Cape mayor tackles HRC racist label

Cape Town - Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille says she is to file complaints against municipalities that have “bigger” sanitation problems than Cape Town’s, in the light of the SA Human Rights Commission (HRC) report that says the city’s sanitation arrangements violate the dignity of people living in shacks.

“If we are found to be racist and violating the dignity of people, then the other metros should also be judged on the same rule,” she told the council at its meeting on Wednesday.

In its report, released this month, the HRC said the city violated the human rights of people in informal settlements - particularly black Africans who made up most of this population - by “unreasonably” providing chemical toilets as a long-term measure.

The HRC said it had found the city was also unreasonable in applying emergency housing programme guidelines in situations that were not urgent, while following a fixed approach in determining sanitation needs.

De Lille said the HRC had been deployed to weigh in on Cape Town - “and Cape Town alone”.

“We have 45 days to respond to the HRC, but we will take it further. We will lay the same complaints in municipalities who face the same problem. If we are being rated the racist city, then all the other big metros should be labelled racist.”

The eThekwini municipality provided chemical toilets for hostels, De Lille said.

“Johannesburg pays R19 million a month for (chemical toilets) in informal settlements. Every major event uses chemical toilets, while Buffalo City and Nelson Mandela Bay have 23 000 bucket toilets. Are all of these cities inherently racist?”

The city had provided 44 500 chemical toilets this year in an effort to increase services.

“These realities, ignored by the HRC, can only mean one of two things. The HRC does not understand the realities of government in South Africa or it chooses to ignore these to make political points. It is true that the city is under attack from the ANC and its cohorts.”

De Lille took swipes at the ANC and the ministerial inquiry into the Lwandle evictions. She said inquiry chairman Denzil Potgieter, an advocate, was being paid R20 000 a day and the five inquiry members, all of them former MPs, R2 500 a day.

Inquiry spokesman Vusi Tshose referred all queries to Minister of Human Settlements Lindiwe Sisulu’s spokesman, Ndivuyho Mabaya, who could not be reached.

ANC chief whip Xolani Sotashe said: “The city is being mismanaged by the mayor. Her administration’s underspending is a clear ill-performance indicator.”

De Lille rejected the comments.

jason.felix@inl.co.za

- Cape Times

‘No peace until we get proper housing’

Cape Town - Expelled City of Cape Town councillors have told the mayor that Mowbray Golf Course, Rondebosch Common, disused military land at Youngsfield and Wingfield and land in Goodwood could be used for housing for the poor.

Former councillor Andile Lili warned mayor Patricia de Lille there would be no peace in Cape Town until the living conditions of the poor were improved.

Wednesday’s meeting between De Lille, Housing MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela, the Concerned Citizens’ Group, the new civic organisation Ses’khona and residents of various informal settlements such as Kanana, Barcelona, Dunoon, Macassar, Kosovo and Delft, quickly turned into a stand-off as tempers flared and voices were raised.

“We want land for proper housing. We want dignity for all. Until then, there will be no peace,” Lili said. “We are not interested in politics any more. We will mobilise at least a million people. If you are not careful you will see the anger of the poor.”

After her initial calls for consultation in “good faith” turned into “grandstanding”, De Lille said: “I am always ready to fight. I am not afraid of anyone. I will not deny you your right to protest because I fought for that right.”

Former ANC councillor Loyiso Nkohla, who was recently expelled from the city for his involvement in the poo protests last year, fired the last salvo: “We are (more) prepared than her to fight. We will meet fire with fire.”

Madikizela was told by community members to sit when he tried to correct allegations that had been made against him regarding provincial housing delivery. Residents walked out of the meeting after De Lille told them to “stop their nonsense”.

There was also vocal disappointment that Western Cape Premier Helen Zille was not present at the meeting, which was held shortly before the ANC’s march to the provincial legislature.

Both Lili and Nkohla were involved in last year’s housing protest march that ended in chaos when a breakaway group looted stalls in the city centre.

The former councillors said they had identified 32 tracts of land that could be used for housing. These included Mowbray Golf Course – when its lease expires next month – Rondebosch Common, land in Goodwood, and Youngsfield and Wingfield.

Lili and Nkohla refused to let city officials show a presentation on the city’s human settlements programme.

“We can no longer be locked in engagements and in boardrooms. We will fight until the people listen,” said Nkohla.

Lili added: “Let’s not talk about what government has done, but about what the people want.”

De Lille said: “I would like to place on record that the city is taking part in today’s engagement without prejudice, as the city is still pursuing legal action against some individuals present here today.”

Arms deal activist Terry Crawford-Browne, representing the Concerned Citizens’ Group, said the city’s informal settlements were a “blight and a disgrace”.

“We are sitting on a social time bomb, and we know it as we have been sitting on it for 20 years.”

Crawford-Browne said it was likely that President Jacob Zuma would announce during his State of the Nation speech that military land at Youngsfield and Wingfield would be transferred to the city for housing.

While the R100 billion needed to provide 250 000 social housing units was beyond the city’s capacity, this could be done with funding from the national government.

Madikizela admitted that there were people who did not qualify for free houses or housing subsidies because of their monthly income, but who could not afford a bond from a bank. “The reality is that there are people who are not accommodated by the current housing policy.”

He said the province was grappling with a R26bn backlog in infrastructure. “So we might have the land but if we don’t have money to ensure that people can flush their toilet, we will still have problems.”

Lili said they had applied for permission for a housing march next month, and would take their fight to court if necessary.

- Cape Argus

Zille to meet top group on protests

Cape Town - Premier Helen Zille and Mayor Patricia de Lille are to meet on Friday some prominent Capetonians, such as Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, who issued a hard-hitting statement about the recent protests, to address their concerns.

Last week, the group of 86 slammed attempts by “a group of political activists” to “promote a climate of hate” through violent protests.

But they also warned that the delivery of services to the poor in the Western Cape and the rest of the country was inadequate and that it was understandable people were frustrated and angry.

The group said constructive engagement on the best way forward was possible without resorting to violence and fomenting hate and disrespect.

They also made suggestions about what local and provincial government could do.

They suggested that the city and province:

* Improve procurement processes so that service delivery would not be delayed by many years.

* Request more funding from the National Treasury for housing and sanitation.

* Lobby the national Department of Public Works to release land in Youngsfield and Wingfield for housing.

* Redesign municipal and provincial budgets so that sanitation and other services in poor areas be improved and services in affluent suburbs be reduced until poorer areas were better serviced.

The city would not respond yesterday to these suggestions.

However, Solly Malatsi, spokesman for De Lille, said the mayor and premier were scheduled to meet the group this Friday.

Human Settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela’s spokesman, Bruce Oom, said funding for housing was a set amount received from the national department.

In the current financial year, provincial Human Settlements received R1.92 billion for housing.

It had applied for an additional R300 million in 2011/12 to address the informal settlements on the N2, but this had not been approved.

In this financial year, it requested an additional R56m and the indication was that the request would be considered favourably.

zara.nicholson@inl.co.za

- Cape Times

Human Settlements Shifts Goal Posts for Sanitation Backlog Deadline, Again

The deadline for the eradication of South Africa's sanitation backlog, has been postponed by another two years to 2016.

This was revealed by the department's Deputy Director General during this week's Human Settlements portfolio committee meeting.

This is the second time this deadline has been postponed and a let-down of the over 2 million households in South Africa in desperate need of ablution facilities. Sadly, residents in provinces such as the North West continue to bear the brunt of the backlog. Recent surveys suggest that only 1% of informal settlements in the North West have access to proper sanitation.

According to previous reports and presentations by the Auditor-General and Financial and Fiscal Commission, the failure to eradicate the sanitation backlog is largely due to poor planning and under-spending.

Drastic action is needed to spur the Department of Human Settlements into action.

The DA will write to the Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela, requesting that she specifically investigate the poor planning and under-spending by the National Human Settlements Department as a contributing factor to its failure to eradicate South Africa's sanitation backlog.

In terms of section 4 of the Public Protector Act, the Public Protector may investigate any maladministration in connection with the affairs of government.

We will also request that Human Settlements Minister, Connie September appear in Parliament to:

- Present the full report on the progress and findings of the Winnie Madikizela-Mandela-led sanitation task team established in September 2011 that her predecessor, Tokyo Sexwale, failed to; and

- Outline steps her department is taking to implement their recommendations.

In the DA-led Western Cape, 99.1% of households have access to piped water and 96.9% have access to toilet facilities according to census data. Furthermore, we have committed to ensuring that everyone in the Western Cape has access to basic services, according to the national minimum standards, by 2014 and are on track to meet this commitment.

We have proved that improved delivery and reduction rates are possible through proper planning and spending, and will do so in all provinces where the DA is elected to government.

The DA will do everything it can to ensure that the Minister and her Department are held accountable and that she delivers on their mandate, like we have in the Western Cape.

- AllAfrica

‘No action despite bad toilet audit’

Cape Town - THE Social Justice Coalition says the city is yet to take action five months after its audit showed some chemical toilets were “missing” and that a toilet contractor was failing to provide a proper service.

The coalition is also upset that Mshengu Toilet Hire’s three-year contract has been extended for another six months despite alarming findings which showed it was failing in its obligations. The contract expired in June.

The city is denying the findings of the social audit.

At a meeting in April Khayelitsha residents highlighted the dismal state of chemical toilets, which they said had not been maintained and cleaned properly by the city’s contractor, Mshengu Services. At the time mayor Patricia de Lille acknowledged that the city needed to improve the monitoring of the service.

The social audit released in the same month, conducted by the SJC with assistance from the International Budget Partnership in Washington and the Society for Social Audit in India, found that Mshengu was failing to maintain some toilets in four sections in Khayelitsha.

“It is problematic that the city has rolled over the contract for Mshengu,” SJC deputy general secretary Dustin Kramer said.

“We haven’t really seen any remedial actions from them.”

Kramer said the city had conducted its own “mini audit” but had delivered new toilets to “discredit the social audit”.

Among its findings the audit revealed that of the 346 toilets supplied, 256 were found and 170 were damaged. Instead of five families a toilet (the city’s norm), on average 17 families used each toilet.

Kramer said they would only take a decision on the matter once the Human Rights Commission had completed its report on the Mshengu contract.

Mayco member for utility services Ernest Sonnenberg said the Mshengu contract had been extended for six months in line with Supply Chain Management policy until a new tender was awarded.

He said the city was in the process of finalising the details for a new tender.

Sonnenberg said contrary to the report stating that toilets were missing, they had been relocated due to fluctuating needs of the community or were undergoing repairs.

When the city conducted a follow-up audit, it found that some toilets were undergoing repairs after being vandalised.

xolani.koyana@inl.co.za

- Cape Times

‘Poo’ leaders demand land and housing

Cape Town - Hundreds of residents, including the so-called poo protesters, from Cape Town’s informal settlements marched to the provincial legislature on Monday demanding land and housing.

Andile Lili and Loyiso Nkohla, who co-ordinated the recent “faeces protests” in Cape Town, were at the helm of the protest.

In a memorandum to Western Cape Premier Helen Zille - received by Bonginkosi Madikizela, the province’s MEC for Human Settlements - the marchers accused the DA-led provincial government of having “remained indifferent to the plight of thousands of informal settlement dwellers who are in desperate need of housing”.

The document claimed that government-owned land had been mismanaged. Lili said that such land should be reserved for housing to accommodate people from far-flung informal settlements where flooding, shack fires and poor sanitation was the norm.

He said the sanitation protests had been suspended, and the issue of land and housing would form the basis of future protests. Lili said he would no longer support illegal means of protests, such as faeces dumping and blocking the N2 highway.

Khayelitsha Site C resident, Vuyokazi Ncinane, however said poor sanitation was the main reason for her supporting Monday’s march.

Shack dwellers marched to the provincial legislature, demanding that the Western Cape government provide land and housing. Photo: Jason Boud

Cape Argus

“It is school holidays and my children are playing right next to portable toilets that have not been cleaned for some time. It is a real health hazard. That is my biggest concern,” she said.

Madikizela acknowledged that some of the marchers had legitimate concerns and he promised their complaints would receive his attention.

“But, we must separate the political element in this march from the real issues,” he said, referring to the fact that many protesters were wearing the attire of political parties - the ANC, the PAC and the EFF.

This, he said, was proof that the march was being used to electioneer ahead of general elections next year, especially for the ANC.

“The memorandum is vague. I have asked the leaders to provide me with a list of grounds owned by the local and provincial government. From here I will engage with them to discuss what the status and future plans for these tracts of land are.”

Zackie Achmat, an activist with the Social Justice Coalition, attended the march.

daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za

- Cape Argus

Nine in the dock after poo protests

Cape Town - Nine men who allegedly dumped human waste at Cape Town International Airport appeared in the Bellville Magistrate's Court on Monday.

The men, all out on bail, were told their case had been transferred to the Bellville Regional Court.

They would return to court on October 23.

The men are Loyiso Nkohla, Andile Lili, Yanga Mjingwana, Ben Dyani, Jaji Diniso, Bongile Zanazo, Thembela Mbanjwa, Bantubakhe Mqobodiya, and Wandisile Mkapa.

They allegedly dumped 10 buckets of faeces at the airport's departures terminal on June 25. They are charged under the Civil Aviation Act, and face up to 30 years in prison if found guilty.

Nkohla is an ANC councillor and Lili is a former councillor. They were out on a warning for a similar offence at a Cape Town train station at the time of their arrest. Seven of the men were initially denied bail, but were later released following an application in the Western Cape High Court.

They were ordered not to convene or attend a protest without authorisation, to refrain from threatening, intimidating, or interfering with members of the public, and to not damage public property.

Nkohla, Diniso, Mbanjwa, Mjingwana, and Zanazo recently had their ANC membership temporarily suspended pending a disciplinary hearing outcome, related to sanitation protests in the province.

“This is the result of continuous defiance of the organisational instruction to desist from engaging in activities that bring the African National Congress into disrepute,” provincial secretary Songezo Mjongile said at the time.

Lili was expelled as a councillor in March after being found guilty of taking part in the illegal demolition of houses and for making derogatory comments to Khayelitsha residents.

The ANC suspended him for bringing the party into disrepute.

He is challenging the expulsion in the Western Cape High Court.

Nkohla was given a three-year suspended sentence last year for disrupting President Jacob Zuma's centenary speech at the Good Hope Centre.

Cape Town has been hit by a number of human waste dumping incidents in the past few months by people protesting about sanitation in informal settlements.

Many believed the portable flush toilets (PFTs) being rolled out by the city were no better than the bucket system. - Sapa

Activists question toilet policy document

Cape Town - The Social Justice Coalition (SJC) and the City of Cape Town are engaged in a war of words over sanitation provision in Khayelitsha.

On Thursday, the SJC accused mayor Patricia de Lille of fabrication and “an exceptional show of force” after the arrest of 21 activists outside the Civic Centre on Wednesday.

Mayoral committee member for utility services Ernest Sonnenberg said the SJC was using the sanitation problems for “self-serving publicity”.

The city and the SJC have been at loggerheads over the provision of sanitation in informal settlements and about the way the city has monitored companies contracted to supply and clean chemical toilets.

On Wednesday, SJC activists, including general secretary Phumeza Mlungwana and Ndifuna Ukwazi director Zackie Achmat, chained themselves to railings outside the Civic Centre.

They were arrested and charged under the Illegal Gatherings Act and are to appear in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on September 18.

De Lille described the protest as a “publicity stunt” that “smacks of grandstanding”. She said the coalition had not responded to an offer to meet on October 8 or 17.

But the SJC said: “These are outright fabrications. The mayor only proposed these dates after the SJC’s lawyers, the Legal Resources Centre, sent two letters and it was clear that the SJC would be taking legal action against the city.”

The coalition again accused the city of being lax in its monitoring of toilet contractors and said it would continue to protest in spite of the arrests.

Mlungwana said the SJC had tried to set up an earlier date with De Lille as the sanitation problem in Khayelitsha was an “urgent” matter.

In June, it asked the city to provide a policy on sanitation and a plan to fix the problem in Khayelitsha, which the city had done.

“We had a lot of questions about the document. It didn’t say who was responsible for what and when they should be doing it. This is an urgent issue and we want the mayor to give answers,” Mlungwana said. In the policy document there was no indication of public consultation.

Achmat said the SJC wanted the city to provide a breakdown of how many people were employed to clean toilets, not only in Khayelitsha but other areas, and details of the equipment provided.

Sonnenberg said the 800 people employed in the programme were provided with “protective clothing, necessary immunisation and training”.

“There will always be management challenges… and the city has sought to respond to these as they arise. If the SJC has concerns…these should be reported as they arise so they can be remedied, not kept back to generate self-serving publicity.”

xolani.koyana@inl.co.za

- Cape Times

‘Install our toilets, or else’

Cape Town - The ringleaders behind the poo-flinging attacks in Cape Town have given Western Cape Premier Helen Zille and mayor Patricia de Lille an ultimatum to install their proposed toilet model for the city by the end of September or risk national government intervention.

The group revealed on Wednesday what they called an alternative solution to the sanitation crisis in the Western Cape during a media briefing in Site BM Khayelitsha.

It follows the ANC’s working committee decision to temporarily suspend the membership of seven of its members believed to be the ringleaders behind the poo-throwing protests.

Holding up a pamphlet of a Zapiro cartoon depicting Zille’s head as a toilet pot, and the words “I know, I know… it was a crap idea” written on it, the group, including some of the suspended members, said they had taken it upon themselves to explore alternatives to Zille’s “potta-potta” toilets.

Lwandile Baba gave a demonstration of how the SMARTSAN recycle toilet unit works. The tanks takes 300 litres of water, which is put in every three months.

The system uses bacteria that “digest” all the sewage from the pan. Toilet paper and newspapers are dissolved into liquid.

The pumps are run by solar power on top of the roof of the dwelling and a back-up battery is inside.

The toilet can be connected to between two or three houses.

The water that is poured into the system is circulated and cleaned up and then flushed back into the system.

Suspended ANC members Loyiso Nkohla and Andile Lili said they wanted the toilet model to be made available to each household in the township this month.

Lili added that residents had already indicated that they would be happy with the type of toilets the group is proposing.

Nkohla said that that the protest action by residents was not driven by any partisan political agenda.

“They (the protests) are caused by and driven by the despicable living conditions in our communities.”

He challenged the city to come up with a better solution, if it had any to bring to the table.

The group refused to discuss their temporary suspension by the ANC, saying the matter was internal.

Sthembele Majova said: “Some of the people charged, they don’t know anything about that. They have not been informed by the ANC.”

warda.meyer@inl.co.za

- Cape Argus

‘Zille is inciting party propaganda’

Cape Town - The professed “task team” behind Cape Town’s faeces attacks has lashed out at Premier Helen Zille, accusing her of breaking the law for “party propaganda purposes”.

A task team press conference in Site C, Khayelitsha, was held days after Zille revealed the names of 11 ringleaders whom she claimed were behind a series of orchestrated attacks.

The protests have seen faeces dumped at Cape Town International Airport, the provincial legislature and on the N2.

Zille noted that many of the instigators were members of the ANC Youth League who had used the refrain of “making the province ungovernable” as their slogan. This, she said, proved that the attacks were politically motivated and aimed at rallying support for the ANC before next year’s elections.

On Monday one of the task team’s more prominent members, city councillor Loyiso Nkohla, read a statement in which he accused Zille of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by “seeking to dictate the outcome of pending criminal cases… for party propaganda purposes”.

Nkohla and Andile Lili are among the protesters arrested following the airport dumping. They face trial under the Civil Aviation Act, and could be jailed for up to 30 years.

Nkohla said the faeces protests had nothing to do with a party political agenda, and that they had received no mandate from the ANC’s leaders in the province.

 

Zille has conceded her office had no evidence that the ANC had instructed the task team, but she said the top brass’s failure to discipline their own members amounted to “collusion”.

“I have had no response to letters sent to President Zuma asking him to condemn the task team’s actions. So I can only presume he condones them. No wonder they act with impunity.”

She also accused the police of watching the proceedings without arresting the poo-tossers.

The Cape Argus asked ANC spokesman Phillip Dexter on Friday whether the party would consider the DA’s evidence against some of its members and take action, but the party has failed to respond to queries.

Richard Pithouse, a political lecturer at Rhodes University, accused the ANC Youth League of being disingenuous considering there was also a sanitation crisis in informal settlements in ANC-run provinces.

- Cape Argus

Zille: SAPS stand by while poo is hurled

Cape Town - Western Cape Premier Helen Zille has accused the police of standing on the sidelines while protesters blocked the N2, government buildings and the airport by throwing faeces.

She said police officers had been slow to act against these protesters because Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa and national commissioner General Riah Phiyega didn’t show leadership.

“Some of the police ‘non-response’ scenes belong in a Monty Python movie,” she wrote in her online SA Today letter on Monday.

She asked where, in any democracy, a handful of protesters could close down a major urban highway, day after day, without facing arrest.

“On the ground, apart from the POPs (Public Order Policing) special unit, it is primarily the metro police, under the control of the City of Cape Town, that are containing the “ungovernability” brigade, she said.

Zille said it could be that police officers were following the “official line” from Phiyega and Mthethwa.

Mthethwa’s spokesman, Zweli Mnisi, said Zille was selective with facts in her analysis of police actions.

He said her open-letter mentality was becoming boring and that the Western Cape deserved exemplary leadership, not politicking.

He was referring to a letter Zille wrote last month to Mthethwa about gang violence in Manenberg, calling on him to support the deployment of the army.

“During the N2 protests police arrested 182 suspects who appeared in court.

“We have also arrested some of the poo protesters at the Cape Town International Airport,” Mnisi said.

He said police had arrested over 200 suspects and had not ignored any of the protests.

Mnisi said the Western Cape should address concerns raised by protesters.

“Police are not trained to provide portable toilets, they are not plumbers.

“To begin to apportion blame on some of these non-policing deliverables is bizarre, to say the least,” he said.

Zille said Mthethwa and Phiyega displayed complete ignorance of their policing mandate.

“Both argued (during meetings with her in the last two weeks) that if violent protesters had genuine grievances, there was no point arresting them because they would simply return the next day,” she said.

“What hope is there for our young democracy when the very people responsible for defending the rule of law resort to such arguments.”

Zille said arrests of protesters hurling faeces had been few and far between since it started in May.

“Such arrests are a rare exception and are often carried out by the special Public Order Policing unit that has done its best to contain public violence.

“Often, however, the SAPS are actually on the scene, as bystanders, watching the proceedings unfold,” Zille said.

Zille has accused ANCYL members of co-ordinating the 12 faeces protests, which the ANCYL has denied.

She said it was hard to deliver services in a state of anarchy.

“It is especially difficult when much of the criminality is directed at destroying existing infrastructure,” she said.

Mnisi said the police had increased the training of officers since they saw an increase in incidents involving the use of force in public order policing since 2011.

So far, 1 761 POP officers had undergone refresher training, while 2 340 officers are currently undergoing training.

“The increasing and on-going violent protest actions throughout the country have led to the malicious damage and wanton destruction of property, injuries to both participants and police, and even in some cases, the loss of life,” he said.

He said police had to act within the law against violent, armed protesters.

- Cape Times

Zille names poo protest leaders

Cape Town - Western Cape Premier Helen Zille has named 11 individuals she claims are responsible for orchestrating protests involving the dumping of human faeces in and around Cape Town.

“Today, we reveal the names of the ANC Youth League 'task team' that is leading the campaign to make Cape Town ungovernable,” she said in a statement on Friday.

There have been at least a dozen incidents of human waste being dumped in front of buildings, at the airport, or on city highways over the past four months.

Zille said the protests were part of a campaign to make the city and province “ungovernable” in the run-up to next year's general election.

“We have been gathering information about the ringleaders of the faeces attacks. Today, we are releasing that information, as well as supporting video footage,” she said.

A key point was there was only “a small handful of agitators”.

The statement then lists 11 names.

Zille called on the ANC “to act against them and subject them to disciplinary hearings”.

She said the information gathered on the 11 had been handed to the SA Police Service “for further investigation”.

“We... reiterate our call on the ANC and ANCYL to take swift and meaningful disciplinary action against their identified members involved in past and future attacks, and to co-operate with the police in their investigations by submitting relevant information,” Zille said. 

- Sapa

Why I fling poo - law student

Cape Town - A self-proclaimed agitator has backed up the City of Cape Town’s claim that just a small group of people is behind recent protests around the city.

But he has warned that residents who co-operate with authorities’ new plans to pay for information on ringleaders run the risk of being regarded as “traitors”.

The Khayelitsha man, 23, a second-year law student at the University of the Western Cape, spoke to the Cape Argus on condition of anonymity, because of his frequent involvement in faeces-dumping and illegal blockades of the N2. He has been actively involved in protests since 2010, been arrested twice and shot with rubber bullets “dozens” of times.

“I want to challenge the stereotype that protesters are only desperate, unemployed people with no hope. I am a student, I live in a nice residence and have plenty of food to eat.

“Yet I return to Khayelitsha because I care about my community and I don’t want to see them being abused by the government.”

He said he rose with other protesters at 1am, blocked the N2 with burning tyres and dumped faeces at 4am, battled with police and still made it to morning lectures.

This Khayelitsha man says he is one of the people who drives the service delivery protests in his area. Photo: Cindy Waxa

Cape Argus

He said that a group of about 15 activists across a range of informal settlements were able to mobilise residents and co-ordinate protests in areas such Khayelitsha’s BM section, Barcelona, Europe, Kanana, Kosovo and as far afield as Dunoon. The existing discontent in these communities made it easy to rally people, he said. The cellular chat application WhatsApp is the group’s main form of communication among themselves.

Last week, JP Smith, mayoral committee member for Safety and Security, urged the media to stop referring to the protests as being related to “service delivery”.

Smith said there was increasing evidence that a “political element” underpinned these protests. Smith said the evidence was in the possession of Premier Helen Zille.

Protests had become more frequent and violent, with increased reports of rock throwing on the N2. A new “intelligence-driven” strategy was needed, he said.

Smith said prolonged investigations, photographing culprits and offering rewards for information that led to arrests were being considered.

On Wednesday, he will brief the media on damage to city property from recent protests.

Responding, the protester said that, although he was an active member of the ANC Youth League, his involvement in the protests had nothing to do with “party politics”.

“(They) are directed at the provincial government and its failure to provide proper services for people in informal settlements.

“We do not dump faeces at the offices of the DA, we go straight to provincial legislature. If the ANC takes power in the Western Cape and nothing changes, these protests will continue. In fact, they will intensify. This is a struggle of poor people who are subjected daily to conditions unfit for humans.”

Many of the main organisers were not affiliated along party political lines, he said.

In Khayelitsha, the Cape Argus spoke to another man, 37, who said he had been involved in dozens of service delivery protests in Site C over the past few years. He too professed to be an organiser without a party political mandate. He was a member of the ANC, but noted that many of the protests were directed at ANC ward councillors who failed to respond to community grievances.

“When I was younger we would stone buses and trucks, just as the youngsters are doing today. Now, I see it as my duty to teach them the ways of protesting without putting other people in danger. We do not want to see innocent people hurt.”

Both activists agreed that when “mob mentality” took over and at times when police fired rubber bullets there was “uncontrollable” violence, looting and vandalism.

- Cape Argus

Cape taking radical steps against protesters

Cape Town - As violent protests flared up again on Friday in Khayelitsha and Milnerton, the city announced it is exploring radical new strategies for quelling the wave of discontent.

Police arrested 30 protesters in Joe Slovo informal settlement on Thursday night and Friday morning. They will appear in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

On Thursday night the N2 was closed for three hours at Mew Way due to stone throwing from protesters.

Police fired stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse crowds hurling rocks, glass bottles and rubbish at police and onto the road.

Govan Mbeki Drive in Khayelitsha was also closed. Police have not said how many people were arrested in Khayelitsha. Residents of the Khayelitsha BM Section tipped four portable toilets over the concrete fence and had been dragging them on to the highway’s inbound lane before police stopped them.

On Friday morning sections of Omuramba Road, Racecourse Road and Koeberg Road in Milnerton was closed as about 150 protesters burned tyres in the roads and threw rocks.

“The clashes between police and protesters are becoming more violent,” said JP Smith, Mayoral Committee member for Safety and Security.

“Protesters are not merely throwing faeces anymore, a lot of stones are being thrown. It is only a matter of time before someone gets killed. We cannot carry on like this - responding to protests as they flare up and driving protesters away with force. A radically new approach is needed.”

At a portfolio meeting on Friday, Smith was to propose a new strategy which would see photographers accompanying police responding to protests. They would photograph the ringleaders and Smith hopes to put up posters in informal settlements - identifying the main suspects and offering rewards for information leading to arrests. This new strategy will be “intelligence driven” and could make use of informants and spies in the ranks of protesting residents.

“We have reports indicating that these protests are being politically motivated. We do not want people referring to them as ‘service delivery’ protests anymore - they are not. Increasingly we find that the ‘poor service delivery’ justification for these protests is paper thin,” Smith said, directing the Cape Argus to Premier Helen Zille’s office when asked for access to the reports.

But Smith has been slammed by the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) for down-playing the lack of houses, sanitation and services in informal settlements as driving factors in many of these protests.

“It should be expected this time of year. We often see these flare-ups after periods of heavy rain and flooding in informal settlements. There is a well documented lack of housing in Cape Town and the city often fails in its aid and support for communities that are flooded,” said the SJC’s Axolile Notywala.

However, he acknowledged that there may be a subversive political element involved in some protests ahead of general elections next year.

Notywala said that Smith’s suggestion of putting up posters and asking residents to rat on trouble makers would only foster further antagonism between residents and authorities.

Instead, he said, city officials needed to link with ward councillors - many of whom are ANC members, and “constructively” engage about grievances as they arise.

- Cape Argus

Cape Town braced for another wet spell

Cape Town - Wednesday’s cold front and heavy rains brought more misery to Capetonians living in low-lying areas, but relief from the rain is expected for the rest of the week.

After a few days of sunshine, the Western Cape was hit by yet another cold front on Wednesday that flooded roads and homes in many areas.

Disaster risk management spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said 186 homes were affected in Chris Hani, Khayelitsha, on Wednesday.

At A Block in Kalkfontein, 105 homes were affected.

“A total of 1 980 people were affected, 1 540 blankets were distributed and 1 880 meals were supplied to people by disaster risk management teams.”

The good news is that the weather is expected to improve from Thursday, with sunshine for the rest of the week and the rain expected to return on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, traffic officials had their hands full with many flooded roads. Marine Drive near Milnerton, Berkley Road near Black River Park and the outbound lane on the M5 were among the routes affected.

Over the past few days, 160 000 shack dwellers have been affected by the heavy rains, according to disaster risk management.

Ocean Satellite Information Systems’ Jean-Pierre Arabonis said that although the weather should be dry and clear, temperatures could plummet and snow on the mountains could be expected.

Thursday will be mostly sunny with a high of 15 degrees and a minimum of seven degrees. Clear skies are predicted for Friday with a high of 18 degrees and a low of eight degrees. By Sunday, the temperatures should reach the mid-20s.

But it will be colder on Monday, and by Tuesday the rain will be back for most of the week.

- Cape Argus

Floods leave thousands homeless

Tens of thousands of Peninsula residents have been forced to abandon their homes, with forecasts of a respite today and tomorrow offering little solace after the havoc wreaked in the past few days.

More than 36 000 people have been left homeless as nearly 10 000 homes were flooded and countless informal houses and businesses damaged.

Residents swarmed around mayor Patricia de Lille yesterday in Philippi, when she waded through water mixed with sewage and rubbish, inspecting some of the worst-hit parts of the city.

At Kosovo, she and Disaster Risk Management officials and members of her mayoral committee who were accompanying her, struggled through knee-deep water during the inspection of affected homes yesterday.

Kosovo is built on a flood plain and is at high risk of flooding during bad weather. And while residents have been lucky for the past three winters, they were caught off-guard by very heavy downpours on Friday night.

Several homes were under water and residents could be seen packing up their belongings as they moved to stay with family and friends.

Following the example of residents, De Lille resorted to using stones and plastic sheets as makeshift stepping stones to traverse the mud and waterlogged paths.

Faeces, rubbish and even dead rats were floating in the larger puddles, which in many cases were turning into streams.

Shacks erected in the heart of Kosovo township were worst affected and while De Lille tried her best to reach them, it proved impossible.

“Sadly, because of its location on a water retention area, this outcome was almost predictable.

“It’s heartbreaking to see people’s homes filled with water and their possessions floating all over, with garbage,” she said, adding that they were relocating those affected to one of 13 temporary relocation areas.

The city had tried to move the people out of Kosovo for the past two years, but had met with resistance from the community.

“Some stay for close proximity to work and family, but some political activists convinced the people to resist our relocation attempts and stay, despite the danger. It is reckless and irresponsible to manipulate people’s lives for political gain,” De Lille said.

Throughout her inspection De Lille was mobbed by people who wanted to tell her of their plight.

Kosovo resident Nomavo Ndupe said she was pleased to see De Lille, because “the city must see what we go through”.

“It’s not just the water, but the sewage that flows into our homes. The children and old people get sick all the time,” she said.

Residents were given loaves of bread before De Lille and her team moved on to Macassar, where residents of Kramat had stacked sandbags in front of their homes after a nearby river began overflowing.

About 50 residents abandoned their flooded homes there on Thursday. They are being sheltered in the Macassar Community Hall.

Veronica du Plessis said it was the second time her home had flooded in three years.

“Last time we had no place to go and no one to help us, but this time we get meals and a place to keep our children safe,” she said.

While the women looked after the children in the hall, the men took it in turns to keep watch over their flooded homes to keep looters away.

On the other side of town, at the Klipfontein Mission Station along Lansdowne Road, residents protested and burnt tyres on Friday night over lack of proper stormwater drainage in the area.

Residents Jessica and Peter Andries said their home was knee-deep in water.

Jessica Andries said:

“I have a five-year-old and a baby grandchild who had been living under these conditions for over a week. Nobody has been here to help drain this water.”

Other residents complained about the threat of disease, sickness and sores.

Henry Adriaanse, 57, said they had been living “worse than animals” for the past week.

A fuming Patricia van Rensberg said they had given the city a memorandum demanding proper drainage.

“The entire road next to our homes is flooded, and when the cars come past all that water splashes and runs down into our homes. No person should be allowed to live like this,” she said. 

- Weekend Argus

Cape Town’s flood relief appeal

Cape Town - The heavy rains this week has seen thousands receiving relief aid from the city, a mini mudslide in Hout Bay, several accidents and multiple road closures.

The City of Cape Town says it has spent more than R2 million in helping the nearly 10 000 people worst affected by heavy rains and cold weather that have been wreaking havoc around the city since Monday night.

The R2.6m spent by the city went toward supplying those affected with blankets, food and building materials.

Disaster management spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said 62 areas throughout the metro, comprising more than 3 000 households, had been affected in the past week.

Mayor Patricia de Lille said the city appreciated the effort put in by the disaster teams and civic organisations.

“As much as we want to assist every resident who has been affected by the current storms, we are not always able to do so due to the strain on already limited resources. I appeal to all businesses, community organisations and residents to contribute anything they can to help those who are affected.”

Residents of QQ Section in Khayelitsha try to get their homes dry. Photo: David Ritchie

Cape Argus

The city has handed out 12 943 blankets, 349 baby kits, 2 250 meals and building materials consisting of roof sheets, wooden poles, plastic sheets and nails by Thursday night.

The city’s disaster response teams provided relief aid to individuals and households in Atlantis, Bishop Lavis, Cross Roads, Delft, Du Noon, Durbanville, Eerste River, Faure, Fish Hoek, Gordon’s Bay, Gugulethu, Khayelitsha, Kraaifontein, Kuils River, Lotus River, Macassar, Mfuleni, Mitchells Plain, Ocean View, Philippi, Retreat, Scottsville, Simon’s Town, Strand, Uitsig and Valhalla Park.

Quinton Fortune, a resident from the Vrygrond informal settlement in Kuils River, said he stayed away from work because he couldn’t leave his goods floating in water. The water in his home had risen to ankle deep.

Other residents were packing sand around their homes in an attempt to prevent further water seepage.

The rains also caused a minor landslide near Hangberg in Hout Bay on Thursday morning. No injuries were reported.

Meanwhile in Site-B’s QQ Section residents said they had not received any aid despite Mthobeli Qona, a community leader, writing to the city.

Parts of the mountain slope in Hangberg gave way after heavy rainfall in Cape Town. Photo: Ross Jansen

Cape Argus

Jason van Veyeren, general manager at the River Club in Observatory, said motorists could not enter the premises because of a pool of water on the access road.

Motorists have been warned to be extra vigilant on the roads as heavy rains are forecast for the weekend.

Eight accidents were reported in just over six hours and several roads were closed on Thursday. Provincial traffic chief Kenny Africa said none of the accidents was serious.

Among the roads closed was the R45 near Paarl, the road between the M7 and M19 on the West Coast and Vissershok Road near Durbanville.

- Cape Argus

Misery of a wet winter

Cape Town - Mandy Plaatjies’ bed was surrounded by murky floodwater in her tiny shack on Thursday.

Plaatjies is one of at least 12 000 people in Cape Town who have been hammered by this week’s winter downpours – with warnings of more stormy weather and flooding to come.

Plaatjies and other residents of the Siqalo informal settlement waded through knee-deep water that flooded their homes on Thursday.

A mini-river of murky brown water formed in the centre of the informal settlement. Adults and children were walking around barefoot.

Sewage and other debris floating in the water made its way to the doorsteps of the flooded homes.

Plaatjies and several other residents said the two blankets and food they received from the city’s disaster team did not solve their problem.

iol news CA flood cape town rain 2

Parts of a mountain slope in Hangberg gave way after heavy rain. Water forced its way through the area with sand mud nearly missing houses at the bottom of the slope. Photo: Ross Jansen/Cape Argus

INLSA

“When our homes are flooded they come and give us food and two blankets, but when it rains the next day, those blankets also get wet and we still don’t have a place to sleep. Those things do nothing to help us.

“We need houses,” said Plaatjies, a mother of two who has lived alone for two years. She said that because of her poor living conditions she had to send her children to live with her family.

“When it rains like this I can’t even see to myself, so how can I look after children too? If they were here, they would get sick like the other people’s children,” she said.

There is no let-up yet, and the Disaster Risk Management Centre remains on high alert.

The weather service warned of gale-force north-westerly winds blowing at 65-74km/h between Cape Point and Cape Agulhas this afternoon.

It said high seas with wave heights of 6-9m were expected between Cape Point and Port Alfred on Saturday.

Disaster Relief Management spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said: “Further heavy rain will cause flooding in low-lying areas across the Cape Peninsula and other parts of the province.

“We are preparing for the additional rainfall that will exacerbate the flood-risk situation on the Cape Flats as the water table will significantly increase.”

More than 12 000 people – 3 030 families – living in high-risk waterlogged areas including informal settlements in Philippi, Strand, Gugulethu, Khayelitsha and Samora Machel, had been “inconvenienced” by the heavy rains.

On Wednesday, 1 748 adults and 178 babies in Masiphumelele were moved to a nearby hall after their homes were flooded.

Mayor Patricia de Lille appealed to Capetonians to help the displaced. She said the city’s disaster relief management team and partners were helping to distribute relief packages.

“As much as we want to assist every resident who has been affected by the current storms, we are not always able to do so due to the strain on already limited resources.

“As such, I appeal to all businesses, community organisations and residents to contribute anything they can to help those who are affected by this,” she said.

Several roads were flooded in the city, including the N1 and Lavis Drive in Bishop Lavis.

The Cape Town leg of the Engen Knockout Challenge, a national under-17 soccer tournament, has been moved to the weekend of August 23 and 24 due to the heavy rains.

* The salvage team managed to turn the stricken Kiani Satu cargo ship a further 10 degrees on Thursday, but the swell remained too low to refloat the vessel.

Plans were under way to try to refloat the ship – which ran aground off Buffels Bay near Knysna more than a week ago – on Friday or Saturday when big swells are anticipated.

A decision has also been taken to remove oil from the ship by air.

On Thursday, between 10 and 20 two-ton drums for removing oil were brought to the scene by helicopter.

- Cape Times

‘Stolen toilets used in poo protests’

Cape Town - Portable toilet tanks used in protest action for flush toilets, are being stolen at night while residents sleep, DA MP Masizole Mnqasela has alleged.

This was supported by Mayco member for utility services Ernest Sonnenberg, who said the city had received reports from contractors about missing portable toilet containers. But the group that organises these protests has denied stealing the containers.

The tanks, which form part of the portable toilets equipped with a seat, hold the human waste and many residents have likened this to the bucket system.

Mnqasela, whose constituency is Khayelitsha, said some residents had complained to him that their toilets were being stolen for use in the protests.

Most of the thefts happened when the residents left them outside. Mnqasela said while driving in TR and BT sections this month a group of people in a white Ford Bantam had taken some containers placed near a bus stop for collection by contractors. This was at about 10pm, he said. “When we came closer the car took off at a very high speed. This confirmed this unthinkable act of poo activists stealing these laden poo containers to perform their daily poo protests.”

“I then realised that this operation is bigger and well organised, but it is not beyond the capacity of law enforcement.” He would ask mayor Patricia de Lille whether the tanks could be kept at a place where they could not be stolen while they waited to be collected. “Without access to these containers, the protests lose a sting and a stink. I have not been able to lay any official charges, without the name of the perpetrators in the vehicle (which) sped off.”

He said while it was their constitutional right to protest, it should be done peacefully. Lawlessness and theft would not be tolerated.

Sithembele Majova, a spokesman for the Western Cape informal settlements task team, a group that organises the protests, said Mnqasela was lying. He said residents took their tanks to the protests and were not forced to take part or give up their portable toilets.

“(Mnqasela) doesn’t stay where we stay. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. These protests are by members of the community. It is not like we go to someone’s house and steal porta pottas at gunpoint.

“When we decide that we are going to the legislature or the N2, people take their toilets because they don’t want to use them anymore,” Majova said.

Sonnenberg said there had been reports of theft of the containers. He said tanks dumped by protesters were cleaned, disinfected and given to their owners. They have barcodes that link them to their users.

- Cape Times