Cape hit by service delivery protest

Cape Town - Cape Town residents blocked a portion of the N2 highway near the airport on Friday morning in protest against poor service delivery, Western Cape police said.

Lieutenant Colonel Andre Traut said the highway, near the Mew Way off-ramp, was closed at various stages because of the protests, which started late on Thursday night.

Residents burned tyres, blocked the highway with objects, and threw human faeces onto the road.

“Police members were deployed to the area to maintain law and order, and at around 5am the road was finally re-opened,” he said.

Protests about sanitation issues in Cape Town have resulted in numerous closures of the N2 and arrests for dumping human waste.

Earlier this month, 183 people were arrested for public violence at the Esplanade railway station after police caught them allegedly carrying portable flush toilets and human waste in blue municipal bags placed in milk crates.

ANC councillor Loyiso Nkhola and former councillor Andile Lili were among those arrested.

All were eventually released on warning.

At the bail hearing of some of the alleged “ringleaders”, police revealed that 17 dockets had been opened for similar protests along the N2 since February.

Between April 10 and May 22, this stretch of highway was closed for almost 40 hours.

Cape Town International Airport was also affected by the sanitation protests.

In a letter read to the court, assistant airport operations manager Mark Maclean revealed that the protests had resulted in 10 hours of delays, amounting to an aviation loss of around R500 000. 

- Sapa

Will you come?

Nkandla – a typical SA scandal

Different countries with different political cultures and systems tend to throw up different types of scandals. There's the French bribery scandal (usually involving an oil or arms firm), the classic American sex scandal involving some silly politician and an intern, and the wonderfully British resignation because of something an advisor did once upon a time. In South Africa, we had the Apartheid era Info Scandal. But times have changed. And if you want to know what the classic Zuma-era scandal is, you need to mention just one location. Nkandla. 

By STEPHEN GROOTES.

When you look at political scandals, no matter where and when they happen, whether they involve sex with an unpaid female employee or cash in brown envelopes from exotically accented men in raincoats, they all involve a similar dynamic. It's never the scandal that kills you. It's the cover-up. If you don't believe that, a quick read of the briefest of biographies of Richard Nixon will put you right. The point is, that usually there is the original sin. The thing you did you should not have done. And then, at the first hint that someone might discover what you did, you try to hide it. Sometimes you get away with it. But often, you're just raising the stakes.

Nkandla is a classic scandal in this mould.

First there was the original sin (look, it wasn't Zuma's original sin, okay, but you get the drift). The R206m of government money spent on transforming a tiny dusty structure into something that would impress a time-travelling member of the Borgia family. Fine. The money was spent. It was wrong, and hard to justify.

Then the first cover-up. This was when Public Works Minster Thulas Nxesi told the nation at the end of January, that yes, to coin a famous headline about the Info Scandal, "It's all true". Yes, government had spent the money. Yes, on the personal residence of just one person. Yes, this is a government that has as its "apex priority" education. But never mind, the Number One priority here was the Number One himself.

Then came the spin. That money, the over two hundred million rand, wasn't actually spent on the property itself, but merely on "security upgrades". And as the nation racked its brain considering what kind of upgrades could be worth that much, came the promise of a series of investigations.

The first would be an investigation by Nxesi's ministry itself. Then the Special Investigating Unit would launch its own probe. And these would be looking not at the upgrades mind, but into how contractors were able to push up the prices so high.

Right then, okay, Mr Nxesi; we all believe you.

Now fast forward to the present day. You may need to sit down for this bit.

Did you know that, a full five months after Nxesi's promise that the SIU would investigate, it hasn't started that investigation? And the stated reason? You're gonna love this. There's a major legal fight around whether the investigation promised by Nxesi is covered by the President's original proclamation or not. The SIU can only investigate by Presidential Proclamation, and until the ink is dry, it can't do anything. Or that's what we're told.

Then we have the Public Works investigation. As you probably know already, it was declared Top Secret by the State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele last week. The basis for this was only a set of recommendations by Cabinet on how information should be managed. As Pierre de Vos pointed out, it's a complete nonsense. De Vos suggests that even if someone were prosecuted, there is no legal basis on which to get a conviction.

Wits Law Professor David Unterhalter took things further on Wednesday, saying that even if the legal defence that no crime was committed failed for some reason, a judge would still have to rule on whether it was right to classify this particular information as "Top Secret".

In short, the obvious rejoinder from any accused would be to ask why the document was not made public, with certain changes that would ensure the president's security was not put in jeopardy. The fact is, there is no possible answer to that question. The only answer has to be that it did not suit Number One for this report to be released.

And this is where we get to the very South African nature of this scandal.

It's actually about deployment, and the principle that if you appoint the right people to the right jobs, then your original sin will always be hidden.

In this case, Number One pulls the strings. He appointed Nxesi. Nxesi can do nothing more than order his officials to investigate.

But the real person whose string has been pulled in this case is Cwele. He came from KZN with Zuma in 2009. His wife had an unfortunate day job. You know, one that includes a long-term jail sentence. So, if he wants to hang onto his job, he needs to make sure Number One is protected. And, there's the fact that he would have known, when he took the job, this would have to be respected.

Still, there are some offices which Zuma can't control, where the appointments that were made haven't worked out in his favour. Where he can't, through his usual remote control, ensure that the right decisions are made at the right time, for his benefit.

These are the Public Protector and the Auditor-General. Both Thuli Madonsela and Terence Nombembe are independent, and have shown they'll pursue something like Nkandla without fear or favour. And to make matters worse for Number One, there's no way this spending is not in their mandate. It's government money, so Nombembe has to look through the books, and the entire population of the country has the right to complain to Madonsela that this money has been misspent.

And this is where the top secret classification is so important. Because now this report cannot be seen by either Nombembe or Madonsela. As far as they are concerned, together with the rest of South Africa, the Nkandla report does not exist.

Voila! Problem solved.

And so, dear reader, we have all the ingredients of our typical South African Scandal. We have the original sin, and then the spin. And then the actual cover-up in which deployees make sure Number One is protected, firstly, by simply not investigating, and secondly, by renaming & relocating the very same problem to a place unreachable to those who cannot be otherwise controlled.

Unfortunately for us, the way our typical South African Scandals work, the real sinners never seem to get punished. 

- DM

Housing department condemns poo-fighters

The department of human settlements has criticised five people who were arrested for dumping human waste at Cape Town International Airport.

"With this latest action at one of the country's airports, in full view of the world, and particularly during this time in our country, the following question is asked in respect of this lawlessness: in whose interest are they serving and to achieve what objective," asked the department of human settlements in a statement on Wednesday.

"This action remains condemned by all right thinking people. This is definitely not the way to address service delivery issues."

On Tuesday, Western Cape police said five people were arrested for dumping human waste in the departure terminal at Cape Town International Airport.

The five would appear in court once charged.

"When the Makhaza open-toilet saga came into the public domain for the first time, the department of human settlements in collaboration with the Human Rights Commission condemned it and the municipality was called upon to address and rectify the situation," the statement continued.

"The task and channels created by the department with the Human Rights Commission remain relevant. At the same time we encourage the City of Cape Town to address this matter speedily."

Acting airport spokesperson Deborah Francis on Tuesday said the group apparently pretended to be passengers and carried plastic bags through to the domestic and international departures terminal at about 1.30pm.

Airport a national key point

"It happened literally within a few split seconds. They threw it, jumped back into the cars and sped off," she said at the time.

The group was then apprehended by police. Francis said the airport was a national key point.

"The scene was handed over to the South African Police Service, and the area has been demarcated. Once they've assessed everything, there are Hazmat consultants that will clean up."

Francis said the incident had not resulted in any operational delays and entrances in the terminal hall remained open.

Two weeks ago, 183 people were arrested on public violence charges at the Esplanade train station in Woodstock for carrying portable flush toilets and human waste in blue municipal bags.

They apparently also sang freedom songs which included a reference to Western Cape premier Helen Zille as a dog.

The court released the group on warning and ordered them to return on August 2 after further investigation.

Kicking up a stink

The state was unsuccessful in its bid to block bail for Yandani Kulati, Thembela Mbanjwa and former councillor and ANC Youth League member Andile Lili.

At the start of the month, a group of people in Khayelitsha threw human waste at a bus and cars used for transport to a green economy event hosted by Zille.

The day before, two men dumped faeces on the steps of the Western Cape legislature in a protest about portable flush toilets.

The men identified themselves to the Cape Argus newspaper at the time as Lili and ANC proportional councillor and youth league member Loyiso Nkohla.

The protests were linked to the apparent dissatisfaction by some communities over sanitation in informal settlements and the rolling-out of portable flush toilets.

On June 13 the ANC Youth League said it would not discipline members who went on a poo flinging missions and praised them for their ability to connect with communities.

While the league said it did not approve of the method used in the protest against poor sanitation in Cape Town informal settlements, it said it understood the frustration of the protestors.

“Assuming that they didn’t throw faeces, we wouldn’t be here,” coordinator of the ANC youth league national task team Magasela Mzobe told journalists at the time.

'No small achievement'

Another youth league task team member, Braam Hanekom, said while the league was opposed to poo-flinging as a protest method it had led to the issue being put on the national agenda.

“While we don’t like the method used and we had condemned it, we are not naïve about the fact that what they did was no small achievement,” said Hanekom.

Mzobe said no member of the league would be taken through a disciplinary process by the national task team because of their role in the matter.

“We have engaged them and are confident that they won’t be doing that thing again. We don’t think disciplining them will resolve the problem, we think that people who should be disciplined are the authorities that are responsible for the cleaning or non-cleaning of the toilets not our members." 

– Sapa

Homeless seek shelters in icy Cape Town

Cape Town - As the temperature dropped and the rain pelted down, about 500 of Cape Town’s homeless people searched the city for shelter on Tuesday night.

Sibusiso Duna, 22, who normally sleeps on the Grand Parade, sought cover in the doorway of a shop in Bo Kaap. “The owner understands,” he explained.

During the day, he comes to St George’s Cathedral in the CBD to play the piano and pay 40c for a bowl of soup or R1 for soup and three slices of bread.

According to Wilfred Solomons-Johannes, officials have distributed 42 402 blankets, 45 090 hot meals, 22 488 brunches, 767 flood kits and 332 baby packs this winter.

The St George’s Cathedral soup kitchen has been packed with hungry, cold people. The men and women sit on the floor while Duna plays Chopsticks in the church hall.

When he was at Tamboerskloof High School a music teacher taught him to play the keyboard. He left school in Grade 10 in 2009 when his mother became sick. After she died, to pay for the funeral, he sold their house.

“I wanted to play music. I like music,” he said. “When I’m playing the piano I tell myself I will never give up.”

Duna has an aunt in Khayelitsha, but chose a life on the streets. “It’s better for me. When I stay there I (end up) joining the gangsters.”

Jessica Pietersen, 30, has also chosen a life on the streets. “This is the only place I feel comfortable,” she said on Tuesday, sitting on cardboard and under a tattered blanket in her sheltered spot tucked away on Burg Street.

Pietersen, who has been living on the streets since she was 10, steers clear of the shelters. “I’m not used to staying in places. I’m used to staying outside.”

Pietersen said security guards took their money and also warned people not to give them anything.

On a nearby lamp-post a Give Responsibly poster urges people not to promote begging. The Central City Improvement District campaign was established in 2008 as an education and awareness initiative to discourage the public from giving money to homeless people.

The Haven Night Shelter, one of the Give Responsibly partner NGOs, provided beds to more than 2 000 people on Monday night.

Hassan Khan, of the shelter, said: “Money in the hands of a homeless person maintains the vulnerable on the street, increasing their alienation and condemns them to a downward spiral of living in the shadows of our community.”

Kelvin Stoltz, Pietersen’s neighbour, goes to sleep with one eye open. Once the ex-con fell asleep clothed and woken up with nothing. “Life on the streets is tough,” he said.

- Cape Argus

Cape Town given toilet ultimatum

Cape Town - The social Justice Coalition (SJC) has given the City of Cape Town three months to firm up plans to tackle the “ongoing sanitation crisis” in its informal settlements.

But mayoral committee member for utility services Ernest Sonnenberg accused the coalition of “misinterpreting” data about its ability to deliver basic services.

“Cape Town is the leading sanitation services provider in South Africa. It is therefore ridiculous for the SJC to refer to a ‘crisis’ in this regard in the city.”

About 200 people marched to the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and the Civic Centre on Tuesday with a memorandum of demands for improved sanitation services.

The coalition called for a clear policy and plan for the city’s janitorial staff, who are supposed to monitor the cleaning of toilets, and it has given the city eight weeks in which to meet affected communities about this and a further four weeks in which to develop and implement the policy.

The coalition said it had pointed out shortcomings in the way the city implemented the janitorial service in September. The city had promised to hold a mini summit on the issue, but had not done so.

According to the SJC’s latest report, for March to May, “there has been a significant deterioration” in the janitorial service.

The SJC gave the city two weeks in which to detail its operational plan to deliver new sanitation facilities to each informal settlement. It must also clarify, with time lines, how it reviews complaints lodged against Mshengu Services and other contractors about their shoddy performance.

The SJC has also asked the human rights commission to conduct an independent investigation into the Mshengu contract and to release a report of its findings within a reasonable time.

Melanie Dugmore, provincial manager of the human rights commission, accepted and signed the memorandum. City officials accepted the memorandum from the marchers, who waved placards that stated: “We don’t throw poo, so engage with us constructively.”

In a statement issued later, Sonnenberg said that while the city respected the right of the SJC to raise its concerns, its information was inaccurate.

He said the city had plans in place to improve sanitation. Since April, it had distributed 6 000 portable flush toilets. There were plans to roll out 23 000 of these, as well as to install 1 300 full flush toilets.

Nearly R70 million had been allocated for water and sanitation in informal settlements in the next capital budget, as well as R450m for operational expenditure.

Sonnenberg acknowledged that the janitorial service “did have some teething problems at the outset”, but said these had largely been resolved. A janitorial services operational policy had been developed.

In response to the SJC’s demands and time frames, Sonnenberg said: “We would ask that they review their claims and direct their efforts to working with the city to even further improve the quality of sanitation provided in Cape Town.”

- Cape Argus

Faeces dumped at Cape airport terminal

Cape Town - Five people were arrested on Tuesday afternoon for dumping human waste in the departure terminal at Cape Town International Airport, Western Cape police said.

“Police are still on the scene to monitor the situation and will take action if (necessary),” Lt-Col Andre Traut said.

The five would appear in court once charged.

Acting airport spokeswoman Deborah Francis said the group apparently pretended to be passengers and carried plastic bags through to the domestic and international departures terminal at about 1.30pm.

“It happened literally within a few split seconds... They threw it, jumped back into the cars and sped off,” she said.

The group was then apprehended by police.

Francis said the airport was a national key point.

“The scene was handed over to the SA Police Service, and the area has been demarcated. Once they've assessed everything, there are Hazmat consultants that will clean up.”

Francis said the incident had not resulted in any operational delays, and two entrances in the terminal hall remained open.

Two weeks ago, 183 people were arrested on public violence charges at the Esplanade train station in Woodstock for carrying portable flush toilets and human waste in blue municipal bags placed in milk crates.

They apparently also sang freedom songs which included a reference to Western Cape premier Helen Zille as a dog.

The group appeared in court, was released on warning, and told to return on August 2 after further investigation.

The State was unsuccessful in its bid to block bail for former councillor and ANC Youth League member Andile Lili, and Yandani Kulati and Thembela Mbanjwa.

At the start of the month, a group of people in Khayelitsha threw human waste at a bus and cars used for transport to a green economy event hosted by Zille.

A day before that, two men dumped faeces on the steps of the Western Cape legislature in a protest about portable flush toilets (PFTs).

The men identified themselves to the Cape Argus newspaper at the time as Lili and ANC proportional councillor and youth league member Loyiso Nkohla.

The protests were linked to the apparent dissatisfaction by some communities over sanitation in informal settlements and rolling out PFTs.

ANCYL national task team co-ordinator Magasela Mzobe said the ANCYL distanced itself from faeces throwing, but not from raising poor service delivery.

“We are (telling) them that there is a better way that we can employ in raising the plight of our people without having to throw faeces all over the province,” he said.

“If they do not listen to that, we are forced then to look at the internal processes of disciplinary action.” 

- Sapa

‘Top secret’ Nkandla report: On the highway to embarrassment

News that the government’s own Nkandla Report has been classified as “Top Secret” confirms the fears that the Protection of State Information Bill will be abused to protect President Jacob Zuma and his Cabinet against exposure for corruption and maladministration. But even in terms of the existing legal rules, the classification of the Nkandla Report is legally indefensible and done in terms of a draconian and clearly unconstitutional piece of Apartheid-era legislation.

There must be very few South Africans who believe in their heart of hearts that it was morally justifiable to spend more than R200 million of public funds to upgrade the private residence of President Jacob Zuma. This while the president has three official residences where he can receive foreign guests and where he would be able to hide in the various bunkers underneath these residences if  a toyi-toyi revolution ever engulfed his presidency.

President Jacob Zuma, who usually claims to be part of a leadership collective, refuses to take collective responsibility for this corrupt spending of state funds, passing the buck to hapless cabinet ministers and officials instead. President Zuma is only collectively responsible when he has nothing to hide, it seems. And now his Minister of State Security has classified the Nkandla Report as “Top Secret” in terms of the “Minimum Information Security Standards” (MISS), a document without any legal standing, which was adopted by the Cabinet in 1996.

This document was seemingly drafted to give effect to the provisions of the Protection of Information Act of 1982, which was passed by the PW Botha regime at the height of Apartheid when his regime became increasingly paranoid about “national security” and the secret service started playing an ever-increasing shadowy role in ruling the country and turning it into a national security state.

The MISS document allows information to be classified as “Top Secret” if the information contained in it “can be used by malicious/opposing/hostile elements to neutralise the objectives and functions of institutions and/or state”. As the MISS document explains, this means information can be classified as “Top Secret”:

“when the compromise of information results in: the functions of a state and/or institution being brought to a halt by disciplinary measures, sanctions, boycotts or mass action; the severing of relations between states; and a declaration of war.”

Unless the Minister of State Security believes that South African voters will be so outraged by the content of the Nkandla Report that they will rise up against the government and try to overthrow it if they find out what is in the Report, it is clear that (even in terms of the MISS document itself) the Nkandla Report was wrongly classified as “Top Secret”. It was obviously so wrongly classified in order to hide corruption and the manner in which the president was enriched by the upgrading of his private home.

Surely, no one believes making the Report public will lead to a declaration of war, to sanctions or boycotts or the severing of relations between South Africa and a foreign state? This means the Minister of State Security has shamelessly abused his (misconstrued) powers to protect the president and the government he leads from the embarrassing details in the Nkandla Report.

But the classification may, in fact, be meaningless and anyone who gains access to the document may very well be able to publish its content without worrying too much that he or she is breaking the law. This is because a cabinet document cannot create criminal offences. Only a law, duly passed by Parliament, can create criminal offences. In a democracy the Cabinet cannot issue decrees that criminalise the behaviour of its citizens – that is only possible in autocratic states.

It is true that the draconian Apartheid-era Protection of Information Act is still on the statute books until such time as the Secrecy Bill comes into force. It is also true that this Act criminalises leaking of information to a “foreign State” or “hostile organisation” made at a prohibited place (like a military installation). It is also true that this Act prohibits anyone from receiving information relating to “the defence of the Republic, any military matter, any security matter or the prevention or combating of terrorism”.

A Security matter is defined in relation to various pieces of legislation, but the National Key Points Act is not mentioned in the legislation at all. This means that a document on the spending of more than R200 million of public funds on the upgrade of a private residence declared a National Key Point probably does not fall within the scope of this definition of a “security matter”. Given the fact that our courts will interpret such sweeping and draconian legislation as narrowly as possible, I cannot see it finding the Nkandla Report to fall within the definition of a “security matter” for the purposes of this Act.

If all Key Points fell within the ambit of what constituted “security matters”, almost all reporting on Nkandla so far would have been in contravention of the Protection of Information Act and most of us would have been prosecuted for breaching this old Apartheid law. As no one has been prosecuted, this must mean that even the spies do not believe that the Nkandla Report is covered by this section of the old Apartheid-era law.

In any case, it is clear that a law that criminalises possession of information but leaves it to the cabinet to draft guidelines on the classification of this information would never pass constitutional muster. This is because such a law would delegate plenary law making powers (in fact, the power to create criminal offences) to the Cabinet – something that is in direct conflict with the separation of powers doctrine and therefore clearly in breach of the Constitution.

This means that in as far as MISS purports to prohibit the sharing of information classified as secret or top secret, this document is clearly unconstitutional. Anyone can leak any document classified as “Top Secret” because there is actually no binding law (passed by Parliament) that sets out which documents may be classified as “Top Secret”. The MISS therefore does not create any criminal sanctions for the possession or distribution of so called “Top Secret” documents.

But wait, section 4 of the Protection of Information Act further prohibits any person from possessing any document “which has been entrusted in confidence to him by any person holding office under the government”. This means that a person who receives any classified document or any other confidential document from any person in government (no matter how corruptly classified or whether it was classified in terms of the MISS document and no matter whether there is any reason for it to be confidential) commits a criminal offence.

This prohibition is extremely broad and far-reaching and clearly infringes on the right to freedom of expression and the right to access to information enshrined in our Constitution. A further subsection states that a person who receives such information is liable for a prison sentence of up to 10 years. This means that if a government official provides me with a copy of a letter requesting the hiring of a tent for a social function and does so “in confidence” I am committing a criminal offence and can be sent to prison for 10 years.

In other words, this is a truly draconian provision in a truly draconian law. The fact that it is still on the books 19 years after the demise of the draconian Apartheid state, serves as a serious indictment of our present government and its willingness to use evil Apartheid laws to hide corruption and maladministration.

The fact that it is being invoked to protect President Zuma from exposure because he allowed the state to spend more than R200 million to upgrade his private home is just plain tacky.

In any case, it must be clear that because many of the sections in this draconian Apartheid-era piece of legislation is overbroad, it would never pass constitutional muster under the limitation clause and is therefore unconstitutional – as sure as the sun rises in the East and sets in the West.

Given the fact that the classification of the Nkandla Report cannot be backed up by legitimate criminal sanction and is based on unconstitutional Apartheid-era legislation, I will not be surprised if the Report is leaked to the media and published by somebody in the media. If I were a potential leaker I would wait until about two weeks before the next election until I put this Report in the public domain to ensure maximum embarrassment to those who are abusing this draconian law to avoid accountability. If I were the Minister of State Security I would rather declassify the document immediately and publish it in order to prevent severe embarrassment to President Zuma and his government shortly before the election.

Just some friendly advice. DM

Couple killed in shack blaze

Cape Town - A fire at Site B in Khayelitsha in the early hours of Sunday morning left two people dead. Their bodies, found inside their shack, were burnt beyond recognition, said police.

The deceased were identified by their neighbour as Bongolwethu Nohashe, 31, and his girlfriend Sipokazi Ndamase, 25, both from the Eastern Cape.

The couple moved into the shack they were renting in April.

Both worked as security guards at the airport.

“I think they died because they inhaled smoke. They were sleeping,” said Tumi Bonga, who rented the shack to the couple.

“Around 4am, my son said that the house in front of ours was on fire. We tried to kick the door open. We couldn’t. The house was already in flames,” she added.

Bonga, 44, and her two children live directly across from the shack where the fire began.

Nosipho Nohashe, Bongolwethu’s youngest sister, described her brother as being very kind. She had last seen him a week ago.

When neighbour Nocawe Nkohla, 43, woke up, she heard someone crying out in the shack next door. Then she saw the fire.

“The people were still alive. They burnt there while we were watching,” said Nkohla.

Her son, a student at UCT who did not want to be named, said all his clothes and textbooks were burnt.

Provincial police spokesman Colonel Tembinkosi Kinana said the cause of the fire was not yet established.

The police were investigating a case of arson, and no arrests had been made.

- Cadet News Agency - Cape Argus

Wallacedene foreign nationals still in limbo

Cape Town - Foreign nationals who fled Wallacedene after their shops were looted have not yet moved back.

Last week, angry Wallacedene residents took to the streets in protest over housing issues and some, described as “opportunistic”, took their anger out on public property and foreign nationals living in the area.

On Wednesday, about 1 000 residents looted Somali and Chinese shops.

The protest is believed to have been fuelled after about 50 illegal structures were removed from the area by city law enforcement officers.

On Sunday, Mohamed Aden of the Somali Association of SA said most of the foreign nationals were still seeking refuge at the nearby police station and were too afraid to go back.

“We had a meeting on Friday and the police advised the Somali’s not to go back until Saturday but they have not yet gone back.”

He said they were waiting for the land issue with the locals to be resolved before they moved back.

“It is not easy for them to return after their shops were looted.

“No shops have been opened and most of the property is still damaged.”

Many foreign nationals – including Zimbabweans, Congolese and Somalians – spent their weekend on a patch of grass in front of the Kraaifontein police station.

A Somali, who asked not to be named, said he was staying at a friend’s home in Brackenfell and would wait for the situation to return to normal before going back.

“Some are still at the police station and some are with friends around the area but no one has moved back.”

He said they would meet on Tuesday to decide what their next moved would be.

He said they would meet where there was a police presence.

“It won’t be a matter of moving back quickly, it is not easy, people were hurt by this.”

- Cape Argus

District Six squatters’ issue new threat

Cape Town - A handful of the people who had illegally occupied a block of flats in District Six 10 days ago were back there on Sunday with fresh plans to occupy more land in the area.

This follows last week’s decision by Western Cape High Court Judge Robert Henney who ruled that all the illegal occupiers should leave the flats except for one family who had two minor children. The Rural Development and Land Reform department and the trustees of the District Six Beneficiary and Redevelopment Trust, approached the court to have the squatters evicted.

Galiema Stoffels, Riedewaan and Isa Isaacs and two minor children (who were not named in the court papers) have been allowed to remain in Flat 12A until the group’s next court appearance on July 9.

But on Sunday afternoon, when the Cape Argus visited the block of flats, the flat stood empty and security guards said the family had left.

Tania Kleinhans, co-founder of the Institute for the Restoration of the Aborigine of South Africa and one of the occupiers who vacated the flats on Friday, explained that the family was not in the flat because they had taken Stoffels to see a doctor.

“Galiema (Stoffels) is stressed and traumatised. They were given strict orders about who can visit – basically they are living under quarantine because the order was not specific. Galiema has not been sleeping and her son-in-law took her to a doctor.”

Kleinhans said although there were only 11 flats listed in the court order, the group had actually occupied about 20 flats and that some of their posters and clothes were still in the flats.

She said they were still in the area living with friends while they were making contingency plans.

“We are occupying more land tomorrow,” she said pointing to an open piece of land next to the flats.

Members of the Concerned Ex-residents of District Six also joined Kleinhans and her group outside the block of flats on Sunday.

Yusuf Samuels explained that they represented 860 Lentegeur residents who were also forcibly removed from District Six during apartheid. Samuels said his old house in District Six was still standing and he had been trying to get it back since the 1980s.

“Up until today, we are on the outside. The trust is not playing its part because they are keeping us in the dark.” Samuels said it would be better if the trust was dismantled because “they are of no benefit to us.”

Anwah Nagia, District Six Beneficiary and Redevelopment Trust chairman said on Sunday that the family in Flat 12A would only be allowed to stay there until alternative accommodation was found for them in Blikkiesdorp.

With regards to criticism from Lentegeur residents, Nagia said: “We are not unduly concerned about people who do not like us. We help everybody. Some people will like us and some will hate us.”

- Cape Argus

Cape Town (NON-Secret) shacks shock Zuma

President Jacob "Top Secret House"

Zuma told shack dwellers near Cape Town he was shocked to see the conditions in which Democratic Alliance rule had left them.

"When the DA speaks in Parliament they say things have improved," Zuma told a crowd of a few hundred people in Imizamo Yethu in Hout Bay.

"I came to see for myself, and I have been shocked to see my people live in these conditions."

The president went from door to door, talking to residents at length, and repeated the exercise in the nearby fishing community of Hangklip.

Media were crowded out of homes he visited by a massive security contingent.

But staff reported that Zuma commiserated with neighbours of a woman who died days ago when her dwelling caught fire. He asked another why the DA was in power there.

She retorted that she had voted for the ANC, and invited him to check on that.

An unemployed, but qualified nanny, Pumla, said she planned to vote for the ANC next year, and had come to see Zuma because his visit had brought some hope.

"It's just promises probably, but even if the promise is empty you still want that hope," she said.

ANC spokesman Keith Khoza said the visit was part of the president's grassroots campaign for the 2014 elections, now 10 months away.

- timeslive

Women in portaloo sit-in on city steps

Cape Town - In the latest incident in the sanitation protests, police blocked demonstrators carrying portable toilets and a bag of faeces at Cape Town Central train station on Thursday.

A short while later, a group made up mostly of women gathered at the steps of the provincial legislature in Wale Street to hand over a memorandum charging Premier Helen Zille with “genocidal neglect” and protesting against sanitation issues.

Provincial police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel André Traut said police had responded to “a potential protest situation” when people were seen carrying bags of faeces on a train.

“The crowd was blocked and prevented entry to the CBD,” Traut said.

He said that containers were also confiscated and the situation was defused.

No arrests were made and police could not confirm how many containers had been confiscated.

Meanwhile, at the legislature, the group of women placed a clean portable toilet on the steps leading to the building’s entrance.

The women took turns sitting on it.

Khayelitsha resident Nolizwi Ngcana read out the memorandum. “The refusal of the Zille government to take immediate and urgent steps to provide the people living in informal areas, decent, safe and sanitary toilets can only be described as abject genocidal neglect.”

It referred to hygiene problems caused by pollution and raw sewage and e.coli bacteria arising from poor sanitation.

“To add insult to injury, the municipality has resorted to gimmicks of handing out so-called portable flush toilets which add more humiliation for the users as family members have to relieve themselves in front of siblings, parents, grandparents,” the memorandum stated.

Ngcana said the portable toilets were a disgrace.

Vuyokazi Ncinane, from Khayelitsha, said Zille was “disrespecting the ladies” and said she came to the protest to warn Zille that if she did not respond within seven days they would be back to make a mess at the legislature.

The women were escorted by police and law enforcement vehicles as they marched down Adderley Street toward the train station.

Wayne Naidoo, from the premier’s office, collected the memorandum.

Brett Herron, the acting mayoral committee member for utility services, said portable flush toilets were an additional sanitation service offered to communities still using a bucket system and a “dignified, safe and hygienic sanitation provision”.

- Cape Argus

Foreigners flee in fear

Cape Town - Wallacedene was calmer on Thursday night, but fearful foreign nationals still felt unsafe and resorted to spending the night outside the police station in Kraaifontein, after estimates that more than 200 Somali-owned shops had been looted, and many set alight.

Foreigners said they were threatened with violence by “the Xhosas” in Wallacedene and thought it would be better to take their belongings and sleep outside the police station.

Protests broke out in the area after residents claimed there was corruption with the allocation of RDP houses. They alleged the houses were sold to people from other areas.

At a burnt-out container that was used as a Somali shop some residents rummaged through the rubble in hopes of finding food products that were left after the inferno. Others used grinders and spades to cut up pieces of the container to sell for scrap.

One woman, who was waiting for her boyfriend to bring a trolley to take their loot home, said they were poor and the “free” goods would help them.

“I wasn’t here when the fire started but I got a lot of stuff like I got some rice, Surf and beans.”

Somalis seeking a safe haven camped opposite the Kraaifontein police station. Picture: David Ritchie

Independent Newspapers

She said she would share the goods with the rest of her family.

Michelle Daniels’s thoughts differed. She said the looting was wrong and that this was not about the housing issues anymore.

“They were striking for houses and now they are robbing the shops. It was very wrong what happened here. It was wrong to burn down the shops, I feel for these (Somali) people.”

Despite thinking the looting was wrong, she admitted taking a bag of rice and beans.

A resident in Bloekombos, a few blocks from Wallacedene, said she rented out a room in her house to Somali shopkeepers and was trying to protect the fridges and other valuables left behind.

“It was mostly youngsters that were involved in the looting and the Somalis came back a few days ago and I haven’t seen them since.”

Police spokesman Colonel Andre Traut said the looting was the result of criminals using the volatile situation as an opportunity to carry out criminal acts.

He said 55 people had been arrested on charges of public violence and were due to appear in the Kuils River Magistrates Court on Monday.

“Provincial commissioner of the Western Cape Police Lieutenant-General Arno Lamoer met with community leaders and representatives from Somali-owned businesses and addressed their concerns. Lieutenant-General Lamoer strongly condemned the violence and assured the community that it will not be tolerated.”

There was a heavy police presence in the area and Traut said police would remain there to monitor the situation. Earlier, police described the situation in Wallacedene as being “under control”.

However, looters remained busy on Thursday afternoon. With little left to steal, they resorted to stripping metal and other scrap from containers that had housed shops.

Protests over alleged corruption in the handing over of RDP houses spilled over into xenophobic violence and looting on Wednesday.

Braam Hanekom, director of refugee rights NGO People Against Suffering, Oppression and Poverty, said between 10 and 20 Zimbabweans had been displaced from the RDP houses they were renting by angry residents on Tuesday.

The protesters contend that the houses should have been made available to registered beneficiaries.

Mohammed Aden Osman, co-ordinator for the Somali community in the Western Cape, estimated that more than 200 Somali shops had been looted since the protest was hijacked by “opportunistic criminals”.

While authorities could not confirm this number, every shop the Cape Argus came across in the area had been looted, with many of them set alight.

At the meeting between Lamoer, Osman and Wallacedene community leaders at the station on Thursday, discussion centred on the community’s housing grievances and police protection for Somalis.

Yet, despite police assurances, running battles between police and hundreds of residents on the streets of Wallacedene continued yesterday afternoon.

Residents pelted a police nyala with stones and stripped what remained of the Somali shops of anything that could be sold for scrap.

The embers of fires were still burning in shops that had been torched during the night as residents, often consisting of groups of young children, sifted through the debris.

Hammers and crowbars were used to pry scrap loose - the last of the merchandise had been carried away during the course of Wednesday night.

Rumours that the private residences of Zimbabweans would become the next target led to panic.

Early on Thursday, a group of Zimbabwean men - one armed with an axe and the others carrying knives - inspected a looted and ruined television repair shop owned by one of them.

They said they were were willing to protect their homes by force if the rumours turned out to be true.

Later, the Cape Argus witnessed a number of bakkies transporting loads of furniture out of the area. It could not be confirmed whether these were possessions owned by foreigners.

Linda Masuka, one of a group of Zimbabwean women outside the police station, told the Cape Argus she would not return home while uncertainty over the community’s attitude towards Zimbabweans remained.

Hanekom, however, dispelled the fears as alarmist and maintained that the Zimbabwean community remained largely “integrated” in Wallacedene. He advised them to stay put.

Ali Ahmed, who is living through his third bout of xenophobic violence in Wallacedene since arriving in 2005, said he and most of the other shopkeepers had bunked up with their countrymen in Bellville and Brackenfell on Wednesday night.

- Cape Argus

Nkandla upgrade report is ‘top secret’

The report on the R206 million security upgrade to President Jacob Zuma’s private home at Nkandla has been classified “top secret”.

Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi told Parliament this week that State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele had classified the report, drawn up by a presidential task team, in terms of the Minimum Information Security Standards.

This means not even Auditor-General Terence Nombembe or Public Protector Thuli Madonsela will be able to lay their hands on the report.

The creation of the “top secret” classification was approved by the cabinet in December 1996 as part of the government’s information security policy document.

The policy offers guidelines which must be observed by all government institutions which handle “sensitive and classified” material.

In a letter to National Assembly Speaker Max Sisulu, dated June 19, Nxesi said he would submit the report - on Cwele’s behalf - to the chairman of the joint standing committee on intelligence, Cecil Burgess.

“The report on the security upgrades at Nkandla has been classified as ‘top secret’ in terms of the Minimum Information Security Standards, rendering it exempt from disclosure, and its classification can only be adjusted by the task team itself.”

Nxesi said the minister had been unable to provide the auditor-general and the public protector with copies of the report “owing to its classification as ‘top secret’” but was “attending to the challenge that it presented”. On Thursday night, it was unclear what, if anything, the two state institutions would do to get a copy of the report.

After getting legal opinion, Sisulu said he would allow the Nkandla report to be considered behind closed doors by the intelligence committee only.

On Thursday night, advocate Paul Hoffman of the Institute for Accountability in Southern Africa said he did not believe Cwele’s actions could be deemed legal.

“Any action, taken on the part of a minister, in classifying documents has to be rationally carried out in accordance with the tenets of the law. Cwele’s actions could be described as irrational and part of a cover-up,” he said.

“A decision could be taken to review his actions and test them in the courts.”

DA parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko said the Minimum Information Security Standards had been created by the cabinet, but “never passed through Parliament and as such cannot be considered law”.

“This confirms the DA’s position that the report has not been ‘classified’ in terms of law and that the referral of the report to the joint standing committee of intelligence is invalid,” said Mazibuko.

She said given this “invalid classification”, the DA would table a motion in the joint standing committee of intelligence for the report to be sent back to Nxesi.

“The minister must thereafter submit to Parliament a redacted report, which must be made public before the relevant, open portfolio committees. The minister must also submit copies of the report to the public protector and the auditor-general, which he has admitted have not been given a copy because of the ‘top secret’ status of the report,” said Mazibuko.

The DA would also submit parliamentary questions to ascertain whether the Department of State Security had “intervened to conceal this report”, or whether Nxesi “voluntarily” sent the report to Cwele’s department, she said.

- Political Bureau

Gordhan: SA needs to know about Nkandla spending

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan says he hopes the details of the spending on Jacob Zuma's Nkandla homestead in Kwazulu-Natal will be released to the public soon.

A report on spending on Nkandla is currently being considered in Parliament, albeit behind closed doors, following an investigation by the Department of Public Works and other government agencies.

It comes after more than R200 million of taxpayers’ money was spent on renovations at the KwaZulu-Natal homestead.

Speaking to Talk Radio 702's John Robbie on Thursday morning, Gordhan said there are three crucial questions which need to be answered.

“There are further investigative processes and from a government point of view we want to know who overcharged, to what extent and how do we recover the money. I hope my colleagues can give those facts to the public soon.”

Gordhan also spoke about the country's troubles in the mining sector.

He said while government would continue to consult role players in the mining industry it was important to assure investors that the country's economy was not in turmoil.

Gordhan is part of a government intervention led by Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe to stabilise the industry and crackdown on union violence.

The minister said they've made progress in getting unions and mining houses to start discussions.

He added that police, private security companies and trade unions had to ensure a peace and stability accord was implemented.

“At the end of the day we all lose if this is the picture that the world constantly gets of South Africa. We might think we’re having robust debates and criticising each other but people sitting 10,000 kilometres away are asking questions about the kind of country South Africa is," Gordhan remarked.

- EWN

‘No human should live in such conditions’

Cape Town - Some residents of Wallacedene’s temporary relocation area have taken to sending their children to live with relatives elsewhere to protect them from infections related to their poor living conditions.

The residents joined protesters in Kraaifontein who this week set tyres alight and uprooted trees in support of their call for houses.

They said that apart from the housing issue, their deteriorating health was their other big concern.

Diarrhoea among children and respiratory infections including tuberculosis, asthma, pneumonia and bronchitis were just some of the diseases that had become common in the informal settlement.

During the Cape Argus’s visit to the area on Wednesday, the air was filled with the stench of uncollected refuse and stagnant water.

While some children played in the mud outside their homes, adults dug trenches next to their shacks to channel the water.

Nomfaneleko Tshota says her child has been diagnosed with respiratory infection. Picture: Cindy Waxa

Cape Argus

Christo Jantjies sent his eight-year-old daughter to live with his mother after bouts of infections.

Jantjies, whose wife is due to have another baby in the next two months, said his living conditions were so poor “that I’m still confused as to whether or not to send my newborn away to stay with my mother in Kraaifontein”.

Since the start of winter his two-roomed shack has been swamped with water, which springs up from underground, especially after rains.

“It is so damp here that even making a fire doesn’t seem to make any difference these days. People get ill from all sorts of chest infections. I’ve sent my daughter away to my mother. It hurts me that I can’t stay with her, but rather that, as no child can live in such conditions,” he said.

Nomfaneleko Tshota said she had spent the past few weeks in Tygerberg Hospital after her four-month-old son, Iviwe, born with a congenital heart condition, contracted a respiratory infection that led to pneumonia.

“Doctors said the poor living conditions in this area might have led to the infection. His immune system is still weak due to his medical condition so anything unclean makes him sick,” she said.

Provincial Department of Health spokeswoman Faiza Steyn confirmed that Iviwe was in Tygerberg hospital with a heart condition.

“Due to the heart lesion, baby Iviwe is very susceptible to developing pneumonia, irrespective of the living conditions,” she said.

Tshota said she had also sent her daughter, Amahle, to her parents in Mbekweni to “keep her away from the filth”.

She claimed that her husband, Xolani Valencia, had contracted TB twice. “We don’t know how he got TB, but the mould around us had certainly contributed to his condition.”

Tshota said she also took part in the protest this week to express her frustration about not having a house.

“Our wish is to be moved from this area as it is a wetland. We want to live in a land where we don’t have water seeping through the floor. No human being should be living in such conditions,” she said.

Christjan van Rooyen, who also sent his child away to live with his sister in Bloekombos, said he was worried about his elderly mother, Annie van Rooyen, who had to live in squalor. She had suffered a stroke twice.

“Imagine what this dampness is doing to her health, year in and out. I worry that she might contract TB because of the mould that we have both in winter and summer,” he said.

The mayoral committee member on Health, Lungiswa James, said: “The City of Cape Town takes the concerns of residents in the area very seriously and will investigate the situation as a matter of urgency.”

- Cape Argus

Tears and anger over District Six invasion

Cape Town - As the illegal District Six housing occupation entered its fifth day on Wednesday, the street outside the complex where about 50 people have taken over seven flats became a site of heated debate and emotion for apartheid evictees from the area.

The group occupied vacant flats in Aspelling Street on Saturday.

On Monday, the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform and the District Six Beneficiary and Redevelopment Trust secured an interim high court order for the occupiers to leave, but the order has not been enforced.

The matter is set to be brought before the high court again on Thursday.

Pensioners from Cape Flats neighbourhoods, many who identified themselves as beneficiaries registered with the trust, gathered in Aspelling Street to debate the occupation.

Some beneficiaries jeered the occupiers, calling them “queue jumpers” and “scoundrels”. Others pledged solidarity with them, and vowed to join them amid complaints of a botched handover process.

Some of the units being occupied have been finished, yet unoccupied, since 2011.

“Fifteen years of being told to wait, to fill out forms, to attend meetings, and then more forms. If they occupy these flats, we should join them. Because we are fed up,” said Yasmiena Ismail, 55.

Also coming out in support of the occupiers was Daphne Lambert-Moses, 72, who said that she had been evicted three times under apartheid – from Sea Point, Mowbray and District Six. Her family had owned three properties in District Six, she said.

A stand-off with security saw her being blocked at the housing development’s gates as she vowed to take a group of people in to join the occupation.

After an emotional outburst about the indignity and injustice that her family suffered at the hands of the apartheid state, she broke down and wept uncontrollably.

Other former District Six inhabitants, Ismail’s friends, had an opposing view. Zubeida Fortuin, 62, called the occupiers illegitimate and branded them queue jumpers.

Tania Kleinhans, the occupiers’ representative and co-founder of the Institute for the Restoration of the Aborigines of SA (Irasa), complained that some of the observers had accused the Khoisan of having no legitimate claim to land in District Six.

The invaders justify their claim to the units by citing their ancestry from the Cape’s first Khoisan inhabitants.

These “aboriginal rights to land” underpin a notice of motion issued by Kleinhans and will likely be key in the occupiers’ high court argument against eviction.

Kleinhans has employed the assistance of Legal Aid, which is expected to ask for a postponement in court on Thursday. Kleinhans said international aboriginal rights lawyers were also being petitioned to assist the occupiers.

- Cape Argus