Insulation from Hemp Could be Great for Eco-Friendly Homes

Insulation made from hemp may be the next big thing for eco-friendly home builders. Researchers at Bath University believe hemp could be used to build environmentally friendly homes of the future. A consortium, led by the BRE Centre for Innovative Construction Materials, which is based at the university, has constructed a small building out of hemp-lime to test its properties as a building material.

Called the 'HemPod', the one-storey building incorporates highly insulating walls made from the chopped woody core, or shiv, of the industrial hemp plant mixed with a lime-based binder.

The hemp shiv traps air in the walls, and the hemp is porous, which provides insulation. The lime-based binder sticks together and protects the hemp and makes the building material fire resistant.

The industrial hemp plant takes in CO2 as it grows, and the lime render also absorbs the gas, giving the building a low-carbon footprint.

The project is sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

- Third Age

Dream of true freedom lies smouldering in the grave

“THE democratic genie has been let out of the bottle” pronounced Neil Coleman, of Cosatu in the heady days after the election of President Jacob Zuma and his government.

It was a government described as open, accessible, people friendly and pro-poor.

Coleman is not only a decent man. He is also a man of principle.

There was no rancour, populism or triumphalism in his words. His was a deep yearning to see our democracy maturing.

So what has happened to the democratic genie?

Today, images and messages are everywhere, they give us a glimpse of what lies ahead. Slowly and systematically our hard won freedom is being limited. The stranglehold is political, economic and geographic.

In Makhaza township in the Western Cape, the DA gave the poor its Hobson’s Choice – open toilets or continues the bucket system. “The choice is yours.”

This of course, was not about a provincial government that was willing to explore options with the citizens in the light of financial constraints. No, it was an open and direct display of contempt for the poor.

The DA is not alone in its contempt for the poor. In Bizana, Eastern Cape, people were forcibly removed from the “squalor” in which they lived, their shacks mowed down in an action reminiscent of the apartheid era. Yet some of the hands and brains behind the bulldozers this time were those of comrades with whom some of the community had once shared battle trenches.

For some, these were their sons and daughters, metaphorically and literally.

These shacks probably took a long time to put together. Squalid as they seemed, they were the only homes the people of this community had. The people were given no alternative accommodation as the law requires.

Municipal councils flout the very laws they are supposed to uphold and enforce. They do so unabashed because they know crimes against the poor are crimes for which they will not be held accountable or risk losing their jobs. Why should they?

The minister of human settlement, in a fit of populism, knocked on someone’s door and spent a night there, while the owner went to sleep with the neighbours. She hoped this unwanted intrusion was a small price to pay for the change that would be brought once the minister had “experienced” sleeping in the shack.

Well, things did not turn out that way. As soon as the cameras stopped clicking and ink of journalists had dried, Tokyo Sexwale promptly forgot about the tourist experience in the shack. It was only when people claimed their agency and began to protest and reminded the one- time, one-night visitor of their existence that the minister went back.

He partly remembered his word.

This is an era of short term mass appeal – camera, lights and action.

Even the President took time to help someone settle in a better home. We saw him unpacking the refrigerator, lounge suite, microwave and all, including, I hope electric vouchers.

The government with a human heart was in full swing.

Now, the other day, Sexwale described informal settlements as ugly eyesores and this was not for the first time. People live there wena, we muttered accusingly at the television screens, shaking our heads with embarrassment.

Why do people live in these conditions, we asked angrily pointing at the screen.

Look at what has become of this democratic genie.

Now, if the promise of the President to the National House of Traditional Leaders is realised, by December 2010 South Africa will have a dual legal system. The areas that were formally marked as “homelands” on the map before 1994 will be rezoned as “traditional communities”.

The Traditional Courts Bill is no Mickey Mouse law. We are Africans, are we not? In the name of restoring our cultural dignity and honouring the wise ways of our forebears, “traditional” leaders will decide on economic development and even hear criminal cases and disputes and much more. For the subjects in traditional communities, the magistrates’ courts will not be courts of first instance.

Reading the draft Traditional Courts Bill the question arises, why should people in these communities vote in the forthcoming local government elections? The municipal and local government system has nothing to do with these communities. There leadership and governance are predetermined. So, what will they be voting for?

Everywhere, we see images of a troubled land and its people. The dream lies smouldering in the grave, says the poet.

The gap between grandiloquent statements, cameo appearances amid the drama of poor people’s lives and the real lived experiences of a world shrunken by poverty and the indifference of the powerful is becoming wider by day.

Freedom will only have any real meaning if citizens claim it for themselves. This requires careful and deliberate building of a promised nation. Freedom is earned every day. Only then, shall we find that democratic genie which we will have to continually protect.

- Daily Dispatch

Open toilet probe: City in trouble

The Cape Town City Council contravened the Water Services Act when it installed unenclosed toilets for 1,316 families in Makhaza in Khayelitsha, its own forensic investigation it tried to keep secret has found.

And the council did not take minutes at meetings where it alleged the community had agreed to enclose the toilets itself.

Despite being poverty stricken, most of the families were able to enclose their own toilets. But for 53 it was months of suffering the indignity of relieving themselves in full view of the public, leading to furious protests.

City manager Achmat Ebrahim ordered the probe in March after allegations that the decision to erect open toilets was unlawful.

The Social Justice Coalition (an organisation campaigning for accountable governance) and the ANC Youth League among other had repeatedly demanded the probe’s findings be made public.

This council said it had not planned to release the results, ostensibly because the open toilet fiasco was a matter before the Western Cape High Court, but has now done so following legal advice. It was the SJC, in its attempt to get the report, that lodged a Promotion of Access to Information Act (Paia) application when acting city manager Mike Richardson turned them down earlier this month.

Part of the investigation’s brief was to determine the legal requirements regarding provision of minimum basic sanitation, and to establish whether the council had complied.

“We established that (the Act), stipulates the following regarding the minimum standard for basic sanitation – ‘a toilet which is safe, reliable, environmentally sound, easy to keep clean, provides privacy and protection against the weather, well ventilated, keeps smells to a minimum and prevents the entry and exit of flies and other disease-carrying pests’.

“We established that the provisions of the Water Services Act were not complied with, in that the construction of 1 316 toilets were not enclosed as prescribed,” the findings read.

It explained that individual toilets exceeded the national norm of one toilet per five families and how the provision of 1 316 individual toilets originated from a 2007 community meeting held on an open field in Makhaza.

The findings stated how some residents failed to enclose their toilets, and how the community twice destroyed enclosures the council erected.

Recommendations from the investigation included that Ebrahim and the council housing director note the findings, that such projects should comply with legislation and proper records to be kept of all future agreements with the community.

On Wednesday the SJC said the findings were an indictment of the city’s failure to obey the act.

It questioned the validity of the November 2007 meeting and whether community members were present or represented.

“Shockingly, the investigation reveals there are no minutes from this meeting, which results in there being no formal record of the discussion, attendees, or outcomes. This is particularly disturbing given the gravity of the resolution - to build 1 316 individual toilets, the enclosures of which community members would have to provide.

“The minimum standards of basic sanitation is that a toilet be enclosed. The investigation found the ‘provisions of the regulations to the Act were not complied with’. The city must take ultimate responsibility for this,” a SJC statement read.

SJC coordinator, Gavin Silber said his organisation would study the findings and consult its lawyers before it decided on legal action against the council.

“For us it is not only about Makhaza. It is about the provision of decent sanitation more broadly,” he said.

- Cape Times

Bitou housing costs go through the roof

THE cost of top structures in Bitou’s 2000-unit housing project in KwaNokuthula outside Plettenberg Bay exceeds the provincial R74,000 subsidy by R40,000 a house and could cost the municipality up to R80-million in top-up funds, consultants have warned.

Bitou has taken the lead in providing low-cost housing that exceeds Reconstruction and Development Programme standards, which include only one bedroom, a basin and a kitchen sink. The civil work includes only the tarring of the main taxi route and not residential streets.

In a report before both the executive committee and council yesterday, consultant Stewart Scott said if the municipality was not in a position to contribute the R80-million over the course of the project, cost-cutting measures on civil works could include that only main roads be tarred and that the roads be made narrower.

To conform to the R74,000 a unit provided by the Western Cape Housing Department, a number of “nice- to-haves” could be omitted from the houses, including roof tiles, inside painting and a covered patio.

Mayor Lulama Mvimbi said that while mindful that the council should watch its spending on housing, the government should give people a certain quality of life.

“Consultant reports can be misleading ... We must remember that people live in these houses ... What are we trying to say to someone if we put them in an unpainted house?”

Housing head Mark Fourie said the provincial government subsidy had not changed in two years, while costs had in fact risen.

“Their (provincial RDP) standards are terrible, but this report is just informing us we must be mindful that we are exceeding the contributions.”

Community services manager Monde Stratu said while the consultant report painted a bleak picture, the municipality had no intention of bankrupting itself or being reckless with funds, but it did want to move away from the low RDP standards.

DA opposition councillor Charles Dreyer agreed the standard RDP houses were “dehumanising”, but he said the council should be provided with a clearer picture of the real costs of houses of a good standard.

Fellow DA councillor Johann Brummer said it appeared as if there had been serious over-expenditure on the housing budget as a result of accepting tenders way in excess of the subsidy amounts.

The council resolved to use an increased provincial allocation of R28-million for 288 houses in KwaNokuthula and civil services on 230 erven in Kurland.

In addition, the council would “augment the shortfall on the housing subsidies as and when required”.

It would also investigate if savings on the housing project in the Bossiesgif/Qolweni informal settlement could be used to fence the homes and plant fruit trees.

- Weekendpost

Right2Know march on parliament

Why is it important to know?

R1,3 billion could be swept under the carpet on failed housing projects, because it has been declared a secret.

Maintenance funds on inner-city prototype high-rise buildings, flagship projects and soccer stadiums could become national security issues, and we would never know.

15 Years of government Hemp (Cannabis Sativa L.) research could be classified a secret and more than the few of you who know would know even less....

Like how much it has cost so far...

What is the Secrecy Bill?

The Protection of Information Bill – or the Secrecy Bill – says that its aim is to regulate how valuable state information is handled and protected, so that it is not lost, destroyed, altered or given to the wrong people. It provides ways to classify and to declassify information, and establishes a database of declassified information for the public. It also makes it criminal to spy on South Africa.

Why should you take action?

The Right2Know Campaign believes that the Secrecy Bill undermines access to information. The Bill would allow any government department – from the Natal Sharks Board to your local municipality – to classify public information as secret. Anything and everything can potentially be classified as secret if it is in the ‘national interest’. Anyone involved in the ‘unauthorised’ handling and disclosure of classified information can be prosecuted.The disclosure even of some information which is not formally classified can land citizens in jail. This will lead to self-censorship and have a chilling effect on free speech.

What can you do?

Sign up!

Wednesday 27 October - Right2Know March to Parliament - Gathering in Kaizersgracht Street, Cape Town @ 9h30

Go Green Hemp Home

Protest spreads

A FOUR-WEEK service delivery protest in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, has spread to Philippi, with hundreds of residents barricading busy roads with burning tyres over the weekend.

The protest was set to continue last night, according to Eric Notana, chairperson of the Philippi People's Forum.

"We will continue until Plato (Cape Town mayor Dan) agrees to meet us. He must deliver positive answers," Notana said.

Last month the organisation handed over a memorandum to a city representative in which they complained that they had not been told of any plans to build houses for them.

Mabhuti Nkwenkwana, 49, said he was one of the first people to set up home in the area (Kosovo) 13 years ago.

"How long are we going to stay in shacks? We share our groceries with rats. Some of us have TB and pneumonia because these shacks are very cold," Nkwenkwana said.

Backyard dweller Nomtha-ndazo Mfengu is willing to be moved anywhere as long as she gets a decent house.

"If you come from town with food parcels the landlord gets cross. You have to bribe her by giving her some of the food," Mfengu said.

The city had promised to respond to the residents' memorandum by October 21. Plato's spokesperson Rulleska Singh told Sowetan yesterday that the mayor had replied to the memorandum.

- Sowetan

Voices of poor must be heard

THE increase in township service delivery protests across SA, and their tendency to descend into chaos and violence, has generally been interpreted as a wake-up call for the tripartite alliance, which dominates government in most parts of the country.

Yet there is little evidence that rising unhappiness among the African National Congress’s (ANC’s) natural constituency is translating into electoral losses on any meaningful scale. Where the ANC has lost ground in local government by-elections, this has largely been a result of the consolidation of opposition support and low African voter turnouts, rather than a mass defection of traditional ANC supporters.

While it is clear that the swing vote among Cape Town’s coloured population lost faith in the ANC following the disastrous mayoral tenure of Nomaindia Mfeketo and removal of Ebrahim Rasool as premier, this was never an established ANC constituency. Opinion polls show that although African voters’ perception of the Democratic Alliance (DA) has improved over the years — leader Helen Zille scores highly on efficiency and incorruptibility — that has not meant many new black votes for the party.

While the DA seems likely to continue making gradual progress among minority groups and the emerging black middle class, liberal hopes that widespread disenchantment following 16 years of African nationalist governance would prompt the masses to buy into the DA’s concept of the equal opportunity society have not yet been fulfilled. Rather than seek alternatives to the ANC within the multiparty system, there is a countrywide trend away from engagement with elected representatives and administrative structures and towards forming unaffiliated community-based organisations and pressure groups with little interest in elections.

The implication for the ANC is that while its control over the levers of power and patronage is not under immediate threat, it finds itself under attack on a broad new front that ranges from street protests and barricaded roads to sophisticated legal challenges undertaken on communities’ behalf by nongovernmental organisations in civil society.

Whereas the alliance partners have traditionally had an iron grip on poor African communities in urban areas, their alienation due to widespread corruption and a general lack of accountability has resulted in this control being gradually lost. The ANC’s attempt to capitalise on the recent clash between the Cape Town authorities and residents of Hout Bay’s Hangberg community was rebuffed, for instance, with residents preferring to protest, march, litigate and eventually negotiate under the banner of the Poor People’s Alliance, a coalition of independent social movements including the Landless People’s Movement, the Anti-Eviction Campaign, the Rural Network and Abahlali baseMjondolo.

The latter grouping, which represents shack-dwellers and has its origins in KwaZulu-Natal, has a history of going head-to- head with the government over service delivery issues, having clashed violently with the ANC in Durban’s Kennedy Road settlement a little over a year ago after successfully challenging the constitutionality of the KwaZulu- Natal Slums Act. The ANC did not take kindly to its authority being questioned, ensuring that Kennedy Road was “liberated” from its elected representatives.

Abahlali has also been responsible for a series of protests over slow housing provision in informal settlements around the country, most recently in Cape Town. These often involve disruptive street barricades, the stoning of cars and chaotic marches, with police invariably resorting to rubber bullets to disperse the crowds.

It has become a case of neglected and deprived communities versus the establishment, regardless of which party is in office, and politicians across the board seem at a loss as to how to respond, other than with force.

Having been rebuffed by the Hangberg community after it tried to hijack a protest march organised in the wake of a violent clash with police and council officials intent on breaking down structures built illegally in a firebreak, the ANC and its allies are now on the warpath against Abahlali in Cape Town too. Union federation Cosatu released a statement earlier this month condemning its methods and calling on “progressive” residents to “distance themselves from mindless violence and calls for chaos that harm the poor and working class and their organisations”.

The DA cannot afford to indulge in schadenfreude though. As much as the growth of organisations such as Abahlali is putting the ANC on the spot, the phenomenon is a clear indication that our democracy is not working for everyone, and this is bad news for all South Africans. The political establishment as a whole needs to engage with alienated poor communities and find some way of ensuring their voices are heard, including reviewing the electoral system to make elected representatives more accountable.

The growth of groups such as Abahlali baseMjondolo is a clear indication that our democracy is not working for everyone.

- BusinessDay - News worth knowing

Fireworks at media summit, but the republic emerges intact

Tokyo Sexwale loves to tell the story of an aggrieved Crimean War commander who had been receiving terrible press back home in Britain.

A newspaper reporter had been writing unfavourable reports about his conduct of the war. Incensed by the anger that the reports were causing in his home country, the commander finally confronted the correspondent and gruffly chastised him.

"I do not like the things you write about," he told him.

To which the reporter responded: "Well, then, do not do things I write about."

Among other places, Sexwale told this story at the announcement of a crackdown on housing-tender fraud, which his department is conducting in conjunction with the Special Investigations Unit. He was encouraging the media to vigorously hold power to account. But often, at the end of the parable, he directs a rider to media about the accuracy and fairness in reporting: "But you must also not write about things we do not do."

This parable demonstrates the tension that has - and will probably always - exist between the media and society's power-wielders.

It is no different in our nascent republic, which has been grappling with this tension since 1994.

It was precisely with this in mind that editors and ministers gathered at the Mount Grace resort in Magaliesberg last weekend to tackle matters around media and government relations.

With a powerful delegation comprising a third of the cabinet, and a media contingent consisting of the bulk of South Africa's senior editors, the gathering was bound to be explosive.

Add to this the fact that the summit took place against the backdrop of a raging storm about proposed curbs on the free flow of information and South Africa's stealthy but sure march towards secretiveness.

So yes, there were certainly fireworks and some solid body blows were landed. But I am pleased to report that this was done in a congenial spirit with either side taking the punches with just a grimace.

Following the meeting there have been questions about whether some kind of Faustian pact was reached, and whether the nation's editors came out charmed into limp-wristedness.

The answer is emphatically in the negative. The real pact was one of affirming the constitutional legitimacy and roles of the two institutions. We agreed on improving mechanisms for better information flow, for smaller meetings to deal with pressing issues and to have annual summits to talk about our republic.

South Africa's media will continue to play its role in holding power to account, exposing malfeasance where it exists and reporting on developments in the political sphere.

The institution will continue to serve as a platform for creative, vibrant and (sometimes) heated debate on the direction of this republic.

It may seem odd for the two institutions to see the need to meet and "affirm" each other. Indeed, the very idea of editors and government heading off for a retreat and squaring off (effectively) as equals would seem strange to many in both the democratic and undemocratic worlds. We would like to claim it as a uniquely South African practice but, if it does exist elsewhere, it would be a rarity.

It is something that goes back to 2001 when - at the height of the former president's Aids denialism - the relationship was at a very low ebb. Government and the media met at Sun City and began grappling with their relationship. There have been subsequent engagements, but on a much smaller scale.

Given the tone of the then-president and that of the rottweilers around him, some of those meetings were often bruising battles. Both sides would come out wiping floods of sweat off their bodies and blood from their noses. Nonetheless, it was those engagements that helped establish the summits as an institution which we will be able to pass on to future generations.

They help clear up what is often a poisoned public discourse in South Africa, a discourse that has been made even more toxic by the blood-lust among some in the ruling elite who seem convinced that journalists are descendants of the survivors of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Their instinct is to do to our tribe what was done to the people of those two cities. Fortunately South Africa will push them aside and fight hard to ensure the entrenchment and nurturing of a free and open society.

Beyond the current skirmishes, South Africa will have to ensure the development of a mature relationship between these two institutions. This must be a relationship that understands that the ordinary South African citizen comes first.

As the society develops, those in power will understand that if there are things they do not like the media writing about, they will not do those things. And the media will accurately and fearlessly write about the things that the citizens need to know.

The republic will be the richer for it and the citizen will be the greatest beneficiary.

- Timeslive

Our people need dignified houses, says Sexwale

A total of 8,700 human settlement projects are currently under way across the country in a bid to eradicate "ugly little pondokkies [shacks]", Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale said on Wednesday.

"We are talking about new, good-looking houses … no ugly little pondokkies. We are changing the cause for our people. They need dignified houses," he told a packed "South Africa Conference 2030 -- rethinking the spatial development trajectory", hosted by the Development Bank of South Africa in Midrand.

He said throughout discussions that delegates should not ignore talking about shoddy construction companies that had so far stolen R1,3-billion from the ministry by building houses that were falling apart.

The ministry was looking at upgrading thousands of informal settlements per year, as the housing backlog was "huge and frightening". It currently stood at 2,2-million units.

He said this could not be blamed on the influx of foreign nationals, but rather on the country's failure to grow the economy's GDP at 6% a year.

"The greatest challenge relates to our economy and in particular the fact that we need higher GDP to reduce mass poverty," said Sexwale, adding that 16 years after the country's transition to democracy the 6% target had not been realised.

"This number is not a thumb-suck, but rather a scientific figure based on the need to grow the economy faster than population growth rate."

New cities
He also spoke of a need for developing new cities in South Africa, saying there had not been any such developments since the apartheid government was in power.

"We can do it ... we have that capability."

Sexwale emphasised the need for officials to be closer to the people and to listen to them. He said his spending the night at an informal settlement earlier this year was not a gimmick.

"I spent the night working. I had my office there ... avoid disconnecting from people," he urged delegates.

Ideas and knowledge to be shared at the summit needed to be put into action, he said.

- Sapa

Fire destroys Cape creche

Police and members of the Happy Valley Development Forum suspect foul play after a wooden structure, which formed part of a crèche, burnt down this week.

A case of arson has been opened by Mfuleni police.

Neighbours said that before the fire started at Happy Feet crèche in Blackheath at about 2.30am on Monday, the crèche’s alarm had gone off.

Principal Theresa Lefleur, who is also a member of the Happy Valley Development Forum, said the structure had been a “home away from home” for babies aged between three and 18 months.

Items that were destroyed in the fire include 24 cots, a microwave oven, a stove, tables, stools and toys.

“Most of the children have nothing. It breaks my heart to see what we have built over the last couple of years destroyed.

“People in the community depend on the crèche because it’s the only safe environment for children to stay in,” Lefleur said.

Sources said arson was suspected due to conflict between the SA National Civic Organisation (Sanco) and the community about the use of the crèche.

The crèche was established in 2008 by the Blackheath City Improvement District, community leaders, local businesses and the City of Cape Town.

Last year, the Cape Times reported that the crèche was at the centre of a political feud. Sanco had threatened to tear it down as they wanted meetings to be held on the property.

In a letter dated June 15, 2009, the Happy Valley branch of Sanco said the organisation had decided at a general meeting with the community that the owners of the crèche had until the weekend to dismantled it. If they failed to do so, Sanco said they would break it down.

Brendan van der Merwe, a member of the Blackheath City Improvement District and the crèche’s treasurer, said the core of the problem was the leadership battle between the ANC-based Sanco and the community, which has its own leadership, mainly DA.

“The crèche is the only building in the area, and the ANC want access to it so that they can hold their meetings, and we won’t allow them to.

“I definitely suspect foul play, but I can’t point any fingers as investigations are still in progress. We have opened a case of arson, but in the meantime we request the community to assist in the rebuilding of the centre.”

- Cape Times

Housing on the agenda

HOUSING officials are meeting this week in Midrand to find ways to provide decent housing to the homeless.

The Knowledge Week conference at the Vulindlela Academy opened on Wednesday, 20 October, and is hosted by the Department of Human Settlements and the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), with the aim of creating a platform for sharing knowledge concerning the development of human settlements. The summit will end on Friday, 22 October.

With the theme, South African Human Settlements 2030 - Rethinking the Spatial Development Trajectory, the conference will be looking at issues such as spatial trends and planning responses, institutional reconfiguration, key drivers of sustainable human developments, environmental considerations, funding and politics of space.

The Minister of Human Settlements, Tokyo Sexwale, is part of the delegation that will be putting their heads together with the hope of coming up with a solution to housing.

Speaking at the opening meeting, Sexwale said, “Our participation as government in this Knowledge Week Summit, with the DBSA as our logical partner of choice, is part of our quest for realisable ideas towards the fulfilment of our mission.”

He noted that the concept of Human Settlements 2030 was introduced during the budget vote address in April of this year.

Sexwale told those present that the summit came after a series of interactions, which gave the department a better understanding of the situation. The exchanges involved:

• Interacting with people in informal settlements to obtain a view about improving their conditions;
• engaging with key partners in business and civil society in a plenary session where a common approach would be developed around integrated planning and social cohesion;
• exchanging ideas with all the major banks and other key players in the financial sector around the financing of human settlement development, and to ensure the more effective implementation of the Home Loans and Mortgage Disclosure Act;
• bringing together innovators, designers, manufacturers and inventors at an exhibition on alternative building technologies, where a range of new ideas were presented with the view of reducing the costs of construction and introducing new technologies; and
• as part of enhancing inner city development, the department interacted with private sector partners to jointly fund the revamping of solid buildings in town and city centres for affordable inner city residential use.

“We have been working, not in just some of the high profile visits and launches which you may have seen in the media, but in a total of more than 8,700 human settlements projects, which are underway across the length and breadth of the country.”

Currently, there are over 2,700 informal settlements, which makes South Africa one of the countries with the highest number of informal dwellings, but according to the minister, many informal settlements are being upgraded.

In Johannesburg alone, there are 180 informal settlements containing 180,000 households, but to date over 60 informal settlements around the city have been upgraded and formalised, which means they have electricity and water.

Informal settlements, often referred to as squatter camps or shanty towns, are common features of developing countries and are typically the product of an urgent need for shelter by the urban poor. As such they are characterised by a dense multiplication of small, make-shift shelters built from diverse materials, degradation of the local ecosystem and by severe social problems.

- Joburg.org.za

Sexwale seeks solutions

MINISTER of Human Settlements Tokyo Sexwale yesterday asked industry experts to give him tangible solutions to challenges facing the government.

He was addressing a three-day Knowledge Week seminar hosted by the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) at its offices in Midrand.

Sexwale is faced with the daunting task of making an impression on the 2,1million housing backlog with a budget that can only deal with 10percent of the backlog annually.

Sexwale said he would ensure that banks "do the right thing" by giving loans to middle-income earners and assist in deracialising human settlements.

He said he would use the Home Loans and Mortgages Disclosure Act to hold banks to account.

- Sowetan

Sexwale urges engineers to share ideas on clearing housing backlog

The Department of Human Settlements (DHS) would need to engage with construction companies if it was to meet the challenges faced by the sector and deliver the expected 220,000 housing units a year, by 2014.

Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale said on Wednesday that there were currently 8,700 human settlement projects under way in South Africa.

"Construction is happening," he reiterated, and added that if the so-called ‘Human Settlements 2030' vision was to be realised, "massive" construction sites would have to be established throughout the country. This would create employment and involve the youth.

Delivering a keynote address to officials gathered at the DHS and Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) 'Knowledge Week 2010', Sexwale emphasised that corruption needed to be tackled. He urged delegates to discuss the issues thoroughly and come up with relevant ideas to solve the problems.

"R1,3-billion I have lost, that was used to build houses that are falling apart," said Sexwale, commenting on money lost through shoddy construction, often linked to tender irregularities.

To meet its goal of eradicating the housing backlog in South Africa, the DHS would also need to acquire some 6 250 ha of land, and provide about 600,000 new ‘gap fund' loans for people who did not qualify for subsidies but still needed assistance.

The Department also needed to upgrade some 500,000 informal settlement dwellings a year, and provide people there with water, sanitation and electricity, while they waited for decent housing.

He noted that although the government has provided 2,8-million houses since 1994, the backlog continued to increase and now stood at some 2,2-million homes.

Sexwale said that at the heart of the challenge for human settlements was economic growth.

He emphasised that South Africa would need to grow the economy faster than the population growth rate, if it was to eradicate poverty.

It could take decades to clear the housing backlog, Sexwale said, adding that the DHS needed those involved, particularly engineers, to channel their ideas and advice to the Ministry.

He urged officials to consider how the DHS could: locate, access and acquire more suitable land; use new technologies to assist delivery; create integrated communities to de-racialise South Africa, and ensure that the disposable income of poor people is not spent on transport costs; create new cities; and include renewable energies in developments.

He said that they should consider these challenges while keeping two key issues in mind, namely, avoiding disconnect from those who stood to benefit from their ideas, and developing practical, ‘realiseable' solutions.

DBSA CEO Paul Baloyi said that the role of the DBSA has extended beyond purely providing institutional finance, to more material engagement with governments for example, with engineering capacity to assist on projects.

Baloyi added that globally, development finance institutions were looking more internally after the global financial crisis, and developing countries could no longer rely on capital from these institutions.

"By extension, Africa and South Africa, must rely on their own capital and initiatives. Therefore, we cannot do everything at the same time and we must focus on key priorities that will exact the biggest impact," he said.

Baloyi said that human settlements were one such priority, which could be focused on, with co-ordinated efforts in the form of housing, energy, water and sanitation, health and transport - to create sustainable settlements for people.

- Engineeringnews

moladi school - if it's good for your kids it's good for you!

Calm after W-Cape service delivery protests

Khayelitsha was quiet on Wednesday morning after protests by shack dwellers led to violence and property damage, Western Cape police said.

Captain Anneke van der Vyver said the protests started on Tuesday evening and ended in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

All roads leading into the township were open and people could safely visit the area.

The reason for the protests was not clear. Two trucks and a car were set alight and cars driving into the area were stoned. A police car was also damaged.

SABC news earlier reported that the protests were called by shack dwellers' movement, Abahlali baseMjondolo, whose Western Cape spokesman Mzonke Poni claimed "criminals" had taken advantage of their peaceful demonstrations. It was believed they were protesting against poor service delivery.

Van der Vyver said: "At this stage we cannot confirm if they were involved or not. Our main concern is to keep an eye on the situation. Protests around service delivery will be investigated once we have done other primary investigations."

A police report was expected to be issued later in the day. A case of public violence and two cases of malicious damage to property were opened. No arrests had been made.

- Timeslive

Sexwale warns building hijackers

HUMAN Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale yesterday has vowed to take building hijackers head-on and "restore the dignity of Johannesburg as the capital of Gauteng".

He was speaking in the city centre after giving the thumbs up to a previously hijacked building, Cavendish Chambers, which was bought three years ago and renovated at a total cost of R40million.

"Street by street, block by block, it should be our number one priority to renew cities. We are coming for building hijackers. We are meeting the Hawks and Bheki Cele to see how we can deal with this issue," he said.

About R33million was supplied by the National Housing Finance Corporation for the 13-story building that has 187 units. The NHFC has already spent about R150million on similar projects.

Gauteng housing MEC Kgaogelo Lekgoro said it was time people took ownership of the inner city and improved it.

- Sowetan

Sexwale’s idea for housing

Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale is hoping to address the housing backlog by claiming back old dilapidated buildings and making them habitable places.

“People keeping on saying that we need land to address the housing backlog,” Sexwale said on Tuesday at the launch of a block of flats in the Johannesburg central business district.

“But we have these old dilapidated buildings that we can refurbish and put our people there,” he said.

During the launch of the Cavendish Chambers, he said the project would be used as a prototype to address the issue of housing in the country.

The building was originally built in 1950 and became vacant in the early 1990s.

The building was hijacked and later reclaimed by government and refurbished to house people who earn low incomes.

“The city is coming back ...cities never die,” he said.

Sexwale said that during his tenure as premier of Gauteng he was pained to see the demise of Johannesburg's inner city.

However, he said it was because of the private public partnership that the city was becoming the Johannesburg that it used to be.

“Cities like Paris, New York and London inner-city also went down so this is not a unique South African situation.”

He said about 2,500 informal settlements in the country were indicative of the challenge that government was facing in providing its people with decent houses.

He said close partnerships between business, government and communities were needed in order to address the housing crisis.

“Why worry about when we will get space to build houses if we can find these old buildings, rejuvenate them and provide housing for our people.”

He also warned people who hijacked buildings, saying that his department was currently in talks with police and the Hawks about enforcing evictions and stopping the trend of building hijacking.

- Sapa

Housing officials visit disgruntled informal settlement residents in CT

Human Settlements Department officials in the Western Cape were locked in a meeting with township residents on Tuesday.

This came amid sporadic service delivery protests in several informal settlements over the past few weeks.

Residents of the Thabo Mbeki informal settlement blockaded the N2 highway with burning tyres and rubbish over the weekend and complained that they have been waiting for far too long for decent homes.

The Human Settlements Department head Mbulelo Tshangana reiterated the demand for housing in the province far exceeded the supply.

He pointed out that the problem was made worse by beneficiaries who sold their government homes and reapplied.

He was responding to service delivery questions from representatives of various informal settlements in Cape Town.

Tshangana promised them that there are plans to upgrade every informal settlement in the province but he warned this would take a little longer.

- Eyewitness News

Toilet saga: ministers added as respondents

Two national ministers have been added as respondents in the legal challenge over Cape Town's toilet saga, it emerged in the High Court in the city on Tuesday.

Members of the ANC Youth League have asked the court to order that concrete toilets be erected where there were once open-air toilets at Makhaza in Khayelitsha.

Counsel for the City of Cape Town, Anton Katz, told the court on Tuesday that Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale and Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica had agreed that they be added as respondents. Judge Lee Bozalek confirmed this in an order.

Other respondents are the city, the Western Cape provincial government, and the SA Human Rights Commission.

The application is set to be argued on November 24, but Katz said the additions might require a readjustment of the timetable.

The toilets were erected by the city on the understanding that local residents would enclose them. As a furore, driven by the youth league, developed over the issue, the city enclosed them with corrugated iron.

Members of the league broke down the enclosures, and city workers then removed the toilets altogether.

The city and province have said they will rebuild the toilets and enclosures if the league gives an assurance the enclosures will not be broken down again.

- Sapa

‘They can kill me, I’m not going anywhere’

“They can kill me, I’m not going anywhere,” said defiant Hout Bay fisherman Donovan Williams yesterday.

Williams is one of 52 Hout Bay residents facing eviction by the City of Cape Town but who have vowed not to move.

He said if evicted from his home, he would lose his livelihood and his family would be left to die.

“I don’t want to end up in Blikkiesdorp because I will be nothing to my family.”

He was still troubled by violent scenes last month when police escorted workers who had gone to demolish shacks.

“I can’t sleep or go to work. I’m traumatised because of what happened,” he said.

As a result of the violent exchanges between residents and police, he gets angry whenever he sees a police officer.

Speaking to the Cape Times outside St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town where he and other residents had met after the City of Cape Town’s eviction application in the Western Cape High Court on Monday, Williams was visibly furious.

He said he refused to vacate a house he said he spent a lot of money building for his wife and two children, 14 and one.

His youngest son, who has a heart condition, would be the most affected, he said.

Having his four-roomed house demolished meant he would need money to build another house.

“Where must I get the money? I am not wealthy,” Williams said.

Fishing was the only job he had and if moved from Hout Bay he would lose income. The 35-year-old said the sea was his only place of work and he would not consider leaving Hout Bay.

He accused the city of sidelining coloured people.

“You get black empowerment and white people have all the money, but nothing is done for coloured people,” he said.

- Cape Times

Hangberg court case postponed

An application was heard in the Western Cape High Court on Monday to have more than 50 shacks dismantled on the slopes of the Sentinel in Hout Bay.

The City of Cape Town wants the structures to be taken down because officials say the shacks were erected in a fire break.

However, the matter has been postponed to 29 November.

The court has urged the parties to spend the next few weeks mediating what has become an explosive issue.

While SANParks has pulled out as an applicant on the eviction order, it has now been added as a respondent.

This means the organisation must explain why it is no longer backing the evictions.

Western Cape Premier Helen Zille claims this was politically motivated.

Police and security guards had their hands full trying to negotiate with rowdy Hangberg residents to keep the entrance to the court clear.

- Eyewitness News

Hemp Makes a Lovely Design/Build Home

The first house in the US to be built from a completely new concrete-like mix that incorporates industrial hemp is Anthony Brenner’s own house in Ashville, North Carolina, and built by his own company, Push Design, as a demonstration of breathable building construction.

The house was relatively more energy-efficient and economical to build due to its unique plant matter construction using Brenner’s invention, that he calls hemcrete.

Hemp is mixed with just quicklime and water on-site and then packed into molds between the structural timbers.

Although he named it hemcrete, the mix is non-structural: more like straw bale than concrete.However, as you see here, the walls are not as thick as typical straw bale walls. The temperature-regulating properties are equivalent, due to the high thermal mass.

Brenner claims that the material has the ability to absorb carbon, not just when grown but even during its second life: being mixed into a wall, because there is more carbon sequestered in the growing of hemp than in the making of the mixture with lime on site.

Purepanel recycled paper panels from Paragon Panels provide the insulation inside, using air-filled cardboard.

Despite the beautiful interior appointments, the house was quite economical to build.

The cost is partly due to the very large footprint. Tt 3,400 sq ft, the building’s cost-per-square-foot priced-out very economically – at just $133 per sq ft.

- homedesignfind.com

Toilets... (Not even) the Queen Bee is above the law

Maybe it is true that in any set-up there can only be one Princess, but that does not mean that there is no place for other Royalty in our politics. We all know in South African politics the role of Princess has been taken on by Lindiwe Sisulu: her royal highness, her imperial and impervious majesty who rules over her (ever-expanding) chamber of secrets with her iron fist (and with the assistance of a fugitive from justice).

But now we also have a Queen Bee in the guise of Western Cape Premier Helen Zille, throwing her Royal weight around and acting like a spoilt sovereign. Like Sisulu, Zille also seems to think that she is somewhat above the law and far too good to follow the rules that she insists others adhere to.

Good heavens, Royalty MAKE the rules, they do not need to follow them.

According to Zille the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has been doing the bidding of the ANC, becoming a “political hit squad” orchestrating an ANC-inspired “smear campaign” against the poor, poor (much misunderstood and vilified) DA. According to her Royal Highness (that Queen of Bees with the sting to match), this institution, stuffed with ANC deployees such as Janet Love, only investigates complaints against the DA-led institutions, choosing not to pursue complaints against the ANC-led institutions (see here and here for the words of the wise one).

The SAHRC hates the DA, see. No wonder they make legal findings against DA-led municipalities. But these attacks come as something of a surprise. Less than two weeks ago the DA-led Cape Town city government accepted an award from the SAHRC, saying the following in a media release in relation to the award:

The City of Cape Town was commended for outstanding work in putting the necessary mechanisms in place to promote openness and responsiveness within the establishment. The City was further recognised for its ‘sterling work in going beyond the call of duty in implementing PAIA and putting other mechanisms in place that not only influence the implementation of PAIA, but also influence the responsiveness and openness of other municipalities in South Africa as well.

Read more on Constitutionally Speaking

Future of Blikkiesdorp unclear

The City of Cape Town says it cannot specify how much longer Blikkiesdorp residents will have to live in the temporary resettlement area.

The Symphony Way venue was established in 2007 for people who had been evicted from other premises.

But the area has since mushroomed to more than 1,000 corrugated iron houses.

Residents said they have not had any answers from the city about their future.

But the city council’s Kylie Hatton said that is because everything is still up in the air.

"At the moment there’s a possibility of a report back within the next month and then from there it will require an assessment, because we also need to look at zoning, planning, regulations, noise corridor parts - because of Delft’s proximity to the airport as well.”

Meanwhile, residents said their living conditions continue to deteriorate.

“We must do anything to survive in Blikkiesdorp - There’s some ladies that steal," one woman said. Another resident added, "No one is working around here – there’s no income for the people," while there were also complaints that medical help is very far.

Resident Peter Jacobs told Eyewitness News he feels hopeless.

“The condition we’re living in is very bad – especially in the winter it’s very cold, wet. It rains right through the houses,” he said.

- Eyewitness News

‘Living like this is making us sick’

Thirty-four people share a one-bedroomed council house in Hanover Park – the majority living in makeshift shacks in the back yard.

All 34 share a single toilet and bath. And if the house is locked, they must use a bucket.

Just one person among the four families sharing the plot has a job.

That is the daily reality for the Hendricks family, who moved into the council house on the 275m2 erf 40 years ago and now share it with their relatives.

They are the human face of life in Cape Town for more than 40 000 people who live in the backyards of the city’s rental properties, the “forgotten people” who live in crowded, unhealthy conditions and have little choice.

In Hanover Park there are an estimated 3,780 backyard residents. Langa has a tally of about 960 backyarders and Factreton 250.

Nyanga has the highest number, estimated at 10,000, while Retreat and Gugulethu have 4,000 each.

Now Hanover Park, Factreton and Langa are set to be pilot areas for the roll-out of basic services to backyard residents by the City of Cape Town. They will get standpipe taps, toilets and solid waste removal from next year.

The roll-out cannot come soon enough for the Hendricks family.

Seven people share the main house and 27 live in four backyard structures which cover the plot, leaving only a tiny outside area.

For this, each family pays between R60 and R80 a month, including water.

But that doesn’t mean hot showers. Bath time is strictly controlled – four minutes a person, starting from 4pm.

In one of the backyard homes, Mymoena Sampson, 43, shares two rooms with her husband, six children, two grandchildren and her disabled cousin. They have lived there for 15 years.

November marks their 20th year on the housing waiting list.

She and her husband sleep on a double bed in one room. Her cousin has a single bed less than a metre away, and the four children are squeezed into the room.

A double bunk is in the other tiny room where four boys sleep, separated from the other room by cardboard and curtains.

Abeda Hendricks, 37, also lives on the property. She shares her home with her husband, four children, a grandchild and son-in-law. It is her husband who has a job.

Her 77-year-old father and 55-year-old mother also live there.

Her mother, Camiela Hendricks, said they had lived in a backyard since they married.

“It’s terrible. We have no privacy. I want to be on my own. Living like this is stressful and is making us sick,” she said.

Each day the children in the main house get first option of using the toilet. Then the others from the yard scramble for their turn before going to school.

When the main house is locked up for the night, everyone has to use buckets to relieve themselves.

Sampson and Hendricks complained that other than the indignity suffered, the girls and women often suffered bladder and other infections because of the bucket system.

Sampson said the city’s plan to install services would help, but what they really needed were homes of their own.

Mayoral committee member for housing Shehaam Sims said the survey revealed that most backyarders had asked for access to their own water, toilets and electricity.

Some landlords illegally cut off access to these facilities when they wanted to force people off their properties, she charged.

The options for installing toilets were either communal or single flushing toilets.

“I will push for flushing toilets. Lessons about communal toilets have been learned hard enough,” said Sims.

Alida Kotzee, of the city’s housing directorate, said an area-specific solution would be investigated in each pilot area.

She added that installing a toilet for each family could be the cheaper option for the city, because the family would be billed and the city would not have ongoing operational costs of maintaining and providing security for communal toilets.

Sims said they were considering providing people with electricity. It would cost R7,000 to electrify each unit.

Exact total costs for the provision of services have not yet been calculated.

Backyard residents are shortchanged regarding the housing waiting list. Allocations are set at 30 percent to backyarders and 70 percent to shack residents. Provincial housing’s Zalisile Mbali said the department wanted that changed to a 50/50 split.

Ricardo Sedres, director of the Hanover Park Backyarders Association, said he welcomed the city’s move to provide basic services.

“But we still feel that housing needs must be addressed because of the many backyarders that have been on the waiting list for many years. They were truly the forgotten people because it’s taken the government 16 years to realise there are actually people living in backyards,” he said.

- Cape Argus

The House that Hemp Built - History

Hemp building is fast been recognised as the premier eco-building technique.

It has mainstream acceptance in the EU and UK, where the British government is using hemp building techniques in their demo eco-houses and estates.

The main ways hemp can be used in building are using hemp hurds (the chipped up stalk) mixed with a lime based binder to make hempcrete, compressed hemp hurds to make particle board, and hemp fibre to make insulation mats.

Hemp in building is prized for its carbon negative rating, lightness, thermal properties and eco-friendliness.

We have had samples of the hemp bricks and insulation products for a few years now, and have shown them to various influential people, including having the Western Cape Minister of Environmental Affairs, Tasneem Essop, handing them around to all the politicians during her budget speech as an example of an eco-friendly industry a few years ago.

But everyone wants to see houses.

We have been resisting it, as we do not want to have to import hemp to build in SA, as this negates some of the eco-friendliness and is expensive, but it seems like a bit of a catch 42 as seeing the finished houses is probably a necessary step to get legislators to take notice.

We were inspired by the work done at the “Naturally Yours” in Bryanston around the time of the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, where hemp blocks have been used in the walls of the building.

We also saw the potential in the National Organic Produce Initiative’s “Grow Your House” project, which aims to build 20000 houses out of hemp within the CDM framework.

So, we looked at what we could do, and in keeping with Hemporium’s primary goal of showcasing all that hemp has to offer, we decided to build a house.

We secured a good plot in Noordhoek, Cape Town, which is considered one of the “greener” suburbs and has the right profile to build the demo house and get the best exposure for what we are aiming to do. The plot is quite steep, so added some design challenges, but it is right on a green belt and very much in nature, with sweeping views of the noordhoek/kommetjie valley.

The initial research and design work was done with a team made up of Hemporium, Wolf of Wolf & Wolf Architects, Michael Orchard of New Earth Design and Tony Davenport covering the structural engineering aspects. As none of us had any experience of building with hemp, it was a long process of learning the techniques and getting the design right.

It was a good team and we all brought something unique and positive to the table over the design period.

Wolf went over to the UK during this time and met with several hemp building specialists, and we also received good advice from Tom Wooley, Ian Pritchard, Ralph Carpenter and Steve Allin, all pioneers of hemp building in the UK.

I was invited over to Ireland to present at the International Hemp building Symposium on Hemp in South Africa as a potential industry and building resource, which was very beneficial as we made good connections and learned a lot about the practical aspects of building with hemp.

Once we had our plans approved by council, we put the tender out to find a builder. Some of the quotes we received back were ridiculously high, but we understood that the builders were nervous as they had never worked with the materials and were not sure how long the building would take, so put in massive reservations for wages etc.

It was looking like the whole project was going to be way over priced, and even if we managed to bring some of the materials in, we would find it very difficult to find anyone else who would build with hemp.

It was around this time that I was approached by Erwin van der Weerd from Perfect Places who was trying to source hemp building products for his patented modular building system as he wanted to make it as eco as possible. We evaluated his system, and we quickly saw the synergies and benefits of using a modular system for building with hemp, and for building eco-houses in SA.

The costings worked out better, and we have formed a partnership with Perfect Places where we will provide the hemp materials and they will build the house, which means we can promote hemp housing on a much deeper level than just trying to sell the materials.

We were also nearing the completion of a 2 year project with our suppliers in China to develop a hemp particle board that did not use formaldehyde and used an eco-binder instead, as we see a lot of potential for this product, being tree-free, lighter than wood and better insulating.

So everything started flowing together, the boards arrived, Perfect Places have their factory set up, we have secured supply of the insulation and hempcrete products from France, so the final, but most crucial, stage in a long process is underway.

The house has started to come together, with the wood frame being made in the factory first. The materials have all been procured and soon the plans will start to become manifest.

This week we broke ground and the strip foundation is being dug. Here we go…

- Hemporium

PE CSIR

Human Settlements - housing officials cited on R18m fraud

THE Department of Human Settlements is disciplining more than 1,300 housing officials who defrauded the housing subsidy system to the tune of R18million.

Human settlements director-general Itumeleng Kotsoane told Parliament’s human settlements committee yesterday that the special investigations unit had finalised 513 cases involving civil servants – many of whom were convicted.

The errant officials who “defrauded the housing subsidy system” have signed more than 1,440 acknowledgements of debt to the value of R18,399,778 .

The officials have paid government back R1,8million so far, Kotsoane said. A further 795 officials are currently facing disciplinary action. Kotsoane told the committee that the spiralling costs of housing material posed a “huge problem” to the government.

He said the Competition Commission’s investigation of possible cartels in suppliers of construction materials such as stock bricks and cement will help reduce the costs of building houses in the future.
Meanwhile, members of Parliament urged Kotsoane to check that quality houses are being built as a way of preventing service delivery protests.

Committee chairperson Nomhle Dabuza said the human settlements department had also failed to monitor what happens to new housing projects.

- Sowetan

Poor need city housing

HOUSING experts and civil society groups have slammed the government over the lack of low-cost housing in city centres.

The poor have to endure "sweat, beatings, arrests, lies, water cannon, live ammunition and even death" to get well-located land for housing, said Abahlali Base Mjondolo president Sbu Zikode, a panelist at a high-profile conference dubbed "Re-imagining the city: New urban order" being held in Cape Town this week.

The three-day conference, organised by the Development Action Group (DAG), brought together 40 international and local experts on urban land management and civil society organisations.

Zikode said: "It is nice to imagine a city where no one lives like a pig in the mud; where everyone is safe from fires, abuse, police raids, disconnections, evictions and political attacks.

"But land and housing are the most urgent problems in our cities and there is serious difficulty in resolving issues.

"This discussion can only begin once those who do not count begin to count. We decided long ago not to accept a situation in which some people talk about the poor and even for the poor without ever speaking to the poor."

Zikode said while the work of intellectuals, town planners, engineers, architects and related professionals was critical, they had to work with the poor in mind.

DAG chief executive Kailash Bhama said: "The last two weeks in Cape Town have been unsettling for all South Africans, rich and poor.

"We have been painfully reminded by the unrest in the settlement of Hangberg ... that land and its location . is important in the delivery of low-cost housing.

"But in South Africa the majority of low-cost housing is located on the fringes of cities where land is cheaper.

"This perpetuates urban sprawl, weakens the fragile livelihoods of the poor and entrenches inequality."

- Sowetan

Human Settlements Dept. looks to green technology

Human Settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela has said his department is striving to develop all future housing with green technology.

Madikizela addressed delegates from across the globe at the annual International Housing Conference in Cape Town on Monday.

This year’s conference is focusing on renewable energy technology used in current and future human settlements.

Madikizela has urged South Africans to become more environmentally aware.

He said with the current resources available to his department, it could take up to 30 years to address the housing backlog, but through the use of green technology such as solar power, future housing developments will meet international standards.

Energy Department spokesperson Bheki Khumalo said it would be joining hands with the Human Settlements Department and emphasised it was important the country starts using renewable energy instead of relying solely on coal power.

- Eyewitness News

Housing delivery in spotlight at housing conference

The Southern African Housing Foundation on Tuesday said it was working with government to accelerate housing delivery in the Western Cape.

The Foundation hosted the International Housing Conference in Cape Town on Monday.

Delegates from around the globe attended the event looking to network with other housing experts around the use of green technology in future housing projects.

The Foundation’s CEO John Hopkins said in South Africa it was paramount to specifically look at energy-saving measures for low to middle-income housing.

“There is a very important focus at the moment on water heating systems where Eskom is providing subsidies and grant systems to provide water heating for all housing,” he added.

He said the event was a great way to bolster international investment in local housing projects and for “various organisations from Taiwan through to South Africa, United Kingdom, United States of America as well, that are also represented here, to get together and actually solve some of the important challenges South Africa faces."

- Eyewitness News

Cape Town squatters battle plans for Muslim hotel

The BBC's Mohammed Allie reports on a historic disused quarry, the last piece of vacant urban space on the edge of Cape Town's central business district, which has become the subject of a dispute between 150 squatters who live there and one of South Africa's oldest mosques that wants to build a Muslim-friendly hotel on the land.

Nestled in the quarry above Cape Town, the informal settlement known as the Kraal has sweeping views of South Africa's iconic Table Mountain and the city's trendy Waterfront and harbour areas.

The area, first occupied by squatters in the early 1980s, has grown to accommodate 24 shacks housing 150 people, including many children.

“It's against the scripture of all religions to evict poor people from their homes” - Osman Shabodien Bo Kaap Civic Association chair

In recent months, several newcomers have erected plastic and corrugated iron dwellings in a narrow slit of ground about 100m away from the main camp.

The mosque authorities, led by Imam Moutie Saban, have complained about rising crime in the area. Tourists have been robbed and cars and houses broken into.

The mosque's sound system has been stolen and toilet facilities smeared with faeces.

The city's law enforcement authorities say the Kraal has been used as a hideout by criminals escaping police.

"Yes, we have had a criminal element and drug dealers but they have been arrested and are now in prison," says Kraal community leader Kenny Prins.

Infuriated
Imam Saban wants the area upgraded and has applied to the city council, which owns the land, to build a no-alcohol hotel, along with a business centre and a heritage centre on ground, which adjoins the back part of the historic Jameah mosque.

Community leader Kenny Prins says squatter residents must be given proper housing
The mosque, which was built in 1790 on land provided by the British colonial authorities, was the first to perform Friday congregational prayers in South Africa.

The mosque has already bought the house next door and wants to extend prayer facilities and the toilet block to accommodate the increasing number of worshippers.

Belinda Walker, city councillor for the area, confirmed receiving an unsolicited application to develop the land from Imam Saban and his son Wafeeq.

"Last year Imam Saban and his son came to see me about their proposal to extend the mosque. They proposed a development on the site of the quarry which would cross-subsidise their upgrade because of the high cost of the renovation.

“I have been on the council's waiting list for 17 years but to this day I'm still waiting for my house” - Mareldia Abrahams Kraal resident

"They said funding was available to build a Muslim-friendly hotel which would serve no alcohol and would meet the dietary needs of Muslim visitors. It would also allow for a separate swimming pool for females," says Ms Walker.

But the proposal has infuriated the Kraal community, as well as local residents represented by the Bo Kaap Civic Association.

"It's against the scripture of all religions to evict poor people from their homes, so we need to ensure the residents of the Kraal have access to decent housing before moving them from the site," says Osman Shabodien, chair of the association.

"The area has huge historical and heritage significance, so whatever we eventually decide to do, it will have to be carefully planned and we need to consult with the surrounding community.

"Any development has to benefit the entire community and not just a few individuals," says Mr Shabodien.

Solid rock
Mr Prins says residents of the informal settlement need to be given proper housing before there can be any thought of developing the land.

Many of the Kraal residents grew up in the area and will not accept being moved to the council's Blikkiesdorp resettlement camp, some 28km (18 miles) away.

Mosque authorities have complained about rising crime in the area
"Our children attend school in the area, so you can't just uproot them," says Mr Prins.

Kraal resident Mareldia Abrahams, a 54-year-old mother of four, says she would be prepared to move should the council provide her with a formal house.

"I have been on the council's waiting list for 17 years but to this day I'm still waiting for my house," says Ms Abrahams.

According to Ms Walker, there are no immediate plans for the land as a long consultation process still has to be followed.

"We are currently busy with a heritage study which will inform us what sort of development is suitable for the ground. We then need to advertise the development proposals for public comment so the entire process will take at least a year," she says.

Ms Walker ruled out providing formal housing on the land for Kraal residents.

"The area is situated on solid rock, which means it will be difficult and very expensive to lay underground sewerage and water connection pipes for council-subsidised housing. There are also up to 250 informal settlements in Cape Town that need our attention," she says.

- BBC