Cape floods: 'We can't move everyone'

The City of Cape Town's housing department says it would be impossible to move to drier land everyone affected by flooding in the 49 informal settlements in which it is offering relief.

Housing executive director Hans Smit said the city would be moving people only in "exceptional cases".

On Tuesday the city is to meet the 220 families tucked away on the embankment of the railway bridge on Vanguard Drive to discuss their permanent relocation.

Smit said Little Kosovo, on the edges of Langa, had been identified as the biggest single problem area because of the flooding.

But it would be several days before the city could prepare an alternative site for them to move to, Smit said.

"We don't want to put them in an area where they could end up in a worse situation, and where it could give rise to other problems."

Smit declined to say which sites the city was considering moving people to, for fear that this might give rise to land invasions.

The city is helping more than 38,000 people in 8,035 shacks in 49 informal settlements. The biggest single area is Phola Park in Gugulethu, where 3,500 people living in 883 shacks are affected.

About 2,500 people in 623 shacks in the Small Business Development Centre at Philippi are also among the hardest hit.

The city has not ranked areas receiving assistance according to the severity of flooding.

At a special sitting of the council on Monday, some African National Congress councillors complained that officials were not aware of all the areas affected by floods and in need of help.

Mayor Helen Zille said the city's winter readiness programme simply could not meet the challenges posed by the recent heavy rains.

"In 2006 our winter readiness programme worked well. For 2007 it buckled under the combined force of four major storms in one week."

The city remained on the alert for further flooding this week, Zille said.

With a slight let-up in the heavy weather on Monday, the director for development services Noahmaan Hendricks flew over the city in a helicopter to take stock of the situation.

He said the flooding of informal settlements would not necessarily increase their priority for resettlement.

The city's master plan for informal settlement relocation lists 222 settlements in order of priority, based on myriad factors, including flooding.

Hendricks said while in some instances the latest floods could affect a particular settlement's priority ranking, it might also have no effect.

"We are not going to move people ahead of others just because they have been flooded. The floods will not prioritise people over and above those prioritised collectively." ... Cape Argus

Minister gives thumbs up to Cape's rental housing

The minister has warned tenants to pay their rent to support growth

The construction of rental housing by the private sector to address huge housing backlogs in the Western Cape has been encouraged by the Lindiwe Sisulu, the national housing minister. She said this after the official opening of the R30 million Aliwal Gardens housing project at Ruyterwacht near Goodwood in Cape Town yesterday.

Sisulu also cautioned tenants who have taken ownership of rental housing stock to meet their obligations to their landlords without fail. The units comprise of 85 two- and three-bedroom units, which have been subsidised for first-time home buyers.

The beneficiaries' appreciation was evident in their faces when they were given symbolic keys to their new homes. Ruyterwacht is an area that was characterised by racial violence in the post-l994 era, when people of colour moved into the neighbourhood.

Racial tolerance
More than 10 years down the line, the atmosphere has changed, with positive signs of racial tolerance. The housing project is driven by a Section 21 company, which aims to provide affordable and decent housing to all the people in the Western Cape. Thembi Sithole, who has bought a three-bedroom unit, says now that she has a house of her own, the comfort that she yearned for her family has finally been realised.

"People who benefit from this project must understand that it is in the payment of their rentals that the company will grow. If they do not do what is required of them, which is pay rent, the company will not be able to grow. If the company does not grow, we will not be able to provide people with housing. We have 2.2 million households out there waiting for an opportunity to get into housing," the minister said.

Protests by tenants
Sisulu was assured by the management of Communicare, an NGO that builds houses, that they will assist in making high standard alternative accommodation available. Sisulu said her department would cooperate with housing developers who have committed themselves in the provision of faultless workmanship.

Cape Town has recently experienced several protests by tenants from the nearby N2 Gateway housing project, complaining over poor workmanship and high rent. - SABC

Mbeki blames apartheid for poor service

Despite countrywide outrage about the slow pace of service delivery, President Thabo Mbeki has again urged people to be patient...

He blamed service delivery problems on centuries of colonialism and apartheid, saying they had led to poverty and underdevelopment and that 13 years of democracy was too short a time to fix all the problems. ..

He added that often when issues were explained at presidential imbizos, the citizens understood the challenges and could themselves identify what should be prioritised.

A recent spate of protests, often violent and destructive, has seen businesses being destroyed and many arrested.

A survey by TNS Research surveys also indicated that more protests could be expected in parts of Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West because of the high levels of dissatisfaction with service delivery.

Another study by the Centre for Development and Enterprise indicated that there was a common factor between all the areas where the violent protests had occurred.

It pointed out that citizens experienced "a sense of having been treated with indifference or even contempt by the political class".

Whether the issue ranged from leaking taps or being incorporated into another province, people were highly angry about "insensitive, unresponsive and unaccountable political elites", the study added.

Mbeki said it was expected that those who did not have houses would protest but it was not possible or practical to deliver on everything so soon.

"Communities must know that it isn't possible to solve all these problems in a short time," he said.

He admitted that at times there was an imbalance between the amount of money set aside for housing and that for infrastructure, which led to houses being built in areas without the necessary sanitation facilities, but the government was looking into the matter... - The Star

More than 38 000 hit by Cape floods

More than 38,000 people from 49 areas in greater Cape Town are affected by the flooding, says Disaster Management, which with its NGO partners is providing meals for 18,000 of those worst affected.



Flooding was also reported on the West Coast and in the Overberg.

The rapid growth in informal settlements in the past three years, from 178 to 226, may be at the heart of the problem, Disaster Management spokesperson Johan Minnie said on Sunday.

'I'm not a housing expert, but that is a drastic increase'

"I'm not a housing expert, but that is a drastic increase," he said.

Although nine shelters had been made available, only about 100 people had moved there, because many of those affected feared that leaving their homes unoccupied would invite burglaries.

Formal areas such as Heideveld, parts of Gugulethu and Athlone - where the Vygieskraal Canal burst its banks on Saturday - were severely affected, but the situation was most dire in informal low-lying areas such as Philippi, Klipfontein, Nyanga, Khayelitsha Site B, Crossroads, Lwandle in Strand and Doornbach in Milnerton, said Minnie.

Mayor Helen Zille, with an entourage from Disaster Management, visited Little Kosovo, Section Six in Philippi and Heideveld.

"It was terrible. If four major storms hit consecutively, there is nothing one can do about it. The problem is that people settled in low-lying areas," said Zille.

'We need gumboots for the residents'

She said people urgently needed to be moved to higher-lying, drier areas, and pollution and litter in the storm water had to be dealt with to avoid an outbreak of disease.

The city council would clean up trash and pump water from a low-lying detention pond in Philippi on Monday, she said.

Minnie said council planned to look into the impact of the flood on health and sanitation on Monday.

Housing councillor Dan Plato said the provincial government would have to provide dry ground for resettlement, because the city did not have enough land.

The city was in "positive" negotiations with the provincial department of local government and housing over the provision of land.

The city's Executive Management Team will meet on Monday morning to discuss an urgent plan of action.

City manager Achmat Ebrahim also called emergency meetings on Sunday with his top management and the Disaster Co-ordinating Team, consisting of all major city service departments.

Plans were put in place to clear storm water blockages and sewage systems and identify areas at greatest risk, using all available staff and outside contractors where needed, the council said in a statement.

In Klipfontein, at the Methodist Mission Station, 670 families have been affected by the flooding since Tuesday and 420 children could not attend classes because their school was ankle-deep in water.

Streets resemble rivers, with ducks and geese paddling through masses of rotten food and rubbish.

Many residents tried to salvage the sodden furniture from their homes in knee-deep water, and about 400 people are being fed at the church.

"Some residents have hired pumps and at one house 70 000 litres were pumped out, but it didn't seem to make a difference," said Klipfontein community leader Yvonne Barthies.

The Methodist Church pledged R10 000 to disaster relief, a local baker offered 100 loaves. Churches in Bellville and Kuils River, as well as Disaster Management, have donated blankets, but much more help is needed, Barthies said.

"We need gumboots for the residents," she said.

Meanwhille, the SA Weather Services (SAWS) said on Sunday that 35mm of rain had fallen in 24 hours at the Cape Town International Airport weather office. In Paarl 31mm had fallen and in Strand 14mm.

The weather was expected to clear up, with warmer temperatures over the next day or two, but another cold front with wet weather was expected on Thursday, SAWS said.

"Another round of frontal showers will reach the Cape south-western coast on Thursday. The movement of the front will spread these showers along the Cape south coast by evening," according to the SAWS website.

Msimelo Mabula, the West Coast District Municipality's community services director, said the weather had been "very wet and cold" since last week and all five local municipalities had reported flooding.

"It seems, based on our last count, the Matzikama area has been worst affected by flooding, with more than 40 homes filled with water.

In the Swartland area flooding was also quite bad. We haven't received the official figures yet. So far we have managed by providing affected residents with blankets, food and other necessities," he said.

Overberg District Municipality's Disaster Management spokesperson Reinhard Geldenhuys said although the weather had been "terrible", only a few roads had been closed because of the rain. "A few in Caledon and Swellendam were covered in water and temporarily closed," he said.

The City of Cape Town has asked residents not to call the Disaster Operations Centre in an emergency. Instead they should call one of the following numbers:

Electricity faults in Eskom areas 0860 037 566

Electricity faults in areas supplied by City of Cape Town 0860 125 001

Traffic signals not working 0860 001 948

Metro Police Control Room 021 596 1999

Transport, roads and storm water 021 957 4700

Water Services 0860 103054

Elsewhere in various parts of the country, fire fighters were still battling blazes.

Working on Fire spokesperson Evelyn Holtzhausen said there were 11 fires in Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and Swaziland.

In Swaziland, two fires were out of control with a total of seven fatalities.

Eleven people burnt to death in fires that engulfed parts of Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal on Friday. - Cape Times

Cherish your new homes, MEC warns community

WESTERN Cape local government and housing MEC Richard Dyantyi has warned that his department will not tolerate “chancers” when allocating houses in the poorer areas of Plettenberg Bay.

Speaking at a sod-turning ceremony in the Qolweni squatter camp outside the resort town at the weekend, Dyantyi said the government was creating not just housing, but assets.

“These are more than houses or shelter. We are creating human settlements so you have to be responsible and take care of what you get from the government, especially because of this area‘s market value.”

Government faced “big challenges” in delivering housing and his department would not tolerate people receiving houses, selling them and then moving back to the local squatter camp only to protest a lack of housing again, he said.

Qolweni, Pine Tree, Gaatjie and Bossiesgif, all situated along the N2 highway, are set to receive housing for around 1 300 families living in shacks at present.

At present, private contractors SSI Engineers are demarcating the individual erven, each measuring around 180m². They are grading roads and laying infrastructure like water, sewerage and electricity.

SSI‘s Keith Turner, who addressed over 600 residents who turned up at the ceremony and day-long festivities on Saturday, said the project was taking place in phases. Pine Tree, Gaatjie and Bossiesgif should have infrastructure in by January next year.

“Once the roads are done in phase 1A (Pine Tree and Gaatjie), building can start as the erven will be serviced,” he said.

Servicing the first 265 erven was costing R10-million. “There‘s a lot of rock in some areas and that pushes up the cost. Other areas will be easier,” Turner said.

Dyantyi said the Western Cape faced huge backlogs in housing delivery because of problems created by the apartheid past. The powers that be in the 1970s decided that Plettenberg Bay should never have an established township. The Qolweni transit camp was never developed as a result and no effort was made to make it hospitable. However, despite the difficulties they faced, residents refused to move further away from their workplace.

“Today‘s just a beginning and there‘s more to come. You people deserve better. We will deliver services wherever there‘s a need but we also have to address other problems, like bringing employment from the private sector,” Dyantyi said.

Manny Sitomi, the chief director of planning development in the department, said they were performing an in situ upgrade of the settlement, comprising the demarcation of erven, service delivery and then the building of dwellings.

As erven were serviced, residents could either start building at their own cost or apply for a housing grant, should they qualify.

For those who did not qualify, the department was looking at building apartments for rent.

He said upgrading the informal settlement and providing housing for the previously disadvantaged formed part of his department‘s “coming together” project, which would eventually see government departments being clustered closer to the people.

The service-delivery phase is estimated to cost the Bitou council about R39-million. - The Herald

Flood victims protest and demand for assistance

Residents of flood-hit informal settlements on the Cape flats have set up burning tyre barricades on Lansdowne road.

They say authorities have ignored their pleas for emergency assistance. Thousands of residents across the Peninsula are reeling as heavy downpours lashed down last night. Several streets in formal sections of Gugulethu have also been flooded and homes are under water.

Zanele Huna, a resident, said she had to carry her child on her back to the nearest dry area where her transport to school will be able to collect the child.

Huna says they have remained locked inside their wet houses for about a week now although they have notified the council, and emphasised that they were paying rates and taxes too and deserve assistance during emergencies. - SABC

Lifestyle Estate for Cape Township

Khayelitsha in Cape Town is the first township in the province where a security lifestyle estate will be developed.

THE launch of the R350m Thembokwezi Lifestyle Estate in Khayelitsha was attended by numerous VIPs, including President Thabo Mbeki, Cape Town mayor Helen Zille, senior corporate executives and members of the Western Cape provincial government.

Thembokwezi, meaning "Morningstar of hope", will be a mixed-use commercial and residential development, situated in the established site C of Khayelitsha. This pioneering joint development between Old Mutual Investment Group Property Investments, Nedbank, the Khayelitsha Development Forum, the Western Cape housing department and the City of Cape Town, has been on the cards for some time.

Ben Kodisang, MD of Old Mutual Investment Group Property Investments, owners of the 10ha of property in the more affluent part of the township, says: "The estate is an Old Mutual/Nedbank response to government's request to business to engage in the provision of affordable housing and sustainable development.

"Khayelitsha is subject to a Presidential Urban Renewal project, whose objectives include the upgrading of public transport, the development of a multifunctional CBD, the initiation of infrastructure projects focused on public amenities such as sports facilities, community centres, crèches, roads and cemeteries, the development of health-care facilities, the improvement of safety and security and the reduction of informal settlements," he says.

The community, says Kodisang, will benefit from spin-offs such as construction-related employment and skills transfer, some permanent employment associated with the commercial precinct, and the facilities that will be provided to residents. The key objective of the project, he says, is to provide a sustainable mixed-use precinct that will incorporate key social needs of the community while also offering viable sustainable commercial environment.

Thembokwezi Lifestyle Estate will consist of 564 housing units on 5,5ha of land, a lifestyle centre including a 15 000m' retail centre and 50000m' office accommodation, all situated on 4,5ha. The estate will also provide a gardens section measuring 4500m', a public green space for the use of the greater community.

The project will be developed in four phases of affordable housing to be sold on a sectional title basis, with multi-storey complexes providing one and two bedroom units to entry level buyers in the "gap market". The empowerment division of Pam Golding Properties will be marketing the estate, and units will become available once the show units have been completed in October this year. Although the complete cost structure has not been determined yet, these non subsidised units will come on to the market at a starting price of R250000. Pam Goldings's Andrew Golding says they are proud to be involved "in marketing homes in this visionary new project, in an area where there is a huge demand for residential units of this kind".

The Khayelitsha Development Forum, who has been involved in the project from inception, sees as their main challenge the transformation of the area from a dormitory township to an integrated human settlement.

The forum has already participated in many other successful projects, the most recent being the extension of the Khayelitsha Railway Line by 4,5km, with two stations to cover the areas of Mandela Park, Macassar and Kuyasa.

Nedbank will make end user finance available to prospective buyers through Nedbank Home Loans. Nedbank CEO Tom Boardman says that the bank's participation in Thembokwezi is a continuation of its drive to make banking accessible to communities, as is evident in the launch of its Khayelitsha branch as well as plans to upgrade the current branch at Site C.

Thembokwezi Lifestyle Estate will boost the number of developments brought to previously under-serviced areas under the Old Mutual umbrella through their role in boosting economic transformation in SA. - All Africa

Scores left homeless in Cape floods

More than 10,000 people have been left destitute, following heavy rains over the Cape Peninsula. Several informal settlements and many roads have been flooded after heavy downpours drenched the region.

More rain is predicted. Among the informal settlements hit by flooding, are those in the area between Nyanga and KTC.

"The people yesterday slept in water. That is why I reported it to the council. It was very difficult for them to come down. They told us that they were very busy in Klipfontein. I know that all the areas were flooded. But now it was very difficult for the people to sleep. I see now in front of me that there are people who are busy trying to drain the water out," said Gladstone Ntamo, Cape Town City councillor for the area. - SABC

Housing runs into problems

A NUMBER of housing projects in Mbekweni have run into problems due to irregularities.

This became clear at a recent meeting to address the concerns of residents over the delays with housing.

The Drakenstein Housing Project Co-ordinator, Cupido Jacobs, gave an overview of the current housing situation in the area.

“In Phola Park unfortunately a People’s Housing Project has been blocked by government, because of suspected mismanagement by support organisations and suppliers.

There has also been disruption due to dissatisfaction with the builder.

“The big Drommedaris project of 2000 erven approved to house families living under the power line and next to the railway line has also run into tendering problems and has been delayed for six months.

“New tenders are currently under consideration and it is hoped that work will commence in September.”

One of the oldest project, Project 2, has been stalled for ten years.

Only about 40 of the 235 houses in the project have been completed due to limited funding for an acceptable house size.

A number of stone houses have been constructed by youth empowerment learnership projects, but the project collapsed due to dissatisfaction with the government stipend of R500 paid to the learners.

“Things did not run as smoothly with the empowerment building project as we had hoped. Some of the youths were not committed and dedicated to the learnership and they influenced the others.

“In May this year the Western Cape Premier, Ebrahim Rasool, held an imbizo here and he requested the Department of Housing and the Municipality to get their act together and get this project moving.

“An additional 22 stone houses are now to be built with the assistance of prisoners who have completed a 60 day building certificate.”

“In the next phase, another 120 houses will be built with the assistance of an Irish company, the Mellon Housing Initiative, starting in the next fourteen days,” Jacobs said.

He also said that the government had given instruction that the houses should be 40 square metres m in size and no less than 36m.

This meant changes to the building plans, which had caused another delay.

Other projects are progressing satisfactorily. Mellon Housing Initiative has been appointed to construct 149 houses in Phola Park and has completed 60 so far in the area.

“In White City Housing Scheme 51 of 235 houses have been handed over, with the last 21 to be handed over this month.

“The upgrading of the hostels has nearly been completed. The remaining 27 units can only be constructed once the informal structures have been relocated.”

Currently there are 33 000 households on the waiting list in the Drakenstein area, excluding many backyard dwellers.

“We are busy with a survey to find out how many backyard dwellers there are. As soon as we know this, the Council needs to make a recommendation concerning housing options for these people,” Jacobs said.

He gave the assurance that houses were allocated according to who had been on the waiting list the longest - including houses in Housing Scheme 59 in Fairyland.

According to Jacobs R80 million per year will be needed to address the housing backlog.

“Only R29,7 million was received from the government for the 2007-2008 financial year.”

* The meeting started off on a low note when angry residents demanded the presence of the full Mayoral Committee as had been indicated on the notice of the meeting.

One resident, Phindile Maxam, wanted to know why only the councillor for housing, Clarie Meyer was present, while the rest of the mayoral committee was absent.

“We were told that the Mayor with his committee would be at this meeting. Where are they?” Maxam wanted to know.

“It just shows that the mayoral committee has no interest in the residents of Mbekweni,” one resident remarked. - Paarl Post

Western Cape spends R81m on land reform

Cape Town - The Western Cape department of land affairs spent R81.2 million on land reform initiatives between January last year and May this year, Terrence Fife, the chief director, said this week.

These initiatives would benefit 3 102 people, more than half of them farm workers, on 133 780ha of land. Of the beneficiaries, 1 205 were women and 30 were people with disabilities.

However, Fife said, land reform in the province had been hampered by budgetary constraints and the large number of applications received.

The 36 projects in the province were undertaken under programmes such as the Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy, Land Reform and Agricultural Development, the Extension of Security of Tenure Act and the Farm Worker Equity Scheme.

Beneficiaries were mainly from Clanwilliam, Bredasdorp, Cape Town, Worcester, George, Stellenbosch and Beaufort West. They are to start farming enterprises such as the production of wine grapes, dairy products, fruit, tree seedlings, lucerne and livestock.

Money was also earmarked for housing, forestry and the securing and upgrading of land tenure rights.

Transfer of the land was still pending in 18 of the 36 approved projects.

The largest disbursement already made was R13.5 million to the 281 members of the Rennie Farm Workers Trust to buy 75ha of land near Worcester and establish a fruit and herb business.


Other payouts in excess of R5 million that have been made were:

n R10.5 million to Mountain to Ocean Forestry at Stellenbosch for 654 people to start a forestry business on 118 500ha of land;

n R8.8 million to the 294 beneficiaries of the Eikevlei Community Trust to buy 195ha of land at Clanwilliam and produce fruit and vegetables; and

n R8.5 million for 344 beneficiaries at Moravia for grape production on 81ha of land under the Farm Worker Equity Scheme.

Carl Opperman, the chief executive of Agri Wes-Cape, said the co-operative supported land reform on condition that it was orderly; the courts had an oversight role; it took place on a willing seller, willing buyer basis; expropriation was used only as a last resort; and it was economically and environmentally sustainable.

He said some pending large land restitution claims would have enormous impacts on the economy of the affected areas.

Agri Wes-Cape believed that the slow pace of land reform was largely due to clumsy bureaucratic processes, an insufficient budget and a lack of capacity in the department, he added. - Business Report

Poor farm workers pose challenge for wine industry

Cape Town - The Western Cape, the heart of South Africa's wine industry, is, along with Gauteng, one of the country's most developed provinces.

Its human development index (HDI) was 0.77 in 2003, compared with 0.68 for the country as a whole. Yet this statistic obscures large-scale inequalities that characterises the province, according to the draft wine industry transformation charter.

The charter says a 1994 study found: "The Western Cape exhibits the highest HDI in South Africa. At the same time, there are severe inequalities … The white population reflects an HDI that would compare to that of the five most developed nations in the world, while coloured people in rural areas reflect an HDI comparable to the lowest in the world."

A 2004 study by agricultural economists from Stellenbosch University showed that less than 1 percent of winelands were in black hands and that there had been very little improvement in workers' living conditions over the preceding decade.

This means that earlier studies remain relevant.

• The draft charter said the condition of farm workers in the province were characterised by:
• Low levels of education and literacy. The median level of schooling among farm workers in 1996 was less than six years, while literacy was estimated to be 20 percent among adult farm workers.
• Poor housing conditions. In 1995 less than 50 percent of worker households had indoor running water and only 45 percent had access to flush toilets.
• Poor health conditions. The incidence of infectious diseases, especially tuberculosis (TB), was high among farm workers, with TB incidence in farming areas two or three times higher than in urban areas.
• Low wages. According to the 2001 census, the average remuneration of full-time farm employees in the Western Cape was R1 189 a month. This average masks considerable inequality in wages between men and women performing similar work.
• Insecure land tenure. The Extension of Security of Tenure Act (1997) was intended to provide security of tenure for farm workers living on the land. Alongside evictions that were legal under the act, arbitrary evictions continued.

The draft charter said democracy brought farm workers substantial new legal rights, including the right to strike, better access to mediation services, minimum wages and regulations governing working conditions. New tenure laws also provide more security of land occupation.

However, the charter said there was a widespread perception that employers were reluctant to comply with labour laws; permanent labour was substituted with temporary, part-time or seasonal labour; and there were increases in labour contracting or outsourcing.

Nosey Pieterse, the president of the Black Association of the Wine and Spirits Industry (Bawsi), said the group had played a prominent role in highlighting social conditions in the wine industry. Setting targets to eliminate the inequalities would be the next phase. This would be a negotiated outcome, but Bawsi would make sure short-term, medium-term and long-term objectives to transform the industry would be set within a year of adopting the charter.

Pieterse the final draft charter would soon be on the desk of agriculture and land affairs minister Lulama Xingwana, who would comment, make changes or send it back to the drawing board. - Business Report

Cape Town Informal Settlements

Thank you Google!

Google Maps

Zoom into the informal settlements by clicking on the zoom bar to the left or by scrolling your mouse wheel one-stop-at-a-time, Google Maps responds quickly - however, don’t rush, look close at this habitat environment, imagine living here for a second as a child.

Please visit InternAfrica often for the latest news and developments regarding the Western Cape Habitat Environment

Affordable appropriate green sustainable housing

2 May 2003

Each of his proposed homes would need three tons of cannabis mixed with lime and sand, and would cost about R15 000 for an 82 square metre dwelling, much larger than the size of the current RDP houses. Read More

13 May 2003

Mr du Plessis says they would cost about 15,000 rand ($2,000) for an 82 square metre dwelling. BBC

1 May 2004

- Great insulation -

“Research shows that we can deliver a 82 sq metre house for 15,000 rand ($2,188) which is three times the size of a house which is being currently built using conventional methods.

“These houses can be built with bricks made out of the stalk of the hemp and mixed with lime and sand. The houses will be thermal with great insulation.” Aljazeera

Closing the Gap

In many cases the public who were affected by these problems were the last to know and in some cases never received any explanation of why critical development funds had been misdirected or squandered. The interaction between these citizens and the municipality began when they took to the streets with burning tyres and a list of grievances directed against the municipality.

Informed and active citizen’s groups, clearly informed of their rights offer at least three potential benefits:

1. They would act as a deterrence to councillors and officials with a prediction towards corruption i.e. the potential wrong-doers would be dissuaded by fear of exposure

2. If problems of irregular practice began to develop these would be detected early and pressure from civil society organizations might persuade council to “change tack” and thus avoid the problem from developing into full-scale corruption / public protests

3. Local community groups would be able to distinguish between outright corruption and administrative shortfalls resulting from weak capacity – they could then prioritize and design their responses accordingly. SANGONeT

Democratic sustainable participatory approaches

Knowing that participatory approaches support democratic principles and efforts to partnership models of international development, different researchers argue that civil society collaboration in the design, implementation and evaluation of social development projects increases the probability that the resulting policy will more effectively meet the needs of various beneficiaries and donors, be judged meaningful by a wide range of stakeholders, have fewer unexpected consequences, and be more sustainable.

Manuals for development:

Build your own Cannabrick Home.
Highest LEED Rating possible. Teach others. Build your own community.

PARTICIPATORY METHODS TOOLKIT A practitioner’s manual
Why and how can participatory governance lead to enhanced public decision-making? The King Baudouin Foundation

Zille slams Rasool at Mbeki city imbizo

The provincial government is holding back economic development and the provision of housing in the city, says Mayor Helen Zille.

Zille highlighted tensions between the City of Cape Town and the provincial government, at Sunday's provincial imbizo, attended by President Thabo Mbeki.

Premier Ebrahim Rasool called for national assistance to "mediate in order to minimise conflict between spheres of government".

Mbeki told the media later that he had not been surprised by Zille's criticism of intergovernmental co-operation.

Speaking after the session, which was closed to the media, Mbeki said: "The matter of alignment is important and, yes, it is a matter we discussed."

But he said discussions on the issue of misalignment between government spheres had not been "not particularly focused" on Cape Town.

He denied that the control of the city by the DA and the province by the ANC had anything to do with the lack of co-operation between the two spheres of government.

The substance of the issues in dispute, such as the need for housing, were not politically motivated.

Zille said the political struggle between the city and the province was a challenge.

Rasool was more tempered in his criticism of the city, saying that the insistence of local government to conform to its statutory boundaries, limited policy alignment between the city and the province.

But Zille said progress was only possible if each sphere concentrated on its constitutional mandate. She again called for the urgent resolution of unfunded mandates, which had cost the city R500-million.

Unfunded mandates are functions, which although shared by the province and the city, were funded by the city.

Zille laid down the gauntlet to Local Government and Housing MEC Richard Dyantyi in the battle for better representation at ward level.

Dyantyi, who was not present during the presentation, has given the city until September to set up ward committees. Zille said the city would not be taking up his "kind offer".

Dyantyi has also questioned the city's public participation process in drafting the Integrated Development Plan, the basis of the municipal budget. He indicated he would reject an IDP if there was insufficient public consultation.

But Zille said on Sunday that public participation was flawed. "You can't do public participation by asking people 'what do you want?' We need to go out and say this is what local government is mandated to do."

Zille said the imbizo had been "timed precisely" to coincide with the city's IDP process. Imbizos should not be used as platforms for political rallies, she said.

Zille told Mbeki that the province's delay in granting the city housing accreditation was hampering its capacity to provide housing opportunities.

"The biggest constraint is the access to well-located land for incremental housing developments."

The city needs almost 9 000 hectares of land to meet the housing backlog of 400 000 units. This backlog grows by 16 000 a year.

She said accreditation, which would enable the city to access national housing subsidies without provincial approval, would reduce the time taken to get housing developments off the ground.

Mbeki later said that the availability of land for housing was crucial and a concern "that the Cape Town Metro raises quite legitimately".

Both Rasool and Zille referred to state-owned land that could be used for housing in areas such as Culemborg, Wingfield and Ysterplaat.

But Rasool spoke only of the need for national assistance to release land.

Zille also raised delays in funding for projects, such as the Lentegeur Public Transport Interchange and Station upgrade.

Unsuccessful negotiations with province about the buying of a site for an electricity substation in Roggebaai could mean that power supply to the Green Point stadium would not be ready in time for 2010. - Cape Times

Mbeki shrugs off Zille’s Cape imbizo barbs

CAPE TOWN — In the presence of President Thabo Mbeki, Cape Town Mayor Helen Zille took a number of swipes at the African National Congress-led provincial and central governments yesterday, on issues such as housing and Mbeki’s alleged use of imbizos as party political platforms.

In a hard-hitting speech at the provincial presidential imbizo, Zille said she had expected questions from Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu and had asked her officials to prepare for this.

She also threw a barb at housing MEC Richard Dyantyi, whom she said had made an offer to help the city with forming ward committees, instead of ward forums, by “thankfully” declining his offer.

However, Mbeki downplayed Zille’s remarks, saying he was not surprised by them and had been aware of the “tensions” on various issues. He gave as an example the intervention of Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi, who mediated when the province wanted to place the council under administration.

Apart from taking a swipe at the politicisation of imbizos, Zille also indicated that she expected Sisulu to question details of the city’s housing efforts, saying she had asked her officials to be prepared to answer these questions.

Following formal presentations by premier Ebrahim Rasool, Zille and the mayors of two other district municipalities, the discussion part of the meeting was closed to the media.

Mbeki said at an impromptu press briefing afterwards he was “not unfamiliar” with the tensions.

He said the good thing about the debate was that “once you zero in on the substance of the issue being raised you find that you can deal with (the substance) objectively without any political colouring to it”. Mbeki said that on the issue of housing, there was a misalignment between funds provided for grants and funds for infrastructure development.

“Once (you) discuss matters in dispute, (you) find they’re not party political. Whoever raises it, whether political parties or not, it is an objective problem. I don’t have a sense that in substance of issues which might be in dispute, they are in dispute because people belong to different political parties,” he said.

Mbeki said one of the most important issues raised during the imbizo was the decision by Rasool and his province that there was a need to “move aggressively on matter of drug abuse”.

He said there was a particular need for a realignment of national, provincial and local government to intervene “quite vigorously” on this. He said some issues that arose had a broader application than just in the Cape. - Business Day - News Worth Knowing

Create your own job, Mbeki says

Instead of expecting others to create jobs for them, unemployed South Africans should help government address unemployment by setting up their own small business, President Thabo Mbeki said on Saturday.

Addressing Lwandle community members near Cape Town at a presidential Imbizo, Mbeki told the unemployed to utilise the several business support programmes which the government set up for their benefit.

"The government has put aside money to help you start your own businesses - you must utilise these opportunities."

Speaking in IsiXhosa, Mbeki said it was not the government's responsibility to create jobs.

"All what government can do is to create an environment conducive for job creation."

He was responding to some of the many grievances which residents had put before him, including lack of housing, sanitation and schools.

Held at the local sports complex, Mbeki's Imbizo drew thousands of residents, many of him had spent several hours in the queues leading to the venue.

Flanked by cabinet ministers, Western Cape premier Ebrahim Rasool, Cape Town mayor Helen Zille and provincial MEC's, the President arrived at the complex amid thunderous applause, with residents chanting "Mbeki! Mbeki", as they sang his praises.

However, a few minutes later, the mood changed as residents fielded one grievance after another.

Local businessman, Nhlahla Nkala told Mbeki how the public works department awarded him a
R12-million tender, only to withdraw the offer a few weeks thereafter.

"Could the public works minister (Thoko Didiza), explain why the tender was cancelled?" he asked," adding that a letter he had previously written to the minister as well as the Presidency, had not been responded to.

Mbeki responded by saying he had not yet received the letter, but promised to come back to him once he had received it.

However, Didiza said the tender was withdrawn after it was found that it has been awarded irregularly.

She declined to give Nkala more details, saying it would be improper for her to divulge lots of details as the matter was currently before the courts.

Zille, who was initially booed by the crowd as she took to the podium, said the City's target was to ensure the metro's 226 informal settlement had basic services by 2010.

As part of the two-day Presidential Imbizo, Zille and Rasool will present their respective governments programmes of action at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Sunday. - Sapa

A Few Good Ideas! That’s all it takes!

In the last few months I have repeated over and over again the same message about the core theme of WUF3 – ” Turning Ideas to Actions”. Already in the first few days of the Forum, participants from many different cultures and circumstances have come together and are networking together to do just that, and they are beginning to change the world in the process.

The ideas don’t have to be grand programs with huge budgets to be considered. Sometimes, it’s the modest, down to earth suggestions borne of necessity that can bring together to most unlikely of partners in common cause to make a difference.

A few recent examples come to mind.

In South Africa, Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, who is a speaker at WUF3, forged a formal partnership with the Federation of the Urban Poor (FEDUP), a Shack Dwellers International affiliate in South Africa. The partnership will be supported by roughly R230 million in subsidies to buy land and to build housing in communities whose daily lives are plagued by unprotected exposure to the elements, by insecurity and poverty.

As Madame Sisulu stated, it’s a new way of doing things and the partnership is built on an understanding that “each of us have a responsibility toward changing the fortunes of the poor.…The message is out, we are in this together.” WUF3 Commissioner General Charles Kelly.

Commissioner Kelly’s Blog

R2bn housing scandal

FRAUD and corruption by developers in collusion with housing ­department officials are among the key factors for the collapse of hundreds of low-cost housing projects throughout the country.

As a result, the government is now spending more than R2 billion to refinance the completion of the low-cost houses that were abandoned by unscrupulous developers across the country since the dawn of democracy.

The problem has its roots in massive fraud scams by developers who colluded with some of the country’s housing department officials to siphon off millions of rands for work not done.

Across the country, developers left swathes of foundation slabs or mere toilets while others built houses, but could not put on the roofs as they feverishly guarded their profits. In some cases, houses were never built, but the developers were paid. This meant that the ­rural poor lived for prolonged periods in rickety shacks and corrugated iron houses.

Other common problems in several provinces were shoddy workmanship and rising inflation – ­especially where projects took longer to complete and prices for building materials skyrocketed.

This comes as provinces race against time to ensure that all the incomplete houses were finished before a 2008 deadline set by Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu.

Several documents in the possession of City Press show that developers in the nine provinces claim the non-completion of low-cost houses was caused by several problems, including unresolved land issues and delayed environmental impact assessment studies on sites earmarked for government’s low-cost houses.

But a common concern among developers was the claim that the profit margins in the RDP housing construction were very low.

But government dismissed the complaints. It said tenders were allocated based on submissions by developers and the low-cost housing subsidy had been increased ­annually to cater for inflation.

Government said there was the discernible problem of a propensity by developers to buy luxury items before they could determine the profits they would make. This resulted in a shortfall.

“We think the problem is that some of the developers are irresponsible in using the money . . . Some use the money they should buy material with or pay workers to buy luxury cars and houses. They forget they have a responsibility to finish the project,” said Ndivhuwo Mabaya, national housing department spokesperson.

Government is now forced to re-finance some of the projects as attempts to get the developers to pay took too long.

In the Eastern Cape, the provincial housing department has allocated another R311 million to ­unblock 183 housing projects that were either incomplete due to fraud and corruption or escalations and other “implementation-related issues such as land invasions, sudden inaccessibility of construction sites due to roads and bridges washed away”.

But Limpopo is the hardest hit with a whopping 40 000 incomplete houses that have to be finished at a cost of R1 billion in three years.

The Northern Cape’s bill stands at R104 million for 4 300 units, while the Western Cape has allocated R20.9 million this year to complete 1 902 houses.

The lowest bill is the Free State’s. The province has put aside R13 million to finish 909 units.

Phumlani Mndolomba of the Eastern Cape Housing Department said the province’s model of building houses – using the People’s Housing ­Delivery vehicle – resulted in a slow pace in completing houses.

“A second major factor . . . is that the province elected to build a 40m² house using a conditional grant allowance which was based on a 30m² unit as the national norm,” Mndolomba said. - City Press - Distinctly African

Mbeki's Cape Town imbizo kicks-off today

Mbeki is set to assess the state of service delivery during his visit in Cape Town

President Thabo Mbeki is to kick-off his two-day imbizo in the Western Cape today to assess the state of service delivery. Mbeki will share a public platform with Helen Zille, the DA leader and Cape Town mayor.

Cape Town's housing problems are expected to top residents' grievances. The visits begin against a backdrop of crime statistics released by the provincial government on Wednesday.

As part of his visit, Mbeki will tour one of the province's substance abuse projects in De Nova near Paarl, where he will come face-to-face with young people recovering from drug addiction. He will also visit Khayelitsha, before proceeding to Helderberg to take part in a community imbizo there.

The visit will end with the provincial government and the City of Cape Town presenting their respective programmes to the President tomorrow. - SABC

N2 Gateway: No rent, no roof

Defaulting tenants of the N2 Gateway project in Langa have been threatened with evictions if they can no longer afford the rent.

Prince Xhanti Sigcawu, Thubelisha's general manager for the Gateway project, issued the stern warning at a public debate at the Centre for the Book on whether the pilot project was a model or a fiasco.

"There are about 150 tenants in arrears and we will have to ask people to leave if they cannot afford rent.

'You can't treat people as things to be relocated, evicted and moved'

"We'll have to take drastic steps with regards to those who fail to pay rent. All the tenants were interviewed before they moved in to their units to ensure that they would be able to afford rent," said Sigcawu.

He then left the podium for members of the N2 Gateway Ratepayers Association and Professor Mark Swilling of the University of Stellenbosch, who criticised the project and management of the property by Thubelisha.

The N2 Gateway Project in Langa has been plagued by delays, slow delivery, poor workmanship and dissatisfaction.

The association's Livingstone Hlawula said Sigcawu "gave himself a timeframe and deadlines that all the defects and problems in the units would have been solved on April 22".

"But nothing has happened. Some engineers who inspected the units said the structures wouldn't last for five years.

"Now we hear threats of eviction.

"That's not new ..."

Swilling argued that one of the major shortcomings of the national housing policy adopted by the government after 1994 was its failure to address the land problem.

As a result, the social integration of the poor in affluent areas remains merely a concept.

"What about bringing the poor to the city?" he asked.

Referring to the Gateway project in Langa, he said if authorities expected good results they should not treat people as objects.

"You can't treat people as things to be relocated, evicted and moved," said Swilling.

He criticised Thubelisha for not being available for tenants' complaints.

"As a result of that, trust is lost. People also become vulnerable to political exploitation," he said.

The project was lambasted as a failure and for not being a model for future developments.

People said it would have been appropriate for Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu to have been present so that she could clarify the issues.

The department's chief director Litha Jolobe told people to leave "the minister" out of the mess.

"These are operational matters and the department does not feature at all. Take the department and the minister (Lindiwe Sisulu) out of this," he said, before storming out of the meeting.

Most people labelled the project a failure.

"This is an ugly project marred by divisions between locals and migrants. The government has not owned up entirely to the shortcomings," said Simon Eppel.

Sigcawu acknowledged the N2 Gateway project's shortcomings, but argued that "it was a pilot project and we will learn along the way". - Cape Argus

Cities without Slums - The Millennium Declaration

September 2000, Heads of State and Government at the General Assembly Special Session adopted the United Nations Millennium Declaration. By the year 2015, they committed [WSSD Johannesburg March 2005 re-committed] themselves amoung others to:

• Achieve, by 2020, significant improvements in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers as proposed in the “Cities without Slums” initiative.
• Ratify the Kyoto Protocol and to embark on the required reduction in emission of greenhouse gases;
• Intensify our collective efforts for the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests;
• Press for the full implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention to Combat Desertification;
  

• Cities without slums
• World Bank

One billion people around the world now live in city slums and their numbers are set to double over the next 25 years. But slums are no more inevitable than they are acceptable. While it may be difficult to overcome relative poverty, it is perfectly possible to ensure that the poor are provided with adequate shelter and basic services.

The history of cities in the developed world proves the point. During the nineteenth century urban centers all over Europe and America exploded into major metropolitan areas. London went from a population of 800,000 in 1800 to over 6.5 million in 1900. Paris grew from 500,000 to over 3 million. And by 1900, the population of New York was 4.2 million.

The urban poor in all these cities lived in appalling conditions. With the advent of the mass media, their cause was taken up by many illustrious journalists and authors – such as Dickens, Mayhew and Zola – who engaged politicians and professionals to help change the policies of their time.

Demographic shift
Now, over a hundred years later, some 50 per cent of the world’s population live in urban areas. Europe, North and South America and the Caribbean have stabilized with about 75 per cent of their populations living in cities and towns – but UN-HABITAT’s report projections expect the still predominantly rural Africa and Asia to go through a major demographic shift. One third of the 3 billion inhabitants of the world’s cities and towns, are now slum dwellers. And if present trends continue, there will be 2 billion of them by 2030.

The Commission for Africa report, Our Common Interest – for which I was one of seventeen commissioners – recently highlighted urbanization as the second most important challenge facing Africans, after the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The reasons are obvious enough. Africa is expected to stop being a rural continent by 2030, with an estimated 51 per cent of its people living in urban areas. Already a staggering 71 per cent of the urban population in Africa lives in slums – so business as usual is a recipe for long-term disaster and conflict.

'Down with those in Parliament'

Strong anti-government sentiment was evident at a housing protest outside Parliament's main gate in Cape Town on Tuesday.

Residents of the city's problem-ridden N2 Gateway housing project had marched on the institution to bring their grievances about high rentals and poor construction to the attention of Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu.

The small but vociferous group of about 200 tenants held aloft posters proclaiming, among other things, "No Answer, No Vote" and "Gateway: Money-making project for MPs".

Protesters cheered loudly after being told by one speaker that MPs sat in the National Assembly because of their votes, and "it is easy for us to take them out of Parliament".

More loud cheers rose to a chant of "Down with African National Congress policies and systems, down!" and "Down with the millionaires of this Cabinet!".

One speaker took a swipe at President Thabo Mbeki, saying he lived in a R22-million house, while they had to rent.

"What a disgrace" he told the angry tenants.

Another said MPs had "used our people as a step-ladder to get where they are today".

"Down with those in Parliament, forward with the masses," he called.

Earlier, N2 Gateway tenant's committee spokesperson Luthando Ndabambi told Sapa the N2 Gateway project dwellings were in a bad condition, with "structural defects, leaks and no ventilation".

Residents also had to pay too much rent, he said.

"Originally it was agreed rentals would be between R150 and R590 a month, but this was changed - without notification or consultation - to between R500 and R1050 a month."

The aim of the protest was to bring the matter to Sisulu's attention, and hand over a memorandum containing a list of grievances.

The memorandum - a copy of which was obtained by Sapa - pleads with Sisulu to "reconsider the rent issue... reducing it to an affordable level... with an option to own".

Ndabambi said the committee represented well over a thousand tenants from 704 units in the development.

In June, responding to a call by some residents for rent payments to be suspended until construction defects were put right, Sisulu reportedly advised them to "give a month notice, pack their bags and make way for people who are willing to pay".

N2 Gateway project general manager Xanthi Sigcawu told Sapa later on Tuesday that all tenants in the development had been interviewed before moving in, and had signed contracts agreeing to pay rent.

It was not true rents had been raised after this.

"They were all interviewed; they knew exactly how much they would have to pay. They signed a contract... What we are saying is if they can't afford the rent, they must move out," he said. - Sapa

N2 Gateway Residents to March on Parliament

LANGA, CAPE TOWN - About 500 tenants from N2 Gateway Tenants Committee in the new N2 Gateway flats in Langa are marching on Parliament on Tuesday 17th July, over high rents for their defective, new flats.

The march begins at Kaisergracht at 12noon.

The tenants will march on Parliament (Lindiwe Sisulu) supported by the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign. Residents from Hanover Park, Khayelitsha and Zille Rain Heights are expected to join the march to show their solidarity.

The residents have faced the same problems as other poor, Black residents who move into low cost housing in Cape Town, namely that within months or even weeks, major defects show up in their flats or houses. These defects include huge cracks in walls, leaking roofs to the extent that parents with children have had to send their children to live with extended family members in other suburbs. There was also a problem in September 2006 that anybody's keys could open anyone else's flats. They still did not change the locks to this day!!!

"On top of this, the flats are tiny and the rent is extremely high for a rotten potato" said Luthando Ndabambi, Chairperson of the Tenants Committee.

The committee has submitted CDs of photos to the Rental Housing Tribunal and the MEC for Housing showing the major defects but to no avail.

About 100 homes have filed grievances at the Rental Housing Tribunal but they have not assisted the residents, despite numerous requests - the Rental Housing Tribunal has not once visited the area. Instead they sent threatening letters to the co-ordinator of the residents committee telling him he is restricted from dealing with housing problems in his community. Apparently there is a high turnover of staff in the Rental Housing Tribunal office, which worsens matters. The Tribunal has also refused to send letters to residents in their home language, isiXhosa.

The flats have since been dubbed "Gateway to Hell".

Communities have also vowed to support the remaining six thousand residents of Joe Slovo informal settlement in Langa, who face forced removal next month. About 1000 other Joe Slovo residents were forcibly removed to make way for the now defective N2 Gateway flats. They were dumped in Delft against their wishes where they faced a hostile community and a desperate life since most residents are unemployed and Delft is in the middle of nowhere, without a train station.

The remaining six thousand Joe Slove residents have also been informed that they will be forcibly moved to Delft next month. They have not been given any information about how their children will be transported to and from their schools in Langa. They have only been told that they are going to be put in temporary asbestos houses.

It is clear that the ANC-DA partnership simply intends to move shackdwellers away from tourists view on the N2 highway and dump them in remote places where they will be out of the public eye. The fact that there is much infrastructure in Langa that people rely on (schools, clinics, buses, trains, employment projects) and the fact that many women in Langa work in domestic work in town (which is very nearby) is of no concern to the DA-ANC Gateway partnership. It costs R20 per day to travel from Delft to town and back whereas it costs only R90 per month for a monthly train ticket from Langa to town and back.

.../ends

For comment call Luthando Ndabambi, Chairperson of N2 Gateway Committee on 083 3318839 or Gary Hartzenberg from Anti-Eviction Campaign on 072 3925859

Obstacles blocking housing delivery - Mayor Zille

The City of Cape Town and the national department of housing met on Tuesday to discuss challenges of the N2 Gateway Project in the first meeting between the two spheres of government since the council was removed from the project in June last year.

The council has still not been told if it will get the accreditation needed to fast-track housing developments.

Mayor Helen Zille requested the meeting with Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu in a bid to remove some of the obstacles blocking housing delivery in the city.

But Zille said on Tuesday that she was informed, upon her arrival at Sisulu's office, that the minister was unable to attend due to another commitment. Instead, Zille met Richard Dyantyi, MEC for Local Government and Housing, and Director-General of Housing Itumeleng Kotsoane.

The city has declared a dispute against the provincial government for dragging it heels in giving the city the housing accreditation that would allow it to access national housing subsidies without provincial approval.

Kotsoane said the city's request for housing accreditation was not raised at Tuesday's meeting, as this was a provincial competency. But he said the department and the National Treasury were evaluating the 18 municipalities that had applied for accreditation.

Sisulu declined to comment on the issue last week, because of the dispute with the provincial government.

She did however say, in a interview, that she was "disconcerted" that the city had not taken time to understand the complexities of the project before requesting forensic audits of contracts that were signed for phase one.

Sisulu said the national department of housing, as "the top of the pyramid" could not jump over a (provincial) sphere to engage with the city.

Kotsoane was upbeat about Tuesday's meeting and said the city was still involved in the N2 Gateway project, providing services and infrastructure.

Sisulu last week announced new plans for the N2 Gateway, including bridges linking the development with Athlone.

She said the construction of 30,000 housing units, upscaled from 22,000, would be completed by 2010.

Sisulu told parliament on Monday that building contractors would work 24 hours, seven days a week, to accelerate construction. - Cape Times

To build a pyramid, remain on top - one must ringfence, discard rights & Slavedrive

Sisulu told parliament on Monday that building contractors would work 24 hours, seven days a week, to accelerate construction.

InternAfrica will start with this. Being experienced in the field of contracting to government.

I don't think that there is any law in our country that would support such harsh working hours akin to slavedriving. As the CCMA does not really have say over government and it's contractors they may very well get away with this slave driving, while the 'contracting' firm makes a big fat package.

As InternAfrica as demonstrated over the past 2 years, these fat packages tend to include people close to the pyramid structure.

The SA Housing Pyramid...

Sisulu said the national department of housing, as "the top of the pyramid" could not jump over a (provincial) sphere to engage with the city.

The tri-party dance 6 legs - 6 feet - 3 heads - no can tango.

The Short Term Memory - WUF3?

Sisulu declined to comment on the issue last week, because of the dispute with the provincial government.

She did however say, in a interview, that she was "disconcerted" that the city had not taken time to understand the complexities of the project before requesting forensic audits of contracts that were signed for phase one. - Cape Times

InternAfrica has been off line and will bring comment to this!

Heated debate anticipated at Cape housing meeting

Sparks are expected to fly at a closed meeting between Lindiwe Sisulu, the national minister of housing, and Richard Dyantyi, the Western Cape housing minister, and Helen Zille, the Cape Town mayor. Zille is accompanied by senior officials from the city's housing department, including Dan Plato, a member of the mayoral committee for housing.

The national government's pilot housing project, the N2 Gateway, is expected to be the main bone of contention. The city council was removed from the project after Zille criticised the planning when her party gained control of Cape Town. Recently the provincial housing department also turned down Zille's application for the city to be accredited to build houses.

Zille then warned that she would declare an inter-governmental dispute with Dyantyi. - SABC

Ex-municipal manager receives huge payout

FORMER Oudtshoorn municipality corporate manager Patrick Nyuka is the latest to benefit from the almost R3,5-million allegedly paid out on disciplinary hearings by the beleaguered municipality during the last few months.

Nyuka, who was found by auditors to have been involved in various irregularities regarding the allocation of houses and land in the municipality‘s housing development scheme, has been paid more than R300 000 in settlement fees and has finally left the body‘s employ.

The latest payout follows severe budget cuts last month, including the Oudtshoorn Tourism Bureau which took a 40% cut this year.

Former municipal head of planning and development Anton Bekker, who was to have appeared as a witness and adviser for Nyuka, said none of the municipality‘s witnesses showed up for the hearing.

The parties involved then held talks and a settlement was reached.

Bekker said he was concerned that the municipality had in recent months spent R3,5-million on internal hearings, but municipal administrator Louis Scheepers refused to comment.

Scheepers also declined to comment on the settlement, saying they were preparing a statement to be issued in the next couple of days.

According to a report by auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers, Nyuka had been involved in various irregularities pertaining to the allocation of houses and land in the municipality‘s housing development scheme.

It was found earlier that Nyuka allocated houses to six people in the Smartie Town area, including his sister. Those people either did not qualify for housing or were not on any official waiting lists.

Apparently only married couples and those with dependants qualified for housing but Nyuka listed his own child as belonging to his sister.

The municipality was put under administration by Local Government MEC Richard Dyantyi in March after it became dysfunctional in January.

At the time the DA dismissed Dyantyi‘s involvement as a “party political ploy”, saying it was ludicrous to put the town under administration while nearby ANC-controlled Bitou had serious problems.

DA spokesman Robin Carlisle said: “The root of the problem was poor management of the council under the ANC. The DA took over the council when it was in serious trouble, but unfortunately did not move fast enough. They (Bitou) have a municipal manager (George Seitisho) who has publicly admitted to (the party) helping itself to council money.” - The Herald

N2 Gateway project expanded

Bold plans for the final phases of the N2 Gateway project, which will include three bridges with convenience supermarkets linking the development with Athlone across the freeway, have been released by the national department of housing.

Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu told media on Tuesday that the target of the government's flagship housing project had been upped from 20 000 to 30 000 units, with the completion date set for 2010 - four years later than planned.

There are also plans to include a sports complex with fields and a swimming pool, and a shopping centre.

'I am not apportioning blame because I don't do cheap politicking'

But the department is still grappling with critical problems. The latest is a complaint from the City of Cape Town that the material being used for the roads in Delft 7-9 and Delft Symphony does not comply with specifications.

If it is not removed and replaced, the roads will deteriorate prematurely. Thubelisha Homes, the managing agent for the project, has been informed that all work on the roads in the two projects will be stopped.

Thubelisha general manager Prince Sigcawu said the city and company had not sufficiently monitored the construction of the roads.

He said the N2 Gateway was a pilot project and that problems would be dealt with.

Sisulu spoke openly of the delays and problems that have dogged the project since it was launched in 2004.

She said some of the responsibility for these hiccups rested with the city, which took a year to sign a land availability agreement to release land for the housing development.

Sisulu declined to comment on the spat between the national and local governments.

Mayor Helen Zille said in a recent Cape Times editorial article that the N2 Gateway had not been a success and that the biggest delays were before the DA-led coalition took control of the city last year.

In response, Sisulu said she was "disconcerted" Zille had not taken the time to "understand" the project. "The city, on assumption of power, immediately wanted to attack."

Sisulu said she had asked the auditor-general to investigate the causes of the delays.

"I am not apportioning blame because I don't do cheap politicking. I will focus my mind on delivery.''

She said work on the District Six section of the N2 Gateway would start as soon restitution and claims issues had been sorted. A meeting with the District Six Beneficiary Trust was scheduled for later this month.

If Thubelisha Homes was appointed to manage the project, it could "take the sting" out of problems there. About R15-million has been allocated for the district's development.

Sisulu said the department had revealed its vision for the N2 Gateway now that the project was on track. The bridges across the N2 would save communities now divided by a road from being uprooted.

Shops could be placed on these bridges. "We hope to meet soon with the private sector and possibly put the project out to tender," she said.

The N2 Gateway's budget had increased from R2-billion to R3-billion to account for increasing building costs and its expansion, she said.

- Cape Times

The Western Cape is still SA’s murder capital

Nyanga has retained its spot as South Africa’s murder capital and the Western Cape has the highest rates of murder, indecent assault and common assault in the country.

According to crime statistics for the period April 2006 to March 2007, released on Tuesday by the national department of safety and security, the murder rate in the province is 61 people per 100 000, indecent assault is 59 and the common assault rate 739. One has 12 times more chance of being indecently assaulted in the Western Cape than in Limpopo.

Nyanga had the highest number of reported murder cases in the country, with Khayelitsha, Harare and Gugulethu taking the fifth, sixth and seventh spots… Cape Times

N2 Gateway Housing project ’still lagging’

Cape Town - The national housing department’s N2 Gateway Pilot Project in the Western Cape has so far managed to hand over only 812 completed units, project manager Prince Xhanti Sigcawu said on Tuesday.

When the pilot project was launched in 2005 the initial target was to deliver 22,000 houses at six sites within 18 months.

However, Sigcawu said, it was important to note that close to 2,000 units were completed or near completion.

Some of them were just missing windows, he said, because of fears of vandalism and these would be put in later.

Meanwhile, Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu announced at a Cape Town press briefing on Tuesday that the department hoped to change its original project target and build between 26,000 and 30,000 houses by 2010.

The budget for the project had been increased from two billion rand to three billion rand.

There had been many challenges and lessons learnt during the housing project, Sisulu said.

These include persuading people in informal settlements to move to allow development, various costing issues, and creating racially and economically integrated communities.

Among the first resident of the first completed housing developments in Joe Slovo were coloured families whom, she said, may be the first coloured families to move into Langa.

The Joe Slovo area would be the first neighbourhood in the country where recipients of free houses would live alongside people who were renting and the owners of bonded houses.

“The value of the N2 Gateway Pilot Project is in the houses that are built, and the knowledge that is being acquired will save money when similar projects are undertaken elsewhere in the country,” Sisulu said. - News24

NEWS24

Shack Fires - News24

Housing crisis dispute looms

Mayor Helen Zille and Local Government MEC Richard Dyantyi are once again set to cross swords over the housing crisis in Cape Town, with the declaration of an intergovernmental dispute in the offing.

This follows an opinion by Dyantyi that the city’s application for accreditation as a housing agent would not be the most effective way of addressing the backlog in Cape Town. More than 350,000 homes are needed.

Obtaining status as a housing agent would allow the City of Cape Town to tap directly into state coffers to build houses without having to work through the provincial government.

For the second time in as many months, Zille accused the provincial government last week of dragging its feet over approving the city’s application, submitted in November, to become a housing agent.

The national Department of Housing has made R1.2-million available for the City of Cape Town to establish capacity as an accredited housing agent.

The city says it has submitted a business plan, made the necessary changes and provided additional information at Dyantyi’s request several months ago.

Now Zille is outraged that Dyantyi has not yet granted authorisation for phase one of the accreditation.

The director of communications in the provincial Department of Local Government and Housing, Xolani Tyilana, told the Cape Argus that achieving accreditation was not a quick-fix solution to the housing crisis.

It could take the city “a number of years” to attain approval.

“At this moment accreditation does not present itself as the most effective and practical solution towards addressing the problems of the city,” he said.

“We need a more practical approach, with proper timeframes. A lot of work needs to be done. It is not just a question of saying yes or no. We need to engage each other.”

Dyantyi, who is out of the country, has asked Zille to a meeting to discuss entering into an “implementation protocol” that would commit the parties to working together on a matter of national priority.

Tyilana said there were too many unanswered questions about how the city would want to handle the building of houses and whether its plans would be in line with the national strategy.

Commenting on Dyantyi’s letter and the proposal to enter into an implementation protocol, Zille said: “They are kicking for touch.”

Zille said she would pursue steps to declare an intergovernmental dispute, which could see the parties having to go to court to resolve the impasse.

In his letter, Dyantyi says that by entering into an implementation protocol, the city and province would commit to the provision of a service in a specific area and to co-ordinating their actions.

“Such an agreement can be concluded within a relatively short period and would provide an effective solution to the immediate delivery pressures that are currently being experienced.

“It would present the City of Cape Town with more authority than would the level of accreditation that is being applied for.”

Dyantyi says that in entering into the implementation protocol, the city would not have to relinquish the grant funding that had been approved to enhance capacity as a housing agent. - Cape Argus

A Lesson in How Not to Approach Housing

No one wants to see politicians debating a housing project while poor people wait in vain for proper shelter, especially at a time of year when flooding is creating unbearable living conditions in informal settlements.

Nevertheless, the policy implications of the mistakes made on the N2 Gateway are far-reaching and should not be ignored.

The N2 Gateway was put forward by Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu as a solution to South Africa’s chronic shortage of formal housing.

She promised it would deliver 22 000 houses by last year, but so far it has only delivered about 2 000, many of which have had to be patched up or rebuilt because they are sub-standard.

It is only by having a clear understanding of what went wrong that we will be able to learn anything about tackling Cape Town’s housing crisis from this project.

In recent weeks the Minister of Housing, UCT political analyst Zweli Jolobe and several other commentators have put forward explanations that are factually incorrect.

In the first instance, both the Minister and Jolobe are wrong to argue that the problems on the N2 Gateway have arisen because different political parties occupy the city and province.

It appears that Jolobe has simply assumed that having different parties in different spheres of government automatically creates problems for delivery, without examining the history of the N2 Gateway or of the city’s interactions with the province.

The province and the city work very well together on several projects, such as the Integrated Transport Plan and preparations for 2010.

The N2 Gateway, in contrast, has not been a success thus far, and Minister Sisulu has falsely tried to blame the city for the delays - because we won’t go along with everything that the province and national department demand.

In fact, the biggest delays happened before the multi-party government even came to office, and they had nothing to do with intergovernmental relations.

If we allow this argument to explain away the problems on the N2 Gateway, then nothing will be learned from this experience.

In 2004 and 2005 the Joe Slovo Phase 1 flats (the multi-storey flats that can be seen alongside the N2 freeway) were built by a partnership between the city, province and national government. All three spheres were controlled by the ANC.

But they were rushed through without a proper financial management plan and without signed contracts between the government and the builders.

The stated intention was to make the flats available to be rented to poor families at an affordable cost.

But because building high-density apartments costs more than building ordinary houses, each unit ended up costing three times more than the government housing subsidy grant to poor families.

This created cost overruns on the project in the region of R100 million, for which the government had not budgeted.

The contractors weren’t paid, which led to legal challenges and the stalling of work.

In order to cover the high costs, the flats had to be rented out at a price that was unaffordable to their intended beneficiaries - the shack dwellers and backyarders in the surrounding areas who had been promised they would return to formal housing in the area from which they were moved.

The intended beneficiaries are now being relocated to temporary structures in Delft instead to make more room in Langa for the next phases of the N2 Gateway, creating outrage among the community.

We pointed these things out, and questioned several transactions, including the procedures that were followed in the appointment of certain consultants.

As a result, at the end of 2005, the minister removed the city from the project and handed it to the parastatal Thubelisha Homes.

Thubelisha has been responsible for Joe Slovo Phase 2 and the Delft Symphony developments. Again, there have been massive delays.

Instead of looking at the real cause for the delays, the minister has blamed the city for questioning aspects of the Land Availability Agreement, and requiring certain conditions be met before we signed away some of the city’s best housing land.

We wanted the province to give us certain land in return, so that we could extend housing opportunities in poor communities, and we wanted guarantees that at least some of the sites in the N2 Gateway would be available to beneficiaries on the city’s housing waiting list on a first-come, first-served basis.

While these negotiations were underway, the developers had access to the land, so there was no delay in the project whatsoever.

Their access was not dependent on the Land Availability Agreement.

The real cause of delays in Joe Slovo Phase 2 was the difficulty that provincial officials and contractors had in trying to reach agreement with the community on the relocation of shacks, together with a number of other issues.

In Delft 7-9 the delay was caused because the developers couldn’t agree with the contractor on the price of the houses to be built, and also because about 200 units were built with substandard foundations and were condemned by the National Home Builders’ Registration Council.

However, here too the contractor went ahead and installed services before the Land Availability was signed - they had full access to the land.

In Boystown and New Rest, community disputes have delayed progress, not the Land Availability Agreement. In fact I received a letter from the Boystown Project Committee - which is a residents’ committee - asking for a meeting with me. They wrote: “This came as a result of being undermined by the Minister’s team which tries to politicise the whole issue of this project.” It is not clear to which minister they are referring.

For a long time the City of Cape Town has been concerned about the ability of this project to deliver houses to the poor at the pace needed. That is why we required a Land Availability Agreement - to ensure the land that the city gave up for this project would be replaced with land that we could develop elsewhere under a more sustainable model in partnership with the banks and the private sector.

The N2 Gateway Project has moved too slowly, has been poorly planned, and many of the houses and flats have not met National Building Regulations. It is also way beyond the reach of the poor financially.

It has been an important lesson in how not to approach South Africa’s housing crisis.

So far, as we have seen with similar projects internationally, the N2 Gateway Project risks providing subsidised housing mainly to the middle class, who can afford alternatives, while the poor remain homeless.

If the initial intention was to create homes for shack dwellers, that goal is not being met.

If the intention was to create housing for low-income earners, then the Gap housing model would have worked better from the start.

In this model, the state provides serviced sites to households in the income group between R3 000 and R7 000 a month, and the banks make small home loans available for the actual houses to be built on those sites.

That is the model that the City of Cape Town has adopted in order to accelerate housing delivery.

The Gap housing approach leaves the state with the capacity and the subsidy funds to help the truly indigent.

Minister Sisulu has admitted that mistakes were made on the N2 Gateway.

I welcome her openness, and I hope that in future the project will proceed more smoothly.

On the basis of a frank and fair exchange the city is more than willing to work co-operatively with her and with MEC Richard Dyantyi in the province.

There is just too much at stake to allow politics of any kind to get in the way of delivery.

We also welcome the fact that First National Bank has put nearly R1 billion into the project.

I hope that this will be the first step toward making the project more viable. - Cape Argus