Free housing 'not indefinite': Sexwale

Replying to written questions submitted to him by members of parliament, Sexwale says although government has a constitutional and electoral mandate to provide basic services and housing - this may not be sustainable.  

Government has built over 2-million homes in the past 16 years, but there is still a backlog of 2.3-million houses. 

Sexwale believes government can't continue providing free housing at this rate. He got into hot water the last time he raised this concern. 

It's also not the kind of debate ANC leaders want to raise in the year where the party will choose a new leadership. 

Which is why Sexwale's answer glances over any detail about when and where this cut off will be made. 

He also stresses that the state is not about to leave the poor in the lurch, but he says government does need to review the demands' budget from time to time.

- EastCoastRadio

Africa: Natural Fibres Key to Environment and Tackling Poverty

"The natural fibres sector has great potential to become an engine of growth," Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General Ransford Smith

Experts from 21 Commonwealth countries heard how natural fibre production is necessary in tackling poverty and preventing environmental degradation, at the Global Natural Fibre Forum (GNFF) in Africa earlier this month.

Speaking at the symposium held in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, from 7 to 9 March 2012, Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General Ransford Smith said: "It is essential to advocate the shift from synthetic towards using natural fibres due to their significant role in environment protection and sustainable development.

"Looking into Africa, the majority of people live in the rural areas and are dependent on agriculture, which incidentally produces almost all natural fibres harvested in the developing world."

The Commonwealth Secretariat hosted the meeting in partnership with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) of South Africa and other private sector partners.

This regional gathering is the first to address challenges facing producers and processors of natural fibres, which directly supports the livelihoods of millions of people worldwide.

Natural fibres better support sustainable production and consumption and are crucial to environmental sustainability and a lighter carbon footprint. For thousands of years people all over the world have used fibres from plants and animals to make cloth, string, paper, and to strengthen building materials. But with the increasing use of synthetic fibres since the 1960's, natural fibres farmers and small producers have lost significant market share. According to the GNFF, roughly 30 million tonnes of natural fibres are produced annually worldwide.

It brought together fibre producers, processors, researchers and scientists and industry representatives to explore possibilities of working together.

Live demonstrations included fibre extraction and fibre conversion and its application to different industries such as packaging, biofuels, bio composites, construction, handicraft, foods, cosmetics, health and textiles industries.

"We believe that the fibres sector has great potential to become an engine of growth and given the right support through capacity-building and product development programmes, it can drive rural industrialisation," Mr Smith said.

A number of experts made presentations at the seminar on how small producers and farmers could increase their income through natural fibres.

Chairperson of the South African Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Lulu Johnson, Chairperson of House of Hemp Dr Mamphela Ramphele and Dr Thulane Dlamini from the CSIR addressed delegates.

GNFF Regional Consultant Dr Thandeka R Kunene presented research findings on types of natural fibres, their current and potential uses and proposed intervention programmes that could help producers to increase their production of natural fibres.

Experts also highlighted the importance of creating value at each level of the production process including: farming, extraction, processing, waste use, product manufacturing, marketing and distribution.

The fibres discussed included hemp, kenaf, sisal, banana, grass, bamboo, coir, wool, mohair, silk, cashmere and cotton.

Several key results were achieved including the formation of support teams toaddress areas such as training and product development. The African chapter ofthe GNFF was also launched at the event and Tanzania has been tasked withco-ordinating the GNFF Secretariat.

The GNFF is a worldwide network that collects and distributes information around the use and economic value of natural fibres and how these can be used as a critical source for small and medium sized enterprises, farmers and poorrural communities to uplift their livelihoods.

Participants at the March forum were drawn from: Botswana, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Experts also came from Canada, India and the United Kingdom.

Innovate Eastern Cape, House of Hemp, OCTAGON Marketing, Expo Solutions and NEPAD were among the private sector partners involved.

- allAfrica

Man held after couple burnt to death

A relative of one the two people who died in a fire in Gugulethu on Wednesday has been arrested.

Zamile Mqokeli, 46, and his girlfriend, 50, were burnt to death after their home in Mqokeli’s sister’s backyard was set alight.

Police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Andre Traut confirmed the arrest of a 41-year-old man.

“He was arrested this morning on murder charges and will appear in court On Friday. We cannot reveal what he said, as he still has to appear in court,” said Traut.

Zamile’s sister, Nozipho Mqokeli, 58, said she had heard people shouting “Kuyatsha! Kuyatsha!” (It’s burning! It’s burning!”) at about 1am and found her brother’s home in flames.

City of Cape Town’s Disaster Risk Management Centre spokesman, Wilfred Solomons-Johannes, said Mqokeli and his girlfriend had been burnt “beyond recognition”.

Mqokeli said the two had been drunk and passed out at the time.

While the City of Cape Town has put plans in motion to set up a task team comprising members of the Disaster Risk Management and fire services to look into fires, hundreds of people continue to die in shack fires.

Since January, about 1 400 people have been left destitute while 260 shacks were gutted in fires.

Last year’s figures showed that 115 people had died in fires in informal settlements.

The city has run public awareness campaigns to reduce fires in vulnerable communities where pamphlets were handed out to educate residents about fire safety and preventative measures.

People were also urged not to build their homes on top of fire hydrants because when the water is finished in a fire service vehicle’s tank, firemen need to use the fire hydrant.

The most recent fires included:

*March 12: Sivuyile Maglasana, 27, died in a shack fire in Du Noon.

*March 5: an elderly woman, Noluzile Ngcwama, died; more than 100 shacks were destroyed and more than 850 people displaced after a fire swept through Langa.

*February 13: a toddler was killed in a fire in Valhalla Park.

- Cape Argus

Couple burn to death as gugs shack catches alight

A RELATIVE of one the two people who died in a fire in Gugulethu yesterday has been arrested.

Zamile Mqokeli, 46, and his girlfriend, 50, were burnt to death after their home in Mqokeli’s sister’s backyard was set alight.

Police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Andre Traut confirmed the arrest of a 41-year-old man.

“He was arrested this morning on murder charges and will appear in court tomorrow. We cannot reveal what he said, as he still has to appear in court,” said Traut.

Zamile’s sister, Nozipho Mqokeli, 58, said she had heard people shouting “Kuyatsha! Kuyatsha!” (It’s burning! It’s burning!”) at about 1am and found her brother’s home in flames.

City of Cape Town’s Disaster Risk Management Centre spokesman, Wilfred Solomons-Johannes, said Mqokeli and his girlfriend had been burnt “beyond recognition”.

Mqokeli said the two had been drunk and passed out at the time.

While the City of Cape Town has put plans in motion to set up a task team comprising members of the Disaster Risk Management and fire services to look into fires, hundreds of people continue to die in shack fires.

Since January, about 1 400 people have been left destitute while 260 shacks were gutted in fires.

Last year’s figures showed that 115 people had died in fires in informal settlements.

The city has run public awareness campaigns to reduce fires in vulnerable communities where pamphlets were handed out to educate residents about fire safety and preventative measures.

People were also urged not to build their homes on top of fire hydrants because when the water is finished in a fire service vehicle’s tank, firemen need to use the fire hydrant.

The most recent fires included:

• March 12: Sivuyile Maglasana, 27, died in a shack fire in Du Noon.
• March 5: an elderly woman, Noluzile Ngcwama, died; more than 100 shacks were destroyed and more than 850 people displaced after a fire swept through Langa.
• February 13: a toddler was killed in a fire in Valhalla Park.

- Cape Argus

Two killed in shack fire

Two people were killed in a shack fire in Gugulethu on Wednesday morning, the city of Cape Town said.

The fire broke out in the NY102 section around 1.30am, destroying two shacks, disaster risk management centre spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said.

Two people managed to escape the fire. The bodies of two others were burned beyond recognition. The cause of the fire was unknown. - Sapa

Housing agency 'wasting money'

A LEAKED internal audit report has brought to light instances of serious flouting of procurement procedures and appointment of service providers at a government housing agency.

The report - compiled by the Housing Development Agency's (HDA) internal auditors - reveals that procurement procedures were "circumvented" when the contract of a human resources consultant, Sally Blaine, was extended.

The responsibilities of the agency include identifying, acquiring and developing state-owned land on behalf of the Department of Human Settlements to build houses.

The report blamed these findings on a lack of implementation of accounting practices, no oversight responsibilities and scant attention to supply chain rules.

Sowetan has previously reported that Blaine's company - Blazing Solutions CC - had been roped in to do HR work despite the HDA having a fully fledged department to carry out this duty.

Staff at the agency were reportedly unhappy over Blaine's appointment as well as having to take orders from her.

While it was not known then who had appointed Blaine, allegations were that agency CEO Taffy Adler may have had a hand in Blaine's arrival at the agency. Adler had previously been reported to have also appointed his sister-in-law as well as a close friend but this did not appear in the report's findings.

According to the report - which Sowetan understands is still to be made available to the agency's audit committee - findings are that "the procurement process was circumvented by the extension of the contract of the strategic and human resource support services, Blazing Solutions CC".

The report said Blaine's company's contract was extended without the knowledge of the supply chain management officer, listed as Jabulile Mndebele. Furthermore, Blaine's company earned R423,510 between April 2010 and March last year, despite the company not having a valid tax clearance certificate. Indications are that the company may have earned more than double that as the report considered payments only until the end of the last financial year.

The auditors slammed it as "fruitless and wasteful expenditure".

Responding to questions arising from the report, agency spokeswoman Kate Shand said: ''A final report dealing with these issues will be submitted to the HDA's audit cimmittee. The audit committee and board will take the necessary action after considering the report.''

- Sowetan

WC to reduce housing backlog

Western Cape government officials on Tuesday warned that people would have to wait for government houses, due to increasing backlogs. 

Human Settlement MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela briefed the media about his department's budget for the 2012/13 financial year. 

The department received nearly R2 billion to help reduce the backlog. 

Officials intend on building 15,000 new units for needy families, up from the nearly 11,000 homes in 2011.

However, Madikizela said they were also working toward restoring services to informal settlements, while beneficiaries wait for proper housing.

The MEC added his department was bringing together a team of experts to assist municipalities with their housing plans.

In 2011, Human Settlement Minister Tokyo Sexwale admitted South Africa was battling a nationwide housing backlog.

The country faces a shortage of around 2.3 million homes.

Officials also had to fork out additional money to repair shoddy houses.

Sexwale called on businesses and ordinary people to help reduce the backlog.

The national department set itself a target of eradicating the problem by 2030.

- Eyewitness News

Baby dies, 4 hurt in house fire

An 18-month-old toddler died in a fire in a Ravensmead house just after midnight on Sunday which was apparently started after a candle fell over.

Disaster management spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said four adults were taken to hospital.

The house was nearyly gutted.

Meanwhile, 18 people were left homeless after a fire destroyed two houses and five backyard structures in Khayelitsha at the weekend.

The fire, which occurred in Hamba Street in Harare, was reported late on Saturday night.

Solomons-Johannes said no one was injured and the cause of the fire was still being investigated.

- Cape Argus

House of hemp? Pushing cannabis as a construction material

Woody Harrelson championed the environmental benefits of hemp. Giorgio Armani and Calvin Klein incorporated it into their collections. Now a company promoting hemp as the eco-building material of the moment said it wants to build California's first hemp house.

Hemp Technologies said it wants to use hemp-based materials to construct a 500-square-foot structure at the ruins of Knapp's Castle near Santa Barbara. The castle, completed in 1920, was built for Union Carbide founder George Owen Knapp but destroyed by wildfire in 1940. Since then, all that has remained on the property are the sandstone blocks outlining the once-grand estate.

The principal material for the project is Hempcrete, made of the woody internal stem of the Cannabis sativa plant, which is processed into chips and mixed with a lime-based binder. That concoction is then sprayed on, poured into slabs or formed into blocks like concrete to create the shell of a building. Interior surfaces are plastered, and exterior surfaces are stuccoed.

“The walls are to be framed and earthquake-braced internally with lumber,” said Greg Flavall, Hemp Technologies' co-founder, who added that “hemp is very close in cellulosic value to wood.” The material helps to keep structures warm in winter and cool in summer, he said.

Other advantages, advocates have said, beyond the fact that the plant can be grown with little water and few pesticides: Hemp is resistant to fire damage and termites. Although air does not pass through the walls, moisture naturally dries out, and mold or dry rot are not problems. David Madera, who co-founded Asheville, N.C.-based Hemp Technologies with Flavall, credited the walls' lime content, which needs carbon dioxide to harden.

The lime will pull carbon dioxide from the environment after the home is built “because the lime wants to go back to being a rock,” Madera said. “That means the wall is going to get harder and harder over time.”

Flavall said the Knapp's Castle structure “will lock in about 12 tons of carbon dioxide that would otherwise have escaped into the atmosphere when the hemp cellulose decays in the field.”

That is, if the structure is completed. A Santa Barbara County official said a project has been submitted for planning approval but still needs to pass most stages of the permitting process. A house, outbuilding or any other structure would have to be deemed appropriate for the site, and any unconventional materials would have to be declared safe.

Madera, who declined to disclose the identity of his firm's California client, said Hemp Technologies has consulted on three Hempcrete houses in North Carolina, where the material was treated as an alternative form of insulation.

Although hemp contains only trace elements of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, hemp is still derived from a cannabis plant. State and federal laws do not make a distinction between varieties of cannabis used for clothing or building materials and varieties used for more psychoactive purposes, so producing hemp is prohibited. Importing hemp, however, is legal, and various companies are pushing forward with hemp building products too.

Hemp Traders in L.A. distributes Hemp Board, a medium-density fiberboard (MDF) made from the same woody material that goes into Hempcrete. Hemp Board President Lawrence Serbin said his MDF is a sustainable alternative for doors, cabinets and shelves.

Spanish architect Monika Brümmer has developed Cannabric and Cannapanel, which, as the names suggest, are cannabis-based building blocks and wall panels. She has completed several residential projects in her country, where the products met construction standards.

-- Jeffrey Head

One of three Hempcrete houses in North Carolina designed by Push Design with Hemp Technologies providing hemp materials and serving as consultants.

Photos, from top: Another Hempcrete house in North Carolina. Credit: Push Design. The site of Knapp's Castle in Santa Barbara County. Credit: Pfly / Wikipedia Commons

- LA Times

Khayeltisha fire displaces 18

A fire in Khayeltisha, Cape Town, has left 18 people homeless, the city's disaster risk management centre said on Sunday.

Two houses and five backyard shacks were destroyed in the blaze, which began before 10pm on Saturday night, said disaster management spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes.

Disaster response teams would assist the victims with food parcels, clothing and blankets, and building material for the backyard dwellings gutted by the fire.

No one was injured.

The cause of the fire would be investigated, he said. - Sapa

Woman burns to death in wendy house fire

Cape Town - A woman burnt to death when her wendy house in Retreat caught fire, the City of Cape Town's disaster risk management centre said on Saturday.

Spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said the 40-year-old woman was alone in the house when it burnt down on Friday evening.

Her husband was at work and her twin daughters, aged 17, and her son, aged 10, were not home at the time of the incident.

The cause of the fire was being investigated, Solomons-Johannes said. - Sapa

Public must hold State accountable – Madonsela

The public needs to be more informed about the country's laws and policies, Public Protector Thuli Madonsela has said.

“The role of the people and community leaders is important if a Constitution-based accountability is to be enforced. They need to empower themselves with information on laws, policies and how government works.”

Madonsela was delivering the third Griffiths and Victoria Mxenge Memorial Lecture at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Law School on Thursday night.

Cannabrick: PP Case #03/03/03

She said when communities were empowered they asked the right questions to the right people via the right channels.

Without this, human – and in particular, socio-economic rights – guaranteed by the Constitution could not be delivered optimally.

Madonsela called on communities to stop public protests and follow the example of Braamfischerville, Joburg, residents who recently approached her office with their housing concerns.

“Their approach is more sustainable than public protests.”

Protests also negatively affected many aspects of democracy, including the very human rights protesters were defending, she said.

The Mxenges have been recognised for their contribution to the field of law and the sacrifices they made in the fight against apartheid. They were both assassinated by the apartheid regime. – Sapa

Residents move from Blikkies to bricks

Ten Blikkiesdorp families can sleep soundly on Friday night after they moved into their new homes at the N2 Gateway housing project in Delft on Thursday.

Ernest Sonnenberg, mayoral committee member for human settlements, said the families had originally occupied the Spes Bona school hostels in Athlone.

“The city at the time negotiated with those who qualified that they would receive homes if they moved to Blikkiesdorp in the interim,” he said.

Rosline Maritz, 47, who was on the housing waiting list for nine years, lived in Blikkiesdorp for two years.

“I want to thank God as well as the community who have been fighting for us,” she said.

Two weeks ago, her 65-year-old mother died without having the opportunity of living in her own house.

“My wish was that my mom and I would move into a house together. God gave me heartache and happiness. My mother told me I would have a house before she died, and then it happened after she died.”

Maritz has four children and cares for her niece as well as one grandchild.

The family sat next to their structure in Blikkiesdorp, waiting for the truck to arrive to move their belongings.

Their new house has two bedrooms, a bathroom and a kitchen. After they arrived, their meagre belongings were packed on the cement floor of the lounge.

Three of the children ran into the bedrooms, arguing about who would get the largest room.

“The first thing we going to do is have a bath,” they said.

House keys in hand, Maritz said she couldn’t believe this was her house.

“My mother would have been so happy… we come from a long struggle. She herself never had a home.”

Margaret Bennett, 47, has been on the waiting list for 19 years.

“I prayed a lot for this and God listened. There are no words to describe how I feel,” said the mom of four.

Andrew Badenhorst, a community leader in Blikkiesdorp, said he was relieved people were finally receiving homes.

“When we toyi-toyied we put pressure on the government to give our people houses. I’m not happy so few people are moving, though, we would like more people to have homes.”

Blikkiesdorp was established as a temporary relocation area (TRA) to manage the illegal occupation of N2 Gateway houses. The first families were moved there on May 9, 2008.

* There are about 342 000 people on the city’s housing database. - Cape Argus

South Africa: Innovative Solutions Needed for Housing Crisis

The concept of RDP housing has been a revolutionary programme replicated nowhere in the world. Despite often justified criticism, it is hard to deny that it has been a large force for empowering and enfranchising the most disenfranchised in South Africa. However, after some three million homes have been given away, it appears this policy has served its purpose and something more sustainable is likely to take its place.

Several developments these past weeks have confirmed that SA is moving away from a singular focus on the provision of free housing to other forms of subsidy that aid poorer households and allow them to join the formal housing ladder.

Soula Proxenos, managing partner at International Housing Solutions (IHS) says recent developments indicated the biggest single policy change on housing to date, and that initiatives announced by government were going to provide significant support to working South Africans who could not previously afford to buy a home.

Current housing model is not sustainable

Cannabrick:
Reduce carbon footprint sustainably, naturally.

Speaking at the IHS Investor Conference in Stellenbosch after the budget announcement, Planning Minister Trevor Manuel said: "Government has provided three million subsidised homes since 1994. But the current model is not sustainable." He analysed the challenges of the current model and said that densification needed to be explored, and noted the president's announcement with regards to gap housing subsidies. Manuel said that it may be required to redesign the system in its entirety. "A different approach is required. We need new models with the three spheres of government working closer together and a strengthening of public-private partnerships."

Gap housing, or affordable housing, services the section of the market which does not qualify for free RDP homes but which also does not earn enough to qualify for a bond at the mid-to-higher end of the market. Unfortunately, for historical reasons, there is a huge discrepancy between the supply of affordable housing and demand. IHS has been at the forefront of funding affordable housing development in the country, and is nearing the close of its first fund, the South African Workforce Housing Fund.

Densification must be assessed

Represented at the investor conference were institutional investors in charge of more than R1.5 trillion globally. Manuel as well as Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille impressed upon them the current and growth expectations of the affordable housing sector, as well as the necessity of stock provision in the affordable housing market in coming years. Both of them confirmed the need for innovative solutions and public-private partnerships to address the housing crisis in SA, as well as a serious assessment of densification.

"While once there was a heavy focus on the provision of free homes, there now is an increasing focus on the need for gap housing," said De Lille. "I do think that our focus as a country has been providing housing to one aspect of the market. As much as those who cannot afford houses need them, and there is a long waiting list, there are also those who are just above this level. The need for gap housing is possibly one of the more urgent development pressures we face in South Africa," she said.

"We have land which we are willing to sell to developers to create these integrated communities. That is a benefit for the City's housing backlog, a benefit for the developers, a benefit for the housing market, and a benefit, most importantly, for ordinary people themselves."

- allAfrica

Public Protector Thuli Madonsela has called on South Africans to speak out when their rights are being violated.

"The public protector said South Africa is a constitutional democracy which gives citizens various channels through which they can engage with government," Madonsela's spokeswoman, Kgalalelo Masibi, said in a statement issued on Wednesday.

These channels included the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Rights of Cultural Religious and Linguistic Communities, the Human Rights Commission, the Auditor-General, and her Office.

Madonsela was speaking at a Human Rights Day commemoration in the Bohlokong township in the Free State.

Cannabrick: PP Case #03/03/03

She urged the community to use these channels to demand answers and hold those entrusted with public power and public resources accountable, said Masibi.

Madonsela explained that the Freedom Charter allowed people to empower themselves with information about their rights, responsibilities and knowledge of how government works.

Madonsela asked that people focus on systems and not on personalities when working with her office or other Chapter 9 institutions.

Their rights included the socio-economic rights such as rights to access to health care, education, decent housing and freedom to pursue economic activities.

- Timeslive

Youth ‘should help in social and economic change’

Addressing a group of young people in Cape Town yesterday, as part of a housing summit, Deputy Minister of Human Settlements Zoe Kota-Fredericks said the government wanted the youth to be part of social economic transformation.

Kota-Fredericks was addressing about 100 young people at the Provincial Youth in Human Settlements Summit at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

She said in deepening the country’s democracy “we also need your participation in building human settlements in this country as the government cannot deliver housing alone”.

“My department has a lot of programmes for youth. For instance, there is the volunteer project whereby young people can help build houses for the elderly and sick.

“And there are also bursaries available for those who wish to follow a career in construction,” Kota-Fredericks said.

Cannabrick: Reduce carbon footprint naturally.

Premier Helen Zille said while on a walkabout in Nyanga recently she was approached “by a girl who could have been 12 or 14 years old and she asked me: ‘Where is my house’?

“Young people must not say things like this. What she should have said was: ‘I demand that my school is of a high standard.’

“We cannot spend more money on human settlements. We can either do a great deal for a few billion people or spend billions on doing little for few people.

“So we are trying to do a lot for less. This is why we have decided to spend more money on basic services so that a lot of people have access to water and toilets,” Zille said. Human settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela said there was a backlog of 500,000 houses in the province.

He said a look at the budget allocation to human settlements showed that it would take about 30 years to provide houses for everyone at the current rate of delivery, and that was assuming the backlog did not grow.

“Our strategy is to ensure that at least everyone in the Western Cape has access to basic services by 2014,” Madikizela said.

- The New Age

Cape MEC comes under fire

Human Settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela was put on the spot by young people attending the Western Cape Human Settlements Youth Summit yesterday.

Delegates fired questions at Madikizela about what the department was doing to improve South Africans’ living conditions and under-spending, among other issues.

More than 60 young people attended the summit at the Cape Town International Convention Centre which started yesterday and continues today.

The summit was opened with a keynote address by Premier Helen Zille, who emphasised the value of doing a little for more people, rather than doing a lot for fewer South Africans.

“Hundreds and thousands of people are looking for homes. While people are waiting for their houses, people are living without taps, toilets and storm water. People need to live with some dignity now,” said Zille.

Zille called on the youth to work with the government.

“Upgrading informal settlements is a social process. We have to work together to resolve the human settlement crisis. Every young person needs to grow up with vision and hope for a life in which they are contributing and capable citizens that add value,” she said.

Samkelo Mqombothi, provincial secretary for the Congress of SA Students, said the summit was a platform for him to point out areas in which the youth was neglected in the MEC’s budget speech.

“He gave us a lot of figures about skills development programmes. I want to know where, when, how, with whom these programmes are going to be carried out,” said Mqombothi.

Roscoe Jacobs, of the Hangberg Education Development Movement, said young people have a lot to offer the department.

“We can bring to the table solutions that we would like to see. We saw how not consulting with the community turned out for the city in Hangberg,” he said.

“As people who are actually living in the communities, we have a better understanding of the issues and what we want than the premier or the MEC,” said Jacobs.

- Cape Argus

Housing brings dignity – Zille

Adequate housing is a key requirement for a sense of dignity, Western Cape premier Helen Zille said on Monday.

“One cannot live a life one values if your shelter leaks when it rains, is vulnerable to structural collapse or is not safe or secure,” she said in a speech prepared for delivery at a Western Cape youth in human settlements summit.

Zille said the state did not have enough money to provide a house to everyone who needed one.

“This is the hard truth of the matter. At the same time, the state cannot simply say: 'We'll help who we can within our limited budget and too bad for the rest of you'.

“This is why housing policy has changed in South Africa from the well-meaning, yet unattainable goal of a self-standing house for every family that couldn't afford it, to the approach of providing a range of housing opportunity choices.”

Cannabrick: Reduce carbon footprint naturally.

As a result, the government could now do “a little for the many” instead of “a lot for the few”.

Zille said with youth unemployment in South Africa at an estimated 51 percent, it was crucial that every effort be made to equip them with the knowledge and tools to compete in the job market, as well as to support young entrepreneurs.

“In this way, the youth can have a fighting chance to build and live lives they value, if they take advantage of those opportunities and exercise their responsibility as citizens.”

The provincial summit followed a national meeting in Durban in July 2011, at which all provincial governments were tasked with hosting similar provincial events. – Sapa

Housing on a new, green high

TWO eco-friendly houses are rising from the ground in suburban Melbourne built from a plant normally associated with 1960s hippie heaven: hemp.

In an Australian-mainland first, the walls of the semi-detached homes in trendy inner-city Northcote will be made from the cannabis-based building product Hempcrete, pioneered by a Queensland company for its carbon-neutral properties.

The eight-star green rated homes are the inspiration of two medical practitioners, a father and daughter team who will live side by side with their three generations in the one construction.

Along with the hemp walls, the architect-designed homes will have a solid rammed-earth dividing wall, double-glazed windows, underground water tanks and grey-water recycling, as well as solar panels for electricity, hot water and hydronic heating.

Michelle Leadston and her father, Bill, bought the large block in Northcote three years ago intent on building two sustainable homes for their families to live in.

'I've always said I'm going to look after my parents when they get old,' she said. 'This was the most convenient option. The babysitter's next door. And it's not too close. There's a big wall in between.'

Both families wanted to share a common backyard and other design features such as lower, child-friendly windows and intimate, internal courtyards, said Dorit Przyborowski of Steffen Welsch Architects.

Cannabrick: Reduce carbon footprint naturally.

The internal walls will be lined with magnesium oxide boards instead of plaster. The generational differences were also evident in the design. Michelle put more emphasis on child-friendly spaces, Bill on the living and dining areas, Ms Przyborowski said. If land was subdivided in future, both houses can be independent, she said.

Hemp from local farms will be delivered to the building site in shredded form, mixed with lime and compacted in formwork to make the exterior walls, using techniques similar to rammed earth construction.

'This is one of the first in Australia,' the home's builder, Stuart Dunne, said. 'People have done bits and pieces but this is probably one of the largest projects to date.'

A drawback of using hemp was that it was labour intensive and therefore costly, he said. Sustainable architecture is not new to Bill Leadston.He built his present home in North Balwyn 30 years ago with north-facing orientation, slab heating and solar hot water.

Despite its obvious green benefits, Darebin Council opposed the new building's design forcing an appeal to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, Dr Leadston said. 'They virtually said, 'If you want it, you've got to go to VCAT', he said.

Construction of both homes will cost $1.6 million and is expected to finish in November.

The Age would like to hear about new, innovative buildings, materials, methods, designs or services.

- The Age

Hemp House featured on Top Billing

Protesters block Cape Town highway

About 100 Khayelitsha residents were locked in a stand-off with police on the N2 highway in Cape Town, Western Cape police said on Friday.

Captain Frederick van Wyk said men, women and children blocked the highway at about 10pm on Thursday with stones, rubble and burning tyres.

The crowd had gathered at the Mew Way bridge near the airport, he said.

Police were pelted with stones. They warned residents to disperse but were ignored.

“Two stun grenades were thrown among the protesters and they ran and hid behind a wall. They were still throwing stones at the (police) members,” van Wyk said.

A flare was set off to provide light for the officers, who then moved to disperse the crowd.

Residents disappeared between houses before they could be apprehended.

Van Wyk said police patrolled the township while the highway was cleared of debris.

It was re-opened at 1am.

The motive for the protest is unknown, and no arrests were made. – Sapa

Ministry of HS Shit reminder

Housing minister says unclosed toilets strip our people of their dignity - 6 September 2011

Sexwale unveils sanitation task team

Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale has today unveiled a task team to be headed by Ms Winnie Madikizela-Mandela to advise on the issue of unclosed and or incomplete toilets in the country.

Media exposé of this inhumane practice in Makhaza, Moqhaka and Moutse before and during the local government elections this year made it clear to the department that the magnitude of the problem might be unknown, since the sanitation function has recently been transferred to the Department of Human Settlements from Water Affairs.

Minister Sexwale says the department is honored that Ms Winnie Madikizela Mandela, at this time in her life has accepted to provide a helping hand for a constituency which has always been close to her heart - the poorest of the poor.

He added: "These incomplete or unclosed toilets strip our people of their dignity and they are unhealthy. The team is tasked with identifying and locating such structures in-order to have them fixed. This sordid chapter must be brought to an end."

The task team has three months to wrap up its work and will establish:

• the scale of the problem
• its nature
• its geographic spread, i.e. urban or rural
• identify irregularities and malpractices

The task team will report back in January 2012 with recommendations relating to policy gaps, legislative short comings, budgetary issues or any other matters.

Mrs Madikizela-Mandela says, "Together with all task team members we are humbled to be requested by our own children within Human Settlements to give off our limited time towards our poor communities. For me there is nothing new since this has been my life for as long as I can remember."

Other members of the task team include:

Dr Fazel Randera, former Inspector-General of Intelligence Tom Manthata, former commissioner with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Patrick Magebhula, a member of the Minister's panel of advisors The Director-General will provide the necessary resources and technical support to the National Task Team to enable it to carry-out its strategic operations efficiently and effectively.

We have requested Ministers to second officials from the following departments:

• Health
• Waterand Environmental Affairs
• Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

- Issued by the Department of Human Settlements - September 6 2011

HRC hears about grim realities in Makhaza

Waste-filled buckets, blocked and leaking open toilets and people using vacant plots to relieve themselves with nothing but bushes for cover.

These were some of the realities outlined on Wednesday by Makhaza residents at the launch of Human Rights Commission (HRC) national public hearings on water and sanitation.

The hearings came a day after city officials and the HRC visited Makhaza, where residents complained that problems with sanitation persisted, even though the city had largely complied with a court order to enclose 1 316 toilets.

Kayum Ahmed, the chief executive of the HRC, identified “lack of consultation with communities” as a key challenge.

Cameron Jacobs, of the HRC, presented preliminary findings on sanitation in Makhaza in 2011. While the report found that 98 percent of households had access to toilets, Jacobs said “this statistic masked the realities”. Leaking toilets, lack of privacy and protection from the elements and criminals, and large numbers of people forced to share a toilet showed facilities were inadequate.

HRC deputy chairwoman Pregs Govender

said the government had fallen behind on its target of achieving national access to sanitation by 2014.

- Cape Argus

Cape municipality, residents make peace

The Theewaterskloof municipality on Thursday said it had made peace with Villiersdorp residents following violent protests.

It met with the police, the Villiersdorp Civic Organisation and the co-operative governance and traditional affairs department on Wednesday to seek an end to protesting.

The civic organisation handed over its memorandum of demands on Monday. Residents of Goniwe Park caused chaos the same day, destroying public facilities and setting their community hall alight.

The municipality sent a written reaction to the memorandum, but the civic organisation rejected it.

Wednesday's meeting ended with the municipality committing itself to optimal service delivery, which had been the gripe of many frustrated residents, according to a joint statement issued by the parties involved.

“At this meeting it was realised that there were not substantial differences between the views of the parties,” the statement read.

“The protesters expressed their understanding of the limitations of the municipal abilities and capacities to provide services. All parties agreed that good service delivery to the community is non-negotiable and welcomed the restored law and order in the town.”

The co-operative governance department would monitor the implementation of the resolutions on a quarterly basis. – Sapa

Informal shack toilets neglected

Toilets in informal settlements are often neglected because they are seen as a temporary arrangement, the Social Justice Coalition said in Cape Town on Wednesday.

Policy co-ordinator Gavin Silber said these areas were seen as illegal and therefore not in need of proper infrastructure.

“We need to change the very nature of communities and the way we view them. We have failed to generate and implement policy around how we deliver services to these communities.”

He was speaking at a SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) public hearing on water and sanitation.

The commission was discussing ways to solve the rampant problem of unenclosed toilets and poorly-maintained sanitation in informal areas.

It highlighted two affected informal settlements, Makhaza in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, and Rammolutsi near Viljoenskroon in the Free State.

The DA become embroiled in a political storm for failing to enclose more than 1300 toilets in Makhaza. In June 2011, the party acted on a Cape High Court order to enclose these toilets.

It then emerged that the ANC had failed to enclose almost 1600 toilets in Rammulotsi. In May 11 the SAHRC ordered the Moqhaka municipality to urgently enclose the toilets.

Commission chairman Lawrence Mushwana said the matter had become political.

“Yes, it is political in a way because it is governed by politicians, but we don't want politics to blind us.”

Silber said local government could focus on two issues that would immediately improve the situation.

The first was to ensure toilets did not become blocked, damaged, or potential hazards.

The second was to have meaningful engagement with affected communities, so they could advise on the best toilets for their needs in terms of design, location and safety.

About 10 million people in South Africa do not have access to basic sanitation. – Sapa

Toilet saga is ‘far from over’

The chapter on the controversial open-air toilet saga in Khayelitsha is almost closed.

Yet residents and the Human Rights Commission (HRC) said the most glaring problems around decent sanitation were far from over.

On Tuesday, residents explained how many still relieved themselves in open fields.

Others continued to use the bucket system. They said sometimes full buckets stood in front of shacks for days before being emptied.

They were speaking as the City of Cape Town and HRC went on a walkabout in the area to inspect the enclosure of the toilets.

This was ahead of the commission’s national public hearings on water and sanitation, which officially started in the city on Wednesday.

In 2010, the news of unenclosed toilets in Khayelitsha made national headlines. Residents explained how they were forced to use blankets to cover themselves when they used the toilets.

The city argued that residents had agreed to enclose the toilets themselves.

Violent protests spread through the area, with leaders of the ANC Youth League being arrested during the unrest.

The HRC also started its own investigation, finding that the city had breached human rights in not enclosing the toilets. And in the middle of last year, the Western Cape High Court ordered the city to enclose the more than 1 300 toilets.

On Tuesday, the HRC, mayor Patricia de Lille and city officials went to inspect the site.

They were accompanied by Andile Lili, a man who was central to the saga from the beginning.

Lili, an ANC Youth League member and now a city councillor, reported it to the HRC and was also one of the residents who brought the application before the high court.

Lili explained that some disabled residents were still struggling to use the toilets, because they were not wheelchair-friendly.

Out of the 1 316 toilets the city was ordered to close, 1 030 were closed.

In the rest of cases, residents declined to have them closed.

Some of them had already enclosed their own toilets.

Lili also pointed to a lack of proper drainage.

There were also nine plots where there was no water supply. At the scene, De Lille asked officials to investigate this.

Apart from these issues, De Lille said she was satisfied that the city had complied with the court order.

In the next financial year, she said, more than R2 billion would be allocated to informal settlements.

“In general, I’m happy we’re making progress. We’ll continue ongoing work to improve.”

After the walkabout, residents discussed their concerns with HRC members, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba and Shehaam Sims, the mayoral committee member for utility services.

Makhaza resident Lumkile Sizila said there was very little monitoring of sanitation services.

“There is a big gap between the city and the community. Communities have no choice.”

There were instances of 20 families using one toilet, and one tap for 100 people, said Sizila.

Before the meeting, Pregs Govender, the HRC deputy chairwoman, said: “Addressing the right to sanitation is a challenge. And it’s a reality for millions of people, who still in 2012 don’t experience that right.”

Sims stressed that it was not any city official’s intention of “undermining dignity”.

- Cape Argus

Baby tear-gassed as riots grip town

A woman feared her baby would die after they were tear-gassed by police during violent protests.

Tiny Osulwa Bushula was one of the innocent victims of the mayhem that has unfolded on the mean streets of Villiersdorp since Monday.

The normally quiet town has been transformed into a war zone during 48 hours of running battles between police and protesters.

Armed police officers fired rubber bullets at protesters after they came under a hail of bricks and stones.

Many innocent bystanders also got caught up in the chaos.

Baby Osulwa’s terrified mom Thumeka tells the Daily Voice: “My face and lungs burnt and I covered my child with blankets to prevent the tear gas from burning her as well, but it did not help.

“My baby cried the whole night and even struggled to breathe at some points.”

The distraught mother could not take her baby girl to the clinic because it was closed as a result of the riots.

And the Villiersdorp Periodic Court was also disrupted by the rioting which engulfed the usually-quiet town.

Cases that were scheduled for Tuesday were postponed or transferred to the Caledon Magistrates’ Court.

On Monday, protesters set community halls and a fire truck alight and the streets were littered with burning tyres.

The authorities had prayed there would not be a repeat of the violence, but their hopes were dashed early in the morning when the rioters took to the streets again.

However, this time, police were better prepared – they placed a ring of steel around the under-siege town and enforced an effective lockdown to keep the rioters at bay.

And by lunchtime, a sense of uneasy calm descended.

Angry protesters Tuesday night claimed they came under fire without any warning from the police.

But community leaders urged residents to remain calm.

“Leave the councillors’ houses alone. Leave our churches alone. Leave the schoolchildren alone,” Simon McKenzie warned the crowd.

McKenzie also insists the chaotic protest action was not political.

He claims the only reason for the violence was because of residents’ unhappiness about poor service delivery in the Theewaterskloof Municipality.

The community is also left counting the cost of the burning of local halls and the fire truck.

Overberg Fire and Rescue Services’ head Reinard Geldenhuys estimates it will cost more than R1 million to replace the vehicle.

“Despite the truck being burnt, it is also being stripped now as we could not remove it because the people were too riotous,” he tells the Daily Voice.

Geldenhuys adds that it is the only fire truck in the small town.

One fireman was also injured when protesters threw stones at the truck.

“He suffered a cut on his forehead when he was hit with a stone,” adds Geldenhuys.

Some residents claim locals were threatened and dragged out of their houses to join in the march, and others were forbidden from going to work.

Pastor Danie Bantom, 38, says his three kids were dragged into the march by protesters against their will.

“The people must consider each other and the police also,” Pastor Bantom tells the Daily Voice.

Police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk says cops will continue to monitor the area over the coming days.

“The police are still maintaining high visibility in the area by doing patrols,” he says.

Community leaders were last night still locked in discussions with authorities in a bid to bring an end to the protests.

And Theewaterskloof Municipality spokesman Stiffie Cronje says: “Because so many municipal workers could not attend work as a result of the chaos, the damages have not estimated yet.”

*This article was published in the Daily Voice

Man burns to death behind chained door

The chain on the door which Cape Town resident Sivuyile Maglasana used to keep himself safe in his shack, cost him his life early on Monday.

Neighbours struggled in vain to loosen it to free him from an inferno when his Dunoon home caught fire.

His best friend Siyabonga Kepata was desperate to save him, but couldn’t get past the door, and landed in a city hospital on Monday with severe burns.

“I was sleeping next door when I heard people screaming that there was a fire. I jumped up and when I went to see, the fire was so hot.

“I ran around his shack to try and see what I could do to get him out but there was so much smoke,” said Kepata, 22, pointing to the charred shack in their front yard.

He sustained burn wounds on both of his forearms and both of his feet and had been treated and discharged from Somerset Hospital.

Neighbours of 27-year-old Maglasana said they heard noises early on Monday but, by the time they ran out, it was too late to save him.

Disaster Risk Management’s Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said fire and disaster services had responded to the incident at 3.15am on Monday and that Maglasana was declared dead on arrival.

“Police are investigating the incident as the cause of the fire has not been determined.”

Kepata was distraught during an interview with the Cape Times.

“He was like a brother to me. We used to do everything together because we both come from King William’s Town in the Eastern Cape and met here,” he said.

“One of the neighbours gave me a hosepipe and I started putting the fire out. People came to help, so I tried again to knock open the side and that’s when I saw him. His face was already so burned. I couldn’t believe it, I’m still shocked,” he said.

Several residents were standing around the charred wooden structure, where Maglasana had burned to death.

“We heard a funny noise, as if people were fighting outside – screams and banging. When I ran outside to go and see what was happening, all we saw was fire,” said a neighbour, Cynthia Noluthando Ludziya.

“He (Kepata) tried to kick the door down, but it was chained closed from the inside. He went around to the side of the shack, then something fell on his feet and burnt him.

“The neighbours used buckets of water and hosepipes to try and put the fire out but by then we knew he was gone,” Ludziya said.

“Two of his sisters came to fetch his clothes soon after the fire happened and they were crying so much. It was really sad to see something like that.

“He lived in the yard for the past three years. He was a very soft-spoken guy,” she said.

Ludziya said several neighbours had chosen not to go to work yesterday, as they were kept awake until the early hours of the morning.

“We were all awake late and haven’t slept yet.” - Cape Times