Sexwale's Unilateral Withdrawal of the Rental Housing Amendment Bill Is Not Acceptable

Today, the Minister of Human Settlements Tokyo Sexwale, withdrew the Rental Housing Amendment Bill (RHAB) from Parliament despite the unanimous support for the bill in the Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements.

The Minister argues that it would be legally and practically impossible for his department to implement the bill.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) recognises the significance of rental housing as one of the alternative housing methods that cater for the gap market, which includes middle income earners and students. The RHAB outlines mechanisms in support of a harmonious relationship between tenants and landlords.

One of the most important amendments was to introduce an appeals mechanism, which would allow an independent body to evaluate disputes between tenants and landlords.

Minister Sexwale introduced this bill in September last year. Whilst the bill was deliberated upon in the committee, the Minister had several opportunities to express his reservations or objections to the bill. No such objections were raised by the Minister.

Instead, he waited until committee deliberations were completed and the bill tabled for adoption in parliament before declaring it impossible to implement.

This undermines the legislative mandate of parliament.

Members from all parties in the Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements today expressed their dissatisfaction with the Minister's decision.

This bill was intended to improve protection for both landlords and tenants in the rental housing market. This market has an important role to play in terms of creating sustainable human settlement solutions for poor South Africans.

The DA will support proposals by the committee to have the RHAB re-introduced to the National Assembly as a committee bill.

Stevens Mokgalapa, Shadow Minister of Human Settlements

- allAfrica

Spike in protests is ‘political’

The sudden spike in service delivery protests is politically motivated and part of a plot to destabilise Western Cape municipalities, says Local Government MEC Anton Bredell.

On Monday, Botrivier residents blocked entrances to the town and stoned buildings out of frustration at the lack of service delivery. And on Tuesday some 1,000 people marched to the Breede Valley municipality in Worcester, demanding decent houses, electricity and basic services.

Bredell said he would instruct the mayors to hold urgent community meetings to address the residents’ concerns. “The mayors have received memorandums and they will deal with the issues. But there is a political agenda behind these protests.

“The people’s issues are being addressed through the correct processes, but certain people in these communities are fuelling the fire by rallying people to march and protest.”

Bredell said certain parties and candidates refused to accept the results of last year’s local elections. “They will do anything to destabilise a municipality for their own gains.”

But the ANC in the Western Cape hit back, saying there was “nothing political” about the protests. ANC provincial secretary Songezo Mjongile said the protests had been led by communities who were “tired of the DA-led provincial government’s tricks”.

“In this instance, the DA cannot say it is politics,” Mjongile said. “People are truly suffering. It is winter and it is cold; people’s living conditions have pushed them to this point.”

He said the Western Cape government’s “toilet and tap approach” to housing delivery was not working. “It’s a failure,” he said. “People need houses, not serviced sites with a toilet and tap.”

Pat Maran, ANC Boland chairman who was part of the march yesterday, said residents were “sick” of the DA’s “non-delivery”. He said the people’s primary need was housing.

“There are serviced sites with basic services in Worcester and many other settlements, the people want walls – houses and nothing less,” Maran said. “Another concern is electricity cuts. People are being issued pink letters, but they cannot afford the high tariffs.”

Bredell said the provincial government did not have enough money to build every citizen a house.

He called on communities to refrain from participating in violent protests, which he said brought the towns to “a grinding halt”, saying his door was open should communities not find joy with their mayors.

- Cape Argus

‘Rent or sell, you’ll lose your house’

Human Settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela has issued the strongest warning yet to housing beneficiaries: sell or rent your houses and we’ll take them back.

Speaking at the launch of the Nuwe Begin housing project in Blue Downs on Monday, Madikizela said beneficiaries should learn to value their homes.

“If they try and rent out their house or sell it, it shows me that they don’t really need the houses,” Madikizela said. “And if that happens, we will use whatever legal means at our disposal and take the houses back, and give them to people who really need them.”

A total of 1 200 fully subsidised houses are being built as part of the Nuwe Begin project, with phase 1 delivering 238 units. The remaining 964 are expected to be delivered by April next year.

The project includes single and double-storey units.

Nine hundred of the 1 200 units have been reserved for beneficiaries from Khayelitsha and 300 for beneficiaries from the greater Blue Downs and Mfuleni area.

The project was launched in 2007 to accommodate families affected by severe winter flooding.

Deputy Human Settlements Minister Zou Kota-Fredericks, who was also at the launch, said the Western Cape was “on the right track” with its integrated housing delivery plan.

She said she was excited that mixed-income integrated housing projects were finally getting off the ground and that the R218 million project – funded jointly by the provincial and national governments – would see people from different walks of life live together side by side.

The first group of 39 beneficiaries were from Blue Downs, Mfuleni and Khayelitsha.

Beneficiaries Nonzane Bharuza, 53, and her partner, Nceba Khwinana, 63, from Site B, Khayelitsha, are both disabled and in wheelchairs.

Bharuza said it was the happiest day of her life. “I’ve been waiting for a house so long, I can’t even remember how many years,” she said. “I’m happy. This house is beautiful and it is disabled-friendly for us.”

- Cape Argus

Bending the house rules

Housing parastatal, the Housing Development Agency (HDA), awarded two contracts worth hundreds of thousands of rand irregularly in the 2010/11 financial year.

The tenders, worth R847 000 and R576 000, were issued to two companies – Exact Cape and Young Blood – through either a written quotation system or without any quote on November 2, 2010 and March 22 last year, respectively.

This was despite the National Treasury regulations requiring competitive bids for contracts above R500 000.

The Star Africa can also reveal that the agency awarded another contract worth R249 000 to the sister-in-law of its CEO, Taffy Adler, in May last year.

Josie Adler confirmed yesterday that she was doing business with the agency.

She also conceded that she was married to Taffy Adler’s brother, David, but denied any wrongdoing.

Exact Cape and Young Blood’s contracts had been part of 32 deviations (tenders awarded outside the normal supply chain) by the agency last year, according to documents that The Star Africa has in its possession.

The agency, which has a budget of R92 million, had been established in terms of the Housing Development Agency Act of 2008, in a government attempt to deal with the housing shortage in SA.

According to a document from the agency’s supply chain management unit, it deviated from tender processes when awarding Exact Cape the tenders because “no quotes were obtained”.

The document stated that the reason for the Young Blood tender deviation was because “quotes exceeded R500 000”.

Josie Adler, a social development consultant, had been awarded a tender worth R650 an hour “to assist with the neighbourhood development area’’ in Joburg. Her contract was signed in May last year.

The tender had come into effect on August 31, 2010 and ‘‘shall terminate on 30th September 2011, unless terminated or redefined in terms of clause 9 or by mutual agreement between parties”.

Josie Adler, 68, said yesterday that the fact that she was Taffy Adler’s sister-in-law “has been public knowledge since 1971”.

She said she was a professional community development agent, who had worked tirelessly resettling the poor from the squatter camps and that she should be judged on merit.

“This matter has been dealt with before, but it keeps popping up and it’s like a bad smell to me. I am really not interested,” she said, before referring further enquiries to the agency and Sexwale’s office.

Another contract awarded without a quotation because “continuity (was) required” had been awarded to Blazing Solutions. The firm is owned by Sally Blaine, who is said to be close to Taffy Adler.

The R494 760 tender was issued on September 6, last year.

Blaine confirmed that auditors queried her tender, but said nothing untoward was found.

“As far as I am aware, there was an audit query in the draft audit report, not in terms of the validity of the contract, but relating to the failure of the HDA procurement office to produce the full contract and my valid tax clearance certificate. The HDA subsequently found and produced these documents to the auditors and the query was resolved and cleared by the auditors and audit committee,” Blaine said.

She denied her tender was R495 000, saying it was R168 000 ‘‘billable on a time-used basis”.

Blaine said she had been appointed through a competitive bidding process because she was an expert who had “extensive experience in organisational development, strategy and HR-related matters in the housing sector and ‘‘my price competitiveness informed the decision’’.

Two employees said the agency had been “paralysed” by infighting, nepotism, fear and tender irregularities.

They said that the agency’s former human resources manager, Cate Mamabolo, was pushed out in February for speaking out against irregularities and protecting staff members who were being victimised.

Mamabolo could not be reached for comment.

An employee said “generally, morale is low here. Remember, we do not know whether we are part of the government or Taffy Incorporated. He runs the agency as if it is his own private company”.

Kate Shand, the agency’s spokesperson, said “a copy of the internal audit into our procurement processes, published on the Department of Human Settlements website, found no evidence of irregularity …

“We would like to emphasise that the HDA received a clean audit for its financial and procurement management during the period in question from both its internal auditors and the Auditor-General of South Africa”.

She referred further enquiries to a statement released by Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale last month.

Sexwale, who oversees the agency, had said he had intervened, through his advisers – Barney Ntlou and Richard Dyantyi – after corruption and allegations were brought to his attention in December.

Taffy Adler has repeatedly denied allegations of nepotism, financial mismanagement and tender irregularities.

- The Star

SA affordable housing firm flourishes abroad after local snub

Port Elizabeth-based affordable housing construction company, Moladi, has made significant inroads globally after being repeatedly snubbed allegedly by a slew of former South African housing ministers.

CEO Hennie Botes started the company in 1986 but only started lobbying government around 2000 with an alternative to traditional building methods to address both massive housing backlogs while creating employment and promoting skills development.

The Moladi method or technology comprises using sustainable, recyclable materials to create re-usable plastic moulds which ultimately form cement walls or the top structure of a fully-fledged home. All materials used in the construction of a Moladi home, barring the plastic formwork, are sourced from within communities. This includes the workforce that is trained in the erection of these structures.

Botes maintains all internal and external walls of a house can be erected within a day.

To view the process of building such a home click on this link.

Moladi also operates in Mexico and Panama and, according to Botes, was recently recognised for its efforts in Haiti after using debris from a massive earthquake there in 2010 to demonstrate the viability of recycling materials to build homes.

The company is also active in Tanzania, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Angola and Mozambique. Botes says negotiations are currently at an advanced stage to address the housing backlog in India with a population of over a billion.

Locally, Moladi is involved in two private developments in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape and in Table View, Cape Town.

Botes says until about a month ago, all previous efforts to introduce a holistic approach to delivery, including skills development to government had been met with “apathy.”

He echoes the cries of Redefine Properties CEO, Marc Wainer, who recently condemned corruption in dealings with government, saying he would no longer support municipalities and local authorities demanding kickbacks in return for business.

“Government does not have the capability to deliver. That’s why we have R58bn of booboos to fix,” Botes charges.

He cites as an example the suspension of the chief executive of the National Home Builders Registration Council, Sipho Mashinini, who has been found guilty of financial misconduct. “The industry has been exploited by people that do not have the best interests of the people at heart, only their pockets,” Botes adds.

He also relates an example of a disabled woman who had approached him for assistance after being awarded a tender to build 20 000 houses. “She qualified for the tender in terms of points but did not have the capacity to deliver.”

In another instance Botes says he waited almost a year for payment of over R200 000 for replacing defective houses upon the request of a former MEC, adding small contractors and suppliers of goods and services cannot afford to wait that long.

Botes says he has met with senior government officials across the provinces with regard to providing affordable housing throughout the years, but has had no response.

Another loophole in the system, he adds, is a lack of communication between provincial and national government. Botes suspects that the authorities at national level are not been informed by their provincial counterparts of attempts at addressing the massive backlog in housing, schools, clinics etc, especially in poor communities.

He adds that this has improved in the past month or so with officials from Minister Tokyo Sexwale’s Human Settlements department approaching him about possible ways of rolling out housing projects.

The housing backlog currently stands at around one million with Sexwale saying government alone cannot tackle this issue.

The department of human settlements could not immediately be reached for comment.

- Moneyweb

Chapmans toll plaza ‘unlawful’

The construction of a toll plaza on Chapman's Peak drive in Cape Town is unlawful and unauthorised, the Western Cape High Court heard on Monday.

Advocate Jeremy Muller said transport MEC Robin Carlisle had failed to get written permission from the national environmental affairs director general, as required by the Protected Areas Act.

Speaking on behalf of the Hout Bay Residents' Association and the Habitat Council, he said permission was needed for “those things where sods are turned and buildings are erected”.

Contravention of the requirement could see a maximum fine of R5 million, or five-year jail sentence being imposed. Muller planned to argue that the toll building was not being constructed under the consent of a 2003 management agreement, and that title deed conditions for the land were being contravened.

He was arguing in favour of an interdict to halt construction of the R54 million toll plaza building.

The respondents in the matter are Entilini, of which Murray and Roberts is a senior partner, SANParks, Western Cape premier Helen Zille, Carlisle and Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa.

About 20 people gathered outside the court early in the morning, chanting protest messages and carrying placards.

Some of the signs read: “DA, People have spoken are you deaf?” and “R54m could rather build 3 schools”.

Activist Bronwen Lankers-Byrne, who went on a hunger strike on the plaza construction site in February, led the group. – Sapa

Getting rid of roads from apartheid era

The City of Cape Town is planning a R561 million upgrade project to rid the city of “apartheid roads” in poorer areas.

A draft budget will be placed before the council on Monday and a city-wide review of roads will be launched during the next financial year.

This will look at progress on road upgrades and where the biggest problem areas still remain. Possible sites for improvements include Khayelitsha, Grassy Park and Bonteheuwel.

The plan is to upgrade all sub-standard roads in previously disadvantaged areas over the next three years, at a cost of R561m.

The work will include surfacing gravel or partially built roads. Kerbs and pathways will also be built. Where needed, street lighting will be installed, steps will be built and street name signs will be erected.

The city said the difference in road conditions was glaring when moving from one part of the city to another.

Brett Herron, the mayoral committee member for transport, roads and stormwater, said the draft budget was proposing R127m be spent for the 2012/13 financial year. In the next year, R182m is set to be spent and R252m is budgeted in the 2014/15 financial year. And money from a national grant will also be sourced.

He said the council had called for tenders for a team of consultants last week. They will be responsible for the preliminary work. They will study records of road conditions, identify gaps in the records and draft specific project budgets.

“This is the first time the city is employing consultants to specifically focus on road infrastructure in disadvantaged communities, with a view to assisting us to plan a programme to overhaul the infrastructure.”

Herron pointed to areas including Manenberg, Heideveld and Gugulethu. Upgrading roads has started there. But the study will “determine future prioritisation”.

Streets in Bonteheuwel, Grassy Park and Khayelitsha have also been marked for attention. More roads will be identified later.

“In this way we will rid the city of ‘apartheid’ roads, sub-standard roads, unmade roads, roads made of concrete and roads without sidewalks.”

But Herron said these kinds of problems were spread across Cape Town.

“The city’s standards of road design will also be evaluated, the outcome of which will have a bearing on the identification of roads which do not meet that standard.

“The ultimate purpose of this project is to have the city’s roads of a uniform standard as far as practically possible.”

At the start of the city’s new financial year in July, the external teams will be put in place. From there, design details and the hiring of construction contractors will start.

Work on site is expected to start toward the end of the next financial year, around June 2013.

“It is the intention to start detail design and construction as soon as possible after the preliminary work has been completed and funding is made available.”

Herron said that as part of the Expanded Public Works Programme, residents living in the areas concerned would be hired to work on the project.

“Part of the strategy that must be developed by the consultant is the maximisation of labour opportunities.”

- Cape Argus

Long wait for a home of their own is finally over

Pensioner William Karadiya’s dream of owning a house has finally become a reality.

Karadiya is one of 11 people who have taken ownership of modest houses provided by the provincial government.

More than 1000 units will eventually be handed over to people living in six informal settlements in Nyanga and surrounding areas.

Karadiya had been living in a one-room shack in Boys Town but his tireless efforts to ensure his name was on the list finally resulted in him receiving a house, after waiting for 30 years.

It was a sunny afternoon in Nyanga’s Boys Town on Thursday when Premier Helen Zille, accompanied by human settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela, handed over houses to Karadiya and 10 others.

The humble man was lost for words.

“God has answered my prayers,” Karadiya said, fighting back tears of joy.

The conditions in which Paradiya had previously lived were appalling.

The unemployed father of two said life was unpleasant when he lived in the shack as there was no electricity and he had to walk long distances to get water from the nearest communal tap.

He said when he got the call from a human settlements department official saying he would be allocated a house, “I felt very good and told my neighbours that my dream had become a reality”.

“Life before was horrible but I am happy now. I cannot describe the happiness inside me,” he said.

Another beneficiary, Elizabeth Twala, 78, said she was delighted.

She had been living in a two-room shack with one of her children and two of her grandchildren.

“The wait has been long but finally I have a house of my own,” she said.

Madikizela told the crowd of about 200 people who had come to witness the handover of the houses: “It makes us very happy that we are changing people’s lives and giving them hope.”

Madikizela said giving the 11 houses to the pensioners “was evidence that we prioritise older people when giving houses to communities”.

Zille, who spoke Xhosa throughout her speech, encouraged the community members to take care and guard the elderly against people who might take advantage of them, as some were living alone.

Housing Development Agency project manager Brendan Abrahams acknowledged the project had been coupled with challenges.

“It has been difficult and challenging working on this project but we are happy that at the end of the day we saw eye to eye and put our differences aside.”

In July last year the construction of the houses had to be delayed as people started protesting, saying that building jobs were not shared equally among Boys Town residents.

The provincial human settlements department had to apply for a restraining order against some of those residents, prohibiting them preventing the project. – WCN

City has met 74% of five-year objectives – Neilson

The City of Cape Town has achieved 74 percent of the objectives outlined in its Integrated Development Plan for the past five years – but the opposition says there’s no cause to celebrate.

The IDP, developed in 2007 and ending at the end of next month, outlines the city’s plans and objectives from economic processes to housing.

Discussing the achievements, deputy mayor Ian Neilson said the city met 17 of its 23 goals in areas such as water, sanitation and the creation of dedicated bus lanes. It did not reach four targets, including an 80 percent im-provement in cleansing, and a 27.5 percent reduction in the demand for water from sources considered unsafe.

Two sectors – reducing commuter times and the upgrading and creation of infrastructure – could not be measured.

“We will continue to work hard at achieving and exceeding our targets, and are committed to improving services where there is a need,” said Neilson. “The targets are but a means to an end, which is to work towards our vision of Cape Town” being an opportunity city, caring, inclusive, safe and well-run.

Tony Ehrenreich, leader of the opposition in the city council and Cosatu provincial secretary, said the statistics ig-nored the living conditions of Cape Town’s poorest residents.

“The cleanliness levels in townships are still atrocious. Basic service provision and refuse refusal are inadequate in informal areas, along with safety and security as more deaths and injuries due to gang violence take place.” It appeared that informal areas had not been factored into the figures at all, he said. Neither, did the figures reflect the true nature of how the city was run.

“Infrastructure is the biggest spender in the budget, yet it is not measured – probably because the rollout has been below par in the past financial year.”

He also accused the city of using figures from random years, questioning whether they picked good years because the aggregate figures did not look great.

“For example, they have 2011 capital budget figures available, which show only around 57 percent spent. So they don’t use that. The other figures are a thumbsuck.”

The targets and achievements detailed by the city include:

* In shared economic growth and development, the city exceeded its target of creating between 10 600 to 15 400 jobs a year, directly and indirectly, and created an average 10 613 jobs a year. The city also exceeded its goal of raising R1.5 billion in direct investment in 2008, reaching R1.7bn. Cape Town Stadium was com-pleted by its 2009 deadline.

* In basic services, the city provided water to all residents and achieved a 100 percent sanitation level. The city also provided 92.18 percent of households with basic electricity, exceeding its target by 1.35 percent. It also removed 99 percent of solid waste.

* In the public transport sector, the city created 53km of dedicated transport, such as buses and taxi lanes, higher than the target of 35km. The reduction of commuter travel time from 45 to 35 minutes could not be measured.

* In integrated human settlements, the city failed to develop 9 900 new housing opportunities for 2009, achieving 8 950. It however exceeded by 3 percent its goal of having 90 percent of community facilities meet the required standards.

l In safety and security, the city reached its target of 100 percent compliance with city law enforcement and disaster plans.

* In health, social and community development, the city achieved its goal of removing 300 people from the street by 2009, reaching 1 045 people. It failed to reduce the infant mortality rate to its target of 19 per 1 000 live births, achieving a rate of 20.76. For 2009 specifically, it also failed to reduce TB to 877 cases per 100 000 people, achieving a target of 1 040. It also set up four substance abuse centres in 2009.

* In financial management, the city exceeded its goal of spending 95 percent of its capital budget, reaching 96 percent.

* The city also had problems hitting its targets in the area of the conservation of natural resources, although it wasn’t far behind its 27 percent target for reducing demand for water from sources considered unsafe, achieving 26.8 percent. The 78 percent target of recreational water meeting applicable standards was also not met, with a current success rate of 69.4 percent, while the 80 percent cleanliness target fell short by 10 percent.

In terms of energy consumption, the city aimed for a 10 percent yearly reduction, but reached only 6.7 percent.

- Weekend Argus

Parents urged to fireproof homes

CAPE TOWN - As temperatures decrease, the Western Cape Health Department urged parents to fire proof their homes.

This past week, a two-year-old boy died in a shack fire in the Happy Valley informal settlement near Blackheath.

A five-year-old boy suffered third degree burns in the same fire.

Western Cape Health Department spokesperson Darren Francis said, “We treat approximately 1,200 patients per year and a further 2,000 out patients at Red Cross and we have noticed that in winter months, there is a peak in burns.”

- Eyewitness News

Defence (X-Housing) minister on warpath - to profit from military land

An extensive audit to locate hundreds of thousands of hectares of defence force land, held in "trust" by the Department of Public Works, is under way.

The audit, expected to be completed by 2014, will establish the amount of land the defence force owns, and its location.

For decades the Department of Public Works has held land in trust for the Defence Ministry.

Now, with a dire need for housing, schools, creches and frail-care facilities for soldiers and their families, the defence force is racing to locate its property.

Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, in her pre-budget vote press conference in Cape Town last week, said locating the land was of paramount importance.

"Annually the defence force spends R1.8-billion on estate management, yet we do not even know how much land we own.

"We have audited our indebted land, locating 450000 hectares, which amounts to billions of rands worth of land. With the private sector, we want to make this land productive - to use it to develop rural communities and create small towns," Sisulu said.

She said their concerns were now about land they did not know of.

"It is this land which is being held in a trust for us by the Public Works Department. We are at our wits' end trying to get an answer from the department on exactly how much land they are holding for us and where it is.

"Their first priority should be to get their house in order, but it does not appear that they are, especially not in regard to land and properties. We believe what we own runs into billions of rands.

"The audit will now, once and for all, establish exactly what we own and where it is.

"Once we know this, we can look at things such as land swaps, where, with another government department, we can exchange land that is of no use to us," she said.

When asked why it was taking so long to establish how much land the Defence Ministry owned, Sisulu said she had no idea.

"I cannot say why the Public Works Department is dragging its feet. All we want is what is ours. We want to know what we have and we want it. It is that simple.

"This process has become extremely frustrating - an issue which requires an urgent solution. The critical shortage of facilities such as housing, schools, clinics and frail care for our soldiers make the location of our property an urgent priority."

- Timeslive

High time Cape Town did away with racial enclaves

The Times Editorial: The City of Cape Town has embarked on what could prove to be a difficult path with its plan to change the city's apartheid-era geography.

As the Group Areas Act was enforced in the 1960s, spatial development in Cape Town took on a distinctly racial character. Formerly mixed suburbs, particularly those close to the city centre, became for the most part enclaves of white privilege. Coloured residents were relocated further from town.

As apartheid continued, the explicit racial construction of Cape Town became entrenched. New coloured and African townships, such as Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha, were created as dumping grounds for the dispossessed races.

This week, Belinda Walker, who oversees spatial planning in the city, launched a spatial development plan that would integrate the citizens of Cape Town.

"What we are saying is that we don't think people who live in shack settlements should live forever out on the edges of the city," she said.

Walker's statement of intent - that Cape Town will be a city for all its residents - is certainly encouraging. But there have been other attempts to integrate the sprawling city.

In 2009, then minister of housing Lindiwe Sisulu raised the ire of Constantia residents with the "Comprehensive Plan for the Development of Integrated Human Settlement" with the intention of building 750 homes for low- and middle-income families.

At the time, the DA dismissed the Constantia plans as nothing but an election tactic. The houses were never built.

This time it is the DA government that wants to integrate the city. It is certainly in its best interests to do so. Many of the claims of racism regularly levelled against Cape Town have to do with the legacy of apartheid and the way in which residents are racially divided.

Overturning decades of racial engineering will require some persuasion, especially of wealthy residents who might have forgotten how they became the owners of the most valuable properties in the city.

- Timeslive

Rich Cape suburbs to get gap housing

The city says it will build scores of affordable apartments in some of Cape Town’s most affluent suburbs and closer to the CBD.

The plan is part of the new Cape Town Spatial Development Framework, launched by the City of Cape Town and the provincial Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning.

This will take affordable, or gap housing, to areas across Cape Town, including Pinelands, the city centre, Tamboerskloof and Salt River.

The plan is one of several in the new policy, which also looks at creating employment hubs closer to informal settlements. There will also be mixed development areas, with residential and business areas closer to each other.

The city says the new framework replaces the “apartheid-era plans”.

Belinda Walker, the mayoral committee member for economic, environmental and spatial planning, said one of the goals was to “transform the apartheid city”.

It was “sensible” for the city to “house people close to the city”.

Some informal settlement residents could afford homes, but there were issues with securing funding from banks.

This new framework proposed more developments for gap housing.

This is housing for people who earn too much to qualify for a subsidised house, but struggle to secure a bond.

One of the plans was to build high-rise apartments along parts of Voortrekker Road between Bellville and Salt River.

Walker said this would fit in with the extension of the MyCiTi service along that road.

But the city maintained that the new developments would not change the feel of the suburbs.

Walker said some parts of the city centre already catered for high-rise blocks, while Tamboerskloof had more Victorian-themed homes.

“The city will do this in a way that does not disturb the heritage of the area,” she said.

According to the framework, the city must “avoid large concentrations of poor people”, similar to Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha, in “new growth areas”.

“(The city should) promote a greater mix of market-driven, gap and subsidised developments in as many areas as possible,” the document reads.

Other parts of the policy include pushing for partnerships with the private sector. This would, ideally, provide gap housing in private developments.

The ANC in the city council welcomed the move, adding that it was part of what they had been calling for in their local government election campaign last year.

- Cape Argus

Boy dies in shack fire

A toddler was killed and eight people were left homeless by a fire in Kuils River on Wednesday, the Cape Town disaster risk management centre said.

Spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said the blaze broke out in Kuphumleni street, Happy Valley, at about 11am.

He said Avan Dreyer, two, was killed and a five-year-old boy injured in the shack fire.

It was not known what started the fire. - Sapa

Graveyard shack dwellers refuse to relocate

The City of Cape Town wants the 110 families living in Maitland cemetery to move “immediately” to Mfuleni, but some families are refusing to as they fear becoming victims of crime in Mfuleni and being stranded far from their support networks.

Abraham Coetzee, 43, who said he has been living in between the graves since 2000 and has constructed a two-room shack on the cemetery premises in which he lives with his partner and four children, is one of the 10 families refusing to move.

Although he admits his current living conditions are not good, he says Mfuleni is dangerous and far from where he earns a living collecting scrap metal.

The 10 families refusing to move say they feel cheated by the City, as the small vibracrete enclosed settlement, which is situated at one end of the cemetery, was given to them by the City after it lost a court battle with the residents in 2007.

Coetzee said the court ruling required that the City find alternative accommodation for the residents if they wanted them to move out of the cemetery.

Coetzee and the other families do not feel that Mfuleni can be considered alternative accommodation, insisting they be moved somewhere within, or close to, Maitland.

Coetzee believes that going to Mfuleni would create conflicts with the people currently living in informal settlements there.

“Mfuleni is not an option,” he said.

Another resident who refuses to move is Megan Moses, 40.

Moses said the City was in contempt of court by trying to move them without consultation.

He said the court had instructed the City to find suitable alternative land within the parameters of Maitland.

“I refuse to move to the notorious Mfuleni.  I earn a living by helping neighbours clean their gardens and houses so going to Mfuleni means losing my piece jobs,” she said.

“There has not been any engagement with the residents, all we heard was that we are moving to Mfuleni and when we enquired we were told to keep quiet and pack our belongings,” said Moses.

The City’s Human Settlement Department head Mzwandile Sokupa was adamant that by next week all of the 110 families would be moved to Mfuleni.

“Serviced sites are available in Mfuleni and the move is for their own benefit.  Where they are moving to is much better than their current conditions.

“Because it is voluntary to move to Mfuleni we are still in the process of persuading everyone to move out of the area (Maitland cemetery),” said Sokupa.

When asked what would happen to the 10 families that refuse to relocate, Sokupa said: “we will cross that bridge when we get to it.” - West Cape News

Cape Town in new move to smash apartheid walls

Cape Town has unveiled plans to rid itself of apartheid settlement planning and bring previously excluded race groups closer to the city.

Councillor Belinda Walker, who oversees the city's spatial planning, and Anton Bredell, the Western Cape MEC for environmental affairs, revealed the initiative at the launch of the city's spatial development plans yesterday.

"We want to transform the apartheid city ... to encourage integrated settlement patterns and do that in a way that enhances the uniqueness of place and quality of the build form of Cape Town, and enhances the value of resources, scenic routes and [tourist destinations]," said Walker.

"We are saying that we don't think people who live in shack settlements should live forever out on the edges of the city."

The plan, developed over the past six years, replaces the outdated apartheid-era guidelines approved 24 years ago.

Walker said the plan emphasised the importance of striking a balance between urban development and environmental protection.

She said the city's strategy of correcting historical planning imbalances included linking outlying areas to the city through an efficient public transport system, provision of gap housing for middle-income earners and higher population densities.

"Doing that is going to bring people who were previously excluded into the city and start to break the apartheid barriers," said Walker.

She allayed fears that the plans would change the historic characteristics of certain areas.

She said the planning would ensure that historic areas retained their uniqueness.

She acknowledged that the city had to deal with more than 200 informal settlements.

Bredell estimated the city's infrastructure, water and sanitation backlog at R11.2-billion.

- Timeslive

Pupils hauled out of class to join protest

Protesters brought an entire neighbourhood to a standstill, shutting down shops and schools.

The Mfuleni residents marched to eight schools, ensuring that each one shut their gates and sent their learners home on Monday.

About 1 000 learners joined in the protesting mob of about 300 adults as they went from school to school and shut down a supermarket.

The mob was armed with knobkierries and golf clubs.

The siege of the sprawling township is exactly what the residents had vowed to do a week ago.

They say they want their councillor Themba Honono to step down – and this is the only way to draw attention to their housing issues.

Protesters held up placards reading: “Honono we don’t want you as our councillor” and “You said our mothers stink, you think you are better than us”.

When the Daily Voice arrived early on Monday, residents had forcefully removed pupils from Bardale Primary School.

Moments later, they gathered outside Bardale Secondary as learners waited for word from the principal to shut the school down.

Community leader Thandazile Qave says: “We wanted the children to join us because they are part of the struggle.

“They sleep where we sleep. We are aware they missed out on school but then they had to be here and fight for what they deserve – which is better housing.”

One of the men at the head of the protest, Thembile George, says police tried to stop them from closing the first school.

But then after threats from residents, they backed down.

“We were not going to stop because of the police – what we wanted was to close the schools and we succeeded in that,” says George.

“And we still want the councillor to step down and we will make sure he does.”

Locals say they have been quiet for a long time but now they are standing up to the councillor.

“He thinks he’s above everyone, he has his favourite people who he caters for,” adds George.

“There are people on the housing list which he says they registered in 1970.

“But Mfuleni was only established in 1974. In 1970 people were busy fighting for freedom and there was no list drawn for this area.

“Now we want to be treated fairly.”

After shutting down the schools, the mob broke through heavy steel gates at Shoprite in Mfuleni shopping centre.

But moments after running inside, security guards fire rubber bullets, scattering the crowd.

By the time the crowd left, the centre had also closed its doors.

As word of the blanket shutdown spread, anxious parents raced to schools to collect their kids.

“Our children have nothing to do with this protest,” one parent complains.

“I don’t understand why they have to be affected by this.

“And what makes it worse is that the children are preparing for their exams and they are disrupted by people who won’t get what they want by keeping learners out of school.”

After five hours of demonstrations, the residents went to Bardale Informal Settlement where they planned to dismantle shacks.

But a small army of cops was waiting for them and the mob, now led by children – some of whom are still primary school learners – were told to go home.

Backyard dwellers leader Mzoxolo Mbudu says: “People built shacks on the field and the City of Cape Town evicted them and they have been living in the streets since then.

“And then yesterday morning we saw that people were building shacks and they got the go-ahead from the City and the councillor.

“All we want is for the councillor to work with us in accommodating everyone in the community.”

One suspect was arrested for malicious damage to property, says police spokesman November Filander.

He is accused of throwing stones at homes in Nuwe Begin housing project.

But the man was later released because he is mentally ill.

- This article was published in the Daily Voice

Councillor joins in a march against him

A ward councillor had a strange response to protesters who chanted songs accusing him of being a k** leader.

Instead of arguing with the marchers, the ANC’s Luvuyo Hebe joined them as they sang, “He is a dog, he must go”.

Some people were shocked to find out the TR Section main man Luvuyo Hebe is the bad man portrayed in the songs.

When the Daily Voice arrived at the Andile Msizi Hall in Site B, Khayelitsha, the people were singing: “Ulawula ububhanxa Hebe”, meaning “Your leadership is k**”.

Hebe stepped out of a red BMW and walked up to the the crowd.

Wearing a long coat and a Malema-style beret, the councillor started toyi-toying with the furious residents.

People pointed at him saying: “Stop interfering with the housing project!”

But Hebe continued demonstrating with them.

Community leader Albert Khoza says: “He has kept us out of all the meetings about the housing project in Nuwe Begin.

“And he only took some of his friends and gave them jobs at the construction site.

“We are tired of him having secret meetings with some people.”

When one of the community leaders tried to read the hand-written memorandum, Hebe interrupted and told the people he wanted to go inside the hall.

But people refused and started threatening to beat him up.

But he confidently said: “No one will touch me, I’m not worried.

“But I will not stop whoever wants to.”

He told the crowd that they were fighting for something they know nothing about.

“On Friday morning, I went to Mfuleni to the development which the residents shut down on Wednesday, we went to make sure that the workers continued with the construction,” Hebe says.

“There was no agenda or secret meeting.”

After talking to the people, he marched again with them to another hall along Mew Way.

- This article was published in the Daily Voice

Building, shacks burn in blazes across city

Firefighters spent hours battling a blaze that broke out in a Bree Street building in the city.

Fire department spokesman Theo Layne said the ground and first floors of the Imbuyambo Cultural Centre, near the corner of Bree and Prestwich streets, caught fire at about 12.40pm yesterday.

No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire has not yet been determined.

“There was nobody inside when firefighters arrived on the scene,” Layne said.

The fire attracted the attention of hundreds of spectators throughout the afternoon, who stood watching the firefighters, and taking pictures and videos with their cellphones.

Big black clouds of smoke billowed from the building as a fireman on a crane blasted water over the top of the smouldering building.

Some roads in the area were closed.

By late yesterday afternoon, firefighters were still at the scene, but Layne said the fire was under control.

Two people died and another two were injured in shack fires across the city at the weekend.

On Friday night a Gugulethu man died from his burn wounds after a shack in Native Yard 6 caught fire about 8pm.

In an earlier fire in Site C, Khayelitsha, a man and woman sustained burn wounds when their shack caught fire.

In Zonnebloem, a man died after a backyard shack burnt to the ground just before midnight on Friday.

Four people were displaced but unharmed when a fire in Monwabisi Park destroyed three shacks in the early hours of yesterday morning, disaster management spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said.

- IOL

Sexwale ruffles builders' feathers

The Master Builders South Africa (MBSA), a national organisation representing the building industry, is none too pleased with Tokyo Sexwale's proposal for a state construction company.

"We are very concerned with the proposition tabled by the Minister [of Human Settlements]," said Tumi Dlamini, executive director of the MBSA.

"Our concern stems from the fact that South Africa already has an existing and established building and construction industry with the necessary expertise to deliver on both complex building and infrastructure projects as well as the housing needs, both in this country and abroad."

Sexwale's reason for suggesting the need for a state construction company was because of the large amount spent to rectify government houses due to inexperienced contractors.

"This does not take away the fact that some small companies have experience, but a lot of fly-by-nights take the taxpayer to the cleaners for their shoddy workmanship," said Sexwale.

To this, Dlamini said: "The introduction of a state-owned firm will no doubt have a negative effect on the growth and sustainability of the existing building industry, an industry that is already under a lot of pressure."

Construction companies Stefanutti Stocks, Basil Read and Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon (WBHO) reported a decline in operating profits as well as headline earnings a share in their latest financial results. So too did road construction company Raubex.

Dlamini said government should rather improve its efficiency through skills and training projects for construction workers.

Frost and Sullivan analyst Sarah O'Carroll said government should first consider the success or failure of other sub-Saharan state construction companies.

"In Namibia, the National Housing Enterprise was established to assist government to increase the housing stock, particularly low- and middle- income houses. However, the state construction company no longer builds low-income houses, but is instead focused on providing middle-income houses," said O'Carroll.

- Businesslive

Fires leave one dead, 67 homeless

A man was killed and 67 people left homeless in four separate fires in the Cape Town area this week, the city said on Friday.

A fire in Valhalla Park on Friday morning destroyed a house and displaced eight people, disaster risk management spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said.

On Thursday evening, a man was killed when his shack caught fire in Monwabisi Park, Khayelitsha.

Earlier that day, a fire destroyed 11 shacks in the Fisantekraal informal settlement in Durbanville. A total of 37 people were left homeless.

Four flats and four backyard huts were razed on Wednesday night in Zone 9, Langa. Twenty-two people were displaced.

Solomons-Johannes said the city was providing food parcels, clothing, blankets and building materials for the fire victims. The cause of the fires was unclear. - Sapa

Industry rejects proposed state-owned construction company

The Master Builders Association of the Western Cape (MBAWC) supports the majority of the statements made by Minister of Human Settlements, Tokyo Sexwale, in his address to the National Assembly regarding the Human Settlements Budget Vote.

Rob Johnson, executive director of the MBAWC, says Sexwale's address contained a number of elements which have their full support but there are a few which they oppose.

Among the items which received the MBAWC's backing, were Sexwale's description of the current context in which this year's Human Settlements Budget Vote occurs. "Inflation, which has a direct impact upon construction materials, is according to the Reserve Bank around 6.3%. The Bureau for Economic Research (BER) reported that the building costs are increasing at an alarming rate. 

BER found that in the fourth quarter of 2011 the Building Cost Index increased by 14.1% compared to the 6.4% recorded for the second quarter of 2011.

"The essential building materials for housing construction have recorded price increases of above inflation (PPI). For example reinforcing steel recorded a price increase of 38.9%, ceiling material increased by 10.8%, hinges by 9% and bricks by 8.6%. The result is that it will cost more to build the same size of a house today than it did a year ago."

State body will be inefficient

Johnson and the MBAWC strongly disagree with Sexwale's proposal to establish a state-owned construction company. "Having a state body take on construction of housing or anything else will only result in more inefficiency and wasted cost as the state has a very poor record when it comes to appointing competent staff and producing efficient delivery. Delivery is more likely to prevail in the private sector as it is profit driven.

"The key to delivery is the state remaining the client and properly screening its bidding contractors. Smaller contractors can still be part of the system if well thought out mentorship programmes are introduced into tender documentation. What this would entail is emerging contractors working alongside established contractors and being mentored to enable them to take on their own appropriately sized contracts in future. This would also benefit larger contractors in that it could form part of their Enterprise Development Programmes," Johnson says.

"A state body could also raise the level of corruption and political interference rather than reduce it as more state employees will be involved in the process. On the whole the Minister made a number of excellent points and we hope that our members will be involved in helping to change the residential landscape of our country," he concludes.

- bizcommunity

Probe into claims of housing corruption

The Housing Development Agency is to launch an investigation into allegations of corruption at the Temporary Residential Area 5 in Delft where residents allege homes are being sold for as little as R4 000.

This comes after residents from the area and other parts of Cape Town alleged that some members of the TRA 5 steering committee had been illegally selling houses to individuals.

The TRAs were established by the City of Cape Town and the provincial government to provide “medium-term” temporary accommodation for people in emergency situations.

The city established two TRAs – Blikkiesdorp and the Mfuleni TRA (also known as Bosasa) – and the provincial government has established Bhekela in Philippi, Tsunami in Delft and the Langa TRA.

Kayalethu Makeleni, councillor for ward 106, said houses at the temporary residential area had been sold for at least R4 000 per unit.

Delft residents said the illegal sale of the houses was unfair.

The City of Cape Town said it had no involvement in the project, saying it was a housing agency issue.

Bosco Khoza, HDA’s operations manager of the N2 Gateway project, said the scam had only been brought to the agency’s attention recently.

He said he was unaware of exactly how many houses have been sold illegally or how individuals were getting away with selling the houses.

“The HDA is meeting with the (steering) committee and will find out more information,” said Khoza.

- Cape Argus

De Lille slams city for neglecting poorer areas

Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille has promised that poorer areas will be as clean as the city centre once she has whipped city officials into shape.

In an interview De Lille slammed the city and some officials for failure to monitor refuse collection and to keep poor areas clean, saying more developed areas like the city centre were being prioritised.

She said companies contracted by the city to clean some communities were not being monitored well enough by city officials and the efficiency of cleaning services and refuse collection in some reas was dropping drastically.

She said Cape Town received accolades for being a clean city, but this was not reflected in certain communities like Nyanga and Athlone.

“Part of the city’s policy is to get services from SMMEs where we go for smaller contractors. But the quality of the service… is dropping because there’s no monitoring from the city’s side. So we’re going to beef up monitoring in the areas so we get the same kind of cleanliness as in the city centre,” said De Lille.

Areas of concern included Nyanga, Gugulethu, Athlone, Manenberg, Bonteheuwel and Sir Lowry’s Pass Village where there were protests last week.

“It’s also the areas where there are a number of people in backyards. We can’t give one household one wheelie bin. This will be a budgetary issue because we will have to buy more wheelie bins. We will now be employing extra people,” said De Lille.

She said in Sir Lowry’s Pass Village she would encourage the community to help the city monitor the contractor.

Gavin Silber of the Social Justice Coalition agreed that monitoring contractors had been an issue in informal settlements. Last year the Social Justice Coalition and Ndifuna Ukwazi complained and called for service delivery agreements between the city and the contractors to be released so they could be held accountable.

“Refuse collection in informal settlements is all outsourced and private whereas in the city it isn’t.”

He said in the Taiwan informal settlement, for example, residents were being offered refuse removal bags once a week, but some residents hadn’t received anything in six months though they were being forced to pay for these bags.

“Refuse collection is far below par and it’s all linked to sanitation.

ANC chief whip Xolani Sotashe said: “The City of Cape Town is only looking after affluent areas. The poor areas are in limbo. It is so filthy here I wonder how some people can live like this.” - Cape Times

Hempcrete, Made From Hemp, Used To Build Houses

Imagine you had a building material that was energy-efficient, non-toxic and resistant to mold, insects and fire. The material may even have a higher R-value, or thermal resistance, than concrete, a claim that is still being investigated. The only problem? The base of the Hempcrete creation is hemp, which comes from the cannabis sativa plant -- the same one that produces marijuana, which is a federally banned substance. Because of this, industrial hemp production is illegal in the United States.

Still, the Hempcrete mixture of hemp, lime and water is being used to some extent for construction jobs across America. One of the companies working with Hempcrete isHemp Technologies, a construction company based in North Carolina that is adamant about the advantages of building using Hempcrete. They’ve built homes out of hemp in Hawaii, Texas, Idaho and North Carolina, where they are currently working on a project known as “NauHaus.”

Throughout Europe, the use of hemp for construction purposes has spread across many countries. "We got started about three years ago and I was looking for sustainable building products, Hemp Technologies co-founder David Madera told GOOD Design. [Co-founder Greg Flavall] was in Europe, found Hempcrete and we basically did a tour of Europe and looked at everything that they had done in the U.K., France, Belgium, and Switzerland. We did our first seminar in 2009, and it was the most important thing that helped promote it.”

Seeing Hempcrete as a more efficient and sustainable building material has led tosome dubbing it as a gateway product. The people behind the U.K.-based Tradical Hemcrete are using their hemp based product to create a carbon negative thermal walling material. Hemcrete can be used for everything from roof installation to flooring to wall construction. The creators of the Carson, California-basedHempTraders.com, distributors of “fine hemp products”, sell Hempboard. Hempoboard is a medium density fiberboard made from 100 percent hemp hurds and can be used to make environmental furniture, counter tops, walls and shelving.

Considering the ban on the industrial hemp production in the United States, the eco-friendly and potentially cost efficient -- were it legal -- use of hemp for building will remain a bit complicated for now. Hemp Technologies have a section of their site dedicated to the perplexing history of America’s hemp laws, perhaps an indication that they understand their place in evolving the discourse on the issue that hemp isn’t just a “drug”, but an untapped, underused resource for good.

- Huffingtonpost