Relocating Blikkiesdorp residents may take 5 years

City of Cape Town officials on Tuesday estimated that it will take between three and five years to find a permanent housing solution for residents in Blikkiesdorp.

The temporary relocation area near Delft was set up four years ago.

More than 6,000 people live in corrugated iron structures.

Eyewitness News spoke to several residents recently and many expressed dissatisfaction with their living conditions.

The city’s Housing Director Hans Smit said officials are working on relocating the residents.

“Blikkiesdorp is in fact a temporary relocating area. What we’re intending to do is as part of that project sorting out various informal settlements around the airport. We intend de-densifying the Blikkiesdorp TRA,” he said.

- Eyewitness News

New housing initiative unveiled in Cape Town

The doors to more than 200 homes in Brooklyn, Cape Town were unlocked on Thursday as part of a special housing initiative.

The project is the brainchild of the national Human Settlements Department, the provincial government and a Housing Development Agency.

Tenants’ rent will be determined by their income.

Western Cape Premier Helen Zille said all parties must work together.

“Housing is a partnership. The state does as much as it can, but every human being has a responsibility and in the past in South Africa we have neglected to emphasise this partnership,” she said.

- Eyewitness News

New Era for Joe Slovo Housing Project

Housing Minister Tokyo Sexwale said today marked the beginning of an important turn around in the troubled Joe Slovo housing project in the Western Cape.

"We can say for sure that Joe Slovo will never be the same again," said Sexwale at the sod-turning ceremony at Phase Three of the housing project near Langa, Cape Town.

Phase Three is expected to be completed in 2012 and well over 2,000 families will be serviced by the double story units.

"The launch of this project today, also demonstrates the interconnectedness of informal settlements upgrading programme and the provision of subsidies to the most destitute and vulnerable members of society," said Sexwale, adding that 400,000 households in informal settlements needed to be upgraded by 2014.

The minister said 2,886 units were going to be built over 24 months at a cost of R374 million.

The Joe Slovo housing project has seen its share of upheaval. In June 2009, after a series of protests by disgruntled residents, the Constitutional Court made a judgment in favor of orderly evictions of the people of Joe Slovo, in order for development to take place.

- allAfrica.com

Cable thief stoned to death

A Cape Flats man has been stoned to death after trying to steal electricity cables.

The man, only identified as Masangweni, was found tethered to a tree in Brown’s Farm, Philippi, on Wednesday.

Philippi residents spotted him early in the morning trying to cut wires from the informal settlement’s illegal electricity connections.

Enraged community members caught the startled thief, tied him up and stoned him to death.

The bloodstained stones could be seen next to Masangweni’s battered body.

A Philippi resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, says Masangweni was a notorious skollie who had been terrorising the community.

“We had just had a meeting with him about his thug life and he told us he had changed, but then he was caught stealing,” he says.

“When we had the meeting, we told him someone will kill him. And it turned out exactly like that, although it happened in another area.”

The man says Masangweni was part of a burglary syndicate.

“They stole fridges from people’s shacks when there was no one at home,” he says.

“They would hire a cockroach taxi and transport the fridges to another area.

“But we caught them and forced them to show us where they sold the fridges and other goods.

“They did and we let them go with a warning.”

Police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk says a murder docket is open.

“At about 5am, a body of a man was discovered tied to a tree with multiple wounds,” he says.

“Nobody has been arrested.” - Daily Voice

Low cost housing launched

Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale on Thursday reiterated the importance of housing people in places closer to work and other amenities.

Speaking at the launch of a R75-million social housing project in Brooklyn, Cape Town, he said: “We have always said where we stay should be where we play, where we pray and where we work.”

This was part of the department's “way of providing decent and affordable accommodation” for people closer to areas of work, transport and where they could lead productive lives, he said.

The Drommedaris Brooklyn Social Housing project - located in the Koeberg Road - had been specifically designed to take advantage of the proposed Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) routes in Cape Town.

This meant people would not spend longer than necessary getting to and from work.

The project was part of the department's social housing initiative intended to provide accommodation for people who did not qualify for government subsidised houses and in the same process could not access mortgage loans from banks.

“What we are witnessing today is the realisation of our long-term objectives of ensuring that people who earn between R3500-7000 are provided with appropriate accommodation closer to work opportunities in the process improving economic conditions,” Sexwale said.

The project set a good example of the human settlements' social housing strategy to deracialise and transform the inner cities, revitalise strategic nodes of development and to address economic, social and spatial dysfunctionalities.

“We want to revitalise and transform our inner cities by creating housing opportunities and giving a chance to people who would otherwise be overlooked by banks for mortgage bonds while not qualifying for the subsidised houses.

“We are also saying in areas where we can let us go high-rise instead of going wide on the ground.

“This means we don't have to wait for vast lands to be unlocked for development,” he said.

The launch was also attended by Western Cape premier Helen Zille, human settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela, and Public Works Minister Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde.

- Sapa

Hemp house going up at Lake Junaluska

If someone said the word “hemp,” the first thing to spring to mind probably wouldn’t be home construction. But if you’re looking for a strong, green, energy-efficient building material that’s resistant to pretty much everything, hemp might be your best choice.

This is the concept being pitched by Greg Flavall and David Madera, owners of an Asheville-based business called Hemp Technologies. They’re some of the first to build with the material in the United States, where industrial hemp hasn’t seen the rise in popularity it enjoys in other countries, thanks to a federal ban on U.S. production.

Its recognition is slowly ramping up, though, due in part to its benefits over standard concrete. The third house in the country to be built with the technology is going up now, in the mountains above Lake Junaluska.

Roger Teuscher, the homeowner, said he was turned on to the idea by his first architect, who suggested the plant as a cleaner, greener alternative to standard homebuilding supplies. Tuescher, who lives most of the year in Florida, said he was drawn not only to the cost savings gained by increased insulation, but by the product’s recyclability.

“The whole house can be recycled,” said Teuscher. “The house itself you can take down, grind it up and put it back into another house.”

And that’s a far cry from standard concrete homes. But Flavall, whose company is providing the hemp for Teuscher’s home, said that with hemp-built homes, it’s unlikely that he’d ever need to do that. While standard American homes have a shelf life of about 80 years, hemp-made homes will last much longer. The oldest known hemp structure, said Flavall, is a Japanese building that’s been standing for just more than three centuries.

For most customers, though, the real selling points are the product’s environmental friendliness and energy efficiency.

Because the hemp is mixed with lime to create the hempcrete that makes up walls, floors and ceilings, it is actually carbon negative – meaning it takes carbon from the air and locks it up into the fabric of the building. In the simplest terms, lime needs carbon to continue existing and hemp is a breathable substance, so hemp buildings will suck significant amounts of carbon from the air during the building process and will continue to breathe for the life of the structure.

Flavall said that this, combined with high levels of resistance to things like fire, mold, termites and other insects and the plant’s extreme capacity for insulation, make it the ideal building material.

Flavall, a Canadian-educated New Zealand native, said he and partner Maderan stumbled across the glories of industrial hemp four years ago, while on a quest for sustainable materials. Now, he’s practically an evangelist for the plant and its benefits.

“It’s a miracle plant,” said Flavall. “In Canada they grow it as a break crop [to relieve the soil between crops] and they are getting a 27 percent increased yield after the hemp crop, because industrial hemp puts nitrogen back into the soil.”

And it’s true that industrial hemp has a variety of uses, both in and out of the ground for things beyond just building.

But industrial hemp in the U.S. isn’t all sweetness and light. It is around 10 to 15 percent more expensive to build a house out of hemp than via traditional methods. The price hike is thanks to all that pesky importing; although 16 states have granted permission for the growth of industrial hemp, the federal government still has a ban on bringing in the seeds to get the crop going.

For the sake of clarity, it begs explaining that industrial hemp isn’t the same as that other, more mind-bending variety of hemp that has garnered a bad reputation and a Schedule I Controlled Substance label from the Drug Enforcement Agency. It’s a biological cousin of that plant, but is missing the key ingredient — THC — which is the chemical that causes a high.

Flavall said that it was really lobbying in the early 20th century that kept industrial hemp out of American farms, and he is now doing his own lobbying to get those federal laws changed. He sees hemp as a potential boon to the nation’s economy, especially in areas such as Western North Carolina, where the money once raked in by tobacco has long since begun to dry up.

“It’s easier to get a license to grow medical marijuana than it is to grow industrial hemp,” said Flavall. “But there’s enough pressure now with thousands of people around the nation advocating for famers to be able to grow. America imported $350 million of industrial hemp product (last year).”

Another downside to the product is time; the process is more time-consuming, takes longer to mix and longer to apply, said Vinny Cioffi, the Waynesville contractor in charge of building Teuscher’s new home.

“It was a little more labor intensive and it’s a little more expensive,” said Cioffi. “But I hope it catches on because it’s more energy efficient and because of all the other benefits of it.”

And Flavall thinks it’s really only a matter of time before that happens. The technology has been widely used across Asia and Europe for several decades to fairly wide approval, thanks to the cost-savings it’s introduced. In the United Kingdom, the Adnams Brewery was able to build a large distribution center without an air conditioning system because the hempcrete was insulation enough to cool the stored beer, and it saved the company £400,000, just more than $640,000.

Meanwhile, Flavall and his company will stick to importing, trusting that the benefits to the environment and the wallet will continue to bring them clients eager to claim those benefits for themselves.

- Smoky Mountain News

House that Charles built: Step inside the Prince of Wales's hemp-insulated eco-home

The decor may be a little bit too trendy for a prince, and there are no coats of arms or great works of art on the walls.

But there is one giveaway that the designer of this up-to-the-minute hemp-insulated eco-house comes from the highest family in the land - a picture of mum on the wall.

Prince Charles has unveiled his Prince's House, a vision for modern living that comes complete with a portrait of a monarch under the name Regina -latin for Queen - at the Ideal Home Show in London.

The heir to the throne has long been trying to promote sustainable living, and argues that this house promotes a green lifestyle without resorting to gadgets of hi-tech materials.

Green chic: The Prince's House is designed to be as energy efficient as possible while using natural materials that can be easily produced in Britain.

No need for a royal budget: The roof and floor of the Prince's House are insulated with lime hemp and sheep's wool. Designers say and inhabitant could live in the home without central heating, and the designers even claim an inhabitant could live here without any central heating - instead relying on a single wooden stove.

The home's carbon savings are built into its design with features such as a highly insulated roof, walls and floor making a highly efficient shell.

The walls are solid clay blocks that trap pockets of air to keep the home warm in winter and cool in summer.

The roof and floor are insulated with lime-hemp and sheep’s wool.

Picture of mum: A mural of a monarch under the name Regina - latin for queen - provides a clue about the brains behind the home at London's ideal home show

No need for gadgets: The designers also said that they wanted to rely on recycled and natural materials rather than high technology to create an approachable home

The prince has already developed his own eco-village - Poundbury in Dorset - where the street layout is intended to encourage walking and cycling and reduce car journeys.

The home was developed by the Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment.
Chief executive Hank Dittmar said: 'It's an extremely well insulated home, made form natural healthy materials and it's designed so that for the most part you won't need central heating, you can just have a little wood burning stove to take the chill off from time to time.'
'It's about designing in such a way that you don't need lots of accoutrements.'

Interior designer Christina Moore added: 'The idea was to make it a friendly approachable eco-home not a scary high-tech house.

'The idea for the interior was that the most sustainable interior are made with recycled things.'

Launching the house, the prince said in an article last week: 'As our planet becomes overwhelmingly urban, and resources become scarcer, it will no longer be enough just to add gadgets on here and put bolt-ons there.

'We need to rethink the way we plan our homes, shops, schools and their relationship to one another. Such eco-engineering can learn from Nature, from traditional communities and from the best of contemporary technology.'

Read more: Daily Mail

Open toilets not unconstitutional: court told

The controversial installation of unenclosed toilets in the Western Cape's Makhaza settlement was flawed, but not unconstitutional, counsel for the province's human settlements MEC told the Cape Town High Court on Friday.

Senior counsel Sean Rosenberg said the unenclosed toilets were undesirable for a number of reasons, but nevertheless a practical solution to a pressing problem.

And, although flawed, the solution was not a breach of the constitutional right to dignity.

Two Makhaza residents, Andile Lili and Andiswa Ncani, have asked the court to declare that the open toilets installed at Makhaza a violation of their constitutional right to dignity, and that an agreement reached between the City of Cape Town and individual members of the Makhaza community is unlawful and unconstitutional.

They also want the court to order the enclosure of all toilets installed at the settlement.

The seven respondents in the application include the Western Cape premier, Cape Town's mayor, the City itself and the provincial human settlements MEC. The province is administered by the DA.

The agreement was for the residents to enclose the individual household toilets themselves, rather than have one enclosed toilet for five households to share.

On Wednesday the court was told 96 percent of Makhaza's residents had accepted the unenclosed toilets, which they had enclosed themselves as per their agreement with the city.

Rosenberg said to Judge Nathan Erasmus that the problem was a "telling example of the failure of the National Housing Code to address or provide guidelines for temporary services".

He said the occupation of such a settlement, without formal sanitation, would be intolerable.

The picture painted in the proceedings of sanitation in settlements throughout the country, warranted some kind of intervention, he said.

He submitted that Lili and Ncani had no case.

The ANC Youth League took exception to the unenclosed toilets and last year started ripping the walls down of enclosed toilets and smashing them. They also objected to walls made of corrugated iron and wood.

- SAPA / Timeslive

Sustainable building on the rise in SA

South Africa's building industry has taken another step forward. High up on a hill overlooking the sea in Noordhoek, Western Cape, stands the House that Hemp Built.

The first of its kind in South Africa, the building was constructed almost entirely of materials that could be grown on a few hectares of land within months.

The house belongs to Tony Budden, co-owner of hemp company Hemporium, who has been exploring and showcasing the product in South Africa since founding his company in 1996. He’s been working on his remarkable home since 2005 and his idea has finally become concrete - or rather, hempcrete.

The house was conceived as a prototype for future projects in South Africa. Housing is one of the government’s most pressing challenges, and building with hemp (Cannabis sativa) could make housing projects more affordable and more sustainable.

In four months, one hectare of hemp can produce enough material for a strong and well insulated home that’s suitable for the government’s Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP).

And after harvesting the first crop, materials for another house could be grown on the same land.

Ideal eco-building material
Hemp is increasingly being recognised as an ideal eco-building material, especially in Europe and Britain, where authorities are using hemp in pilot homes in their housing and eco-estates.

When Budden started the project, his major challenge was to find a local contractor who had experience in building with hemp. The solution presented itself when he was approached by green architect Erwin van der Weerd, who was pioneering a new modular building system for which he wanted to use hemp.

At his Stellenbosch factory, Van der Weerd constructed panels for the hemp house’s walls and transported them to Noordhoek, where it took a few days to assemble the house out of what looked like Lego blocks for grownups.

Modular building is much faster than the conventional process and could be effective in an RDP housing project, because all the work that requires technical expertise could be performed at a central location. Houses could be churned out at speed, and would go a long way towards reducing the current housing backlog without affecting quality and safety.

Apart from its wooden frame, the House that Hemp Built is constructed mostly from the renewable plant. As far as possible, the panels’ inside posts are made of reclaimed wood. Inside the panels are two layers of hemp insulation, and in addition to this, the walls are strengthened with hempcrete. This is a mixture of lime, water and hemp stalks, a by-product of the textile industry.

Hempcrete continues to strengthen as it gets older and harder, and the spaces between the stalks create additional insulation. The walls are plastered with hemp screed which is similar in formula but with more lime and some sand.

Some walls in the house are made from hemp chipboard, for which Budden negotiated with Chinese suppliers to develop a board that used an eco-binder instead of formaldehyde. These pioneer technologies are not cheap, and with the imported materials, the costs of the hemp house are comparable to a conventional building of the same size.

Contentious issue
Currently, South African legislation doesn’t distinguish between tetrahydrocannabinol-containing marijuana and industrial hemp, which is cultivated for maximum fibre and minimal amounts of the psychoactive compound.

This makes it illegal to grow the plant privately in the country, but Budden has received interest and offers of support from numerous governmental and non-governmental bodies.

South Africa has been running hemp pilot projects since 1998 and the latest trials are located in the Eastern Cape. Because the country presents ideal conditions for growing excellent quality hemp, the momentum for its industrial use is increasing.

If the hemp project proves successful and large-scale cultivation goes ahead, it could change the lives of millions of South Africans. Thousands of jobs will be created in all sectors of the industry, from cultivation to beneficiation, and nutritious hemp seeds could provide poor people with essential omega oils mostly found in fish.

Economies of scale will make hemp building highly economical. It is estimated that over the next five years the global hemp industry could grow to be worth as much as R6.9-billion (US$1-billion).

When the finishing touches are completed in a few weeks’ time, Budden will move into his new house, but his mission to cultivate awareness about hemp and sustainability is far from over.
“You don't have to change everything about your life to be green,” he said. “It's about how you use the resources that you have. Food must be nutritious and clothing must be strong. It's about moving away from mass consumer culture towards conscious consumer culture.”

Read more and Pictures: Pippa Ehrlich - Media Club South Africa

Residents relive toilet saga

They lined the walls and packed court 19 at the Western Cape High Court – each straining to hear proceedings as their advocate, Norman Arendse SC, rose to his feet.

The Makhaza residents had arrived in their droves to hear their case put before Judge Nathan Erasmus. He would hear how “open-air”, unenclosed toilets were installed in their community and “violated their dignity”.

Earlier, Judge Erasmus had issued a stern order to have the police provincial commissioner and the Khayelitsha police station commander appear before him tomorrow.

Police had failed to investigate the conduct of community members who disrupted the implementation of an earlier order.

The toilet saga has been a thorn in the side of the province and the city which Makhaza residents hauled to court, along with Cape Town mayor Dan Plato

Yesterday the trial started.

“The (residents) are asking the court to declare the conduct of the city, that of the mayor, premier and MEC for human settlements a violation of human rights,” Arendse told the court yesterday.

“The city alleges that there was an agreement that was entered into by the community and the city where a meeting was held with 60 members of the community on an open field in November, 2007,” said Arendse.

The city alleged the residents had agreed to enclose the toilets themselves, he said.

While he did not want to say that this “story” had been “concocted”, it was his view that even if the meeting between members of the community and city officials had taken place, it merely “aggravated the conduct of the city”.

“Like Pinocchio’s nose, this story now grows as the court papers seem to become thicker,” said Arendse.

“The other defence that the city raises is that when they provided toilets, it was on a ratio of 1:5 households. The city says that comes from the national housing code, but the code does not make provision for that – a 1:5 ratio is only provided for in an emergency situation.”

Arendse said there was dissatisfaction in the Makhaza community long before the matter came to court. He said there was also no proof or written record that the meeting between the city and the sample group of residents had ever taken place.

“Who were these 60 people who attended this alleged meeting? Are they still alive? Are they still residents of Makhaza? An agreement is a legally binding document.

“How can 60 people conclude an agreement on behalf of the entire community? The city’s conduct is in conflict with the Housing Act that requires local, provincial and national government to consult meaningfully with the community. How can they call that consulting?”

Anton Katz, for the city and Plato, said while there was this notion of “dignity”, that was not the debate.

“The agreement may not have all the bells and whistles, but the reality is that no human being was forced to use an open toilet as there were enclosed communal toilets,” he said.

Katz said the city acknowledged the “intolerable conditions” in the community.

“Open-air toilets are intolerable and unacceptable, but the city cannot be faulted for at least attempting to alleviate (the conditions).

The Human Rights Commission told the court that courts should not allow a government to “treat people in this way”.

The case continues today. - Cape Times

Makhaza: Toilets an 'affront to residents'

Providing inadequate toilets at Makhaza Settlement on the Cape Flats and then removing them was an affront to the residents, the Western Cape High Court heard on Tuesday.

The proceedings, before Judge Nathan Erasmus, took the form of an application for the urgent and adequate re-installation of the toilets.

The application was brought by Makhaza residents Andile Lili and Andiswa Ncani, against the Premier of the Western Cape, the mayor of the City of Cape Town, and the City of Cape Town.

The other respondents are the Western Cape MEC for Human Settlements, the SA Human Rights Commission, the national minister of human settlements and the national minister of water and environmental Affairs.

Lili and Ncani were represented by senior counsel Norman Arendse.

He said the City's contractors, Umzamo Civils, informed the City in July 2007, that the Silvertown community, which is part of Makhaza, had stopped the contractors from proceeding with the installation of toilet clusters in the ratio of one toilet for every five households.

The City was notified that the community demanded an enclosed toilet for each household.

One of the residents was quoted in a forensic report as saying that the "nature of the toilets (without enclosures) was so insulting to us".

Arendse contended the constitutional rights to dignity, freedom and equality went hand-in-hand.

"How do you justify violating the dignity of any person?"

Arendse said the mayor stated at the time the toilets without enclosures were the "progressive realisation of housing", and that the City was entitled to keep the ration at 1:5 until the houses had roofs on them, Arendse said.

He said for two years the City had left the situation as it was --unexplained and unacceptable.

He said a trend with the City, throughout, had been to shift the blame, and the ratio of 1:5 had been applied for budgetary reasons, according to the City.

He said it had taken the City two years to appoint a contractor, while the decision to be made was merely whether the toilets would be open or closed.

Arendse contended that there was a lack of transparency within the City.

The hearing continues on Wednesday. - Sapa / New Age

Presidential shopping spree

Gravy ladles of gold, cut-glass champagne glasses, dozens of new paintings and 48 Persian carpets fit for a president – that is what government shoppers are buying for at least one state home in Pretoria.

The Department of Public Works has issued tenders for the supply of “presidential standard” household items for a “VIP residence”, but says it’s not for the president.

The VIP residence isn’t specified, but the site visit for prospective bidders is at the Bryntirion Estate in Pretoria, which houses the official residences of the president, ministers and the Presidential guesthouse. The tenders were issued last week.

“This is not for the house of the president. They are items for a VIP residence,” said Public Works spokesman Thami Mchunu, who would not explain further.

“These are not replacement items, but are items for a VIP residence,” said Mchunu.

The shopping lists would mean that dozens of guests could sit down to supper with top-quality tableware, napkins with coats of arms on them, Persian rugs underfoot and “executive style” artwork on the walls.

Both the department and the Presidency said the president was not involved.

“The Department of Public Works manages and handles all aspects of the maintenance, renovations and anything that needs to be done to the official residences of the president. The president does not become involved in the procurement of any items, eg carpets, paintings, crockery or the structures. These residences belong to the state for use by the head of state,” said Zizi Kodwa, special adviser to President Jacob Zuma.

The call for tenders comes just a week after The Star revealed that the Presidential Protection and Security Services are looking for a vehicle hire business that can provide a luxury vehicle available “at all times” in each of seven provinces, excluding Gauteng and the Western Cape, for the use by Zuma’s wives.

The tender for 45 artworks and 15 sets of ornaments starts with a “very beautiful piece of artwork painting suitable for the entrance hall of the president with gold or silver frames. It must be an attractive piece 1 500 x 1 650,” the tender documents state.

Other artworks and ornaments are required for the lounges, dining room, the DP’s (presumably deputy president’s) office, spousal office, admin offices and bedrooms.

The list of 48 Persian carpets required “for a whole VIP house” starts with a “very beautiful piece of Persian carpets suitable for the entrance hall of the president. It must be attractive big pieces 3 500 x 3 500 and 3 500 x 2 500. The matching runner must be a nice piece of art 7 000 x 900.”

One Persian carpet dealer told The Star that a top-quality rug of 3.5 x 2.8m would cost about R35 000.

The entire building seems to be set for Persian carpets, with the list detailing the carpets required for the lounges – “to brighten the lounge, as it looks dark” – dining room, two for the spousal office, one for the household manager’s room, passages, bedrooms, a conference room and even the staff restroom, and a kilim rug for the patio.

“All carpets specified are hand- made carpets, genuine Persian carpets. Modern version to match the style of the modern house. We need top-range carpets only with fine texture,” say the tender documents.

Even the “safe heaven” must have “executive styled piece of art paintings in mahogany frame”, ornaments on the coffee table and a Persian carpet.

“The cutlery set should be supplied in beads design and pure gold material suitable for presidential standard. The whole set should have the same shade of gold,” state the documents.

There are 300 units of cutlery on the shopping list, made up of 25 boxes of 12 items per set.

They include 19 different types of cutlery, from soup spoons to fish knives and salad forks.

The dinner tables will also have hand-cut crystal glasses, of “a high standard quality suitable for presidential standard”. There must be 300 of each of eight types of glasses, from champagne to whisky glasses.

The shopping list includes lines for the bedrooms in the VIP house, including white and cream king-sized linen for the main bedroom, and queen-sized linen for guest rooms.

- IOL

A Resource Guide to Housing in South Africa 1994 - 2010

SERI’s recently published housing guide entitled “A Resource Guide to Housing in South Africa 1994 - 2010: Legislation, Policy, Programmes and Practice”, which provides a simplified yet comprehensive guide to policies, legislation, jurisprudence and practice in relation to urban housing in South Africa. It is hopefully useful to a wide audience that includes social movements, community-based organisations (CBOs), NGOs, lawyers, development practitioners, planners, government officials, academics, scholars etc. Please feel free to distribute to your wider networks.

The resource guide is also available on SERI’s website at www.seri-sa.org and there will be hard copies available at the end of next week. For any queries on the guide or to discuss accessing hard copies, please email me.

Also recently published is a SERI research report by Blessing Karumbidza entitled “Criminalising the Livelihoods of the Poor: The impact of formalising informal trading on female and migrant traders in Durban” – also available on the SERI website.

Most feel let down by their municipality

More than half of all urban South African's are dissatisfied with the service they get from their local municipalities, and the level of unhappiness is greatest among the very poor.

Results of a survey released to the Sunday Times suggest that the ANC may have its work cut out in traditionally loyal townships and informal settlements in the municipal elections to be held on May 18.

"Service delivery, or the lack of it, will be the key election issue," said TNS Research Surveys pollster Neil Higgs.

"Protests can be expected almost anywhere, feelings are so strong. That this will spill over into violence in many instances should not be a surprise," he said.

The South African Institute of Race Relations reported last month that four people were killed, 94 were injured and 750 were arrested in community protests linked to service delivery last year.

Municipal IQ, which monitors South Africa's local governments, reported recently that 40% of the country's 283 local governments had been affected by service delivery protests, mostly in Gauteng and the Western Cape, with 111 major incidents in the year.

The most recent eruption was in Wesselton, near Ermelo, where a protester was killed when police opened fire two weeks ago before arresting about 100 people. However, some reports said the violence had more to do with competition for electable positions in the forthcoming elections than with service delivery.

The TNS survey of 2000 adults in the seven major metropolitan areas shows that satisfaction grows with wealth. While no one in the lowest of the 10 income categories used to delineate the population admitted to being happy with municipal service delivery, almost half of those in the top two categories were satisfied.

Confirming that trend, fewer than half of those living in houses and flats said they were unhappy, but more than three-quarters of those living in shacks said they were.

"It is the poorest of the poor who are the most unhappy - a powder keg indeed," said Higgs.

In Port Elizabeth, dissatisfaction soared from 42% in February last year to 60% in November last year, and from 40% to 48% in Bloemfontein. It dropped significantly in East London and on the East Rand.

The survey confirmed other polls that show Cape Town to have the best service record and the happiest population. There, dissatisfaction dropped from 42% to 39%, the best score in any area.

Cape Town and the Western Cape are controlled by the Democratic Alliance.

"These figures confirm that the DA enters the local government elections in a very positive environment," said DA strategist Ryan Coetzee.

He said the trend towards greatest dissatisfaction among the poorest people was partly inevitable. "People are, to an extent, just commenting on the circumstances of their lives."

But he said the DA's own research showed that Cape Town's reputation for better service delivery had spread across the country and among all population groups, though it was highest among whites.

"What's clear is that if you do the basics of local government consistently and right, you win the support of the people."

Municipal IQ said last month that the elections were unlikely to spark new protests, but violence could flare several months after the poll "when electioneering promises are perceived to have been" reneged upon.

In responses to a separate question, a third of residents in the seven biggest cities said the ANC, SACP and Cosatu should split and fight the next election separately.
Blacks and whites gave similar answers on whether the alliance should split, but whites were more decided, with 45% saying they should not.

With a higher proportion of undecideds, 36% of blacks opposed a split.

- Timeslive

Cities get new human settlement powers

Several major cities across the country were assigned new powers for human settlements development, says the human settlements department.

"This status has been granted to Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, Tshwane, Nelson Mandela Metro and Cape Town, as well as to the Frances Baard and Pixley ka Seme district municipalities in the Northern Cape," Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale said in a statement on Friday.

Discussions were underway with Thekwini, in KwaZulu-Natal.

Sexwale said the move was likely to result in more integrated planning of new housing projects and improved service delivery.

He awarded cities what was known as level two accreditation status at a quarterly ministerial meeting with provincial human settlement MECs in Pretoria.

The meeting was also attended by the chairman of the SA Local Government Association (Salga), Amos Masondo.

"Level two accreditation status gives municipalities the responsibility to approve and manage housing construction programmes and ensure and technical quality assurance," said Sexwale.

He said in a statement that, in the past, the authority for this rested primarily with provincial governments.

"The municipal accreditation process is a critical tool in devolving the housing function to the local sphere, it enables municipalities to co-ordinate their housing decisions with other decisions that relate to the broader sustainability of human settlements."

He said the department hoped the accreditation process would lead to accelerated delivery and improved expenditure patterns, which would help put an end to under-expenditure.

Sexwale also announced the introduction of a new metropolitan funding framework, developed in partnership with National Treasury, known as the Urban Settlements Development Grant (USDG).

"The USDG will bring about better human settlements development planning between national, provincial and local spheres of government.

"More specifically, it compels improved co-ordination of planning, funding and implementation of human settlements at the provincial and local spheres of government," he said.

Metropolitan municipalities would receive this grant directly from the national department to address infrastructure needs.

"It is the policy intention of national and provincial human settlements departments to continue to expand the role of municipalities, particularly the metros, in the management and development of sustainable and integrated human settlements," Sexwale said.

- SAPA - Timeslive

City gives approval for hemp farming

A plan to establish and develop a hemp industry in the Western Cape has been given an enthusiastic thumbs-up by the city’s economic development and tourism portfolio committee.

According to Tony Budden of Long Street’s Hemporium, hemp is an enormous untapped industry with the potential to address many of the city’s social woes, including in the areas of housing, unemployment and health.

Budden presented his views on the hemp industry to the committee yesterday.

Hemp products are mostly imported and crops may be cultivated locally only with a permit allowing the cultivation of narcotic drugs, issued by the Department of Health.

Industrial hemp contains only negligible amounts of the psychoactive substance tetrahydrocannabinol, which is found in dagga.

Budden was bombarded with questions yesterday from curious committee members.

After Budden’s presentation, chairman Pat Hill confirmed that the committee supported – “with some enthusiasm” – Hemporium’s plan to apply for a licence to grow hemp commercially.

Budden said the Western Cape was the ideal place to cultivate hemp crops. However, he said the country was being left behind in the wake of other countries that were already reaping the commercial, social and ecological rewards of industrial hemp production.

More than 30 countries produced industrial hemp, including Australia, Austria, Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Chile, North Korea, Uruguay and nine US states.

The world’s leading producer of hemp was China, which, according to Budden, had set a target of creating 3 million jobs in the industry over the next 10 years.

Budden said hemp had the potential to create “an entire new industry for the Western Cape, and particularly for the City of Cape Town”.

It also had the potential to create up to four times the number of jobs associated with wheat cultivation.

Processed hemp had many uses and over the past 15 years several business, including Woolworths, Nando’s, Levi’s, Billabong, Clicks, Sappi, DaimlerChrysler, Unilever and Concretex, had shown “a genuine interest in locally grown hemp”.

Even in the government there was no shortage of people who supported industrial hemp production, Budden said.

“All we are asking for is to create an enabling environment for research so we can prove it is viable,” he urged.

While a sceptical Koos Bredenhand, of the ANC, initially put Budden through his paces, he was apparently won over after being shown raw hemp products, one of which he declared to be “beautiful”.

It also helped changed his mind when Budden explained the difference between hemp and dagga.

With the support of the city, Hemporium will now attempt to obtain the necessary permits for local hemp production.

- Cape Argus

‘New bricks’ for N2 Gateway

Launching the latest phase of the N2 Gateway, housing officials have promised an end to poor planning, spiralling costs and politics which have hamstrung the project since its launch six years ago.

On Tuesday, Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale announced that 2,886 medium-density housing units would be built over three years on a vacant site at the Joe Slovo informal settlement.

The national Ministry of Human Settlements will give just under R400 million each year for the entire N2 Gateway project which includes projects in Delft and Gugulethu.

In Joe Slovo R270m will be spent over the next three years.

Sexwale said: “I don’t want the costs to overrun, keep them tight … this project should not become a hostage to local politics.”

Later, just after the sod-turning ceremony, a surprised Sexwale noticed newly elected ANC provincial leader and deputy International Affairs and Co-operation Minister Marius Fransman.

“How are things with Libya!” Sexwale jokingly exclaimed before Premier Helen Zille, who was also at the event, marched off.

In August 2009, the then national Department of Housing came under fire from Auditor-General Terence Nombembe for its failure to ensure that social housing legislation was implemented before beginning the N2 Gateway project.

But on Tuesday Sexwale acknowledged the mistakes and promised a “new chapter” in the way all housing officials dealt with communities.

“We’re laying new bricks to get this project correct,” said Sexwale.

In June 2009 the Constitutional Court ruled that 20 000 Joe Slovo residents could be evicted on condition that they were provided with proper accommodation in Delft.

But lack of available land there meant Sexwale’s officials agreed with the community that the order would not be enforced.

Addressing some of the residents, packed inside a hot tent, Sexwale said: “We’re also saying to the Constitutional Court judges that this project is part of the law and that the courts must be respected. “The (five) judges had ordered that 1,500 units be built, but we said that’s not enough and 2 886 units were planned.”

Mzwanele Zulu, a leader with the Joe Slovo Task Team which represents residents, said his joy was tempered.

“I’m happy in part but also unhappy because more could have been done to communicate with the community what government was planning to do here,” said Zulu.

Nonqaba Lujalajala, 65, said she was excited about the project and perhaps moving into a brick-and-mortar home for the first time in her adult life.

She shares a shack with her three adult children and angrily confronted Sexwale when he visited her in 2009.

Mbulelo Tshangane, Human Settlements head in the Western Cape, said the first house at the project should be completed towards the end of April.

He said that his officials were already implementing lessons that had been learnt from the N2 Gateway pilot project.

“There was a rush, rush (to get construction under way). Housing takes at least 24 months of planning before you can come with tender documents.”

- Cape Times

Housing should not be derailed by politics - Sexwale

Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale on Tuesday said no housing development should be derailed by political squabbles.

The minister and Western Cape Premier Helen Zille attended a sod-turning ceremony at Phase Three of the controversial Joe Slovo Housing project near Langa in Cape Town on Tuesday.

He said 1 March marks the beginning of a new era for hundreds of residents.

Sexwale and Zille have committed themselves to ensuring the development improves the lives of community members.

Phase One and Two of the initiative, which were marred by allegations of mismanagement and demonstrations, were completed a few years ago.

Phase Three, which is expected to be completed in 2012, will cost government about R400 million.

Close to 3,000 families will benefit from the double story units.

Sexwale pleaded with residents not to allow political interference to derail the development.

- Eyewitness News