su-Zuma DIY because anybody can

Cape Town Stadium: FIFA icon or albatross

Cape Town - An albatross around the necks of ratepayers, or a valuable and iconic asset? The Cape Town Stadium, running at an annual loss of about R40 million, was described as both during Tuesday’s full council meeting where it was agreed that the current management plan should be extended by a year to June 2016.

Councillors alluded to the recent Fifa corruption scandal during their debate on the stadium’s future, with Andre Fourie of the Freedom Front Plus saying that Fifa president Sepp Blatter took billions of rands out of the country, leaving Cape Town and other municipalities with massive bills for the stadiums that were built.

He said the consortium of Stade de France and the local SAIL Group pulled out if its management agreement with the city soon after the World Cup when it realised the stadium would never be filled to capacity.

Fourie said it was unlikely that the formation of a municipal entity to manage the stadium would be the panacea the city needed to make the facility financially viable.

“This albatross - despite the thousands that it cost the city to build - is costing ratepayers in unaffordable monthly operational and maintenance costs.”

Fourie said the only way the city could avoid any further financial loss was by selling the stadium to SA Rugby for R1.

“Acknowledge that the stadium was a mistake. Accept that you are not going to make it commercially viable without an anchor tenant. Cut your losses - and the albatross around the neck of Cape Town’s ratepayers - and offer the stadium to Newlands for R1.”

Demetrius Qually, of the DA, said that although the Fifa scandal had tarnished the World Cup legacy, the stadium remained a valuable and iconic asset.

There was also “justifiable” concern about the long-term viability of the stadium. However, the business plan being finalised, which included the lifting of restrictive environmental conditions, would make it sustainable.

“We are confident that the stadium and Green Point Urban Park can be both viable and financially sustainable,” said Qually.

Grant Haskin, of the African Christian Democratic Party, agreed that the management of the stadium had to continue without interruption while the business plan was being finalised.

But he said the city had been promising “stadium profitability” since 2009. “How then can one blame irate ratepayers for their calls to rather demolish the stadium instead of wasting their money? What was a proud moment in Cape Town’s history has become a furious embarrassment for the city and its people.”

Majidie Abrahams, of the ANC, argued that extension of the management arrangements without clarity on the business plan could put the city at risk of spending and losing money for another three years.

But mayor Patricia de Lille pointed out that the management plan had been extended to June 2016, and not 2018 as initially proposed, and included a condition that a progress report on the commercialisation of the precinct would be submitted to council in March next year.

Garreth Bloor, mayoral committee member for economic development, tourism and events, said the rezoning process was already under way. Demolition of the stadium was not an option, he said.

The city had been advised of 18 revenue streams that would generate a profit for the next 10 to 15 years.

This excluded any revenue that would come in from an anchor tenant.

He said the naming rights alone would secure between R5m and R10m in revenue for the city. The tabled revenue budget for the next financial year is R14m.

But Bloor allayed fears about the discrepancy between the stadium’s projected costs and income.

Although the tabled operating budget expenditure for 2015/2016 was R138m, limited commercial rights would bring this amount down to R34.2m. “The commercial rights process has already started. We will make it work and we will continue the (World Cup) legacy,” he said.

[like a mountain goat skipping through the diaspora with donations...]

anel.lewis@inl.co.za

- Cape Argus

Government is not concerned about it's citizens here is the proof.

“One should question a government’s willingness to deliver housing for the poor when it builds a white elephant for the rich,” says André du Plessis of Cape Town-based InternAfrica, which campaigns for sustainable housing.

- Financial Times London 08/07/2010

Naturally what followed was colluded stadia construction Cape Town cost R4,4 Billion and service delivery of toilets for 50,000 that remain locked up and maintained at R60 million cost per annum... and Blikkiesdorp

All I can say is #ITOLDYOUSO!

LONG AGO!

Nkaandlaa burns Cape Town - as always

Houses burn as the President laughs about his firepool

Cape Town - Violence flared again in Marikana informal settlement on Friday, after residents torched the home of Leticia Mali on Symphony Way.

The act prompted retaliation by residents of Lower Crossroads who, in turn, set ablaze a shack of the man they accused of being behind the attack on Mali’s house.

The conflict has raged throughout the week, starting as a protest prompted by the cutting of illegal electricity connections to the informal settlement.

Four municipal trucks and five other vehicles were set alight, and a 68-year-old man died after his Toyota Hilux was stoned on the N2 on Thursday. Police vehicles were also stoned.

Angry Marikana protesters torched Mali’s home in the early hours of yesterday morning.

The Lower Crossroads residents then retaliated, claiming they were being held to ransom by the informal settlement residents.

“We are angry because we don’t have services to give them, and we are not responsible for them.

“So we don’t understand why they are taking their anger out on us and our homes.

“They have started this fight and we will not succumb to their ludicrous behaviour. These are our homes and we have worked hard for them,” one angry Lower Crossroads resident said.

Mali’s home was petrol-bombed by angry Marikana residents who claimed it was unfair that they were stuck in shacks with no services, while their neighbours lived comfortably.

Mali said some illegal electricity connections had run to Marikana from her house, but that she had cut them off due to the blackouts.

“They got angry and they threw a petrol bomb through the roof of the bedroom.

“The fire spread fast because there was no ceiling in that room,” she said.

Marikana community leader Nocks Gijana countered that it was not residents of the informal settlement who set her house alight, although she acknowledged there was bad blood between the two neighbourhoods.

Police spokesman Captain Frederick van Wyk said late on Friday that the area remained tense, and police were monitoring the situation.

“This office can confirm that police action was taken during an ongoing protest in the Philippi East area.

“Property was damaged, but an accurate account of damages cannot no be issued at this stage,” he said.

- Saturday Argus

South Africa's 'brazen cover-up' of Zuma's home upgrade

The offence itself was bad enough - an orgy of overspending by obsequious officials and conniving contractors who managed to spend 246m rand ($21.7m, £14.3m) of public money lavishly upgrading South African President Jacob's Zuma's private homestead, Nkandla.

That is nearly 10 times what taxpayers spent on Nelson Mandela's two homes, and 20 times what it cost to secure Thabo Mbeki's house.

As we now know, Mr Zuma's "essential security upgrades" included a swimming pool, an amphitheatre, a chicken run and a visitors' centre. A fairly humble collection of traditional buildings on a rural hillside has been transformed into something more like a luxury holiday resort.

But as is so often the case in politics, it is the cover up - long, venomous, hair-splitting and sanctimonious - that has been most revealing, and most depressing.

Some of Mr Zuma's closest advisers - those with an eye on image and votes, rather than on real or imaginary security concerns - were urging him from the very beginning to apologise for any errors and to volunteer immediately to pay for any unwarranted expenditure.

The scandal could have ended in a week, and the president could even have emerged with his status enhanced.

Instead Mr Zuma and his supporters have sought to undermine the credibility of South Africa's public protector - whose exhaustively forensic report recommended that he repay some of the money - and have ridiculed the opposition for seeking to turn Nkandla into a presidency-defining scandal about accountability and corruption.

Now the police minister - a man whose career is, of course, entirely dependent on Mr Zuma's goodwill - has produced his own report, which spells out, in inadvertently comic detail, how conveniently the mosaic-inlayed swimming pool can double as an essential source of water for fighting fires.

The minister's unsurprising conclusion - Mr Zuma should not pay back a penny.

Comic moment

President Zuma did not hide his sense of vindication.

In parliament this week he openly mocked the opposition's attempts to pronounce the word "Nkandla" in a not-so-subtle hint that it was white politicians who were driving the criticism.

It was a confident, boisterous, divisive, and - at least for his supporters - genuinely comic moment.

And there is no doubt that Mr Zuma's jibes will have gone down well with his base.

- BBC

Nkaaandlaa Giggler Strikes again - heh heh heh HAAAI !

Four children die in shack fire

Cape Town - A Khayelitsha family has been left reeling in the aftermath of a shack fire which killed four children trapped inside.

The children, two of them just a year old, had been found dead at the doorway where they had desperately tried to open the door.

Lungiswa Vensile, the mother of two of the children, screamed as she recounted arriving at the shack in Khayelitsha's U Section to find it had been engulfed in flames.

Her children had been staying with her sister for the past two weeks as she worked to support her extended family.

"I am just so sad," she said, her voice hoarse and tears spilling down her cheeks.

The other two children were three and six.

Police said the fire had started at around 8pm, They were investigating the cause.

Neighbours said they had stepped outside to see a tower of flames looming over their homes as the fire engulfed a double-storey shack on the property.

Police said four dwellings were destroyed.

kieran.legg@inl.co.za

- Cape Argus

Toilets for 50,000 - Money woes for Cape stadium

Cape Town - Cape Town Stadium continues to be a massive financial drain on the City of Cape Town, and it doesn’t appear things will get better any time soon.

The stadium’s operational budget for the 2015/2016 financial year is a staggering R13 758 7954, while expected revenue is a just a tenth of that – R14 843 871.

A substantial portion of the stadium’s operating budget expenditure for the 2015/2016 financial year – more than R20 million – has already been allocated to salary related costs.

The bill is already nearly R6m higher than the expected revenue which is brought in by the hire or rental of portions of the stadium.

Running at a loss of more than R40m a year, the city is considering various commercial models that would make it financially viable.

However, this plan has not been finalised, and the city can’t afford to let the current management arrangement lapse. The temporary management arrangement, which was extended from June 2014, expires at the end of June.

In the absence of a long-term business plan that deals with staffing issues and commercial rights, the City of Cape Town has no option but to extend its current contracts and management plan for another year.

“The retention of the status quo will reduce any down time through the recruitment of a new team, thus reducing operational, infrastructural, safety and reputational risks,” said Lesley de Reuck, of the city’s tourism, events, and economic development directorate. The current staff was familiar with the stadium and the park, as well as their processes and standards.

“Events already booked for the 2015/2016 financial year require contractual fulfilment. These represent potential repeat clients and are critical revenue generators that must be nurtured. The facility cannot cease to operate on June 30, 2015,” said De Reuck.

In a report considered by the mayoral committee last week, De Reuck said a substantial portion of the stadium’s operating budget expenditure for the 2015/2016 financial year – R20 127 130 – had already been allocated to salary-related costs.

“The retention of the status quo will reduce any down time through the recruitment of a new team, thus reducing operational, infrastructural, safety and reputational risks.”

The current staff were familiar with the stadium and the park, as well as their processes and standards.The stadium has also been booked for events in the next financial year. “Current contractual and partnership agreements with event organisers must be honoured. Failure to do so may result in breach of contract and goodwill,” said De Reuck.

The team of external consultants appointed in 2011 to do a business modelling exercise on the stadium recommended that the land use and environmental conditions for the use of the stadium and its precinct should be changed to allow for commercial activity.

These processes are already under way and De Reuck said the submission of the formal application for amended land use planning conditions was “imminent”. The proposed amendments to the current environmental conditions were released for public comment last month.

He said both processes would be concluded by December, if there were no appeals.

Once these provisions have been granted, steps will be taken to release the Granger Bay Boulevard site into the property development market, he added.

Although the report called for a three-year extension of the management plan, until June 2018, Mayor Patricia de Lille amended the time frame, during Friday’s mayoral committee meeting, by just one year, to next June.

She also called for a progress report on the business plan to be submitted to the council by next March.

Also on the operational budget is a depreciation cost of more than R58m and repairs and maintenance costs of more than R192m. The total operating budget is more than R137m, but the expected revenue for the stadium for the next financial year is more than R148m. Most of this comes from the hire or rental of portions of the stadium.

anel.lewis@inl.co.za

- Cape Argus

Dilemma of Cape’s homeless

Cape Town - When Nomanindia Mfeketo was Cape Town mayor she made a commitment that within a year there would be no more children sleeping on the city’s streets.

That was in 2004 and, as she later acknowledged, the problem was a lot more complex than she had originally realised.

There have been a number of efforts since then to reduce the number of homeless people on the streets.

Before the World Cup in 2010, NGOs accused the city of rounding up street children and the homeless and dumping them at Blikkiesdorp near Delft. The city denies this, though, saying Blikkiesdorp was established as a Temporary Relocation Area in 2008 to house people who were evicted after invading N2 Gateway houses.

And last year there was a talk of the establishment of “community villages” outside the city centre where people could live and have access to skills training and drug rehabilitation programmes.

Greg Andrews, convener of the Street People’s Forum, said this proposal had since been canned.

The forum is a collective of several organisations working with street people in the city.

Andrews said the city’s “community village” idea was a perennial proposal that had surfaced in many guises over the last two decades.

“Even if such a community village were established, why would people want to go there? Would they be compelled against their will?

“On the other hand, perhaps it would be a really attractive proposition which someone on the streets would love to go to, in which case why would people leave once they have entered?”

Hassan Khan, chief executive of the Haven Night Shelter, believes the streets are no place for people to live.

“The streets should be a cold place, a place where you are hungry, so people come for help.”

But he says people are given permission to be there by politicians and some encouraged by NGOs who go out and give blankets and food to the poor.

“People are pre-programmed to help. They also pay someone just to be left alone.”

Not that he believes that poverty should be policed like the CCID with their private armies who force people to the edge of the CBD.

Khan said there were an increasing number of people coming to the streets, mainly adults.

“There are guys in their 50s from Welkom who have worked their whole lives in the Post Office and are virtually unemployable now.”

There is a large gay population, people who are not accepted by their families, and youngsters lured by the bright city lights.

“The important thing is how quickly a child on the street is identified and helped. The same with adults.”

Zara Nicholson, spokeswoman for mayor Patricia de Lille, said the City of Cape Town was the first city in the country to have adopted a policy for people living on the street.

“The city’s strategy is to reduce the number of people living on the street and to place them back with their families and communities of origin.”

Part of this reintegration effort included attempts to secure employment opportunities via the Expanded Public Works Programme.

Nicholson said that street people could not, however, be forced into accepting the city’s offers of assistance.

The City of Cape Town’s Reintegration Unit, launched in December, had successfully assisted 85 street people in its first three months of operation.

The city is also in the final phase of its Street People Survey which would include conducting a headcount of street people. The last comprehensive survey conducted by the city was in 2001 and there are estimates that there are around 7 000 transient people either living or begging on the street (across the whole city).

Councillor Suzette Little, the city’s mayoral committee member for social development and early childhood development announced recently that the city had nearly doubled its budget for its winter street people programme this year. The budget for the 2014 programme was R280 000, but this year R600 000 had been allocated.

Little said they also ran a number of programmes in communities most at risk to prevent more people migrating to the streets.

“These programmes are focused on issues in the home, truancy and substance abuse and to provide support to street people who are reintegrated into their communities to prevent a return to their former life.”

But Andrews doesn’t believe the city’s Street People Policy is actually effective.

“The central aim of its current policy boils down to the removal of people from the streets, though this is couched in gentle terms like ‘reintegration’ and ‘reunification’ so it’s quite palatable.”

But he explains that reunification or reintegration only worked if it was self-determined.

“Take for instance the typical example of someone who has come to the city centre desperate for work. Precious few opportunities exist and eventually he either is begging or parking cars, scrounging a pittance any way he can.

“Even if he never makes enough money to support his family, at least he feels he is not a burden to them – another mouth to feed, a body taking up precious space.

“But sometimes, he may be able to get a bag of groceries back home, maybe for someone’s birthday or for Christmas. Now the city’s Reintegration worker finally compels this man to go home.

“Imagine the shame of being escorted home by the larney from the welfare with nothing to support your family and them being told they must look after you. This is not sustainable.”

Andrews believes reintegration was only possible once the “40 percent unemployment and intractable brutal violence” that characterises daily life in the home communities that people on the streets run away from, are addressed.

“Furthermore, we need to address the bottleneck of over-full shelters, over-stretched services and inadequate social housing. Reintegration is meaningless when we have nothing to reintegrate a person into.”

Andrews says it would be refreshing if the city were to admit that people on the streets are not the problem and they’re not going away any time soon.

“The real problem is that 20 years into freedom, poverty is worse and it’s high time we stop trying to remove the poor from our well-to-do areas just because they make us feel uncomfortable or threaten our illusion of security.”

helen.bamford@inl.co.za

- Cape Argus

Foreigners here legally need housing too – Sisulu

Cape Town – If South Africa is to heal itself of the long-term effects of xenophobia, it must find a way to ensure that those who are in the country legally have somewhere to live. 

Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu made the comment on Thursday at a news conference at Parliament before her budget speech and debate in the National Assembly. 

She reiterated the promise that she made last year regarding the housing backlog – to build 1.5 million houses and to provide housing opportunities. 

When the department counted the housing backlog, it counted South Africans, said Sisulu. 

“It has become obvious with the unfortunate xenophobic outbreak that there are many people who need housing of all kinds. 

“And if we are to heal over the long-term, we need to find a way to ensure that those people who are here legally have a place to live – either in rented accommodation or community housing units – because there is a tendency to buy houses from our beneficiaries. We must look further than last year, and try to find a measurable way to count our backlog.” 

Sisulu called on people to look after their houses, because they were assets. The value of a low-cost house built by the state is currently R160 000. 

The government was also committed to eradicating hostels – a remnant of the apartheid system. 

“Those who have lived in hostels for several years will qualify for state housing or a subsidy for community dwelling, depending on their specific requirements,” said Sisulu.

- NEWS24

BlikkiesDorp - The Zille legacy

Backyarders mark ‘their plots’ in Philippi

Cape Town - Backyarders from various townships marked plots on an open piece of land in Philippi on Wednesday, saying they were tired of waiting for housing.

The group used sticks, pangas and pegs to mark off pieces of land where they plan to erect structures near the Joe Gqabi transport terminus off Stock Road.

The residents were from Langa, Gugulethu, Samora Machel and Site C, and received help from community leaders.

One of the leaders, Joseph Makeleni, said they would continue to assist residents who wanted to invade open land.

“Law Enforcement and police came to remove us, but we were peaceful and some of the people left and others stayed.

“People have been waiting for housing for a long time, they are on the database for a long time and nothing is happening.”

Makeleni said they would continue to take land as a way to make the city notice them and their need for housing and proper service delivery.

“We feel rejected by the government and we will provoke them until they give us services.

“It is the only way to get their attention, by taking over the land that they boast about but don’t use.”

Makeleni said most of the privately owned land belonged to “rich white businessmen”, which was unfair.

Charmaine Mkoni, a community leader from the Marikana informal settlement, said they were forced to fight for themselves as their elected councillors were not doing much about their lack of housing and service delivery.

“We are planning on sleeping here because people are entitled to have spaces and housing.

“We will help each other to put up shacks and stay here,” Mkoni said.

City Law Enforcement spokesman Neil Arendse said they responded to the invasion but it was quiet and no serious incidents were reported.

Arendse said they remained in the area and officers were also focusing on other land invasion hotspots.

“Even though some of the land is privately owned, at some point it becomes a city problem. When the owner doesn’t do anything about it (invaders), the city has to step in,” Arendse said.

yolisa.tswanya@inl.co.za

- Cape Argus

Humble locations with exotic names

Cape Town - Ever wondered how exotic locations such as Barcelona, France and Taiwan became the names of local informal settlements?

Residents offered some explanation about the names last week, pointing out that conditions in them did not quite match the famous names.

Barcelona informal settlement in Gugulethu was named after the Spanish city because some residents wanted to draw international attention to the plight of the people in the area situated adjacent to the N2, said resident Mongami Mbili.

“It was around 1993 when I arrived here and there were several shacks, not many of them. This place was occupied by people who were mostly backyard dwellers from various areas, and some who were living with their parents and looking for their own place,” said Mbili.

A stone’s throw from Barcelona is the Europe informal settlement in Nyanga. Resident Thanduxolo Temba said the name simply surfaced - then it stuck.

“Europe has existed since 1992. It was formed by people who were mainly from the township area called Lusaka. This place was a dumping site, and people cleaned it up and erected their structures. Committees were then formed. It has grown fast over the years,” said Temba.

In Khayelitsha, France informal settlement was named after residents from Site B were given the go-ahead to occupy the open ground near OR Tambo Hall in 1997.

“People were told they could build on the land the same weekend Bafana Bafana qualified for the World Cup in France for the first time. There was a national campaign Siyaya eFrance (We are going to France).

“Residents were overjoyed and decided to name this place as a reminder of that moment,” said Sithembele Nongauza.

He said residents were promised development, but 18 years down the line the place is still the same.

The city also has its own Marikana, which is situated in Philippi. Marikana was informally named after the Rustenburg township where striking miners were killed during a clash with police almost three years ago.

“There were few shacks in that land before people from various places came and occupied it. Most of the people who stay here were backyarders,” said community leader Xolani Joja. He said it was named Marikana because residents were evicted many times and their building material taken away.

“We clashed with the police. They used rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades, but we never backed down. We kept fighting until the end. Now this place belongs to the people. This place is home to many people,” Joja said.

About a kilometre from France, backyarders from TR Section and Site C in Khayelitsha illegally occupied land and named it Azania.

Their occupation did not last long as the land owner, arms manufacturer Denel, obtained an eviction court order.

Xolani Jack, a former TR resident, said:

“I named the place Azania and other residents liked the name. We named it after Azania because this is our country. We are the people of Azania.”

Adjacent to Mitchells Plain is the Siqalo informal settlement, which is home to more than 1 200 families.

The settlement, on private land, has existed for less than five years.

“Siqalo means beginning. This place was a forest and people used to dump here.

“There were a few people from Tafelsig in Mitchells Plain living here too. People who were backyard dwellers could no longer afford rent and identified this land.

“It was named by residents. This land is not suitable for us to live on, but we have nowhere else to go,” said resident Sinazo Tempele.

siyavuya.mzantsi@inl.co.za

- Cape Times

Five dead, scores displaced by fires

Cape Town - Five people were killed in three separate fires in the Cape Peninsula on Sunday morning, the City of Cape Town Fire Service said.

“Just before 3am this [Sunday] morning the City’s Fire and Rescue Service responded to an informal settlement fire, Salamander Road Command, Hout Bay,” said spokesman Theo Layne.

A man, a woman, and two minors were killed in the blaze which swept through the informal settlement, destroying 30 shacks.

Approximately 120 people were left displaced.

Police were on scene to investigate the cause of the fire.

An hour later, a man was killed when one shack was razed to the ground in Solomon street, Mfuleni.

Earlier on Sunday morning, 25 people were left displaced when seven shacks were destroyed during a fire at the Village Heights informal settlement in Lavender Hill.

- ANA

No case yet on gang building protection

Cape Town - Police say “information from ground level” about protection money being paid to the Hard Livings gang by city-contracted construction companies refurbishing flats in Manenberg is not enough to warrant an investigation.

On Sunday, Jeremy Vearey, head of Operation Combat, a police operation targeting gangsterism in the province, said he had been notified of the situation in Manenberg, but needed a statement under oath to officially investigate.

“We received information from ground level which indicated these activities were taking place, but information is information. We need a statement under oath to form the basis of a case docket and then we can investigate,” Vearey said.

Vearey mentioned a report published on Sunday in the Weekend Argus, the Cape Times’s sister newspaper, that revealed an e-mail from safety and security mayoral committee member JP Smith to other city officials, dated December 12, had been leaked.

Smith confirmed this on Sunday. He said he had been made aware of the allegations in December last year.

“In the e-mail, I basically said that all the information we have needs to go to the SAPS because it is a criminal offence in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act and must be criminally prosecuted.

“I made it clear that the dossier be handed over and the complaint made to a senior police officer,” Smith said.

Vearey said: “We have not seen or received any dossier yet.”

Smith said he would be meeting with the city’s human settlements department and the construction companies this week.

“Either we will hire city law enforcement as security or we will select a panel of security companies and choose one to work there,” he said.

Mayco member for human settlements Benedicta van Minnen said the city was investigating two construction companies.

“Initially there was H & I Construction, and now there is Good Hope Construction. We are busy with our investigation and will be meeting again this week to discuss the way forward. The refurbishments will continue this week and we are on track to finish in June,” she said.

Good Hope Construction chief executive Raziek Rajah denied that his company was being investigated.

“It must be made clear that according to the city, we are not under investigation. They have made contact to confirm this.”

Rajah refused to be drawn on whether his workers were asked to pay gangsters protection money.

Attempts to reach H & I Construction for comment proved fruitless.

carlo.petersen@inl.co.za

- Cape Times

'Political instigators' blamed for land grabs

Cape Town - The City of Cape Town is set to lay criminal charges against “political instigators” of a spate of illegal land invasions which have hit the metropole in recent days.

Metro Police and the SA Police Service officers were called to intervene in at least three land grabs in Khayelitsha, Wallacedene and Kalkfontein in the past week.

“The City is investigating reports of possible political interference pertaining to the Kalkfontein violence but it must be emphasised that a trend of political instigation is already visible in the attempted land invasions which have taken place recently, including in Khayelitsha,” said the City’s mayoral committee member for human settlements Benedicta van Minnen.

“We condemn land invasions and the incitement to invade State- or privately-owned land in the strongest possible terms. We urge residents not to be misled by miscreants who are preying on the poor to build their political profiles and to create havoc in the city.”

On Sunday night, a group of protestors who were prevented from invading land in Kalkfontein, near Kuils River, set a church alight.

“We will not tolerate this behaviour, which is placing strain on the City’s law enforcement agencies, the South African Police Service (SAPS), and the City’s broader service delivery efforts at the expense of law-abiding residents,” said Van Minnen.

“The City will use every available resource at its disposal to prevent land invasions and we will make sure that those who are responsible for any incitement to violence, land invasions and other criminal acts face the full consequences of the law.”

Van Minnen declined to name the politicians the City would be laying charges against regarding the Kalkfontein incident.

The City had, however, already laid charges against Economic Freedom Fighters Western Cape leader Nazier Paulsen who led a group of people to occupy land in Khayelitsha during the Easter weekend.

The City had since managed to remove the structures erected on the land next to the Nolungile railway station.

Law enforcement officers were also called to Wallacedene in Kraaifontein at the weekend. Thirty four structures were removed from the land.

The City on Monday called on private landowners to contact the City and relevant law enforcement agencies if they detect the illegal occupation of land.

“Landowners need to act immediately,” said Van Minnen.

“If landowners or residents are aware of any other illegal activity, such as political instigation or criminality, they must approach the SAPS to conduct an investigation and for assistance.”

- ANA

Cape land invaders refuse to move

Cape Town - Illegal land invasions have spread across Cape Town from Khayelitsha, Kalkfontein near Bonteheuwel and now to Wallacedene in Kraaifontein.

JP Smith, the mayco member of safety and security for the City of Cape Town, said seven people who occupied land illegally in Kalkfontein were arrested on Saturday.

“There were protesters in the area who were burning tyres and throwing stones near the lane of the R300 earlier on Saturday afternoon. And, firemen in Hamilton Estate were also assaulted after trying to put out a fire. One man was injured and the others refused to go back to control the fire because of the danger that they were in,” Smith said.

In light of the sporadic land grabs that took place across the city last week, Smith provided a breakdown of the city’s intervention.

“(A total of) 20 illegal structures and 920 pegs were destroyed in Khayelitsha, 100 pegs were destroyed in Lwandle (Strand). Thirteen illegal structures were demolished in Kalkfontein.”

He said public spaces in Wallacedene were under threat. “More of these illegal structures are being erected. (On Sunday) police will be in the area to stop these structures from disturbing public spaces.”

When the Cape Argus visited Kalkfontein on Sunday, people remained defiant and continued to erect illegal structures, saying they have nowhere else to go.

Elliot Malgas was adamant that he and his family would not move willingly. “We still want to build here. On Saturday, law enforcement demolished our homes but we haven’t got any other place to stay.”

After being evicted, Malgas said: “It was terrible, I am not happy. Everyone here has bought all the materials for their houses, now we have to spend more money to build. I have lost my TV, clothes and even my ID.”

He said this was the third time in one week that their homes were destroyed.

A church was set alight during the violent protest.

“It’s confirmed that the church has been set alight. Apparently it appears it was set alight by protestors,” said police spokesman Colonel Thembinkosi Kinana.

No injuries were reported.

“No arrests have been made so far. The investigation is still ongoing,” said Kinana.

Joshua Njingo, who was shot in the head on Saturday said: “They came to shoot at us while we were building. It’s terrible. The South African law enforcement can’t just come from behind and just shoot you.”

Banele Ntlangani, 22, another Kalkfontein resident, feared losing his eight-month-old baby, Uminati.

“We were busy building and law enforcement came. They said they were here just to break the shacks without people living inside them. Afterwards they surrounded the whole area with hippos and then just broke all the houses.”

Police spokesman Colonel Thembinkosi Kinana said: “Eight protesters were arrested for public violence on Sunday and they are expected to appear in court (Monday).”

matthew.vanschalkwyk@inl.co.za

- Cape Argus and ANA

Cape Town Stadium may cost another R60 million

Ratepayers are not done paying for the Cape Town Stadium just yet, because a draft environmental assessment report released for public comment reveals it could cost as much as R60 million to refurbish parts of the stadium to make it suitable for commercial activities.

The consultants working on the assessment, the Environmental Partnership, said this was an "approximate" cost that would depend on the stadium's full commercial potential being realised. With more limited specifications, the amount could be drastically reduced.

But the use of the stadium for office and retail space could bring in an annual revenue of R31m.

It has cost the City of Cape Town R4.4 billion to build the stadium for the 2010 World Cup, and the facility has been running at an annual loss of R39m since then.

Luke Stevens, spokesman for the Camps Bay Residents' and Ratepayers' Association (CBRRA), said: "Our greatest fear as ratepayers is that the city will throw significant amounts of good money - such as R60m - in speculative redevelopment to discover that even after the removal of the constraints to business activity, the stadium remains technically unprofitable."

Stevens said the association did not object to the commercialisation of the stadium precinct, but had "very little faith" in the business plan upon which the projected revenue streams were based.

The city had yet to adopt a business model for the stadium, and work on this was being done as a separate exercise, said the Environmental Partnership.

Stevens said this process "remains opaque and we continue to suspect, given the competencies of the International Risk Mitigation Consultants who compiled the business plan, that the hidden emphasis in the business plan's terms of reference was to find a way to dislodge Western Province Rugby from Newlands rather than to find real alternatives for Cape Town Stadium".

An estimated 20 000m2 of potential lettable space for offices, restaurants or retail outlets was available within the stadium structure. The proposed commercialisation of the precinct was limited to the stadium and would not infringe on the Urban Park.

The Environmental Partnership said the remainder of the shortfall would be made up from various revenue streams, such as the development of suites, commercial parking, advertising and the development of the Granger Bay Precinct.

The development of this precinct could bring in between R27m and R98m, depending on which proposal was accepted.

There was a separate environmental impact assessment under way for the Granger Bay area but the legislation was changed last December, and the proposed redevelopment was no longer a listed activity and therefore did not require an environmental authorisation. However, the development would still need land use and heritage approvals.

Given the ongoing operational and maintenance budget shortfalls for the stadium, the city needed to find a sustainable business model that would make the precinct commercially viable.

This could only be done if the existing environmental authorisation that restricted these activities was amended.

"It is anticipated that the income generated from commercial activities will assist in reducing the annual deficit of R39m incurred by the municipality and subsequently the ratepayers. From an economic point of view, the stadium's viability needs to be improved and municipal spending on this existing facility reduced," said the report.

The draft environmental report forms part of this process.

After feedback from the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, it was recommended that two rezoning proposals should be considered - general business and a split zoning, which would allow the South Forecourt to be used for general business subzone 1, while the remainder would be for subzone 7.

While both zones would allow for commercial activity that include retail, business or office space, places of worship, a multiple parking garage, a service station, places of entertainment or hotels, the South Forecourt would have a height restriction and floor space restrictions.

Additional use rights include an adult shop subject to certain provisions.

The split-zoning was the preferred alternative, as it would be more likely to protect the integrity of the South Forecourt while allowing this portion of the precinct to become more functional.

Some of the major impacts identified in the report include the additional lighting at the stadium, potential traffic impact on event days, and future development risks associated with the South Forecourt.

The report also recommended conditions of approval, such as the use of signals on the Green Point traffic circle to cope with the increased traffic and a heritage assessment of any development on the South Forecourt.

This area of the stadium must be used as a functional open space, said the Environmental Partnership. This condition was welcomed by CBRRA. "We stress that open space is vital to the promotion of a healthy and productive society. These spaces are not fallow, wasted areas," said Stevens.

The findings of the draft environmental impact report will be available at an open meeting at the stadium on April 21, from 4pm until 8pm, with a presentation starting at 6pm.

- IOLProperty

Church set alight during protest

Cape Town - A church was set alight during a violent protest in Kalkfontein, near Kuils River, on Sunday evening, Western Cape police said.

“It’s confirmed that the church has been set alight. Apparently it appears it was set alight by protesters,” said police spokesman Colonel Thembinkosi Kinana.

“As I understand it, it’s a continuation of the land invasion protests that were going on the weekend,” he said.

No injuries were reported.

“No arrests have been made so far. The investigation is still ongoing,” said Kinana.

Kinana could not confirm whether the protests were linked to similar protests late in March when a council home rented by a law enforcement officer was petrol-bombed, allegedly by a group of people evicted from land they illegally occupied.

Members of the public order policing unit would remain on the scene, Kinana said.

Since March, the area has seen an invasion to occupy a stretch of land belonging to the city council.

- ANA