Government pretends to learn lessons from N2 Gateway project!

In his book Planet of Slums, Mike Davis calls the Cape Flats the eleventh largest slum in the world, referring to the bleak conditions in the more than 200 informal settlements that are home to more than 250 000 people.

The Constitutional Court Grootboom ruling in 2 000 prescribed that the three spheres of government (national, provincial and local) should provide decent housing for Irene Grootboom and the community of Wallacedene living in these squalid conditions.

Although Grootboom's personal story is the tragedy of a premature loss of life in these settlements, some seven years later the rest of Wallacedene has finally received their homes.

Given that, under the watchful eye of the Constitutional Court, it took that long to carry through a single upgrade of living conditions, it became clear that the three spheres had to enter into a new working arrangement to avert an impending social catastrophe.

Concerned about the enduring features of the apartheid city and the rapid growth of informal settlements, the national Cabinet directed that a strategy be framed that responded to shelter needs and towards the building of more sustainable human settlements.

The mayor of Cape Town approached the minister of housing, requesting the opportunity collaboratively to pilot such a project, focused on the upgrading of informal settlements at the epicentre of the city and thus offering the opportunity to explore and demonstrate new ways to reintegrate the living space for all of its citizens.

This strategy, called "Breaking New Ground", (aka Broken Policy) was framed with the requirements to be economically proactive, socially responsible and sensitive to the natural environment. It attempted to address coherently a complicated evolving urban environment, offering critical directions for public investment through reformulated housing instruments. It was to realign financial and operational arrangements that could frame sector-wide partnerships to produce the desired pace of delivery.

A set of policy directives, legislative guidelines, financial and technical instruments, systems and procedures had to be redesigned to ensure optimal use, application and accountability. These processes are time-consuming and tedious.

The results are beginning to be realised in the massive growth of the budget of the new Human Settlements Department.

They are also only now beginning to be translated into the nature and form of public and private investments in the towns and cities across the country. Visitors as well as ordinary residents now marvel at the developments on the N2 corridor, reflecting the positive impression it creates. At the same time, to see Langa itself resolutely emerging as a suburb of Cape Town from the shadows of an apartheid township is a significant step away from the city of our past.

This is possible because we learned very difficult lessons in the application of the N2Gateway project. The cost of these lessons is the subject of your report, but the value to the development of a new way to build equitable and efficient cities is perhaps missed.

Although the development of the new tools in the arsenal now available in the Human Settlements Department had to be meticulously developed, the demand for urgent application in Cape Town at the time did not have that benefit. The collaboration was framed through a "learning-by-doing" approach by building on existing modalities and crafting new ones. (ie making shit up)

This project provoked a very public debate about the processes that are involved. Every major institution in the country has been called to offer an opinion, including Parliament and the Constitutional Court. That, in our opinion, was what the pilot was meant to be.

Four key issues continually emerge. Public funding streams are subject to complex rules for accounting purposes, and hybrid arrangements that are more likely to produce better outcomes have to develop better procedural performance to ensure effective oversight.

Although these were agonisingly recalibrated into the rules and support operations of the housing programmes, the very public pressure of this project spurred those changes. Future interventions in our cities will benefit from the hard lessons.

The second relates to new ways of framing implementation protocols for the application of human settlement resources. The performance requirements highlighted at the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) help create the confidence about how government should work in relationship to building functionally supportive settlements.

The third relates to the requirements for better project management capabilities in projects that are meant to be catalysts for reintegrating our cities. The N2 was bound to make huge mistakes in its application in an arena of policy and institutional transition. Our response has been to establish the Housing Development Agency to tackle this.

Finally, the deliberations of the Constitutional Court on the N2 that centred on the nature of public consultation demonstrated how first-generation urban dwellers want their route into the urban economy navigated through their entitlement to housing. They want it to offer the benefits of the whole city.

The lesson is that only functionally supportive human settlements offered through a process of intense engagement provide the basis for meaningful citizenship. The extensive public engagement exercise of the N2 has alerted us to the ways in which we can better transform our cities into places that have meaning for all of its citizens.

Itumeleng Kotsoane is director general of the national department of human settlements - M&G

Sexwale bucks the trend

Cape Town - Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale said on Tuesday his department was introducing austerity measures to slash official travel, accommodation and administration costs.

Sexwale and his deputy Zoe Kota-Fredericks this week started flying economy-class to attend parliamentary sittings in Cape Town and all staff had been ordered to do the same, his spokesperson Chris Vick said.

Vick said Sexwale told his staff: "We need to lead by example. We have to tighten up on expenditure, particularly on some of the big-ticket items such as travel."

Lessing printing, photo-copying

The department had placed a moratorium on promotional items and instructed officials to share transport wherever possible.

It had given orders to cut down on printing and photo-copying costs.

Sexwale and Kota-Fredericks have bucked the ministerial trend for acquiring luxury official vehicles at taxpayers' expense.

Savings study

The minister was using his own car and his deputy one from the department's fleet, Vick said.

He said the human settlements department was doing a study of how much it could realistically save and would report to the national treasury once it was completed.

Sexwale, who made a personal fortune in business before joining President Jacob Zuma's Cabinet, is possibly pre-empting moves by government to cut ministerial perks.

Prompted by a public outcry over ministers buying top-of-the-range German cars, the government appointed a task team to see how officials could cut unnecessary spending.

Spokesperson Themba Maseko said recently it had yet to hand proposals to Cabinet, but promised on Tuesday to respond later in the week to a call by Cosatu for ministers to trade in expensive cars for more modest models.

- SAPA

MEC launches Housing listening Campaign

Western Cape Housing Minister Bonginkosi Madikizela will today launch the Rental Housing Tribunal “Know Your Rights Campaign”.

Minister Madikizela says the campaign is to inform tenants and landlords of their rights and responsibilities as well as the services offered by the Rental Housing Tribunal.

“The campaign bears out of the realisation that too few people are aware of the Rental Housing Tribunal and its role in fostering sound relations between landlords and tenants,” says the Minister.

The department believes it is more crucial since the onset of economic recession will increase the likelihood of tenants defaulting on rent and landlords acting immorally.

The Minister says it is very important that landlords and tenants alike understand that there is a Tribunal administered by the Department of Local Government and Housing whose purpose is to settle rental disputes free of charge.

“At the launch members of the Rental Housing Tribunal will stage a 15 minutes mock hearing to demonstrate how the tribunal operates,” added Minister Madikizela.

- Bush Radio

A welcome opportunity? Evictions Halt

In an unusual move by the Constitutional Court, a full bench of 10 judges has indefinitely suspended its own order for Joe Slovo residents and backyard dwellers to make way for the N2 Gateway development in a phased in, deadline-driven mass relocation.

This came as the court granted Housing MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela the opportunity to commission an expert to investigate the "practical, social, financial and legal consequences" of the ordered relocation to Delft.

"For the community, and indeed all parties involved, this is a welcome opportunity to seek a workable solution," said Steve Kahanovitz, the Legal Resources Centre attorney representing the 20,000 strong community resisting the eviction application by the Minister of Housing.

The matter had a long court history and the development plan was redesigned a few times, but in June the Constitutional Court finally made a ruling on it.

It directed the state to provide 70% of the low-cost housing to be built at Joe Slovo to former or current residents who applied and qualified for housing.

The residents were ordered to vacate in phases according to a schedule, but only on condition that they would be relocated to sturdy temporary residential units services with tarred roads and communal ablution facilities, at Delft or another suitable location.

The residents, the national minister, MEC and Thubelisha Homes (which no longer exists but whose responsibilities have been partly taken over by the National Housing Agency), were ordered to "engage meaningfully with each other" by June 30 to reach an agreement on all relevant issues regarding the relocation.

The Court however issued a new order last month after it considered a memorandum lodged by counsel for the Minister of Housing on August 4, 2009.

In the memorandum Michael Donan SC explained that the parties did meet on several occasions, but no agreement could be reached.

The Minister requested an extension so the parties could engage further and the MEC requested a postponement of the implementation, having expressed "grave concerns" about a variety of consequences of the relocation.

The MEC said he was concerned about the fact that the Concourt made no provisions for what would happen to the other 30% who had to be moved to the Temporary Relocation Area (TRA) housing but who could not be moved back to the permanent housing at Joe Slovo as soon as the project was completed.

He also had questions about the density of the proposed development and the social, financial and legal effects of this massive relocation.
The MEC said if the expert confirmed that the relocation would give rise to unforeseen difficulties, those difficulties had to be addressed before implementation.

All the parties agreed to his request for time until September 30 to deliver a report.

Acceding to this request, the judges said they would suspend their initial order "until further notice".

"Once the report referred to... has been received, further directions may be issued."

- Cape Times

MEC admits to shoddy N2 Gateway construction

The Western Cape Housing MEC has admitted some flats in the N2 Gateway development are so badly built they should be demolished.

Bonginkosi Madikizela says he now understands why tenants refuse to pay rent.

N2 Gateway tenants reportedly owe the national government over R7 million in outstanding rent.

So far, the Human Settlements Department has only been able to recoup R600 000.

Madikizela says in some cases the shoddy workmanship cannot be rectified.

“Some of the units, it will not actually help to fix them. I think a possible solution which is something very difficult to do would be just to demolish the building you know and start afresh.”

JOE SLOVO RESIDENTS FEND FOR THEMSELVES

At the same time, informal settlers in Joe Slovo in Langa say they believe they are capable of building their own homes.

The Constitutional Court halted the eviction of the squatters from an area where authorities wanted to build homes as part of the troubled Gateway project.

The court ruled that 70 percent of the houses should go to Joe Slovo inhabitants.

Community leader Mzwanele Zulu says a study has been done to determine exactly how many homes are needed.

“From the community’s point of view we are able and capable of doing development. We’ve done a numeration, we’ve gathered information, we’ve got findings that we are planning to share all this information with the government," says Zulu.

- How to Build your own carbon negative Cannabrick home

- Eyewitness News

Residents 'over the moon' with new homes

For the first time in her life, Nomanyana Njaxa, 29, will live in a real house with her husband and two children.

She was among 400 families left homeless three years ago when a fire raged through the Masiphumelele informal settlement.

She had lived there for 10 years, losing her shack home to fire four times.

Now Njaxa and 33 other families have moved into the first completed multi-storey blocks of flats built there.

"I'm over the moon," she said, showing officials and the media around her new home.

The two-roomed flats are part of the multimillion-rand Amakhaya Ngoku housing project, largely sponsored by foreign donors and the subject of ongoing controversy, with often violent resistance from community members who will not benefit.

Once completed, it will boast 12 multi-storey blocks of flats, which will be home to 352 families.

The scheme started last November, but its completion is still threatened by a group of residents who continue to refuse to move their shacks to make way for further construction.

Premier Helen Zille and Housing MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela officially handed over the flats yesterday.

Zille described the project as unique, saying that where development took place, conflict should be expected.

- Cape Argus

Zille to meet Zuma about housing

Western Cape Premier Helen Zille is set to meet with President Jacob Zuma sometime this month to discuss some of the housing problems in the province.

The premier handed over 33 flats to some Masiphumelele residents on Tuesday.

The flats form part of the Amakhaya Ngoku Housing Development, which is expected to accommodate about 350 families when completed.

“The life there in the shack was very very bad. The fire burnt down my stuff four times,” said one woman.

She is one of the first people to receive keys for new apartments.

The provincial housing backlog is close to half a million.

Zille acknowledged housing is one of the biggest challenges facing her administration.

She said she will be discussing this with Zuma soon.

“He has asked me to give him a paper on all of the laws that hinder development and that is what we’ll be doing," said Zille.

Officials said about 17,000 people migrate to the province annually, exacerbating the housing crisis.

- Eyewitness News

Sexwale on a great mission

THOUGH the story of a minister who spent a night in a shack to understand the plight of the down-trodden sounds like a dream, it also marked a turning point in a country where government arrogance and failure to account to voters remained a stubborn stain on the fabric of the public service.

That’s how most South Africans reacted to Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale’s well-calculated public relations exercise of spending a night in a shack in Diepsloot recently.

Such an exercise showed an independence of thought from the minister, which was what most expected from a senior ANC politician whose stature needs no validation by President Jacob Zuma or the ruling clique at the ANC head office, Luthuli House. It showed Sexwale was his own man.

During the visit, Sexwale said: “I am here today on a listening campaign.
“I want to know who you are, what you’re doing here, what you want and what made you come here?”

His visits, which included the N2 Gateway in Cape Town, have defined the Zuma administration’s trump card so far – it’s willingness to account to the voters.
With a housing backlog of more than 2,1milllion and the pressure of the ANC’s recent pre-elections promises, Sexwale’s task is Herculean.

But Sexwale, one of the ANC bigwigs already mooted as potential successors to Zuma, is a man on a mission.

He has already urged banks and businesses to lend a hand in solving the country’s housing problem while rooting out corruption in the awarding of housing contracts and the allocation of houses in municipalities.

During the Human Settlements budget vote in June he told Parliament his department was serious about rooting out corruption within its ranks.
“To ensure we identify and act against criminals, we have strengthened our partnership with the special investigations unit (SIU) and taken stern action against offenders.”

He said his department had charged 772 public servants, of whom 554 have been convicted.Sub-standard work “More than 1600 acknowledgements of debt have been signed in respect of non-qualifying government employees with a total value of R19,8million and millions have already been collected by the SIU from non-qualifying illegal beneficiaries.”

Sexwale said his immediate mission would be hunting down building contractors and companies who continue to build defective RDP houses.

In a recent visit to municipalities in Eastern Cape, where more than 19000 defective houses have to be rebuilt, Sexwale said government had allocated R300million to rectify substandard work on houses in the country.
The Human Settlements Department has set itself the target of building 226000 houses a year.

In June he told Parliament expenditure on housing service delivery had increased from R4,8billion in the 2004-05 financial year to R10,9billion in the last financial year.

“Funds allocated to national pilot projects for this financial year include R400million for the N2 Gateway, R120million for Zanemvula Housing Project and R150million for disaster relief in KwaZulu-Natal.
“Nationally, more than 570 housing projects have been approved and a housing grant of R12,4billion has been allocated for this financial year.”

Sexwale also promised to build bigger and better quality houses.
But his ambitions may be frustrated by funding shortfalls that are likely to affect most government departments as the country battles the effects of recession.

“Though the housing grant allocation has been increased over the 2009 MTEF period, we remind you once again that the previous studies by the department concluded that continuing with the current trend in the housing budget would lead to a funding shortfall of R102billion in 2012, which could increase to R253billion by 2016. This is of great concern,” Sexwale said .

“ We also remain concerned about houses that are reportedly standing empty .”
Sexwale is not only Zuma’s political ally in the internecine struggle for power in the ANC, he is also his points- man on service delivery, which will be key to whether Zuma remains the man of the people at the end of his term. - Sowetan

Sharp slump in lower cost home loans

There has been a sharp slump in the number of home loans granted to South Africans in the under-R15 000 per month income bracket, the National Credit Regulator (NCR) said on Wednesday.

The total number of home loans granted in South Africa has almost halved in 2008 due to the global recession and ensuing financial crisis.

"There's been a huge contraction in credit granted - and the preliminary numbers for the March quarter indicate that the contraction is actually continuing," said NCR CEO Gabriel Davel. Fin 24

Residents raise stink with visiting mayor

Cape Town Mayor Dan Plato was greeted with smiling faces for some part and indifference from most as he went walk-about in Du Noon on Monday.

Plato's office had organised the event to listen to the "service delivery need" of a community which had often expressed its frustrations at poor living conditions through violent protests, blocking access to the busy Potsdam Road next to it.

Walking through waterlogged streets, Plato saw first-hand what some of Du Noon's residents had been complaining to him about.

Officials had to tread carefully, as Plato inspected several rows of toilets as private contractors emptied green rubbish containers.

Standing in leaking water, he asked residents whether they had complained to the city's relevant department and when they confirmed that they had, he made a promise that it would soon be fixed.

Peering at several illegal electricity connections, he joked that city would not be cutting them off as "there might be another riot".

Plato said: "Its not the city's problem, its Eskom's problem, they'll soon have to sort it out."

Khaya Mbunyuza, a resident, said he was happy Plato had come to Du Noon and that it might spur movement on development in the area.

"We've been made promises for years. People have been told that their problems can't be solved because they live in the wrong places - like Du Noon," said Mbunyuza.

Seated with some of the executive directors and senior officials, Plato had to answer questions from an angry community about the high crime rate in the area, poor waste management and lack of housing.

He said there were underlying issues that affected service delivery and that the city would not allow it to continue.

About complaints that the area did not have a multipurpose centre or a library, Plato asked for patience as these would take some time due to statutory requirements.

Residents also complained about Du Noon's sewerage system often being blocked.

Plato said some of the problems in the community stemmed from overcrowding and that a permanent solution would be to "de-densify" the area.

The meeting was told that some of shacks were built by people who had already received housing subsidies in other areas, but had moved to Du Noon for job opportunities.

- Cape Times

N2 Gateway tenants owing city

Only four percent of tenants at the government's flagship N2 Gateway flats are paying rent, with arrears almost topping R7-million.

Tenants have collectively paid only R600 000 of the R7,5-million owed in rentals over the past year.

Monthly rentals are from R500 to R1 200 a unit.

The Department of Human Settlement has admitted in a parliamentary reply that it has been unable to recover the outstanding rent, and that its rental collection dropped from 19 percent in July 2008 to four percent by the end of July 2009.

Democratic Alliance shadow Minister of Human Settlements Butch Steyn said the department had indicated that only R180 000 had been spent on maintenance during this time, despite residents withholding rent because of the shoddy conditions of the flats.

"The fact that the department seemingly has no interest in collecting rentals despite having a list of the names and addresses of the occupants, is an indication once again of the poor management of the N2 Gateway," said Steyn.

Read the full story in tomorrow's edition of Cape Times

'Illegal' paraffin stoves a safety risk

Thousands of "illegally imported" paraffin stoves are flooding the South African market, crippling the local metal industry and posing health risks in poorer communities.

The Paraffin Safety Association of South Africa (Pasasa) told the Weekend Argus that it has been visiting stores to assess the availability of legal paraffin appliances and discovered that out of the 141 stores visited, only one in 14 was selling legal appliances.

According to Pasasa there is an "influx of unapproved and hazardous" paraffin appliances, apparently making their way from China to South African ports.

"These dangerous stoves are being sold to underprivileged communities all over the country. They are mostly found in local Indian and Chinese shops," said Patrick Kulati, head of the association.

A South African stove manufacturing company, which is approved by the SABS, described the issue as a "hard blow" to the industry.

A senior manager, who asked not to be named or have the company named because she feared harassment from the illegal operators, said: "We continue to lose more money daily due to the illegal sale of the goods. Nowadays we sell less than we did previously."

The manufacturer said it struggled to compete with the illegal market and that "there are just too many of the cheap products for us to compete with".

The manager said the company was the only recognised stove manufacturer in the country.

She said they had been forced to retrench nearly 300 people in the last five years because the profit fall had been "massive". She blamed the unsafe imports

"Now a lot of people are unemployed because no money is coming in to continue operations, consumers are opting for the cheaper lot," she said.

The National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) said it was confiscating thousands of unapproved stoves daily across the country.

"Our inspectors have managed to seize quite a large number of stoves and none of them have the safety features required," said Thomas Madzivhe, NRCS senior manager.

In May this year, a Chinese shop owner and three others were arrested after the regulator seized 8 000 "non-compliant" stoves and heaters in the shop in Cape Town. The stoves violated a set of safety standards which state that the manufacturing, sale and use of environmentally friendly stoves should pose no health risk to the consumer.

The unapproved stoves are the ones being snapped up by people who want to save money, Pasasa said.

The association added the goods were exact counterfeits of the harmful ones previously made by the local company until the National Regulator presented a new set of safety standards.

The illegal importers "saw a gap in the market and decided to make the most of it and now the whole country is at huge risk".

"People in many communities are attempting to evade financial troubles and are seeking cheaper alternatives and unfortunately they are not always safe. The influx (of illegal stoves) has made matters worse.

"The effects have already been felt by most people. Fires mostly take place due to the use of these duds and because people are unaware of their hazardous nature they purchase them," said Kulati.

He added his organisation had discovered the importers' tactics. "They put on road shows in rural and township areas and sell their faulty goods to the people. They do this because there would be no paper trail for police to nab them."

It is alleged the appliances are smuggled into the country at habours in PE and Durban.

Customs officials are told that the goods are to be sent to neighbouring countries, but they are then dropped in South Africa.

But the National Regulator said although it did make inspections at ports countrywide, it could not confirm this, but would continue inspections.

And Pasasa said there were plans by the National Regulator to approach the Chinese and Indian embassies to try and work out a solution to the problem.

- Cape Argus

Sexwales' factifinding

HUNDREDS of Buffalo City residents living in informal settlements were given an opportunity to express their frustrations to Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale at the weekend. Sexwale was on a fact-finding mission in the province and on Saturday visited Sweetwaters outside King William’s Town, as well as Reeston, Duncan Village and Amalinda in East London. Residents welcomed the minister and used the opportunity to tell him about their problems...

“We appreciate the houses from government, but we need more jobs. We can’t even afford the electricity and water for these houses,” said Thabisa Dyabeni, a single mother from Thembalethu in Reeston.

Other concerns raised were houses with building defects.

Sexwale threatened that building contractors who continued to do shoddy work would be sued by the government. He said officials who offered contracts to such companies would also be held accountable for the huge amounts of taxpayers’ money lost through poor workmanship.

“The trip was invaluable in providing additional insight into conditions in some of the country’s largest informal settlements. We found the situation in Duncan Village to be similar to that in Diepsloot in Gauteng and Joe Slovo in the Western Cape, and there is no doubt that the upgrading of these areas needs to be prioritised,” Sexwale said.

- Daily Dispatch

X-Housing Minister Sisulu spends nights in luxury after defending her involvement in N2 Gateway

Two government ministers have splashed out on accommodation in an exclusive hotel, flying in the face of calls by President Jacob Zuma that officials tighten their belts in the economic crisis.

Minister of defence Lindiwe Sisulu and KwaZulu-Natal MEC for economic development and tourism Mike Mabuyakhulu stayed at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Umhlanga Rocks, north of Durban — a favourite of England’s Prince Harry and Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan.

The Beverly Hills boasts the province’s first butler service for VIP guests. Its cheapest rooms are more than R3000 a night, while suites cost more than R5000.

Their extravagance comes as the government moves to cut wasteful spending and address concerns that officials are “living large”.

According to the national Treasury, the government’s revenue shortfall is projected at R60-billion this year.

A ministerial task team was established this month to develop guidelines to slash big spending. It has already submitted a draft report to cabinet.

Sisulu’s spokesman Ndivhuwo Mabaya confirmed that she had stayed at the hotel on August 7 after being called to an urgent meeting with President Jacob Zuma.

“Accommodation had to be arranged at short notice. The Beverly Hills was the most suitable accommodation and by far the most cost effective as it charges us government rates, which makes it the cheapest in relation to the security requirements of any minister.”

Bheko Madlala, Mabuyakhulu’s spokesman, said the MEC had hosted a two-day conference at Sibaya Casino and Entertainment World outside Umhlanga on August 6 and 7. There are two hotels on the premises.

“On the first day , the MEC hosted a dinner which went well into midnight. Because of its proximity to the conference centre, the Beverly Hills was the only available accommodation on the day.”

Priya Naidoo from Southern Sun, which owns the Beverly Hills, would not disclose the group’s “specific” government rates.

But Gerhard Patzer, the Hilton’s general manager, said his and most hotels in Durban offered discounts to government officials.

Themba Godi, the chairman of the standing committee on public accounts, said it was unacceptable that ministers appeared to have ignored cheaper hotels where government had standing arrangements.

“Ministers should lead by example. President Zuma has made announcements that culture and attitudes should change,” he said.

More than R200 000 was spent on parliamentary committees meetings and workshops at luxury hotels in Cape Town rather than at parliament

# MPs also stayed overnight at these hotels;

# The North West education department spent about R90 000 to pamper 43 directors and chief directors at a day spa outside Pretoria;

# The Department of Police bought two new luxury BMWs for ministerial use, equipped with extras like reverse cameras and a navigation system, for R1.3-million.

Kuben Naidoo, the national Treasury’s budget head, who is working with the ministerial task team, said the Treasury would issue extensive cost-containment guidelines, including cellphone expenditure, car hire and hotels. Spending on travel in some departments was “over the top”, he said.

- Sunday Times