than R2.6-billion in damage, and affected tens of thousands of people.

Most of these were caused by severe weather, but they also included the xenophobic attacks of May 2008.

This is according to the findings of a new study that is a collaborative work by UCT researchers for the provincial Department of Local Government's disaster management centre.

The worst disaster in terms of monetary cost was the severe weather event of November 2007, when a cut-off low swept through the Cape Winelands, Overberg, Central Karoo and Eden municipal districts, causing direct damage of R830.9-million (adjusted for inflation to 2005 values).

There were two deaths, and more than 300 people were evacuated or provided with relief during this event.

But the worst in terms of human cost was the xenophobia, or "social violence", that broke out in May 2008 in the City of Cape Town and Eden district municipalities, where between 20,000 and 22,000 people were displaced.

According to the researchers, the attacks caused between two and four deaths, and cost about R200m.

Also of major human cost was the severe weather event of August 2004, when two large cold fronts, preceded by gale-force winds and a severe rain storm, swept through Cape Town, adversely affecting about 20 000 residents of informal settlements.

The March 2003 disaster caused by a cut-off low pressure weather system resulted in three deaths in Hermanus and Knysna.

The second biggest disaster in terms of direct damage was the R791m cost caused by a cut-off low in November 2008 that inundated parts of the Overberg, Cape Winelands and Eden districts.

These figures are found in the "Radar" 2010 report (Radar is an acronym for Risk and Development Annual Review) that was released yesterday by Local Government MEC Anton Bredell, to coincide with the annual disaster risk seminar at UWC.

The report was developed for Bredell's department by the Disaster Mitigation for Sustainable Livelihoods Programme at UCT, where 35 researchers and post-graduate students also collaborated with the national Department of Co-operative Governance, the National Disaster Management Centre and the Cape Higher Education Consortium, among others.

Two major disasters in the province - the 1981 Laingsburg floods, which claimed more than 100 lives, and the "Manenberg tornado", which left 5,000 people homeless - fell outside the review period.

Bredell said the report was the first of its kind to detail disaster events and critical risk-reduction issues in the province, and that it provided insight into the complexity of managing risks.

"I'm hoping this publication will emphasise the importance of investing in the proactive side of disaster management, like research |and awareness campaigns," he said.

Some of the key lessons of the report included shedding light on economic losses incurred.

These losses provided an incentive for proactive risk reduction, which could reduce future financial losses.

It was also necessary to adopt a proactive approach to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

"This is an excellent example of pioneering work, and sets the trend for enhancing all aspects of disaster risk reduction initiatives in South Africa," Bredell said.

"This initiative foresees a phased collaborative process from 2009 to 2012 that progressively engages the province's higher education institutions in disaster risk reduction."

This first edition of the Radar report focused on the province's changing risk profile, with emphasis on severe weather events and their consequences, and linked it to climate change.

- Cape Argus

Protests put a stop to housing

ABOUT 150 backyard dwellers from Khayelitsha in Cape Town have brought construction of new houses in the area to a complete standstill.

The group wants 50 percent of the houses to be allocated to them.

Silulani Mzimkhulu said they were dissatisfied because backyard dwellers from other townships were prioritised ahead of them.

"We were promised 50-50. But none of that is happening. They are building 100 houses for the people of Gugulethu.

"That's not fair," he said.

Another Mandela Park backyard dweller, Luvo Vanyaza said their ward councillor, Ryder Mkutswana of the ANC, had not lived up to his promise to set up a meeting with MEC for housing Bonginkosi Madikizela.

"For the past two weeks, Mkutswana has been promising us that we will meet the MEC. The construction must stop until we meet the MEC. We will continue protesting until we strike a 50percent deal with Madikizela. We want him to come and address us," Vanyaza said.

But Mkutswana told Sowetan he had arranged a meeting with the MEC.

"Only the MEC can give them what they want. As a councillor I don't have the power to give them houses. The MEC agreed to meet them this week," he said.

A memorandum handed over at the construction site last week demanded that 50percent of housing in Mandela Park should be allocated to the 3000 backyard dwellers and other vulnerable residents.

The protestors also want Madikizela to negotiate with residents of Mandela Park and to allocate either RDP houses or government-subsidised homes to backyard dwellers.

"Just because some of us have jobs and don't qualify for RDP housing does not mean we can afford to pay bonds in Mandela Park. All poor residents of Mandela Park deserve public housing.

"We will stop at nothing to make sure that we become the centre of development in Mandela Park.

"The longer the MEC ignores us, the more means we will use to get what we deserve," read the memorandum.

Provincial housing spokesperson Zalisile Mbali said they have identified three other sites for the backyard dwellers.

- Sowetan

Cape council probes decision on open toilets

The city of Cape Town is to launch an investigation to find out which official was responsible for agreeing to building toilets without enclosures in Makhaza, with one councillor calling for disciplinary steps to be taken against the official.

City manager Achmat Ebrahim has ordered his officials to investigate after receiving a complaint from mayoral committee member for social development Grant Pascoe.

Pascoe wrote that the decision not to enclose the toilets and to leave it to the residents was unlawful.

"As you're aware, during 2007 a decision was taken to build toilets without enclosures in Makhaza section of Khayelitsha. According to information at hand, this was done in consultation with the community who allegedly agreed to build their own enclosures in exchange for a greater number of toilets than would otherwise have been built by the City of Cape Town," Pascoe said.

However, a number of residents reneged on the agreement and failed to build enclosures, Pascoe wrote.

"In January this year, the perceived failure by the city to build the enclosures was widely reported in the media, and is reportedly being investigated by the SAHRC (South African Human Rights Commission).

"It has come to my attention that the city's decision to build toilets without proper enclosures was unlawful," Pascoe said.

He quoted Section 9, of the Water Services Act, which states that "the minimum standard for basic sanitation services is a toilet which is safe, reliable, environmentally sound, easy to keep clean, provides privacy and protection against the weather".

"These actions have prejudiced the administration and are tantamount to negligence. It has brought the city into disrepute. I therefore request that an investigation into the decision and circumstances surrounding this decision be launched, followed by consequential disciplinary action."

- Cape Times

Zille unveils radical plan for housing

In a radical departure from present models of housing delivery, the Western Cape government is to move families on to serviced sites instead of into completed homes.

The province is grappling with a housing backlog approaching 500,000 units, which officials say will take up to 30 years to eradicate.

The provincial government has budgeted for the construction of only 16,000 new housing units during the current financial year.

Announcing the new policy, Human Settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela said the shift came as his department was set on enhancing the living conditions of more families.

"We must increase the number of families we assist to enhance their living conditions every year by increasing the provision of serviced sites, both through in-situ upgrading of informal sites and the development of serviced sites in green field projects."

From 18,000 serviced sites this year, Madikizela's department plans to increase this to 31,000 in 2014/2015. The funding for this would come from the national housing grant.

Asked to comment Madikizela's predecessor Whitey Jacobs said his party, the ANC was opposed to the subsidy funding the proposed sites.

"Subsidy funding should not be used for anything but the top structures (completed houses)," said Jacobs.

He said the ANC's position was that the new serviced sites had to be funded through money allocated for the upgrade of informal settlements, under way in several areas around Cape Town.

Premier Helen Zille, sitting alongside Madikizela at the announcement, said the constraints were "massive".

- Cape Times

Major upgrade of W.Cape informal settlements planned

The Western Cape government on Monday said it plans to upgrade informal settlement sites over the next four years to ensure every citizen has access to basic services.

The goal was announced in the Human Settlements Strategic Objective Plan.

Human Settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela said R1,8 billion has been set aside for the next financial year to develop and improve all existing informal settlements in the province.

At the current rate of housing delivery, government said it is only able to serve about 16,000 households each year with a backlog of about 500,000.

Local government’s new strategic plan seeks to increase the number of serviced sites to 31,000 by 2015.

Madikizela added that the plan does not affect one of the government’s long-term objectives to build new houses from scratch.

- Eyewitness News

Laws make housing difficult - Zille

It was "unbelievably difficult" for provinces to meet housing targets under the current legal framework, Western Cape premier Helen Zille said on Monday.

"Within this legal framework, it's going to be unbelievably difficult to achieve what we know we can achieve and what we know we must achieve," she said.

She was speaking in Cape Town at the release of the province's human settlements strategy, which aimed to increase the number of serviced sites it provided from 18,000 this year to 31,000 in 2014/15.

The province had a housing backlog of just under 500,000.

Zille said a housing project at Pelican Park on the Cape Flats had been initiated before the city's soccer World Cup stadium got under way.

"The stadium's finished, the World Cup's come and gone, and we haven't put a spade in the ground in Pelican Park yet for the houses," she said.

"And we have dedicated project managers who have been driving these [settlement] projects flat out."

Zille said providing the actual serviced site or a top structure was the easiest part of all.

The holdups lay in acquiring land and taking a project through all the environmental impact assessment (EIA) and other bureaucratic processes at local and provincial level.

"That's why I went to President Zuma with this whole fat document saying, unless you fix these laws, unless you withdraw all of these constraints, we can't do what you want us to do or what we know we have to do."

Last month she sent Zuma 70 pages of recommendations for amendments to what she described as the "brick wall of bureaucracy, law and regulation" that she said obstructed provincial and municipal service delivery.

She said on Monday that Pelican Park was zoned appropriately and had even had a previous EIA, but this had lapsed because the process took so long.

"So we can have a vision, but unless the laws are able to facilitate us, and unless the lengthy public participation processes do not allow people to block what we know we have to do, it's .... very difficult to achieve what we want to achieve," she said.

Provincial housing minister Bonginkosi Madikizela said the province intended to increase the "mean gross density" of new settlement projects in municipalities where land was scarce from 35 units per hectare this year to 50 by 2013/14.

The province was focusing on providing serviced sites because it believed it could provide more "housing opportunities" that way, from its R1.bn settlements budget, than through completed homes for relatively few beneficiaries.

- Sapa / Business Report

Candle blamed for Overhill shack blaze

Two people have died and about 500 residents have been left homeless after a fire at the Overhill informal settlement in Kleinmond on Sunday.

Overstrand municipality spokesperson Cecile Jonkheid said hundreds of shacks were destroyed in the fire early on Sunday.

"A resident fell asleep and his candle fell over, which started the blaze," Jonkheid said.

"Between 270 and 280 shacks were burnt to the ground."

The two adults who had died in the fire could not be identified yet, as their bodies were burnt beyond recognition, Jonkheid said.

She said many of the displaced residents were staying with friends and family, but about 200 were being accommodated at the local community hall.

"The public has been very generous with donations. The mayor and his wife has just been here - at the community hall - handing over food and blankets and disposable nappies for the babies," she said.

"I have already had many calls from members of the public wanting to donate money and food and building supplies."

She said a wind of 90km/h had been recorded by the Kleinmond fire department early on Sunday, at the time of the fire.

This had caused its rapid spread through the settlement.

"Firefighters were on the scene minutes after the fire was reported, but the wind just took the fire and ran with it. Police were also there immediately, investigating the incident."

- Sapa

What will replace the Athlone towers?

The heaps of rubble - containing 21 600 tons of concrete which is all that is left of the infamous Athlone towers - will take 30 days to clear, after which time the future of the empty site will be determined by the City of Cape Town.

Gallery: Athlone towers destroyed

The city has not taken a final decision on what the site will eventually become.

Mayor Dan Plato said there were several proposals on the table, but nothing had been finalised.

"Some proposals call for a mixed-use development, maybe a shopping mall," Plato said.

Several proposals for the site include smaller versions of the V&A Waterfront or Melrose Arch in Johannesburg with 800 to 1 500 residential units, a university campus and a food market similar to the Borough Market in London.

Nico McLachlan, the managing director of ODA, a company that specialises in urban reform, said the redevelopment might be inspired by international developments.

Mclachlan said the site could become similar to the Tate Modern art gallery in London which was built on the site of the former Bankside power station or the Santralistanbul in Turkey, an art, culture and education centre that replaced Istanbul's first power plant.

Earlier Clive Justus, the city's head of utility services, said that with the removal of the towers, eight hectares of land would be available in addition to the 36ha of the power station.

Justus said the turbine buildings could be used as community facilities capable of hosting a jazz festival, coffee shops, restaurants and other amenities.

He said the waste transfer station could be upgraded into a science exploratorium where electricity and recycling could be explained.

A snap survey by the Cape Times found that residents of nearby Langa wanted a graveyard to replace the towers site because of limited burial space in Cape Town. Some people in Athlone said they wanted a mall there or a sports ground.

Robert Ross of Ross Demolition said the rubble from the towers would be taken to a dumpsite where it would be crushed into small pieces to make bricks.

"All the concrete will one day be 10 000 to 20 000 bricks," Ross said.

In the meantime, people who viewed the demolition of the towers had mixed emotions about the event.

Mike Petersen from Retreat said he saw the towers being built when he was young.

"I grew up with them. We have had them for (such) a long time that it hardly crossed my mind that they would be gone. When you guide someone who is driving, you would say to them 'get to the N2 and pass the Athlone Towers' now you have this empty land which represents nothing."

Samantha Marshall from Mitchells Plain said that the experience was exciting and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"The towers will definitely be missed because it was a landmark and could be seen from many areas in Cape Town. I do feel sad that there was no countdown or warning to inform people about the blast. They could have used the cannon as a signal."

- Cape Times

Two dead, hundreds homeless after Cape fire

Two people have died and about 500 residents have been left homeless after a fire at the Overhill informal settlement in Kleinmond on Sunday.

Overstrand municipality spokeswoman Cecile Jonkheid said hundreds of shacks were destroyed in the fire in the early hours of Sunday morning.

"A resident fell asleep and his candle fell over which started the blaze," Overstrand municipality spokeswoman Cecile Jonkheid said.

"Between 270 and 280 shacks were burnt to the ground."

The two adults who had died in the fire could not be identified yet, as their bodies were burnt beyond recognition, Jonkheid said.

She said many of the displaced residents were staying with friends and family but that about 200 of them were being accommodated at the local community hall.

"The public has been very generous with donations. The mayor and his wife has just been here (at the community hall) handing over food and blankets and disposable nappies for the babies," she said.

"I have already had many calls from members of the public wanting to donate money and food and building supplies".

She said a wind of 90km/h wind had been recorded by the Kleinmond fire department early on Sunday morning, at the time of the fire. This had caused the fire's rapid spread through the settlement.

"Fire-fighters were on the scene minutes after the fire was reported but the wind just took the fire and ran with it. Police were also there immediately, investigating the incident." - Sapa

Shack fire leaves two dead, 500 destitute

Two people have died and 500 others have been left homeless after a shack fire in Kleinmond in the Western Cape.

The incident occurred early on Sunday morning at Overhill Informal Settlement.

It is believed a burning candle started the blaze which destroyed more than 200 shacks.

The Overstrand Municipality’s Cecelia Jonkheld said on Sunday children were among those affected.

“We lost between 270 and 280 structures. More than 500 adults and children [have been] assisted,” she said.

- Eyewitness News

Broken Homes

Zille, Motlanthe's boozy welcome

Drunken residents opened the doors of two of the first three houses visited by Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe and Western Cape premier Helen Zille during a door-to-door visit to two Plettenberg Bay townships yesterday.

In one house the householder kept calling Zille "baby".

Motlanthe is on a countrywide anti-poverty campaign driven by the Presidency.

They were welcomed by drunken residents in KwaNokuthula, where houses are supplied by the government.

In one house, a 47-year-old woman told the delegation that she was unemployed and asked if the government could provide her with food parcels. She said until two months ago the family had lived on their 89-year-old mother's pension grant, but she died in June.

The woman, who is also HIV-positive, is getting free anti-retrovirals from the state.

Zille said she was shocked by the levels of alcohol abuse. In the case of this woman, the state had done all it could do. "It has provided a pension, medical care and housing."

In another house, Zille found a couple who complained about unemployment, but they were so drunk that the man kept addressing Zille as "baby".

- Cape Argus

Sexwale: 'Let the rich help fight poverty'

Human settlements minister Tokyo Sexwale this weekend promised impoverished residents of Plettenberg Bay that he would establish a dialogue between rich and poor to help bring balance to the skewed economics of the seaside town.

Sexwale joined Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe and Western Cape premier Helen Zille on a visit to the town on Saturday and all noted the stark contradictions in Plettenberg Bay, long known as a playground for wealthy holidaymakers.

Paying a visit to resident Sarah Oliphant and her teenage daughter Precious at their house in the kwaNokuthula informal settlement, Sexwale vowed to close the gap between those who lived in fancy houses with sea views for one month a year and those who lived in crowded and dark two-roomed houses all year round.

"I want to start a conversation with the rich people in this area, to see how they can contribute to the situation here," he said.

'The right language'
The rich have a bad name among the locals in Plettenberg Bay, and Sexwale aims to change that. He took councilor Lawrence Luiters to task when the local politician referred to holidaymakers as the "stinking rich".

"Why do you call them stinking rich when they pay taxes? I want you to use the right language. I want you to find the right language that will help you do your job," Sexwale said, referring to the fact that if the rich contribute skills in addition to money, it would make life easier for the town's politicians.

"Don't think the rich are bad, we need them," he told the councilor.

With his platinum-embossed Mont Blanc pen, Sexwale took meticulous notes of the complaints by the residents. A senior official in his office flanked him at all times and he will be the one to follow up with the residents once the hoopla of the visit is over and the cameras stopped flashing.

Sexwale admitted he had never visited this part of the town, but vowed to improve living conditions.

"These houses were built before 1994, but you can't call them houses. They were built for emergency purposes. One day these houses should all come down, they are like tents, we can't consider them to be proper houses."

He also acknowledged the irony of him -- a multimillionaire businessman-turned-minister -- talking to the poverty stricken and made no bones about the fact that he was financially better off than Oliphant.

"I must say I do live in a better house than yours, but I will help you get a better one," he assured her.

During Motlanthe and Zille’s morning visits to other residents they came face to face with with one of the key problems in the community, substance abuse.

Agents of change
"I was surprised that people who we were coming to see were clearly under the influence of alcohol. At the second house we visited the residents were dik gerook [had smoked dagga],” Zille told the Mail & Guardian.

Motlanthe complained that none of the homes had a "change agent" -- a young person with the potential to lift the family out of poverty with the intervention of government.

Normally the government would supply such a person with study opportunities or a job of some kind, in order to set them on the path to a better life.

"Here we did not find any change agents," Motlanthe told the M&G. "There were no young people whom we could assist. So all we can do for them is give [those we visited] seeds to start their own vegetable garden and in that way sustain themselves."

Motlanthe also cut the ribbon to three new houses in kwaNokuthula.

All the politicians who visited the town this weekend vowed to make follow-up visits to the area.

- M&G

Joe Slovo residents to get new homes

Western Cape Human Settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela said on Thursday the construction of homes for hundreds of residents of the Joe Slovo Informal Settlement will begin in October.

Last year residents went to the Constitutional Court to prevent the provincial government from relocating them from the piece of land in Langa.

It had been set aside for the expansion of the troubled N2 Gateway Project.

Madikizela said after extensive consultations with the Joe Slovo community, construction will kick off later this year.

He said that initially homes could only be built for about 1,500 families.

Madikizela said they would be building smaller houses to accommodate double the amount of people.

The Constitutional Court ruled last year 70 percent of the homes had to be reserved for Joe Slovo informal settlers. Madikizela said his department has honoured this and does not foresee further problems.

But he warned he would be keeping a close eye on developments to ensure everything proceeded smoothly.

- Eyewitness News

3000 Joe Slovo families to receive homes

Western Cape Human Settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela on Friday said around 3000 families from the Joe Slovo informal settlement in Langa would get homes.

Construction work in the area is due to start in October.

Last year the squatters went to the Constitutional Court to prevent the provincial government from relocating them to make way for houses.

The court ruled that 70 percent of the homes would go to the settlers and they must be extensively consulted about their temporary relocation.

Madikizela said through innovative building strategies more homes will be built than previously planned.

He said, “Instead of building a forty square metre house on a hundred square metre plot, we are actually going to build upward. That is why we are able to accommodate twice the number of people that were initially going to accommodated in terms of the initial plan.”

- Eyewitness News

High-powered delegation to fight poverty

THE government’s war on poverty comes to Plettenberg Bay today, with the arrival of Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe at the head of a high- powered delegation of national Cabinet ministers, the provincial premier, deputy ministers, Western Cape MECs and local politicians.

The Anti-Poverty Campaign was launched in the Eden District, the poorest region in the Western Cape, two years ago and seeks to uplift impoverished communities.

Motlanthe will be accompanied by Western Cape Premier Helen Zille, Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale, Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel, Public Works Minister Jeff Doidge, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga and Public Service and Administration Deputy Minister Roy Padayachie.

Other top-ranking politicians and dignitaries attending the two-day proceedings include Western Cape Economic Development MEC Alan Winde, Social Development MEC Ivan Meyer, Housing MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela, Eden District Mayor Fareed Stemmet and Bitou Mayor Lulama Mvimbi.

The visit forms part of the government’s campaign to fast-track delivery to the poorest of the poor.

- The Weekend Post

Plan to resolve housing backlog by 2030

In 2004, the government unveiled a grand scheme aimed at totally doing away with informal settlements, and housing the millions of people in low-cost housing.

But now the Department of Human Settlement has shied away from setting concrete target dates for the eradication of informal settlements. The department has also not yet set a date for the completion of the 2,1million housing backlog.

The department hopes to address 1,2million housing needs by the next national elections in 2014.

"No targets have been set (for the complete eradication of shacks) as yet, but government is obviously committed to providing shelter for all those in need," departmental spokesperson Chris Vick said.

He was clarifying Minister Tokyo Sexwale's statements when he reiterated his "Human Settlement 2030" vision that he initiated during his budget vote speech in Parliament during the launch of Lufhereng Housing Project on Tuesday. "By 2030 there should be no homeless South African. We want to see the end of homelessness," Sexwale said.

He had earlier told Parliament: "In crafting our vision, we are mindful that a child born today will be 20 years old by 2030, and will need somewhere to live. We should be planning for the needs of that future adult.

"To succeed, Human Settlements 2030 must be for and by the youth - it is about their own future homes, apartments, bachelor flats and so on. It is the future rural settlements and urban centres, towns and cities."

Sexwale has committed to the provision of 800,000 housing opportunities and the upgrading of 400,000 informal settlements units.

On bulk infrastructure, the following targets were set for Human Settlements and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Leaders:

• The department will also work with Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs to increase the accessibility of of clean, running water from 92percent of the population to 100percent.
• Sanitation from 69percent to 100percent.
• Refuse removal from 64 percent to 75percent.
• Electricity from 81percent to 92percent.
• At least 6250ha of well located public land will have been released for low income and affordable housing by 2014.

- Sowetan

Probe into housing deals 'dangerous'

WHISTLEBLOWERS on corrupt housing deals are being threatened and murdered even though they are in witness protection programmes, human settlements director-general Thabane Zulu told MPs yesterday.

Zulu told the human settlements portfolio committee that investigations into corrupt housing deals were dangerous, and witnesses were refusing to give evidence out of fear.

"Some people get threatened when protection has been provided," Zulu said. "Some get killed, even under witness protection. It is (a) life-threatening situation."

Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale has promised to crack down on housing corruption, saying the department is focusing on housing syndicates and dodgy contractors.

He has said investigations are under way into syndicates selling and renting state-owned houses primarily in Gauteng, North West and KwaZulu-Natal.

This week he said a team appointed by the department to investigate fraud and corruption had recovered R44million from provincial municipal officials since 2007.

Zulu said it was difficult to go into detail on some of the corrupt deals as the matters were "complex, sensitive and life-threatening".

"In some instances, having engaged with the Special Investigating Unit, it gets very complicated, particularly from a syndicate perspective," he said.

He said the department's decision to appoint the SIU and to budget R20million to investigate corruption had proved "a step in the right direction".

The SIU, however, often struggled to get information because the very same people who should provide information were also implicated, Zulu said.

He said when whistle-blowers "did show their faces", it made life far easier.

"Last week I met a guy from North West who is prepared to show his face. But he is one among 10.

"Few of those are in existence."

So far the department's task team had examined 10246 housing projects and arrested 1910 government officials for unlawfully benefiting from housing subsidies.

The SIU, headed by Willie Hofmeyr, had travelled to all nine provinces identifying the top 10 dodgy housing contracts in each province.

It was found that on average each contract amount was about R100million.

The team had found that thousands of houses had been condemned because of poor workmanship.

Some would have to be destroyed and others fixed at a cost of millions of rands.

- Sowetan

Electricity protest turns ugly

Fourteen Rylands residents and a baby are in police custody after a protest over electricity became violent.

Stones were hurled at officers, who retaliated by using a water cannon and stun grenades. The protesters also stoned motorists on Pooke Road, alongside their informal settlement on a stretch of privately-owned land, and threatened workers walking in the area.

At the moment, only toilets at the back of the settlement have electricity, but the residents - some who have been without power for more than two decades - do not.

When the Cape Times team arrived at the Pooke se Bos settlement yesterday, black smoke could be seen rising from the burning tyres and debris blocking the road. Rocks and stones were strewn on the tar.

A group of about 60 residents were shouting at heavily armed officers watching them.

"Give us electricity. We've waited so long. We don't want to fight with you. Just help us," a woman shouted.

Another said she had waited for electricity for 21 years.

Sitting in his shack nearby, a resident, who did not want to be named, said living without electricity was "exhausting".

"It's tough. Especially when it's cold, we suffer. I cook with gas and struggle to keep my place warm. It's not fair," he said.

Police officers then warned the group of residents, milling around on the pavement and threatening to stones cars, to disperse. After a few warnings they had still refused to do so. An officer then threw two stun grenades nearby, causing them to run away. Officers then chased residents and warned them to stay indoors.

Police had earlier used a water cannon to disperse a group after stones were thrown at officers.

Athlone police spokesman Ian Bennett said 14 residents had been arrested for public violence. A baby girl was also being kept with her mother in police custody, at her mother's request.

Bennett said the 14 would appear in court by tomorrow.

Ward councillor Musthapha Murudker said the city council had initially not been able to provide the residents with electricity because they were on privately-owned land.

About two years ago, the land owner, Kanti Patel, had agreed to let the council install electricity, which had been provided to the toilets. Residents were promised power, but then, due to issues with Eskom, the city council had decided not to do this.

Murudker said he planned to visit the area and meet the residents' committee.

The Cape Times was not able to reach Patel yesterday. - Cape Times

National Home Builders' Registration Council investigated

A corruption crackdown by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and the Human Settlements Department has led to the arrest of nearly 2,000 government officials and the recovery of millions of rands, while the focus will now turn to 20 "dodgy" contractors who won tenders worth R2 billion.

The investigation, one of the biggest the unit has undertaken in recent years, was announced by Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale in Pretoria yesterday.

It was also announced that the National Home Builders' Registration Council, the country's consumer watchdog body for the home building industry, was being investigated.

Both Sexwale and SIU head Willie Hofmeyr said corruption and fraud in provincial governments and municipalities was "endemic", with corrupt officials abusing the housing subsidy.

Sexwale said that of 7 353 government officials identified by the auditor-general for suspected subsidy fraud, 930 had been arrested, 761 were found guilty and R21.7 million was recovered.

He said the SIU identified an additional 25,689 civil servants suspected of subsidy fraud, of whom 634 were arrested, 385 found guilty and R15.4m was recovered.

At municipal level, the auditor-general had ordered that 6 974 council officials be investigated, of whom 346 were arrested, 151 found guilty and R7m was recovered. Of these, 76 cases were still pending, the department's director-general, Thabane Zulu, said.

In total, 1 910 crooked officials had been arrested for unlawfully receiving housing subsidies, while 1,297 were successfully prosecuted.

Zulu said disciplinary proceedings against the officials were under way and that more arrests were expected in the next few weeks in connection with several syndicates after three arrests were made in KwaZulu-Natal.

These involved an attorney, who had been charged with 142 counts of fraud, while a contractor and an engineer were facing two criminal charges for defrauding the KwaZulu-Natal Human Settlements Department of R10m, said Zulu.

He said 40 contractors would be restricted from doing business with the government.

Zulu said political office- bearers were also involved.

Regarding the unit's investigation of 20 contractors, Hofmeyr said the R20 million it received from the department would be used to employ 50 investigators, lawyers and data analysts.

Hofmeyr said in many cases the government had "been taken for a ride" by contractors with the collusion of public servants. "The average contract we are talking about here is R100m per contract so we |are not talking about small amounts… fairly large companies are involved."

Hofmeyr believed that most contractors being investigated would face criminal charges, hence "a very thorough investigation is required".

Sexwale said: "We are very determined and steadfast in our campaign to fight corruption, so the crackdown does not cease and our resolve does not change. I wished that what we are going to present would be the end of the story, but in our country corruption is so endemic.

"It's spreading so much that it disturbs one to say that this is not the last presentation..."

He said the department and Hofmeyr's unit were working closely with Parliament and the office of the auditor-general to root out corruption. "We want to send a message."

Also of concern was an increase in the number of housing syndicates operating mainly in Gauteng, North West and KwaZulu-Natal, where sophisticated criminal groups sold and rented state-owned houses with the help of government officials.

Sexwale said a lot more "finesse" was needed to investigate the syndicates.

- IOL Property

Residents demand part ownership of Khayelitsha homes

Cape Town residents on Monday said they would stop the construction of 100 new homes in the Khayelitsha area until they are guaranteed part ownership of the houses.

Building has begun on the new housing development in Section 21 of Mandela Park.

Some of the backyard dwellers said they will not stand by and watch houses being built for people from other areas.

Resident Nosipho Magcoba said in May this year Housing MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela guaranteed they would benefit from the housing scheme.

Magcoba said: “She promised us to give us 180 houses. Now they are busy building another 100 houses for the outsiders of Mandela Park. We want fifty-fifty. We want half of [those] houses for the backyarders and the outsiders. ”

Magcoba said they feel hard done by.

“The outside people from Gugulethu, the other people from Site C, they are the people that are going to get the houses. Not us, the backyarders of Mandela Park because the land is inside Mandela Park.”

- Eyewitness News

Du Noon shop destroyed in fire

A spaza shop owner in Du Noon lost stock worth R6 000 and R800 in cash when the shack he used as his shop and home was burnt to the ground on Monday morning. Fortunately no one was killed or injured in the blaze.

Shop owner Peter Jauleni, 27, said he had only himself to blame for the fire.

He said he forgot to turn off his electric stove after preparing porridge for himself in the morning, and believes that’s what caused the blaze that started just after seven.

At that time, said Jauleni, he was in Table View looking for work as a bricklayer when he received a call from his half brother Petrus Jauleni who was looking after the shop.

He said resident’s frantically demolished his burning shack – which was constructed against the outside wall of an RDP house – in order to prevent the blaze from spreading. Fortunately, the RDP house was not badly damaged.

Jauleni said when he got back to his shack, the stock for his shop was burnt to ashes.

Seeing his small business in ruins was “like being hit in the stomach”, he said, as it had taking him for years to establish his spaza.

“I cried like a small child,” he said.

“Everything was burnt. I’m only left with the clothes on my body.”

His brother Petrus said he was awakened by neighbouring residents screaming that there was fire.

“I just heard the noise of people as if they were fighting and I jumped out of bed and saw the shop of my brother burning,” he said.

He said over 100 residents helped to extinguish the fire, many of them fetching water from their RDP houses.

He said when firefighters came at the scene the fire was already under control and did not pose any danger.

City of Cape Town fire chief Ian Schnetler confirmed the blaze and said no-one was injured or killed.

Schnetler said the firefighting crew arrived at the scene at 7.16am and left at 7.34am.

In a related development, Schnetler said a fire in the Doornbach informal settlement next to Du Noon destroyed 15 shacks on Friday night.

He said it was not clear how many people were left destitute by the Doornbach fire and that police were investigating the cause of both fires.

— West Cape News

Cheap water filters can help poor communities

A tea bag-sized filter that cleans highly polluted water and costs about three cents a litre to use could be available to the public in approximately six weeks, the University of Stellenbosch said on Monday.

"The water is cleaned right then and there when you drink from the bottle," said professor Eugene Cloete, the dean of the faculty of science at the University of Stellenbosch (US), in a statement.

Cloete said the filter could help meet the needs of people who lived in remote areas or whose regular water supply was not being treated to potable standards.

"The lack of availability of adequate, safe and affordable water supplies impacts severely on vulnerable groups such as the poor, the elderly, HIV/Aids patients and children," he said.

"More than 90 percent of all cholera cases are reported in Africa, and 300 million people on our continent do not have access to safe drinking water. Clearly, something has to be done about this," he said.

A researcher on the project, Marelize Botes, said the filters would cost only three cents and fitted into the neck of a bottle.

She said the filters were disposable, portable, easy to use and environmentally friendly.

The filters were made with the same materials as rooibos tea bags.

Cloete, a former executive vice-president of the International Water Association and a member of Coca-Cola's worldwide panel of water experts, worked on the invention with researchers from the Department of Microbiology and other US scientists for 18 months and patented it in January.

"The inside of the outer material is coated with a thin film of biocides, encapsulated within tiny nanofibres, which kills all disease-causing microbes," said Cloete.

"The bag is filled with active carbon granules that remove all harmful chemicals."

The filters were tested in a very polluted river in Stellenbosch where they proved to clean one litre of the most polluted water to the point where it was 100 percent safe to drink.

The invention was submitted for testing by the South African Bureau of Standards, after which the team hoped to introduce it to various communities, as well as the outdoor activities market.

- Sapa

Services aimed at improving lives of women & children: Department of Social Development briefing

The HEMP projected created a total of 84 jobs for women.

Ms Lamoela asked the Department to elaborate on the HEMP project.

A DSD official explained that hemp was initially classified as a weed, but was now classified as an agricultural product. It was of the same family as the dagga plant, but without the effects. It was used as a source of fibre, a source of essential oils, and a herbal source of herbs. Extensive research had been done over many years by the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research, the Department of Arts and Culture, and Department of Agriculture, which showed that South Africa produced top-quality hemp, and that it grew readily. In the past South Africa had imported hemp from India, where it also grew readily, but was of poorer quality. The National Hemp Foundation now embarked on commercialisation of hemp, and DSD was involved in investigating how it could link the growing of hemp to the poor and vulnerable  such as caregivers of other social grant beneficiaries. There was no wastage of hemp, and every part of the plant could be used for a variety of purposes. The focus was not on the planting of hemp, but on the cottage industries that formed part of the value chain. The Department of Agriculture trained women in the Eastern Cape in the production of hemp, in partnership with the Agricultural Research Council. DSD was implementing a project in the Eastern Cape in the production of hand creams, body lotions and hair products. Although hemp was categorised as an agricultural product, the Department of Health was the licensee, as hemp was categorised as a narcotic plant. DSD was engaging with SAPS on how best to deal with the problem. Currently, each farmer was permitted to plant two hectares of hemp. Department of Science and Technology would facilitate and drive the processes of essential oil production, but could only do that if the number of permissible hectares of planting could be increased to at least 1 000 hectares. This could have a high impact on poverty reduction.

Ms Malgas asked whether growing of hemp had now been decriminalised.

The DSD official said that to some extent it was, but there was still a need for engagement with Department of Health on licensing issues. Hemp was now classed not as a weed but an agricultural product. It was recognised that it had a value in reducing the use of dagga. Dagga was planted merely as a means of generating income, but people could be encouraged rather to plant hemp, which could be sold on the legalised market, providing more sustainable income.

- PMG - Parliamentary Monitoring Group

Govt cracks down on dodgy housing contractors

The Department of Human Settlements is intensifying its crackdown on dodgy housing contractors and has drawn up a shortlist of 20 "problematic" projects worth R2-billion currently under investigation, Director General Chabane Zulu said on Monday.

Presenting an anti-corruption update in Pretoria, Zulu said 10 246 housing projects had been assessed by the special investigating unit headed by Willie Hofmeyr.

He said the top 10 dodgy contracts in each province were identified, and narrowed down to 20.

On average the contract amount is about R100-million per contract.

The national audit task team also probed housing syndicates and subsidy fraud in provinces and municipalities.

Since investigations began in 2007, R44-million has been recovered from provincial and municipal officials relating to human settlement grants for service delivery.

A total of R11-million has already been paid back into state coffers and 1,910 government officials have been arrested as unlawful beneficiaries of subsidies.

Zulu said 1,297 of these had been successfully prosecuted.

There was also increasing concern over housing syndicates, and investigations were under way into the selling and renting of state-owned houses primarily in Gauteng, the North West and KwaZulu-Natal.

"Three arrests have already been made in KwaZulu-Natal and suspects are currently in court. More arrested are expected in other provinces in the next six weeks," he said.

Commenting on the updates, Human Settlements minister Tokyo Sexwale said it was not all about "doom and gloom".

"We are very determined and steadfast in our campaign to clamp down in our fight against corruption ... corruption in our country is endemic and it's spreading so fast," Sexwale said.

- Sapa

'Free us from misery or kiss votes goodbye'

Dead rats, stagnant pools of dark-green murky water and rubbish heaps are constant fixtures in the lives of some Khayelitsha residents, who took to the streets to highlight their living conditions.

About 100 CCT section residents marched peacefully through the streets on Sunday. Their message was simple: "No house, no vote." Another banner read: "Frogs don't vote."

This was in reference to how people had to jump from stone to stone to avoid walking through pools of green sludge throughout the area.

People started moving into CCT Section 10 years ago.

Community leader Vuyelwa Govuza said several politicians had visited their homes and talked about helping them, but their situation had remained unchanged.

Their biggest concern was the number of people falling ill because of the unhygienic conditions.

While standpipes were functional, they were surrounded by murky, green water and knee-high grass.

Women and children collecting water had to balance on two rocks next to the tap so they did not slip into the dirty water. "It's never dry here, not even in the summer," said Govuza.

Heaps of black bags filled with rubbish collected on corners, and residents claimed their dirt was seldom collected.

Near one of these dumps, a large rat lay dead. Govuza said rats often bit children.

Resident Edward Sixholo said people were also fed up with the Porta-Potti system because they were emptied only weekly.

When the Porta-Potties are full, residents slip through the concrete fencing which separates them from the N2 and relieve themselves next to the highway.

The community lives next to a wetland. The marshes are not fenced off.

Last November the Cape Argus reported that a 30-year-old man fell into the marshes while walking through the dark area. He spent nearly two hours in the water before being rescued, but later died.

According to residents, four children have drowned in the wetlands.

"We are tired of empty promises. If things don't change and we don't get proper houses, we simply won't vote," said Govuza.

City of Cape Town housing director Hans Smit said while the city was able to provide only 9,000 "housing opportunities" a year, demand was double that.

"We are doing our best. But we are looking at new strategies to address the issue," said Smit.

# There was still a heavy police presence in the Thabo Mbeki informal settlement between Crossroads and Khayelitsha yesterday.

On Saturday residents protesting against a lack of service delivery allegedly vandalised a drain valve connected to the city’s water main.

At least 20 low-lying homes and parked cars were flooded.

City of Cape Town Disaster Risk Management spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said repair teams were withdrawn when protesters became "volatile and riotous", but returned later.

Teams were sent in again on Sunday to clear the area. "We won't tolerate anyone deliberately damaging council property. Those guilty will be prosecuted," said Solomons-Johannes.

- Cape Argus

'Vandalised' drain floods township

An informal settlement was plunged into chaos on Saturday when protesting residents allegedly vandalised a drain valve connected to Cape Town's water main, flooding 20 low-lying homes and parked cars.

The trouble started in the Thabo Mbeki settlement between Crossroads and Khayelitsha late on Saturday afternoon, when the damaged valve burst, spurting water metres into the air.

City of Cape Town Disaster Risk Management spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said senior personnel - including relief teams - were sent to fix the pipe and help residents who were desperately trying to save furniture and appliances from the rising water. But they were withdrawn because residents had become "volatile and riotous".

He alleged that angry individuals protesting against poor service delivery had deliberately vandalised the drain valve.

"I personally deployed senior personnel to address the problem," said Solomons-Johannes.

"On investigation, we found that members of the community had vandalised the pipe, so this is a self-inflicted situation.

"The city is led to believe that the vandalism is a result of service delivery issues, and this is a means of protest."

He said the city was forced to deploy Metro Police and law enforcement officials "to bring the situation under control".

"We have withdrawn all essential services from the area because we cannot put the lives of our personnel at risk."

The damaged drain valve was connected to a main water pipeline that supplies Cape Town's suburbs. The leak was controlled before personnel were withdrawn from the area.

Residents, however, offered a different story. They claimed the pipe had been giving problems for several weeks, and that it had finally burst on Saturday.

A few community members were seen cheering and lighting small fires in the settlement in protest; however, those whose houses had been flooded were furious.

Charles Phakathi, a Thabo Mbeki settlement resident, said he had heard rumours about individuals damaging the pipe.

But he claimed the pipe had been leaking for about two months, and that water had been seeping into his house.

"This has been a cold winter, and there is always water on my floor," he said. "I have had to take my shoes off every time I have gone into my house."

When he arrived home from work at 5pm yesterday, he found his house was flooded to a depth of about 35cm, ruining many of his belongings.

Cars that were parked in the area were also flooded.

"We complained to the council two months ago, and they said they were busy fixing it. Then, it burst," he said. "No one can move anything. We need to swim to get anything out."

Madzanakazi Mbavangwe, said she had nowhere to take her six-month-old son.

"I have to stand outside in the cold with my young baby," she complained angrily. "Everything I owned is in there. I couldn't get anything out. When it happened, I was at my neighbours, and I heard someone shouting: 'There's water coming.'

"When I saw the water, it was coming so fast, I didn't try to get anything out of my house. I just ran for safety with my baby on my back."

The city's water and sanitation spokesman, Farouk Robertson, said the water supply to other areas had not been affected.

However, they had not had a proper chance to fix the pipe because they were waiting for calm to be restored.

"It's not just fixing the pipe - it's a mop-up too. We'll get a team in there as soon as the unrest subsides," Robertson said.

- Cape Argus

'Don't call me k****r'

An angry home invader held up a poster saying "Don't call me k****r", claiming a senior Metro cop swore at her during a tussle over houses.

The silent protester claims Inspector John Abrahams used the racist word while defusing a violent housing protest between black and coloured residents in Tafelsig.

But Abrahams says the crowd is lying because he wasn't even on duty at the time of the alleged racial slur and found himself the unlikely centre of attention as the dispute over RDP houses moved into its second day on Thursday.

Residents continuously mocked him and swore at him, as heavily armed cops kept a close eye on the situation.

Community worker Nomtha Mtombeni says things got tense when Metro cops used rubber bullets.

"We were peaceful and then they started shooting at us," she says.

A number of Metro police vans were dispatched to the area, including to another part of Tafelsig known as T4, where incomplete homes were invaded on Tuesday evening when Khayelitsha mense moved into the area and wrote their names on the homes' walls.

On Thursday, music personality turned politician D'Louw encouraged the coloured residents to stand firm and not move from the newly built houses.

"We challenge Helen Zille to come today [Thursday] or tomorrow [Friday]," he shouted at the angry crowd.

"Don't send your cronies here."

One woman Gaynor Bugan, 37, told D'Louw that she had been allocated her house after being on the housing list since 1995 and would not let other people take away what was rightfully hers.

But as soon as D'Louw left, a crowd of black residents walked over shouting the homes were free. - Daily Voice

Housing dispute sparks race clash

Tempers flared, emotions ran high and racist insults were hurled as groups of Mitchell's Plain shack dwellers clashed over unfinished government-subsidised houses, invaded by groups of backyarders on Tuesday.

Metro Police and law enforcement officers had to intervene during several tense stand-offs between the groups, with both sides claiming they were beneficiaries of the houses still under construction in Hyde Park and Eastridge. Some said they had waited years for their homes and were concerned about being overlooked.

The trouble started late on Tuesday when about 100 people from the nearby Silver City and Lost City informal settlements, and backyarders in the area, invaded the Hyde Park houses.

Scuffles broke out as they were confronted by Hyde Park backyard dwellers, and law enforcement officers had to step in. Soon after midnight another invasion took place in Eastridge, about a kilometre away.

Yesterday, angry backyarders, evicted earlier, returned to Hyde Park where they and other backyarders became embroiled in heated exchanges, while in Eastridge physical confrontations broke out between the invaders and backyarders of that area.

In both areas, people confronted each other over ownership of the empty houses and rushed to take up positions in doorways before someone else could get to the house.

Jostling and swearing followed as arguments ensued.

"You k****** have your own place. You don't belong here. Go back to your land. You want (to) take over everywhere," an angry Eastridge woman shouted. Incensed, a backyarder and one of those illegally occupying the houses, shouted: "You m****o. You hungry lions. We are not k****** and we are not going anywhere."

Zoliswa Kabeni, from Lost City, said: "We all need houses, but this thing is now becoming a racial issue. It should not matter where people come from."

Earlier, Pumeza Sonti, who was involved in the invasion, said people who had been on the waiting list for years became desperate after learning that some names had "disappeared", while those who only got on to the list recently would get houses.

"There are 91 houses in Hyde Park standing empty. Why? We'll occupy them if nobody lives there. We live in Silver Town in shacks that are miserable. We've peacefully occupied the houses. We were not violent, but law enforcement fired rubber bullets," she said.

Backyarders, people from Silver City and others all told a similar story - they had been on the list for many years, their living conditions were terrible and their children were sick.

Some said landlords charged them rent they could not afford. Many produced red cards - proof that they applied for homes in the early 1990s.

Asa Jacobs, a mother of six who lives in a shack in Freedom Park, said: "Where we live the environment is horrible. Our shack is wet and cold and I have young children."

City councillor Danny Christians, who tried in vain to calm the Hyde Park crowd, told them: "We know you want houses. We know there are complaints of corruption, but the investigation is ongoing. We'll find a way to deal with the problem, but you can't invade the houses."

His words were met by chants of "We want houses, we want houses".

Approached about the invasions, newly elected DA ward councillor Maria Weavers said: "We must sort out the waiting list and see who is entitled to a house. This is so that when houses are finished people must move in. I will collect information and also raise this matter with the housing officials. For now, law enforcement must deal with the situation."

Hyde Park and Eastridge were quiet but tense last night, and law enforcement officers stayed in the areas.

- Cape Times

We're tired of lies, say protesters

'WE want houses and no more lies.' This was the message from about 5000 protesters at the Vukuzenzele informal settlement near Gugulethu in Cape Town yesterday.

The protesters have blocked major roads with burning tyres for the past three days.

'We demand houses. We say no to false promises. We demand a better life. We have been staying in these poor conditions for too long and we demand some decency,' protest leader Wandile Ngalo said.

The protesters claimed the DA provincial government was only focusing on white areas, while ignoring black areas.

'Helen Zille must come and address us. She must rescue us from this mess. We need her now ... or never,' they chanted.

Department of housing Western Cape spokesperson Zalisile Mbali said they were shocked by the protest because last week they attended a meeting with the protesters and explained their programme to them.

'The committee members came out very happy at that meeting. They were impressed by our explanation. We are now shocked by this protest.' - Sowetan

Tussle over unfinished Cape houses

Emotions ran high in Eastridge and Tafelsig last night, as residents and police rushed to protect 280 nearly-completed homes from invasion.

In what appears to be an organised effort, a group of about 100 people grew through the night, and attempted to take over homes which had already been assigned to people on the housing waiting list.

Eastridge residents armed with sticks, planks, and even a golf club, guarded the as-yet-unoccupied council houses. About 40 people patrolled the edges of the area, which is bordered by Swartklip and Spine Road.

According to residents, several taxis carrying the would-be invaders, as well as bakkies loaded with furniture, arrived at Eastridge earlier in the evening. Invaders started to set up tyres and tree branches to set alight as part of the protest, but the police and metro police forced them to disperse.

Those on guard said they themselves had only moved into their new homes in Eastridge in the past four to five months. Residents said the houses were already allocated to people who had been on the housing list for over 20 years, and were waiting for water and electricity to be made available before moving in.

Several homes were vandalised, with doors and windows smashed in, and the city said today that it would ask the police to investigate the matter and press charges if the culprits were identified.

Mayoral committee members for housing, Shehaam Simms, and social development, Grant Pascoe, both said the invasions were "definitely" an organised effort.

While Pascoe said he did not want to point fingers, those who arrived to take over the nearly complete homes were young people singing Awulethe umshini wami.

"There was a clear political agenda," Pascoe said today.

Simms said information obtained during the city's investigation into housing fraud would also inform the investigation, as it was found that a person in a position to allocate housing to beneficiaries may have been giving homes to family members, and this may have played a role.

The Cape Argus witnessed and heard racially loaded comments hurled by the groups at one another.

This morning, both areas were quiet, with mostly construction workers and some law enforcement officers on site.

- Cape Argus

Europe residents show their anger

Thick clouds of black smoke and the stench of burnt tyres hung over the Europe informal settlement near Nyanga last night after service delivery-related protests erupted for the third consecutive night.

People returning from work had to walk to their homes because the Borchards Quarry entrance to Nyanga and parts of Klipfontein Road were closed to traffic by 6.45pm.

Yesterday's protests erupted around 5pm but, by nightfall, the crowd dispersed at the request of heavily armed police and metro police officers.

A leader of the protests, Sihle Mabusela, said last night that residents had decided to take action on Monday to commemorate Women's Day.

"The women here felt that they need to show their anger. Even though they (the government) say women are free, it's not true for all of them. These women who don't have houses or proper toilets are not free," he said.

Mabusela said the group of about 300 residents was prepared to move to another area if this would assist the government to accommodate their needs.

"We don't care where the houses are as long as there is fresh water, toilets and decent living conditions."

Sydney Ngalo, a fellow protester, said the group had met the provincial Department of Human Settlements earlier this year where "empty promises were made".

"They spoke about moving us to Delft and then, later, we were told that surveyors would be sent here to assess the land we are currently occupying to see if it can be developed," Ngalo said.

Mabusela said the group had submitted an application yesterday for a formal protest march next week where a memorandum of their demands would be handed to national Minister of Human Settlements Tokyo Sexwale, via the provincial office.

"We want the government to come up with something concrete and tell us exactly what they are going to do and how it is going to be done," he said.

Zalisile Mbali, spokesperson for provincial Housing Minister Bonginkosi Madikizela said yesterday that while the minister understood the frustration of residents, he did not condone their decision to "resort to public violence in a bid to demonstrate their anger toward the government".

Mbali said it had been agreed at a February meeting that the department would do an assessment of the area to identify which sections could be upgraded.

The minister had also agreed there was a need to identify land, and possibly purchase it for resettlement.

"We have drafted terms of reference to appoint a service provider and should finalise an appointment by the beginning of September," Mbali said.

- Cape Argus

Zuma housing fund not functioning

Cape Town - Incompetent municipalities were behind much of the housing backlog in the country, Cas Coovadia, chief executive of the Banking Association of South Africa (Basa), told members of the parliamentary standing committee on finance.

He added that President Jacob Zuma’s billion rand guarantee fund for housing “exists only in theory”.

A meeting on this fund had not yet been held with Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale to finalise details.

The R1bn guarantee fund for affordable housing was announced by Zuma in his State of the Nation address this year. This fund is intended to help prospective homebuyers who earn too much for a state-subsidised house and too little for a bank home loan.

Coovadia said the fund existed only in theory and that South Africa had a shortfall of about 600,000 affordable houses for households earning between R3,500 and R15,000 a month.

He berated municipalities for no longer being able to build affordable houses.

He said that the banking sector had been criticised for not providing sufficient finance for housing but, even should the government give a 100% guarantee, this would not help if the houses could not be built in the first place.

About 120 000 affordable houses need to be built a year, he pointed out, but for the past three years only about 80 000 houses have been built each year.

The primary problem was the incapacity of municipalities, he said.

Five years ago finalising municipal regulations around house construction, such as issuing certificates of approval for developments, took 30 months. It currently takes a municipality 48 months to issue such certificates.

Affordable housing developers are simply withdrawing from projects.

Coovadia also rejected criticism from committee members that commercial banks were not advancing enough to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

He lambasted development financiers like Khula, which now wants to compete directly with commercial banks using its Khula Direct model – rather than developing a plan to provide security for those without collateral but with a good business plan.

The ANC’s Zephroma Dubazana said she had been under the impression that commercial banks used taxpayers’ money from the government fiscus, and were therefore obliged to help small enterprises.

Coovadia had to explain the difference between money from the fiscus, as in the case of Khula, and private deposits kept by commercial banks on the public’s behalf.

On Wednesday the committee will meet with the financial sector transformation council.

- fin24.com

Township residents won't budge on protests

Parts of Klipfontein Road were closed on Monday after the second day of protests by residents of the Europe informal settlement near Nyanga.

Hundreds of residents said they would continue to protest until their calls for houses were met.

But the City of Cape Town and the provincial government said on Tuesday they were not aware of the protest, or why the residents felt the need to embark on their action.

The City's mayoral committee member for housing, Shehaam Sims, said the community had never requested a meeting with them.

Last Friday Sims accompanied Premier Helen Zille and Housing MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela to Nyanga where they met residents to discuss future housing developments, but the meeting did not include representatives of the protesting community.

Madikizela's spokesperson Zalisile Mbali said the MEC had a follow-up meeting with a committee from the community last Friday, but it did not involve the residents of Europe.

Sims said the city had been conducting surveys on the number of people living in backyards so that they could be accommodated in housing developments.

Mbali and Sims said the protest and the meetings were separate issues, but they could not say if the meetings had sparked the protest.

Sims said often communities who felt their needs were not met protested so that they could be "part of the bandwagon".

On Monday the police were called to quell violence at the Europe informal settlement after protesters burnt rubbish and protested for the second day in a row.

A section of Klipfontein Road had to be closed to traffic due to the protest, but was later opened.

No one was injured, but three people were arrested on Sunday on charges of public violence and were due to appear in court soon.

Captain Elliot Sinyangana, the Nyanga police spokesman, said they had called in units from other stations to help them restore order. Sinyangana said residents were throwing stones, rubbish and mobile toilets on to the street.

Sihle Mabusela, one of the leaders of the protest, said the approximately 300 residents in Europe would continue protesting until their demands were met.

- Cape Argus

Residents in fiery protest

For the second night in a row, residents of an informal settlement in Gugulethu blocked off a road near the N2, strewing rubbish across its surface and burning tyres in protest at delays in moving them.

Thick black smoke rose into the night sky as bright fires lit up the area around the Europe informal settlement.

Several people were injured when police fired rubber bullets at protesters.

Disgruntled community members had staged a similar protest on Sunday, during which they used portable toilets and refuse to block the on-ramp leading to the N2 near Borcherd's Quarry Road.

Xolisa Mangaliso, a resident, said that for years people had been promised a move to another area, but were continuing to wait for this.

"This place is not suited for human habitation," he said.

"The (portable) toilets they have provided for us pose more of a health risk."

Residents were expected to meet their ward councillor, Gladstone Ntamo, yesterday to air their grievances.

Ntamo could not be reached last night to confirm whether this meeting had taken place.

He had told the Cape Times before that residents were frustrated about the delay in moving them.

He said residents had met Human Settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela in February and demanded that they be moved.

Madikizela had promised residents they would be moved when a suitable, developed area was found, Ntamo said.

"The people now think that the minister is just giving a lot of promises. They are tired of promises."

Ntamo said the area was a "rubbish tip" and had been declared unsafe for habitation by city health and environment officials. - Cape Times

Two children die in shack fire

Two children burnt to death and several people were left homeless in a shack fire in Manenberg on Friday, Cape Town Fire Control said.

Spokesperson Paul Joseph said a boy and a girl died when three shacks caught fire in Oliver Tambo Drive shortly after midnight.

"A small number of people have been displaced and taken in by family and friends," he said.

The cause of the fire was not known. - Sapa