'Councillor kicked us out'

Squatter camp dwellers in Gugulethu have accused their ward councillor of evicting them from a community centre where they were sheltered after heavy rains flooded their shacks.

Most residents of Thambo Square squatter camp, who were sheltered in the Ikwezi community centre after their shacks were flooded in heavy rains two weeks ago, have returned home after claiming they were forcibly evicted from the centre.

The residents alleged that ward councillor Belinda Landingwe had forced them to go back to unhealthy conditions in their shacks.

When the Cape Argus visited the informal settlement on Friday, residents had gathered to ask local churches for shelter because they were worried about where they were going to go if it rained again.

On Saturday they all returned to their shacks and spent the rest of the weekend mopping up.

The residents claimed police had thrown them out of the centre, carrying the food and blankets they had received the day before.

Resident Thandiswa Mgwetyana said they were still shocked by the way their ward councillor had treated them.

Another resident, Venus Nogqala, said her grandson, Azola Baci, had had an operation because he had cancer.

"My grandson had a fit and doctors said it's because of the water," said Nogqala.

But Landingwe said that she had never thrown anyone out of the Ikwezi community centre.

She said there was an agreement that if the level of water in their shacks dropped they would go back and if it rained again they could return to the centre.

"We had an arrangement with them that I was going to go and check if there was still water in their shacks," she said.

The Anti-Eviction Campaign's provincial co-ordinator, Mncedisi Twalo, said the ward councillor had told him that she had thrown the people out of the hall because they were not affected by the floods.

- Cape Argus

NGO steps in to help shack dwellers

Thambo Square informal settlement residents in Gugulethu, whose shacks were flooded in recent rains, received blankets and food parcels from the International Islamic Relief organisation on Wednesday.

The plight of the residents came to light after they occupied the social services building in Gugulethu on Tuesday, seeking building materials and plastics for their shacks, as well as blankets and temporary accommodation.

The homeless group were offered shelter at a local community hall after their protest.

Zoliswa Fuyani, who has lived in the area for more than 20 years, said ward councillor Belinda Landingwe had not wanted to listen to those who had voted her in.

"When she (the ward councillor) is called to listen to our grievances she tells the people she cannot do anything for them," Fuyani said.

However Landingwe said the residents of Thambo Square were taken to a temporary area in Delft after the flooding began.

"I don't know why they came back but some of them told me that when they arrived in Delft their rooms were occupied by other people," she said.

Landingwe said some of the residents had houses in a nearby area which were provided by the government, but that they had decided to rent them out.

"I am dealing with people who are affected by floods, not people who already have houses. And this is not the only place affected, there are other areas," Landingwe pointed out.

She said she had conducted an inspection of the affected area and discovered that the water level had dropped, adding that she did not deal specifically with leaking roofs, but assisted only when flooding took place.

But the residents said they were tired of the "soup" that Landingwe kept feeding them, when all they wanted was proper housing.

"We don't need anything from them as they always respond with soup," said resident Silindile Mvambo.

Mcebisi Twalo, a representative of the Anti-Eviction Campaign, said they had called the International Islamic Relief and told them there were people who needed help.

"They visited the area last night and decided to offer people food and blankets.

"A local butcher also donated meat," said Twalo. - Cape Argus

No more fires! No more evictions!

No more fires! No more evictions!
The poor assert their right to the city!

Elokshini eKapa – As the AEC heads to Durban this weekend for an important alliance meeting and Shack Fire Summit with Abahlali BaseMjondolo (AbM), the residents of Foreman Rd are resisting the opportunistic illegal demolition of their homes by government after they experienced one of the most devastating fires of any informal settlement in the last few years.

Over 70% of the settlement burned down only a few days ago. That's over 1,000 families who have lost everything they own. Abahlali baseMjondolo holds government's armed de-electrification program responsible for all shack fires, deaths from shack fires, and burnt property in their settlements.

But instead of helping residents, the government has used this disaster as an opportunity to destroy the remaining shacks and forcibly remove all residents to "Temporary" Relocation Areas (TRAs).

The Anti-Eviction Campaign knows this tactic all too well. In Joe Slovo, thousands of residents were removed to TRAs in Delft a few years ago when a big fire destroyed their homes. They are still stuck in these barren, unhealthy, asbestos and crime-ridden camps. Lindiwe Sisulu and her cronies are now trying to evict the rest of the Joe Slovo residents (almost 20,000) to the same TRAs in Delft – as though the previous evictions were proven successful. But Joe Slovo residents say asiyi eDelft - they vow never to go to Delft.

Now, the government is also attempting to obtain a court order to evict the Pavement Dwellers of Symphony Way to another TRA in Delft (this one looks like a refugee camp with police controlling entry and enforcing a curfew for all occupants). But the Pavement Dwellers, who have already been evicted once this year, refuse to go anywhere but into a house. They vow to sleep on Symphony Rd in the rain if bulldozers come to break down their shacks.

Other AEC affiliated communities are facing similar threats of evictions into the TRAs but every single one of them is attempting to resist. They know if they move there, they may be stuck in these government shacks forever.

In Durban, the AEC and AbM will also be having an important alliance meeting that will possibly introduce two more independent social movements into our Action Alliance (our national social movement alliance which challenges our oppressors when they act without a mandate from the people.

So, as the AEC heads to the first ever people's Shack Fire Summit that is to be held in the ashes of Foreman Rd, we would like to remind the following to anyone interested in building a just world:

1) Even though we are poor, we are not stupid! We are the experts of our own communities. Only we can put an end to poverty.
2) Talk to us, not for us! We do not give any politician the mandate to speak on our behalf. We can speak for ourselves.
3) Aluta Continua! The people will continue to fight for our constitutional right to houses, to electricity, and other services. Everyone's basic needs must be met.
4) Outlaw all evictions now! Land is not property. Land is not a commodity. Land shall be shared by those who live on it.

Qina Mhlali! Qina! In solidarity with Foreman Rd and poor people anywhere and everywhere,
The Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign

For more information, please contact any of our coordinators:

Ashraf Cassiem - 076 1861408
Mncedisi Twala - 078 5808646
Pamela Beukes - 079 3709614
Mzonke Poni - 073 2562036
Gary Hartzenberg - 072 3925859
Willie Heyn - 073 1443619
Jane Roberts - 072 2644319

Related Link: http://antieviction.org.za/

Nearly 20,000 EC houses identified as defective

NEARLY 20,000 houses in the Eastern Cape have been identified as defective, Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has told the National Council of Provinces.

Replying to a written question from Watty Watson (DA), the minister said that 19953 houses that had been built in the Eastern Cape were defective, with 150 units at “various states of completion”. The total cost of repairing the houses is about R99,7-million.

Sisulu said provincial housing departments had initiated a process to determine the number of housing units with building defects.

Various methodologies such as surveys and requests for beneficiary applications had been used to determine the projects involved and the number of units with defects that needed to be repaired.

The services of the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) were being used “to ensure that the same contractor who initially built the units, is not appointed to do the rectification and that contractors appointed adhere to the necessary requirements”.

She said the verification process to date had revealed a number of projects with some sub-standard workmanship and the findings had been forwarded to the relevant provincial departments “for further investigation”.

- The Herald

Squatters vow war if evicted

Squatters who have erected shacks on the pavement of a Delft street have vowed not to move, despite threats of a court order by the City of Cape Town.

This follows reports that the city was seeking a court order to remove them from the pavement along Symphony Way.

The 141 families were among hundreds of people who in December invaded N2 Gateway houses from which they were later evicted under a court order.

The residents said the housing department had lied to them in February when they were forced to move out of the N2 Gateway houses.

"They even told us to keep house numbers because they promised we would go back, but other people are in those houses now," said Hilda Witbooi. If anyone came along to destroy their shacks, she said, they would be "starting a war".

Another pavement resident, Mark Andrews, said the temporary houses provided by the city, also in Symphony Way, were cold because they had no ceilings. However, he would have no alterative, should the city go ahead with its plans to move them by force.

Rodney Fester, another resident, said his concern was that "temporary accommodation" had the tendency to become a "permanent arrangement".

The Anti-Eviction Campaign's Jane Roberts said the city was using the temporary accommodation to "dump people". At the time of going to press, the city had not replied to questions from Cape Argus.

- Cape Argus

It's back to shacks for new home owners

Imizamo Yethu residents who have been provided with brick houses by Irish billionaire Niall Mellon are letting the houses for up to R2,000 a month and moving into shacks in their own backyards.

In 2003, Mellon, who has an apartment in central Cape Town, arranged for Irish volunteer builders to come to Hout Bay to build houses for the poor in a week-long blitz.

Over the next two years, in a number of lightning-quick visits they built a total of 448 brick houses for people who had lived in shacks.

'I chose to rent out my house'

But their good intentions are coming up against the reality of poverty in South Africa. Many of the brick houses have disappeared behind a screen of corrugated iron as owners move into shacks in their own back yards.

A house owned by Imizamo Yethu resident Thuletu Jwara is now a clothing shop rented by Chinese, while she lives in a shack behind the house.

Jwara said: "I chose to rent out my house because I am unemployed and need the money to pay the bond and help my family. The bond is R300 every month and my tenants are paying me R1 500 a month. When I've finished paying the bond I would love to move back to my house but it will depend on whether I can feed my family."

Another house in the area, complete with lounge, three bedrooms, a kitchen and a bathroom, has been divided into six bedrooms with each accommodating a rent-paying tenant.

It is now difficult to move around in the house because of the many partitions, and there is nowhere to put appliances like the fridge.

'We do understand that it is a survival mechanism'

One of the tenants of this house, Lisa Makoma of Malawi, said the rooms were very small and the rent was high - she paid a total of R1 200 a month for one of the larger rooms. "The owners are now divorced and living separately so when it is the end of the month they come one by one to collect the rent money. So we pay twice - I pay R600 to her and R600 to him."

Deirdre Grant, spokesperson for the Niall Mellon Township Trust, said: "Legislation on housing bars the owners from selling the house within five years but it doesn't prevent them from renting it out, or letting a room and the backyard."

She said the trust was disappointed that the beneficiaries were renting out the houses and moving back to shacks. "But we do understand that it is a survival mechanism."

The trust has so far built a total of 5,000 brick houses between Johannesburg and Cape Town, the last being 200 in Freedom Park in Mitchells Plain earlier this month.

- Cape Argus

Under water, and still waiting for help

Residents of an informal settlement near Elsies River are despairing that they will never be moved from "the dump", saying that hundreds of them were promised in 1997 that they would be moved to a temporary area while they waited for permanent housing.

Now, 11 years later, they are still waiting.

The settlement, known as Malawi camp, is a grim place to live. Resident Johanna Beukes says her shack has been under water for the past five weeks - and no one has arrived with any help.

Community leader Mziwabantu Gxokwe confirmed that 403 residents were approved by the Department of Housing for new homes, and had been on the waiting list since 1997.

They were supposed to have been moved to a temporary area in the meantime, but had heard nothing since.

Gxokwe said the only help that had been forthcoming was in the form of plastic to cover their shacks.

This, however, did nothing to help with the water that seeped into their homes from the ground.

"The plastic they are giving them doesn't make any difference, because the volume of water underground is too high, and water is coming into the shacks," he said.

Beukes, who has lived in the settlement for 14 years, said she had approached a member of the area's committee for help, but was told there was nothing he could do for her.

"I must stay here in the water," she said, adding that her husband Marvin has also visited the City of Cape Town's offices twice.

He was told that someone would get back to him.

"He went there twice and they said they were going to call me. But that was five months ago.

"They never called," she said.

They had also had no feedback on their application to be moved, she added.

Beukes said she and her daughter were getting sick because of the cold and wet conditions.

- Cape Argus

City to forcibly remove adamant squatters

The City of Cape Town says it is to seek a court order allowing it forcibly to move 141 families who have been squatting beside Symphony Way in Delft since February and refuse to leave.

The families were among hundreds of people who in December invaded N2 Gateway houses from which they were later evicted under a court order.

Most of the people accepted a council offer of accommodation in a nearby temporary residential area, but the Symphony Way squatters, led by the Anti-Eviction Campaign, say they won't move unless they are given proper homes.

"They are taking up space next to a key secondary road that has been closed to traffic," mayoral committee member for housing Dan Plato said on Monday.

'The city's position is simple - they must get off Symphony Way'

"Our officials talked to them on many occasions. Now a legal process has started."

It would be up to the court to decide when the families should move, Plato said.

The city's executive director for housing, Hans Smit, said transport authorities had complained that the road's closure meant vehicles, particularly public transport vehicles, had to use a longer route along Delft Main Road, adding to traffic flow at peak times.

"You can't open that road with people living next to it," Smit said.

"The city's position is simple - they must get off Symphony Way.

'They were supposed to be temporary places, but seven and 12 years are in no way temporary'

"We've engaged them, but they have a simple attitude - they want houses. We can't promise houses, but there are options available to them. They have to follow the normal process to get houses.

"A court order is not an option the city wanted to follow, but we don't accept that they live next to the road. We're not talking about taking them far away. There is a temporary residential area about 300 metres away."

Anti-Eviction Campaign leader Ashraf Cassiem said the Symphony Way squatters would remain firm in resisting being moved as they believed the city used temporary residential areas as dumping grounds for homeless people.

"We don't know of any legal process, but from the start we rejected a temporary residential area. In (such) areas parents can't raise their children. (These areas) are unhealthy, unsafe and undignified.

"We are not of the impression that if people move to temporary residential areas they will get homes soon.

"At the Tsunami temporary residential area, people have been there for seven years and at Happy Valley, for 12 years. They were supposed to be temporary places, but seven and 12 years are in no way temporary."

- Cape Argus

Groundwater badly polluted with faecal matter

Groundwater samples taken in Hout Bay were badly polluted with faecal matter which exceeded the safety limit while the pollution in stormwater samples "went off the scale" of a laboratory's testing system, the Hout Bay Residents' Association said.

This was the first time groundwater tests had turned up pollution levels of this magnitude, it said.

Pollution of groundwater poses a serious problem in an arid country such as South Africa, which is likely to have to rely increasingly on groundwater sources as many parts of the country become warmer and drier with climate change.

The association said the faecal matter came from the crowded Imizamo Yethu shack settlement, which had inadequate services.

'It takes years and years for groundwater to become clean again'

Justin O'Riain of the Hout Bay Residents' Association, took the water samples from holes dug near Hout Bay's main road below the settlement.

"What's new is that this pollution is now in the groundwater. One of our biggest fears as a nation is that our groundwater will become contaminated. It takes years and years for groundwater to become clean again," O'Riain said.

The samples were tested in a Pathcare laboratory.

Harold Weber, a medical doctor on the residents' association, said even walking barefoot in the polluted stormwater could cause severe cellulitis "and possibly even death" in people who had open wounds and compromised immune systems. Hout Bay has one of the highest incidences of HIV in Cape Town, he said.

"It affects the people of Imizamo Yethu mostly. They have no proper services and there is no control over where they build their shacks. Some are built over fire hydrants and even in the service road," he said.

'It affects the people of Imizamo Yethu mostly'

People were forced to defecate in the bush or even stormwater drains, he said.

Brett Kramer, who lives on a smallholding in Hout Bay, said the sewer overflowed several times a week and ran down the gutters on to his fields.

"My fields get flooded with raw sewage. One of my cows died after drinking this water," Kramer said.

Ivan Bromfield, the city's executive director of health, said the city monitored river water quality monthly and evaluated the results against government water quality guidelines. Many of the rivers were unsuitable for recreational use.

His department told the engineers if it had picked up problems in water quality. City engineers had said they would divert some of the stormwater run-off into the sewers near Hout Bay's Victoria Road.

The city had also put up signs warning people not to swim or play in the Disa River. No one used the river water for drinking.

"The diversion is a temporary solution. The main solution is to upgrade the informal settlement. They are busy with that process now, but the planning process takes a while," Bromfield said.

- Cape Times

Cape 'can't keep up' with urban development

The City of Cape Town is struggling to keep up with the fast pace of development and this is putting a strain on outdated or poorly maintained infrastructure such as roads and sewerage services.

"We can't keep up with developments because they are happening faster than the city can build," mayoral committee member for roads, transport and stormwater, Elizabeth Thompson, said at Wednesday's mayoral committee meeting.

She said the city could "never keep up" with the need for road maintenance because of budgetary constraints.

'Even if we increase the rates by one or two percent it would only be a drop in the ocean'

Thompson said the city would lobby the National Treasury to ring-fence funding for roads maintenance for all municipalities,"even if it comes from fuel levies".

She said it would cost R575-million a year for the city to maintain its 10 000km of roads and a further R1,9-billion to deal with the maintenance backlog.

"I am not sure where we will get the money. Even if we increase the rates by one or two percent it would only be a drop in the ocean."

Mayoral committee member for finance Ian Neilson said the city had only R125-million for maintenance. He said the transport budget had to be looked at "very seriously" as R450-million would be outstanding. Neilson said rates would have to be increased by about 15 percent to make up the shortfall.

The council roads and stormwater department commissioned a pilot study on the impact of densification on the city's stormwater, water and sewerage infrastructure.

'We can't densify if we can't afford it'

Table View, Boston and Strand were studied as part of the pilot project.

The study found that the three areas combined had 27 400 units more than had been approved by the zoning rights. It would cost R48,3-million to upgrade the water system in accordance with the needs of the communities living in the areas, R25,9-million to upgrade the sewer network and R85,5-million to improve the stormwater infrastructure.

The consultants said that public or private spaces should be carefully considered before they were used for densification.

"To adequately investigate the feasibility of densification, the status and impacts on the water services cannot be addressed in isolation.

"The status and impacts on the other services like roads and electricity should also be addressed."

The report recommended that a second study, including the cost implications of the required infrastructure, be carried out.

Mayoral committee member for planning Marian Nieuwoudt said densification could not be done on an "ad hoc" basis as was the practice now.

"We can't densify if we can't afford it."

A working group comprising representatives from various directorates is to investigate all aspects of the impact of densification on the city's infrastructure. - Cape Times

- Pic: Rising Tide - Jan Baker

'Cape faces double migrant burden'

An influx of foreigners into urban areas presents Cape Town with the "double burden" of an ageing population and an intensified need for sustainable job creation.

The majority of the province's "non-citizen" population is split between young African men looking for work and elderly Europeans. Their impacts are emphasised because 80 percent of these people are concentrated in the city.

These are findings of an HSRC report, "The State of the Population in the Western Cape Province", released on Friday.

The report defines non-citizens as "foreign-born persons" living in South Africa without legal citizenship.

The report also found the Western Cape - with the lowest fertility rate in the country - to be the county's fastest growing province, mainly due to its absorption of more than 3 300 migrants a month.

With a long history of European migration and past policies strongly favouring "pro-white immigration", the Western Cape was a "preferred destination for the white (immigrant) population" to the other provinces, Ravayi Marindo, manager of the department of social development's Western Cape Provincial Population Unit, said.

Her report speculates that the province's distance from mines and borders with neighbouring countries accounts for "smaller numbers of black African foreign-born persons and non-citizens".

Crime is another challenge brought about by these patterns as "a large number of young male adults may also become a liability if they are unemployed, as they may be absorbed into illegal activities".

Marindo said: "In terms of sustainable provision of services, the Western Cape needs to plan for the creation of more jobs, since the province is attracting young male immigrants in search of work. (And) the fairly substantial number of old age immigrants and retirees might require the provision of more services for the elderly."

The report did not include illegal immigrants, for whom there was no data.

An estimated 5.3 million people live in the Western Cape, and between 2001 and last year the population grew at double the national rate of 1,3 percent.

But while the Western Cape has the highest average life expectancy of all the provinces, it shares the unfortunate national trend of higher death rates associated with HIV/Aids.

- Cape Times
- Picture Thom Evans - Burden

Health risk warning

The City of Cape Town is concerned about the possible health risks of sewage overflows from the 9 000km-system, which is almost 50 years old.

Pumping stations, some of which are more than 20 years old, are experiencing system failures which also lead to overflows.

There are 3,2 million people in Cape Town and each one generates about 160 litres of waste each day, the city says.

It would take R5,6-billion to replace the sewer network and a further R500-million to replace the city's 382 pumping stations.

Mayor Helen Zille told delegates at this week's conference of the Institute of Municipal Finance Officers that the demand for the treatment of wastewater was increasing by 7 percent a year in rapidly growing parts of the city.

"We are investing R1-billion over the next three years to prevent public health and environmental disasters," she said.

This three-year rehabilitation of wastewater conveyance is to include replacement of old systems and creation of new bulk infrastructure.

In a report to the utility portfolio committee, Lungile Dhlamini, of utility services, said the complexity of the city's wastewater system meant there were many potential points for sewage to be discharged accidentally into the environment.

"The impact on human health will depend on the duration of exposure to an oveflow and the levels of pollutants in the overflow."

Sewer overflows and spills of untreated sewage contain disease-causing organisms, including bacteria, viruses and parasites.

Of the overflows between June 2006 and June this year, 17 percent arose from mechanical failure, 45 percent from electrical problems, 21 percent from blackouts, 7 percent from flooding and 7 percent from vandalism. Broken gravity and pressure mains accounted for the remaining 3 percent.

The reasons for the failures included "historical neglect" in planning and funding the long-term rehabilitation of the sewer system and poor replacements at the former seven municipalities.

Many of the sewer pipes are corroded, broken or poorly connected, which allows winter rainfall to leak into the system.

The city's sewers are intended to collect or convey only sewage or wastewater.

Dhlamini said the rehabilitation of the sewer network would require specialist and costly techniques. There are a limited number of contractors available for the specialised work.

Some of the sewers and pumps are too small to carry the volume of sewage from newly developed areas.

Many pipes are corroded and cracked. Pipes get blocked by grease or tree roots. Cable thefts also lead to system failures.

Dhlamini said the city would work with the transport, roads and stormwater unit to monitor the overflow of sewage into vleis, rivers and wetlands.

Most of the major sewage spills, on to beaches and into streams, have been in the South Peninsula, Tygerberg and Blouberg areas.

- Cape Times

Scores left homeless by two fires

While scores of Philippi residents braved the rain on Tuesday and rebuilt their shelters destroyed by a fire the day before, 40 more residents in the Masiphumelele informal settlement near Noordhoek were left homeless by another blaze.

No one was injured in either of the fires and the causes were being investigated.

Yesterday, Charlotte Powell, the city's Disaster Risk Management Centre's spokesperson, said an NGO had provided hot meals and blankets to the approximately 40 homeless Masiphumelele residents.

The city's housing department would supply them with starter kits to rebuild their homes.

Monica Pypers, a spokesperson at the Cape Town Fire Command and Control Centre, said the fire started about 10am and destroyed five shacks.

Meanwhile, scores of residents in Kosovo, Philippi, worked in the rain on Tuesday rebuilding their homes which were razed the day before, leaving about 60 of them homeless.

Parents and children walked through mud and charred, sodden debris carrying planks of wood and dripping packets of salvaged nails.

"I was at work when this happened. I came home to find I had nothing. I only have the clothes I'm wearing. I hope my friends will let me wear their clothes," Andile Zola, a resident, said as he brushed raindrops from his face.

Lifting a corrugated iron sheet on to planks in order to form a roof, Solomzi Qaloti said they were forced to work in the downpour.

"We need a place to stay. If we don't build then we don't have a house. We need to carry on with our lives," he said.

As the rain fell harder, some of the residents ran to the partially-built homes which provided the most shelter.

Ernest Pokolo, another resident, said he believed a neighbour had gone to work early on Monday but had left their electric stove on and this had caused the blaze.

A number of other residents said they also believed a neglected stove caused the fire and denied a tabloid report that it had been started by someone who wanted to harm political rivals as both DA and ANC members wanted to take control of Kosovo.

Nyanga police station spokesperson Ntomboxolo Sitshitshi said officers were investigating the blaze and believed it was accident.

"They suspect it might have been started by a stove." - Cape Times

Fire leaves shack dwellers destitute

More than 60 people were left without shelter when a fire destroyed 14 shacks at the Kosovo informal settlement in Philippi on Monday morning.

A resident, Nomathamsanqa Somandi, lost everything she owned. She said she had only managed to save herself and her children. Somandi said the fire had started in the shack next door to hers and when she realised her home was in danger it was too late for her to salvage anything.

All she could think of were her children.

Paul Myburgh, a firefighter at the scene, said the cause of the fire was unknown. Myburgh said the blaze had caused a lot of damage to residents' belongings and electrical wires, but no injuries had been reported.

A resident who declined to be named suspected an electric stove had been left on.

"Even when an electric stove is switched off, it does not shut completely unless it is unplugged," the resident said.

He added that their area was densely populated and that people needed to be extra careful with things that could cause fires.

Ward councillor Monwabisi Mbaliswano said the owner of the shack had been at work when the fire started. "The owner leaves at about 6am," Mbaliswano added.

Residents of Kosovo were now worried about living in a disaster area.

The department of housing had provided the affected families with material to rebuild their shacks and the Department of Social Services had provided them with food parcels, he said. - Cape Argus

City to forcibly remove adamant squatters

The City of Cape Town says it is to seek a court order allowing it forcibly to move 141 families who have been squatting beside Symphony Way in Delft since February and refuse to leave.

The families were among hundreds of people who in December invaded N2 Gateway houses from which they were later evicted under a court order.

Most of the people accepted a council offer of accommodation in a nearby temporary residential area, but the Symphony Way squatters, led by the Anti-Eviction Campaign, say they won't move unless they are given proper homes.

"They are taking up space next to a key secondary road that has been closed to traffic," mayoral committee member for housing Dan Plato said on Monday.

'The city's position is simple - they must get off Symphony Way'

"Our officials talked to them on many occasions. Now a legal process has started."

It would be up to the court to decide when the families should move, Plato said.

The city's executive director for housing, Hans Smit, said transport authorities had complained that the road's closure meant vehicles, particularly public transport vehicles, had to use a longer route along Delft Main Road, adding to traffic flow at peak times.

"You can't open that road with people living next to it," Smit said.

"The city's position is simple - they must get off Symphony Way.

'They were supposed to be temporary places, but seven and 12 years are in no way temporary'

"We've engaged them, but they have a simple attitude - they want houses. We can't promise houses, but there are options available to them. They have to follow the normal process to get houses.

"A court order is not an option the city wanted to follow, but we don't accept that they live next to the road. We're not talking about taking them far away. There is a temporary residential area about 300 metres away."

Anti-Eviction Campaign leader Ashraf Cassiem said the Symphony Way squatters would remain firm in resisting being moved as they believed the city used temporary residential areas as dumping grounds for homeless people.

"We don't know of any legal process, but from the start we rejected a temporary residential area. In (such) areas parents can't raise their children. (These areas) are unhealthy, unsafe and undignified.

"We are not of the impression that if people move to temporary residential areas they will get homes soon.

"At the Tsunami temporary residential area, people have been there for seven years and at Happy Valley, for 12 years. They were supposed to be temporary places, but seven and 12 years are in no way temporary."

- Cape Argus

Backyard dwellers livid after MEC's 'no-show'

However, Mncedisi Twalo, Gugulethu chairperson of the Anti-eviction Campaign who heads the weekly meetings, said Jacobs had been invited to explain what would happen with the backyard dwellers.

He said the minister's failure to attend had made the people "very angry".

"We are giving him seven more days to respond ... he didn't respond the last time. That is disrespectful to the community," said Twalo.

He said he was speaking on behalf of backyard dwellers from Gugulethu, Nyanga and Langa.

Standing on the bonnet of a police van, Twalo addressed the crowd who chanted: "Enough is enough!", "we want houses!" and "no land, no house, no vote!"

A heavy police contingent had stopped the group of about 200 protesters as they made their way towards the street in which Jacobs lives.

They later dispersed after being addressed by Twalo, This is the second time that the community has marched on Jacobs's house since he took office.

Some residents marched to his house last week and dumped refuse they had collected, in his garden. The group had then waited for Jacobs, who later arrived with bodyguards and police.

A statement released on behalf of Jacobs on Sunday said Jacobs was currently working on a plan and had consulted with the City of Cape Town. - Cape Argus

'Drunk' driver kills toddler in shack

It was still dark on Saturday when a shocking bang and a child's terrified cries woke people sleeping in three shacks in Black City informal settlement in Nyanga.

They found a 31-year-old driver, allegedly drunk and unlicensed, had lost control of his vehicle and ploughed into their three shacks, killing a toddler and seriously injuring his grandmother as they lay in bed.

The child, Cebo Lizo, who was not yet two, died minutes later. His grandmother, Notayimile Lizo, 57, suffered serious head injuries and is in a critical condition in GF Jooste Hospital in Manenberg. A woman in a neighbouring shack had her leg broken.

The driver ran away from the scene but residents caught up with him and he was beaten and his car set alight.

Lizo and her grandsons Cebo and Akho, one, were visiting the boys' aunt Ntsapokazi Lizo, from the Eastern Cape, and were staying in her shack which is on the pavement of Eisleben Road.

When the old car smashed into Lizo's shack, it hit the bed on which Lizo senior and little Cebo were sleeping. Ntsapokazi and Akho were asleep in another bed and, although shocked, were unhurt.

"We were asleep and I heard a loud bang and the baby started crying," said Ntsapokazi Lizo, 27.

"We have nothing left and we don't know where to go from here.

"My mother had come all the way from the Eastern Cape to visit us with our nephews, Cebo and his brother Akho, and this is what happens. We will probably stay with our relatives while we try to reconstruct everything."

She said Cebo's mother was in Johannesburg.

The driver was admitted to Groote Schuur Hospital after his beating and is believed to be in a stable but critical condition. A case of culpable homicide has been opened.
- Cape Argus

Fight over housing heroine’s home

Irene Grootboom’s legacy is being marred by an ugly standoff between her lover and her family.

Grootboom, known as the “housing heroine”, famously took on the government over housing delivery in the Constitutional Court.

Despite this, she died in squalor in a shack in Wallacedene informal settlement, north of Cape Town.

This week, almost two months after her death, the government finally gave her a house. But it is not her dream happy ending.

While the keys to the four-roomed house were handed to Grootboom’s 16-year-old niece, her lover Peter Roman is insisting that he deserves it — because they lived together for 16 years, making Irene his common-law wife.

“I’m very upset with what is happening. .. I supported her during the court battle and urged her to pursue it because I also thought about other people as well. Where must I stay now? On the street?” asked Roman this week. But Roman is still a married man and his wife has her own home.

Grootboom’s sister, Patricia Grootboom, vowed they would never let the “adulterous” Roman live in the new house.

She said Grootboom named her niece, Rennett Grootboom, as her sole beneficiary.

Representing about 1000 people, Grootboom approached the Constitutional Court after their shacks were bulldozed because they illegally occupied land earmarked for development.

In 2000, the court ruled that the state was obliged to provide people living in deplorable conditions with access to adequate housing. - The Times

borders South Africa

borders - South Africa

Baby girl dies in flooded shack

A month-old baby girl who lived with her mother in a shack in Philippi that was flooded on Tuesday night, has died of pneumonia.

Asemahle Nyaba developed a cold after heavy rains.

By Wednesday morning the flood water was so high in most of the shacks in the Egoli informal settlement that families had to stand on beer crates and bricks.

Heart-broken mother Landiswa Nyaba, 17, said her baby's cold had worsened on Wednesday morning and she had asked community leaders to arrange transport to take her child to hospital.

But the child had died before she could take her to hospital. "This is enough now. I've lost my baby because of the damp we live in," said Nyaba, her eyes red from crying.

Egoli community leader Abe Fransman confirmed that the baby had been very ill in the shack at about 5am and they had arranged for her to be taken to hospital, but she had already died by the time transport arrived.

When the Cape Argus visited Egoli on Wednesday, many shacks were still flooded.

A resident, Mavis Du Toit, 41, said she desperately wanted to be moved from Egoli and pleaded for help from the government.

She said she was worried she might catch diseases from living in a flooded shack.

"We will get TB if help does not come soon. It's been a long time that we've been suffering in this place," said Du Toit.

Many children had not attended school on Wednesday because their uniforms were wet, residents said.

Instead, the children were wading though pools to help their parents bail out water from the shacks.

Fransman said Egoli had been in existence for the past 13 years and no government assistance had been given to its residents.

He claimed the city's Disaster Management had not come to help since their homes were flooded.

Previously when flooding occurred, a team from Disaster Management visited Egoli but they had simply come to register the resident's names, with the promise that they would help them, said Fransman.

"These people are again going to arrive and ask for our names and that's not good enough. We want Zille to come here to see for herself how people live here," said Fransman.

Disaster Risk Management spokeswoman Charlotte Powell said the Egoli residents could rest assured that help would be sent.

- Cape Argus

City spends R75m on refugees

The City of Cape Town has spent R75-million on shelter and support for people displaced by xenophobic violence.

The city is counting the cost of managing the crisis with only about 1 140 people still living at the remaining safety sites.

Greg Pillay, the city's head of disaster risk management, said city officials expected the final cost of managing xenophobic violence in the city to reach R100-million.

The total spent so far does not include the cost of repairing the damage to and rehabilitating beach camps and community halls which, at the height of the attacks in May, accommodated more than 20 000 people.

While the cost of the damage is yet to be finalised, initial figures indicate that repair and rehabilitation work will cost at least R7-million.

The city council had submitted claims to the national Treasury via the provincial government for the costs incurred, but nothing had yet been refunded.

"We don't know yet whether we will get any money back, but hopefully we will," Pillay said.

The budget for disaster risk management for the last financial year had been overspent by R90-million, largely as a result of the city's response to the xenophobic outbreak.

Other departments had also incurred unplanned expenditure.

Among the highest costs incurred was for disaster relief of R64-million, overtime for the city's Metro Police and traffic services of nearly R2-million, tents at a cost of R1-million and ammunition for crowd management of R500 000.

Pillay told the council's safety and security portfolio committee last week that the city would have to include xenophobic attacks among hazards in its disaster management plan, as at present it only accounted for civil unrest.

City spokesperson Robert Macdonald confirmed that 52 people were moved on Wednesday, 43 to Harmony Park and nine to Blue Waters. He said that "under the circumstances" the move had gone smoothly.

- Cape Argus

Women raise their voices on service delivery

A group of about 2 000 women has urged the government to pay urgent attention to providing better housing for the poor.

Housing was top of the agenda when the women and a handful of men gathered in Wallacedene on Tuesday for a special opportunity to tell provincial MECs about their daily challenges.

The event, Voices of Women, is aimed at honour ordinary women who have done extraordinary things within their communities.

It offers them the chance to put their concerns directly to members of the provincial government.

The idea was to also turn the spotlight on challenges they faced, including identifying economic opportunities, looking for alternative energy sources, alleviating poverty, and meeting the Millennium Development Goals.

But housing emerged clearly as the women's priority.

They were highly critical of the housing department projects which had resulted in shoddy and poorly-built homes.

Some of the contractors, the audience charged, had left houses half-complete or poorly finished, with leaking roofs during the winter storms being the biggest consequence.

The women urged the government to also address spiralling unemployment among the youth, the high crime rate, drug abuse and particularly tik use, as well as the abuse of women and children.

They appealed to the government to provide more empowerment workshops and projects as many of them spent most of their time "at home doing nothing".

Shaun Byneveldt, Speaker of the provincial legislature, told the gathering that while a huge number of women had managed to get leadership posts in the government since 1994, "much more needs to be done to empower more women".

He said post-apartheid South Africa was about unity, non-racism, non-sexism and delivering freedom to all, among other aspirations.

"If men suffered under apartheid, women suffered more," said Byneveldt.

- Cape Argus

Residents to leave 'bad luck' death site

A group of Khayelitsha residents, who are fed up with living near a pool of drain water where three babies have been dumped and found dead in the past year, could soon be relocated.

The residents of an area in Site C, known as Island, said the pool of water at the back of their properties was a place of "bad luck" because children had also drowned in it .

But after a visit by Mayor Helen Zille to the area on Sunday, the city has identified a piece of land it hopes the residents could be relocated to.

Three weeks ago residents found a dead newborn baby boy wrapped in a plastic bag in the water and they said they believed he had been thrown there by his young mother.

The body of the baby was discovered by a young boy who went to fetch his ball near the drainwater.

The residents say it is not the first time they have found the bodies of babies there. They said that in the past year they had found three babies in the water.

One resident found a baby who was alive when she rescued it.

Patricia Dywili said she heard children screaming that they heard a baby crying near the toilet. "The baby was not even a full day old and it still had its umbilical cord attached. I pulled it from the water and the police arrived," she said.

She said she was upset that babies were being dumped there because one of her own children had drowned in the water.

The emotional Dywili recalled how in 2003 her mentally disturbed son had fallen in the water and two days later had died in hospital.

She said tearfully that had the water not been close to the shacks, her son would still be alive.

"I curse this water. Someone needs to do something soon. This water also stinks and we are suffering from TB," Dywili said.

She blamed the government and the municipality for failing to attend to the problem.

"When the elections come, government people will be the first to approach us, but they do not want to help us," said Dywili.

On Tuesday the media liaison officer in the Mayor's office, Bonginkosi Madikizela, said they had visited the area on Sunday during the mayor's tour in Khayelitsha, and had been concerned by the living conditions.

"We have found a piece of land where people can, we hope, be relocated to," said Madikizela.

- Cape Argus

Thousands shack dwellers flee floods

Thousands of Cape Town residents of dozens of informal settlements evacuated their homes on Wednesday as heavy rain and strong winds again battered the city.

The city's Disaster Risk Management centre said thousands more residents of informal settlements were in distress.

Emergency teams were sent out to the worst-hit areas this morning to assess flood damage at 25 informal settlements across the Cape Metropole.

Meanwhile Disaster Risk Management spokesperson Charlotte Powell said 60 people had been taken to the Fada Community Hall in Khayelitsha last night after their shacks were flooded.

On Tuesday 180 flooding victims had been moved to emergency shelters in Philippi and Happy Valley.

She said about 200 shack dwellers in other areas had been driven out of their homes by bad weather and extensive flooding since Sunday.

The Kosovo informal settlement near Philippi had been hit the hardest.

On Wednesday morning Kosovo residents were bailing out their flooded shacks with buckets when the Cape Argus team arrived.

Some were gathering their belongings and moving to higher ground or were going to stay with relatives.

"Every year that area floods, but people just keep moving back there," said Powell.

"We can't give a total of exactly how many people were affected, but a lot of people are living in discomfort."

Powell said areas ranging from Masiphumelele near Fish Hoek to settlements in Strand and low-lying informal settlements across the Cape Flats had been flooded.

The city had provided hot meals and blankets to flood victims and its roads and stormwater departments were busy with mopping-up operations after reports that Strandfontein and Langa residents had been unable to get into their homes because of flooding.

The Noordhoek section of Chapman's Peak Drive was still closed on Wednesday morning after it was hit by two mudslides - one on Sunday night and the other on Monday morning.

No injuries or damage to houses have been reported.

Meanwhile dam levels in the Western Cape are the highest they have been in years.

All of the province's biggest dams are reported more than 100 percent full.

"This year the levels are slightly higher than they were in 2007, but this does not mean people should waste water in summer," warned Paul Rhode, head of the city's bulk water infrastructure branch.

He said the Theewaterskloof, Voelvlei, Steenbras Lower and Upper, Wemmershoek and Berg River dams were all "filled to capacity".

"The rain fell very well and evenly over the past few weeks, which was good news for us."

However, Rhode warned that Capetonians should continue to use water sparingly or they could face water restrictions again.

The Cape Town Weather Office's Riaan Smit forecast more rain later on Wednedsay, but said he expected it to clear by Thursday. - Cape Argus

W Cape government apologises

The provincial government apologised and said it regretted that Irene Grootboom, a homeless Wallacedene woman whose name became synonymous with a Constitutional Court ruling for homeless people's rights to proper housing - did not get the home she was entitled to while she was still alive.

The government on Tuesday gave Grootboom's family a house, a day before a lecture series in her memory begins.

Despite her 2000 court victory, which was also won on behalf of 510 children and 390 other adults, and obtaining a housing subsidy in 2005, Grootboom was still living in a shack when she died last month.

Asked if Tuesday's house handover was an admission of guilt by authorities, Premier Lynne Brown said: "Its not an admission of guilt. It is actually more an expression of regret and an apology that we, provincial and local government, were not able to deliver this house in 2005."

Brown said the Grootboom matter had opened the eyes of the provincial and local governments to the plight of the poor.

"What happened to Irene Grootboom must never happen to someone else in this province. While we respect the fact that Irene Grootboom died while living in a shack, we can say her legacy to her family is that they can live in a house," Brown said.

Asked why the government was absent when Grootboom fought for the homeless, Brown said: "I would not say that (government was absent)...So I would not say that. I would say more that I feel very sorry we've not been able to do it sooner."

Grootboom's aunt, Rosie Zana, said: "This is too late. This should have happened when Irene was still alive. She should have seen what she fought so long and hard for. Irene actually got nothing."

About the many government officials and 500 people who attended the occasion, Zana said: "People are being used when it comes closer to elections. This is just a sideshow. I think Irene would not have wanted this. All she wanted was her house."

Peter Roman, who was Grootboom's partner, said: "There were no politicians around when she fought her battles. Now they are all here. I think it is wrong."

The Social Justice Coalition launches the Irene Grootboom lecture series this evening at 6pm at Community House in Salt River. Speakers include Roman and Cape High Court Judge Dennis Davis. The lectures are to educate on constitutional rights and landmark cases that advanced those rights. The series runs until October 15 and confirmed speakers include Dr Mamphela Ramphele, advocate Geoff Budlender and Dr Judith February.

- Cape Times

The house Irene built

Family of activist finally takes possession of new home

COMMUNITY housing activist Irene Grootboom, who eight years ago won a landmark case against the government for better housing, did not live to hold the keys to her own house.

Western Cape MEC for housing Whitey Jacobs handed over the house in Wallacedene, Cape Town, to her family yesterday, just months after Grootboom died in a shack.

Construction of the four-roomed house, in a street named after Grootboom, started soon after her death in July.

Grootboom rose to prominence in October 2000 when she represented 510 children and 390 adults living in appalling conditions in the Wallacedene informal settlement .

They successfully challenged the government in the Constitutional Court to provide them with proper housing.

After the ruling, Grootboom and her community were moved to another section of the settlement and the department of housing approved plans to build her a house.

Jacobs claims a bungle by the City of Cape Town caused delays.

He said: “It is unacceptable that we are giving her house to her family only after she has died [given] the struggle she waged … so that other South Africans can be housed. City of Cape Town had a problem with the contractor and the project had to be [put out to tender again].”

Since the ruling, water and sanitation have been provided for residents in the area while houses and schools were being built.

When more than 270 houses were handed over to the community in July this year, Grootboom lay helplessly in her two-room shack, sick with pneumonia.

Four days later, on July 30, she was dead at the age of 39.

Grootboom’s younger sister, Patricia, said the house honoured her late sister.

“It is hard to tell how I feel, but I’m glad. She died without a house, but at last they helped build the house. History has been made today. The house is a legacy for family. We can pass it to future generations,” she said.

The housing department has promised to build 9600 houses for the community.

- The Times

Rubbish dumped in MEC's garden

Housing MEC Whitey Jacobs faced the ire of some Gugulethu, Nyanga and Langa backyard dwellers who marched to his house in Gugulethu and dumped their refuse in his garden.

The backyarders kept a promise they made in August when they invaded a piece of land off Lansdowne Road on Saturday, but Metro Police arrived and blocked their progress.

Incensed, the 300 people walked a kilometre to Jacobs's house, emptied rubbish bins in his garden and demanded he address their housing concerns.

"People decided to go to the MEC's house in Malunga Park near the Gugulethu police station. We collected rubbish bins on the way and waited for the MEC as we wanted to show him we mean business. He came with bodyguards and lots of police. He appeared upset when we told him how long people waited for houses," said Mncedisi Twalo, Gugulethu chairperson of the Anti-eviction Campaign.

He said Jacobs was invited to a meeting with backyarders to be held soon to explain the government's housing plans for backyarders.

Gugulethu backyard dweller Nomveliso Speelman said: "That land should be made available to us because people grow old while waiting for a house. The MEC does not seem to have answers and he is unclear on what people should expect.

"What he must understand is that people want houses. I need a house myself and I'll die for a house. Backyarders have been let down by the ANC. They voted for the ANC on the promise of housing, but it has been a lie all the time. This is why people say 'no house no vote'. This is the saddest thing."

Council manager for specialised services Rudolph Wiltshire said law enforcement officers removed about 150 pegs knocked into the ground to demarcate plots.

He said staff were on standby following the threat of a land invasion, but there were no materials to confiscate and no arrests were made.

Justin de Allende, head of ministry in Jacobs's office, said: "All the MEC wants to say at this stage is that it happened, that he is speaking to them and that he will issue a statement later."

- Cape Times

Cape Town makes top ten Sustainable cities list

Cape Town has been named as among the top 10 cities in the world on track to become a global sustainable centre by 2020.

The Ethisphere Institute on Monday ranked Cape Town among the cities which appear to be environmentally and economically sustainable and provides its citizens with a healthy quality of life. It is the only city in South Africa and the continent to make the list from an final shortlist of 20.

The other cities are Toronto, Hyderabad, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, New York, London, Frankfurt, Curtiba and Melbourne.

The Ethisphere Institute says the cities were chosen because they are large, cosmopolitan and economically significant centres which are preparing for the future, today.

"In a world of increasing population pressures and depleting natural resources, some cities are proactively adjusting their practices today, as well as implementing sustainable long-term practices," said Alex Brigham, executive director of The Ethisphere Institute.

"We are recognising these 'cities of tomorrow' today."

The Ethisphere Institute is a think tank dedicated to the research and promotion of profitable best practices in governance, business ethics, compliance and corporate social responsibility.

To determine which cities qualified, Ethispace weighted several factors including economies and populations - qualifying cities had to have a population over 600 000.

Cultural activities, universities and international acclaim were also taken into account to make sure the global sustainable centres were relevant and significant around the world.

They also needed a plan in place to shift to an environmentally sustainable path so that by 2020 they will be sustainability role models.

Cape Town has received acclaim for its energy plan developed in 2004 to help meet the growing energy needs of the city. This includes aiming to have 10 percent of homes using solar power by 2020, as well as to have 10 percent of the city's energy consumption coming from renewable sources in the same timeframe. Among Cape Town's strengths is being a top tourist destination in the world.

"Cape Town is enjoying economic growth that will likely continue through 2020 and beyond," says the report.

The Fifa World Cup in 2010 has been credited with jumpstarting Cape Town's sustainability goals.

But researchers also highlighted challenges for Cape Town, with poverty cited as the most notable.

"While much of the city is developing nicely, a good chunk of it remains in squalor conditions. This is a major obstacle," says the report. - Cape Argus

How to build sustainable Cannabrick Homes

Demonstrated outside the Department of Housing - Cape Town

1. Plant a cannabis seed. Water and allow the plant to grow and produce seed. Plant and water these seeds. Your goal is to grow enough to build a house, you will need about 1 acre to build a 5 roomed home.
   
   Tyala imbewu ntsangu (ye-cannabis). Nkcenkceshela imbewu uze uyinike ithuba lokuba ikhule ide ikhuphe eyayo imbewu. Uyothi ke uyityale nalembewu uyinkcenkceshele njalo. Injongo yakho kukukhulisa izityalo ezothi zonele ekwakheni indlu, uyakudinga i-acre (malunga nentsimi) enye ukuze wakhe indlu enamagumbi amahlanu.
   
   
2. Consider the many relevant points presented in the guidelines of Build your house step-by-step.
   
   Qwalasela yonke imigaqo oyibekelweyo kwincwadana i-Build Your House Step By Step.
   
   
   The Eastern Cape Government has developed a document titled:
   “A Basic Guide to Quality Housing Development”
   It is available here.
   
   
3. Start planning where your house will stand. Consider everything about the environment you’ll be building in, like winter and summer sunshine, wind and rain – you don’t want to build on a floodplain, or your house will wash away. Be sure to plan all your water and waste requirements.
   
   Ceba indawo ozokwakha kuyo indlu yakho. Qwalasela yonke into ngomhlaba lo uzokwakha kuwo indlu yakho, izinto ezinje ngemimoya, ilanga, neemvula zehlobo nobusika, akekho umntu ofuna ukwakha indlu yakhe emgxobhozweni okanye apho iyothi ibe lilifa lezikhukhula khona. Uqiniseke ukuba unamanzi akulungeleyo ukwenza oku.
   
   
4. Cut the grown cannabis plants down and leave in the field to rhett for a week. The morning dew and natural rotting process will loosen the fibers from the plant.
   
   a. Process the plant matter by cutting leaves and branches off, then hit small bundles the length of the plant over and upturned rake.
   b. The long fiber parts that remain in your hand are good for weaving rugs and making various other items your skills can accomplish.
   c. The seed can be gathered for more housing.
   d. Gather the small woody bits (the hurd) that have fallen, this waste is what will be used in the construction material.
   
   Sika / sarha izityalo uzibeke egadini ixesha elingangeveki ukuze zibole. Umbethe wasekuseni nezinye izinto zendalo ezibolisayo ziya kuyikhulula I-fibre ezityalweni.
   
   a. Yikhawulezise ngohlukanisa intonga zezityalo namagqabi, uhlale uyiharika rhoqo.
   b. Intonga ezi zinothi zincede kwezinye izinto ezifana nokwenza ingubo nezinye izinto onothi uzibonele zona ngokolwazi lwakho.
   c. Imbewu inokuqokelelwe ukwakha ezinye izindlu.
   d. Qokelela imithana ethe yaziwela njengokuba uzoyisebenzisa xa usakha indlu yakho.
   
   
5. Wash the hurd, dry it, then wash it again. Be careful not to allow the matter to rot or decay during this process, by turning, airing and allowing the African sun to dry the hurd properly. Now combine in proportions 10:2:3:3 combine the cannabis/ntsangu/dagga Hurd(10), washed river sand 0.5mm(2), hydraulic lime(3) and water(3) to make the mulch (This process may need tweaking depending on your geographic location, humidity, rainfall etc)
   
   Hlamba ingqokelela yakho, uyomise, uphinde uyihlambe.Ulumkele ukuba lengqokelela ibole kwelithuba, yiguquguqule, uyivumele ibethwe ngumoya uvumele nelanga lase Afrika liyomise lengqokelela. Dibanisa ngokwalo mgaqo 10:2:3:3, dibanisa ke lemvuno yakho yomgquba wentsangu (10) kunye nesanti yasemlanjeni 0.5mm(2), ikalika (3) kunye namanzi (3) ukwenza udaka (Nale into ke iyokuthi ixhomekeke kwindawo leyo ukuyo nemvula zakhona njalo-njalo).
   
   
6. Now build your house! Ngoku ke yakha indlu yakho!
   
   
7. Teach others. Fundisa abanye.
   
   
   

   

You can use this “dagga-cement” for making bricks, shutter casting or the proven “pole-and-dagga” method. This last method allows for a sturdy, warm, fireproof and water proof home – built with pride and intuitive engineering, not a ‘uniform box’.

Be sure to consider all aspects of your house design and structural requirements. Although the cannabis-cement will become stronger than steel in time, it is not advised to build over 2 floors high without considering structural implications. With planning this cement can be used to build up to 4 floors high.

The cannabis-cement will dry over a period of a month (depending on the weather). At this point you will be able to add the roof. Seal your home’s walls with lime; lime external walls annually.

Decorate your house with masonry to make it unique, and paint with coloured lime as per custom.

Always PLANT A TREE in a place that will provide shade, to commemorate this accomplishment.

Council will plant trees if citizens care for them. Call (021) 689-8938 http://www.trees.org.za/

Assist your family, friends or neighbors with your experience and expertise. Share information and technique; you can uplift yourself and your community.

Recycling rotting rubbish to energy

Cape Town's rotting garbage may be turned into a source of cash - and energy - if the City of Cape Town's plan to capture methane from landfill sites is successful.

It will also reduce the amount of methane, a greenhouse gas, which is allowed to escape into the atmosphere.

Methane is 21 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, both of which contribute to global climate change.

The city council has still to establish which of the recently-closed rubbish dumps will provide methane, how much they will provide and how much cash it will translate into.

The methane captured could be used as a fuel and converted into electricity

They hope this, and the methane captured from operating landfills, will offset the R800-million the council will have to spend over the next few years to rehabilitate landfills that have reached capacity at Swartklip, Faure, Gordon's Bay and Table View.

The old dumps will be turned into "attractive public open spaces", the city said.

The land cannot be used for housing because of the dangers of escaping gas from the rotting rubbish and because the old dumps remain unstable for several decades.

Peter Novella, in charge of the city's landfill sites, said on Tuesday that it was too early to say how much money could be made from the methane captured from the dumps, as the studies had not been done yet, but it was likely to be "a substantial amount".

The sites at Gordon's Bay and Table View had been closed for some time, so would not generate methane in quantities that could be used.

'We have a responsibility both to cap the old sites and to rehabilitate them'

It was possible that the sites at Faure and Swartklip might generate sufficient methane to be exploited, while the operational dumps at Vissershok, Coastal Park and Bellville all generated methane.

Novella said Durban city council was ahead of Cape Town in this regard, and was already generating electricity from the methane captured from its landfill sites.

The city had entered into a memorandum of understanding with a subsidiary company of the department of minerals and energy to capture and use the methane.

"Gas wells" would be drilled into the dumps and a network of underground pipes constructed. The methane captured could be used as a fuel and converted into electricity.

"We have a responsibility both to cap the old sites and to rehabilitate them. All landfills generate methane, a greenhouse gas that has an effect 21 times worse than that of carbon dioxide.

"There are two ways to get rid of it: you can flare it, burn it off, which generates carbon dioxide, the lesser evil, or you can capture it and generate electricity.

"The electricity can be sold and so generate income," Novella said.

The methane could also be used as a valuable source of carbon credits, he said, which could be sold on the international carbon trading market. - Cape Times

Woolies donates over 4000 trees

Woolworths is celebrating Arbour Week by donating 4309 indigenous trees to a low income housing project in the Western Cape and schools in Limpopo and the Western Cape.

Woolworths will donate 2309 trees to Kuyasa – a low income housing project in Khayelitsha.

Each household will receive a tree. To ensure the sustainability of the venture, the households will receive basic training about the need for trees, composting, mulching and watering. The project will create short-term employment for unemployed residents, who will work as community based educators, teaching fellow residents about the importance of trees and how to care for them.

One of their first tasks will be overseeing the planting of the trees.

In addition, 1000 trees have been donated to primary schools in Limpopo and the Western Cape. As members of the Woolworths Trust EduPlant programme, the schools have already been encouraged to develop sustainable gardens. These trees will be sourced from Woolworths Trust EduPlant school nurseries, contributing to income generation for the schools. Woolworths Trust EduPlant programme is a leading schools food gardening and greening programme that promotes the growing of food using permaculture techniques.

Planting will be overseen by Food and Trees for Africa – a non profit organisation working on environmental issues. This initiative forms part of Woolworths Good business journey to help our communities, our country and our world.

National Arbor Week takes place from 1 to 7 September 2008 and aims to motivate schools, businesses and communities to plant, sponsor and look after South Africa’s natural tree heritage.

“Trees provide many benefits for the environment. These include producing oxygen and reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere - thus helping to address climate change” says Jeunesse Park, founder of Food and Trees for Africa.

“As a fast growing business in the food, clothing and homeware sector we are particularly concerned about supporting the protection of natural resources. Arbor Week reminds us that we have to be more aware of our impact on the world around us. For Woolworths, this project is one of many greening projects to follow,” says Justin Smith, Woolworths Good business journey manager.

Planting will commence before the end of September 2008. The total number of trees donated by Woolworths since the announcement of the Good business journey in April 2007 now stands at over 5000. In line with the Good business journey plan, Woolworths aims to plant another 12,000 trees by 2012. - Supermarket.co.za

I have a burning desire

Word has it that in Germany, when the train arrives five seconds late at the station, the driver gets almost suicidal for shaming the nation. In South Africa, such shoddy service delivery sees the commuters burn the train. The Germans have a thing or two to learn from us.

So, if this column sounds fiery, it is because it went through hellfire to get to you. On Sunday, the day I normally write my columns, I got home from golf and found that my wife had not prepared dinner. This non-delivery on our nuptial agreement made me livid. I burnt all the pots in the house and went to the nearest fast-food outlet.

The service there was not so fast and the customers started getting edgy. In the blink of an eye we were all fired up and torched the shop. We stood on the tables as we burnt everything and complained of the poor service that smacked of apartheid and racism. Fortunately, in the confusion caused by the conflagration, I managed to steal a charred burger patty, wrapped it in hot lettuce and downed it with warm juice. I managed to run out of the place before the police arrived to quell the angry mob.

Needless to say, I was no longer in a great mood to write, so I decided to watch the news on TV. Typically, the newscast was delayed because of a football match that went into extra time. I was disgusted. I called the broadcaster and was kept on hold listening to old music intermittently interrupted by an old white woman reminding me how important my call was. I burned the television set and the whole house caught fire.

My wife called the fire brigade and they took their time. When they finally arrived, I torched their truck, admonishing them for poor service delivery. I was even angrier when they told me they were late because they had gone to help a group of foreigners put out a veld fire. I sometimes wonder just what this government thinks, using our taxes to endear itself to foreigners when we South Africans are in dire need of services.

I booked into a hotel, keeping a box of matches ready while dealing with reception. Fortunately, they moved quickly and gave me their penthouse for the price of a single room because I told them I was traumatised after losing my house and, because I had a big family, a single room would not be sufficient.

Once we had settled down, I pulled out my laptop, now fired up and ready to dish out my column, when the lights went out. Load-shedding! Fortunately for them, it was too dark to reach for my jacket and find the matches, so the hotel survived. I cannot say the same for the Eskom vehicle that arrived later. I just flipped my cigarette stompie into the petrol tank and left.

As a result, I could not submit the column on time. The editor was not impressed. I had missed my very first deadline. She threatened to fire me. I told her not to use the word "fire" with me. We are where we are today thanks to one fire too many. So, if she really wants peace and friendship, she must cool down and allow me some time to finish writing this hot column.

As I sit here now, pondering my next installment, the burning question in my mind is: Where is this going to end? For how long will the poor, like me, be subjected to terrible service delivery, late bus and train arrivals, absent ticket salesmen, bad referees at soccer matches, and presidents who victimise our singing leaders? Why should the poor not be allowed to strike and loot and burn those who defy the strike? Why should angry metro police not be allowed to blockade busy highways without being disturbed by trigger-happy policemen? We are unhappy when they do their hard work and take bribes, but we also do not want them to strike.

I hear you say that fire won't solve our problems. What else should the disgruntled do? When they bare their bums, they are criticised for bringing our freedom into disrepute. I swear, if we continue like this, we may even have to set alight these submarines that we purchased in order to create jobs, because all they have done is to create jobs for the elite -- the investigative journalists, headline writers and faceless spooks who are leaking information to the sources close to the informants. - M&G