Cannabrick Construction - 10 Yrs of SA Gov Bureaucratic delays

Media - a 10yr linked history

CAPE TOWN 3 May 2005

USE DAGGA TO BUILD HOMES: INNOVATOR  A Cape Town-based housing innovator, who propagates using hemp to curb South Africa's growing housing problem, has not ruled out Constitutional Court litigation to compel government to revise its dagga legislation.  "There is a strong possibility we will initiate litigation, hopefully within this year," said Andre du Plessis.  Du Plessis said Cape Town would on Saturday join about 180 cities across 37 nations to highlight the many uses of cannabis.  Du Plessis said South Africa faced a massive housing backlog with cost being the biggest prohibitive factor.  He proposed to build low-cost houses using hemp.  "The solution must be safe, fireproof, bio-friendly and it should trigger sustainable development and wealth creation from grassroots up. Cannabis Is a proven industrial ingredient and when used to make bricks it provides the best value for money, while meeting all requirements," said Du Plessis in a statement.  He said cannabis had a traditional history in Africa going back almost 5000 years.  Du Plessis said Saturday's march would be for an end to the prohibition of industrial cannabis use in housing and agriculture.  He said it was important to acknowledge and legitimise the cannabis farming already happening in the country's rural, impoverished areas.  
"We will ask our Minister of Housing to give this legitimate solution a chance."
  Du Plessis said dagga, a common name for cannabis, was banned in South Africa in 1909.  South Africa is one of the world's largest producers of dagga, with approximately 120,000 hectares a year cultivated, using local strains. 

 At Saturday's march a memorandum would be delivered to a representative from the Department of Housing, highlighting the use of cannabis in housing and agriculture, and everyone's right to secure ecologically sustainable development.  A five minute demonstration of "how to build a cannabrick" would follow.

- ANCDAILY NEWS BRIEFING

Rapid urbanisation 'a serious problem'

Rapid urbanisation is causing the demand for housing to grow faster than the government can deliver it, Minister of Housing Lindiwe Sisulu said on Friday.

"At this rate, we are not going to get very far. We have a serious problem," she told the annual conference of the Black Management Forum in Johannesburg.

Of South Africa's 2,4-million informal households, only 800,000 are on the government's waiting list, she said.

Africa's urban growth rate is currently 4%, twice as high as that of Latin America and Asia, and its speed has caught governments unaware.

"We have created 1,8-million houses in the last 10 years, but it hasn't taken us very far."

Referring to the recent eviction of slum dwellers in Zimbabwe, Sisulu said other African countries risk finding themselves in similar situations unless governments take action...

"We are putting together a housing code so that we can apply a uniform standard and are going to have a 'living-worthy certificate'."

She rejected the idea of turning dagga plants into bricks as a cheaper alternative to building materials.

"It's a very cooling method of building a house, but not what we advocate."

- M&G