‘Bonnytoun shows city is not pro-poor’

Cape Town - The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has referred the city’s provision of services at the Bonnytoun informal settlement near Wynberg to the Public Protector.

Community activist Colin Arendse had asked the commission to investigate conditions at the settlement.

“The city’s claim that they are pro-poor is a barefaced lie and their actions at Bonnytoun bear testimony to this,” Arendse said.

SAHRC provincial manager Melanie Lue Dugmore informed him that the commission had heard complaints such as cleaning contractors not properly monitored, and toilets being serviced once a month or even once every five months.

“The SAHRC has assessed the matter and found that the challenges experienced by the community relate to poor delivery of services, including poor maintenance and provision of basic services,” Dugmore stated in a letter to Arendse on Thursday.

Mayco member for utility services Ernest Sonnenberg said on Sunday: “We will look into the matter on Monday and then comment.”

Arendse said the complaints were similar to the sanitation problems the Social Justice Coalition had raised with the city for more than two years.

Treatment Action Campaign founder Zackie Achmat and 20 other activists were arrested on September 11 when they chained themselves to railings outside mayor Patricia de Lille’s office. They had wanted a meeting with her to discuss sanitation problems in Khayelitsha.

The group appeared in court the following day and are expected to return to court on October 23.

aziz.hartley@inl.co.za

- Cape Times

Hemp expected to take off as building material as first hemp house opens in Thornbury

VICTORIA'S first house built from hemp will open to the public next month.

Architects Dorit Przyeorowski and Steffen Welsch, who designed the Thornbury house, said the much-maligned hemp plant was set to take off as a sustainable building material with its excellent insulation properties.

"Everyone smiles and laughs when they hear about hemp as a building material because they associate it with marijuana, but it's a slightly different crop and you can't smoke it," Mr Welsh said.

"We believe it has a big future as a material for housing on a small and medium scale."

Ms Przyeorowski said hemp had strong environmental credentials because it was fast growing and stored carbon dioxide.

She said it had low embodied energy and the potential to make walls carbon neutral.

>>Would you consider using hemp as a building material? Tell us below.

The hemp is mixed with lime and water and then poured into formwork, similar to the way in which rammed earth walls are made.

Owner Michelle McGeachen said she and her husband, two children and parents were looking forward to opening their Northcote home to the public and inspiring other people to consider using the new building material.

"It's a little bit more expensive, but you offset the expense with the reduced heating and cooling costs," she said.

"The house is lovely and warm in winter and will be cool in summer."

Ms McGeachen said the material was also strong, durable and weather proof.

The not-for-profit Alternative Technology Association has organised the Sustainable House Day opening.

The hemp house is open on Sunday, September 8, from 10am to 4pm, at 123 Jenkins St, Northcote.

- Heraldsun

Nkandla: Thuli Madonsela, a woman in waiting

Public Protector Thuli Madonsela has a lot on her plate. On Wednesday, she released a number of reports, wins for the little guy, David over Goliath. But everyone is still waiting for the big one, her report into the upgrades to President Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla home. It’s almost ready. By GREG NICOLSON.

Public Protector reports are framed in legalese. Madonsela regularly finds both institutions and individuals guilty of malpractice, maladministration, acting with a conflict of interest, or displaying incompetence. Her well-known reports often deal with a high-profile individual and the flouting of public procurement guidelines. But the juicy parts, the ones that those of us without a law degree can devour, come when she describes the fact-gathering process.

Did the implicated individuals cooperate or obstruct the investigation? If it’s the latter, one might suspect someone was trying to hide something. It makes the guilty party look, well, really guilty, because they know they’ve done something wrong.

Fair to say, someone is holding up the Public Protector’s investigation into the projected R270-million upgrade to Zuma’s private Nkandla residence. Her office is left fixing a comma here and there, replacing Americanisms with South Africanisms (isn’t Microsoft Word just a pain!), and swapping all the “Nkandla compounds” to “the President’s private residence”. That’s all they can do right now.

“There is no new update on Nkandla. We have done our part, we have a draft report written, and with any little time we get we keep editing it,” Madonsela said on Wednesday. “This is all we can do until we get that information.”

The unnamed party has until 30 September to provide the documents, requested on 11 August. She added that she doesn’t think there’s any malice in the delay (of the information which could implicate the president and top ministers in huge levels of fraud).

Alas, it wasn’t Zuma’s show on Wednesday. That will come when Madonsela eventually finalises her report. (If she’s looking for a catchy title, I propose “JZ: From Amandla to Nkandla”.)

Madonsela was briefing media on the release of a number of lesser-known investigations. In Northern Cape’s Gamagara Municipality, she found “systemic governance failure” and agreed with a number of the complaints lodged against Mayor, Maria Diniza, who passed away last week.

The community requested Madonsela’s intervention after service delivery protests erupted last year in Olifantshoek, demanding Diniza’s resignation. Three schools in the area were shut down during the protest and many of the learners are repeating the school year.

The report into the issue was titled, “The Children Shall Pay”, and sadly it was the children who suffered as the community protested against incomplete infrastructure projects, lack of service delivery and an abuse of state resources by the mayor. Madonsela made wide-ranging recommendations to ensure the community has access to basic rights and that the municipality sorts out its finances.

She also released her report, “Meet Me in Court”, an investigation into the damage a broken storm water drain caused in Cape Town. Madonsela ordered that the City of Cape Town pay the complainant, Mr Kumwenda, R25,871 for the damages he suffered when the drain burst and flooded his house, damaging his goods. “The City’s repudiation of the complainant’s claim for damages was unjustified in the circumstances and is, accordingly, improper,” said the Public Protector.

It was a day of wins for the little guy. In another report, Madonsela found the state Workmen’s Compensation Fund “unduly delayed the processing and payment of compensation benefits to the complainant, for a period of six years”, clearly an act of maladministration that prejudiced the payment of a valid claim for an injured person.

Finally, the Public Protector also found against the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) for appearing to prejudice the chairperson of the Society of Part-Time Commissioners and Labour Law Practitioners of South Africa for a presentation he made to Parliament. Madonsela advised that the director issue an apology for the remarks he circulated about the chairman and afford him the opportunity to have a dispute heard in the CCMA.

If it sounds like Madonsela’s busy, she is. She gave an update on some of the current cases her team is working on, a Who’s Who of South Africa. There are ongoing investigations into the Tshwane mayor, Kgosientso Ramokgopa, the SABC’s Hlaudi Motsoeneng, the Department of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries, the Department of Education and Edu-Solutions, the Free State government, the former acting CEO of PetroSA, Yekani Tenza, the NYDA, the Department of Mineral Resources, sports minister Fikile Mbalula and his deputy, Gert Oosthuizen.

There’s one report, however, everyone’s waiting for. It was the last of Madonsela’s updates: “The Public Protector is investigating a complaint relating to the allegations of improper conduct and misappropriation of state funds in security upgrades at the president’s private residence in Nkandla. A provisional report is nearly complete.” 

- DM

Madonsela still waiting for info on Nkandla

Public protector Thuli Madonsela says she is still waiting for information to complete the probe into the upgrade of Jacob Zuma's Nkandla homestead.

Public protector Thuli Madonsela was still waiting on Wednesday for outstanding information to complete her investigation into the upgrade of President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla homestead.

"There is no new update on Nkandla. We have done our part, we have a draft report written, and with any little time we get we keep editing it," she told reporters in Pretoria.

"This is all we can do until we get that information."

Madonsela said she could not disclose who was supplying the information.

"The comprehensive request for the information was on the August 11," she said.

"There was some clarity, that was requested by the party concerned and we have done our best to provide that clarity."

Malice involved

She did not think there was any malice involved in the delay.

"We have now given the party until September 30 to provide the information."

Madonsela's report is expected to shed light on the more than R200-million spent refurbishing Zuma's private homestead at Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal. – Sapa

Cape’s TB database problematic - study

Cape Town - The Western Cape’s electronic reporting system for drug-resistant tuberculosis is riddled with inaccuracies, a local study has revealed.

The study concluded that TB in children was under-reported and under-diagnosed. Researchers said this was worrying because it had implications for resource planning and burden estimates.

This also means the World Health Organisation (WHO), which monitors diseases and assesses the performance of different health systems worldwide, could be getting incorrect information about the state of this disease in Cape Town.

 The study, by Penelope Rose and other researchers from Stellenbosch University’s Desmond Tutu TB Centre, found that only two-thirds of children clinically treated for drug-resistant TB were recorded in the electronic reporting system.

The Western Cape uses two electronic TB registers: ETR.net captures the provincial TB data, while a separate electronic register, EDR.web, is used to register drug-resistant TB.

The two registers not only allow the generation of useful TB reports on important TB programme indicators, but they are also aimed at improving quality of data and facilitating more complex data analyses.

The registers are submitted to centralised TB units before being reported to the national database and then to the WHO.

Of the 77 paediatric drug-resistant cases analysed, only 49 cases, or 64 percent, were found in the EDR.web - suggesting under-reporting.

A number of inconsistencies, including cases of eight children that were indicated as not having a confirmed diagnosis, were entered into the electronic system as if drug-resistant TB had been confirmed.

About 21 percent of children with confirmed drug-resistant TB were entered in the register as not confirmed, while clinically they had a confirmed drug resistance.

Five children who were treated for drug-resistant TB and initially registered in the electronic register, did not appear in the final count.

In addition, records of 14 children who were registered in the electronic system did not match the clinical cohort, while seven children who were treated for drug-resistant TB in earlier years were recorded in the register only last year.

While completeness and accuracy of data were relatively high for the type of drug resistance, at 94 percent, indication that treatment had started was slightly lower at 84 percent and HIV status in HIV-infected children was recorded to be 100 percent accurate.

Although the Western Cape had about 17 percent of paediatric TB, only 4.4 percent was registered as drug-resistant, prompting researchers to conclude that TB in children was under-reported and under diagnosed.

The researchers raised concerns about the fact that some facilities had no direct access to the electronic data capturing system, and still used old-fashioned paper registers.

“The process of transferring data from the paper register at facility level to the electronic register needs to be simplified with improved verification system. The roll-out of molecular diagnostic tests may lead to increased detection of both adults and children” with drug-resistant TB, wrote Rose.

sipokazi.fokazi@inl.co.za

- Cape Argus

Cape weather IS wettest for years

Cape Town - Capetonians are talking of little other than how this winter is the wettest they can remember – and they’re probably right, considering that the Cape Town Weather Office says most parts of the Western Cape recorded almost double the usual amount of rain last month.

This year, Strand, which has a rainfall average of 101.9mm in August, showed the highest increase in rainfall – with a record 235.2mm recorded last month.

The rainfall in Khayelitsha, Philippi, Nyanga, Gugulethu, Ottery, Delft and Kuils River last month was 168mm – the second highest for the month after the 169.7mm recorded in August 2004. This was compared to an average for those areas of 85.3mm.

Rainfall in the Green Point and V&A Waterfront area nearly doubled, jumping from 76.6mm in August last year to 151.2mm this year. Chapman’s Peak also had its highest August rainfall since 2000, at 171.6mm.

Weather office spokeswoman Gail Linnow said: “Most places in the Western Cape recorded almost double the amount of rain for the month of August 2013, compared to the average for the area.”

In most areas in and around Cape Town, last month saw either the highest or second highest rainfall since 2000.

The highest recorded August rainfall for the Cape Flats was 160.7mm in 2004, 195.5mm for Observatory, also in 2004, and 224.4mm in 2001 for Gardens.

Observatory had 188.8mm of rain last month – more than double its rainfall for the same month last year. Gardens had just over 200mm of rainfall last month, not far short of its 2001 high.

Rainfall in the Septembers since 2000 has been significantly lower than that of August, with the wettest September for most areas being in 2008. But this September is not over.

So far this month, the wettest area in Cape Town has been Gardens, with 34.4mm of rain.

Dam levels have also increased over the years as a result of heavier rains.

Five of the city’s six major dams, and five of the seven minor dams, were over capacity last week for the first time since 2009.

For the years 2009 and 2013, the only major dam with water levels below capacity during the week of September 9 to 15 was Wemmershoek dam, near Franschhoek and Paarl.

The province’s biggest dam, Theewaterskloof Dam, near Villiersdorp, had the highest water levels, with a recording of 104.9 percent – which is also the highest recorded water level for the week of September 9 to 15 between 2009 and 2013.

The last time Theewaterskloof Dam, which has a capacity of 480 188 megalitres, was over-capacity was in 2009, with water levels recorded as 102.8 percent.

Voëlvlei Dam, near Gouda, which has had water levels within or just under capacity since 2009, was 1.8 percent over capacity last week.

The province’s third largest dam, the Berg River Dam, reached its highest water levels – 102 percent storage – for last week between 2009 and 2013.

Of the province’s minor dams, Kleinplaats had the highest water levels for the week with 102.5 percent storage – the first time the dam has been over capacity.

Alexandra and Lewis Gay dams, the province’s smallest and third smallest, respectively, are the only dams to have not gone over capacity for the week September 9 to 15 in the years between 2009 and 2013.

sibongakonke.mama@inl.co.za

- Weekend Argus

Cape Town braces for big chill

Cape Town - Heavy rain and snowfall is expected in Cape Town this week, the city said on Wednesday.

“Freezing conditions are expected on Friday morning, with predictions of minus three degrees Celsius... and possible snowfalls on Table Mountain,” said spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes.

“Heavy rainfall is likely over the Cape metro, Overberg, southern parts of the Cape Winelands, and the west coast districts on Thursday evening and Friday.”

A flash-flood warning was issued in some parts of the province, along with a fire warning for the Karoo.

“The city has accordingly upgraded the preparedness level of its disaster response teams in advance of the heavy rainfall predicted and the likelihood of localised urban flooding in Cape Town.”

Solomons-Johannes urged travellers and residents to take precautions and be wary of landslides and rockfalls.

“Those travelling in mountainous areas across the Western Cape are advised to expect delays and possible deviations as mountain passes may be closed to traffic.

“Members of the public should not hike along the mountainous areas as they may find themselves in distress.”

- Sapa

Homeless too poor for shelters

Cape Town - Street-dwellers in Cape Town’s city centre have noticed the influx of newcomers. They say money is the main reason they aren’t living in shelters, which charge around R10 a night.

It’s Amanda Zondi’s first winter on the streets. She left her children in Durban nine months ago to look for work. When she arrived, she stayed in a shelter for three weeks, but ran out of money and had to leave.

“In a shelter it’s nice because you sleep under a roof,” she said. Now, when it rains, she takes cover under a tree in the Company’s Garden. “When it’s raining it’s the hardest. You don’t have a place where you can hide. You are wet every day.”

The faded tattoos on either side of Mike Boikolate’s nose are a mark of his old life: he used to be a member of the 26 gang, but now says he is tired of crime. Since 1998, he has slept on a bench in the Company’s Garden. He’d like to stay in a shelter, but said people drink and shout and don’t obey the shelter rules. “Some people are crazy there.”

Instead, when it rains, he sleeps with Zondi under a tree. “My blankets are wet. Then people come in the morning and kick us out.”

Ivan Hendricks used to share a small shelter with a friend in the Bo Kaap, but another group of homeless people stole his plastic sheeting to rebuild their shelter, which burnt down due to a spark from a tik pipe.

“Whenever there is rain, we jump up and go seek somewhere else,” he said. “We grab a wet blanket, we look for some dry cardboard, and we ramble on.”

The city centre is the best place to find shelter in winter, according to Trevor Parsons, who has been living on the streets for 28 years. He sleeps with a group on Buitengracht Street, along with Tino Skippers, who has been on the streets since he was four.

“I’m not saying we who are living in the street are perfect,” said Skippers. “There are guys who break into cars and rob houses - but they do it to survive.”

Parsons and Skippers both said the Central City Improvement District (CCID) had brought only trouble for street people.

“They even abuse the children,” Skippers said. “They kick you when you are sleeping and take your blankets away.”

They also said the CCID told them they’d be arrested for “PK” - a term used to refer to people not obeying police orders, usually street people told to move out of the area.

The CCID was not available for comment.

Cadet News Agency

- Cape Argus

Cape CBD is ‘honey pot’ for beggars

Cape Town - Begging and homelessness in Cape Town are on the rise and many view the city centre as the “honey pot” of the metropole, says Taki Amira, chair of the Good Hope Subcouncil.

Amira has called for an urgent meeting with the Central City Improvement District (CCID) and the councillors responsible for social development in the mayoral and social development portfolio committees to come up with a “point-by-point action plan” to deal with the problem.

Areas that fall within the Good Hope Subcouncil include the CBD, Green Point, Sea Point and Hout Bay.

Amira said that while it was “not a crime to be homeless”, more needed to be done to curb the growing numbers of people begging on the streets and living under bridges or on traffic islands just outside the city.

The CCID “did their bit”, and the ward councillors were allocated funds for street people programmes, yet there were still too many beggars. Tourists were a soft target in the city centre, and many visitors were unaware of initiatives such as the “give responsibly” campaign, which discouraged people from handing out money.

Karen Cain, a social worker at The Carpenter’s Shop, an NGO providing rehabilitation, training and accommodation for homeless people on Roeland Street, said that while she had not noticed a rise in the number of people using the shelter’s ablution facilities, there were definitely more people drifting in during the day.

Bedding down on Buitengracht Street. Photo: Willem Law

Cape Argus

Cain attributed this to rising unemployment and drug addiction, particularly heroin. She said many homeless people wanted to remain close to town and were afraid of using a shelter where they could possibly be relocated to an outlying area. If there was no place near the city centre, they would opt to remain on the street.

Hassan Khan of The Haven Night Shelter said there had been a “great push of homeless people out of the CBD” by law enforcement and the CCID. This had resulted in a proliferation of street people living and begging on the periphery of the city centre, in areas not as rigorously patrolled. “We expect potential flare-ups and increased tensions as crime rises in these residential areas.”

Khan said there had been little effort to enforce city by-laws in areas beyond the CBD. “If there was greater uniformity in by-law enforcement, and the same interventions as in the CBD, there would be less incentive to set up camp beyond the city.”

Without incentives to come off the street, homeless people would continue to live on the periphery of the city centre, sleeping where they could.

Tasso Evangelinos, chief operating officer of the CCID, said his social development team had noted there were not more beggars, but they were becoming more aggressive.

The City of Cape Town has a street people policy and by-laws to regulate behaviour. But it has been under fire for the steps it has taken to stop homeless people from making fires and living under bridges.

An unidentified homeless man found huddled on Wale Street. Photo: WILLEM LAW

Cape Argus

Rocks have been set in concrete under the footbridge across Nelson Mandela Boulevard and under the unfinished elevated freeway to discourage people from living there. Fires could weaken the bridges’ rubber and concrete, and the presence of people on these busy roadways poses a risk to themselves, motorists and pedestrians.

Councillor Dave Bryant submitted a motion to the Good Hope Subcouncil to replace benches on Government Avenue with “inventive designs” to encourage sitting rather than lying down. But the motion prompted an outcry and Bryant withdrew it.

Finding a solution to the city’s homeless problem was “challenging”, said Jack Mahoney, of The Ark, an NGO dealing with street people.

“There is a lack of accommodation. Even if they get employment, where do they stay?”

He said the Ark, based in Faure, was almost at capacity with 798 of its 800 beds occupied. While the city was helping by opening assessment centres, it needed to offer some of its unused buildings on the border of the city for accommodation. “We’ve got to offer them something tangible.”

Mahoney said that most people wanted to be close to town, where there was a greater chance of finding work.

Evangelinos said the only way to deal with the problem was to “up the ante radically” on social services.

It was not a law enforcement issue or a simple question of employing more field workers, he said. There needed to be an appropriate outreach and skills development programme with professional staff.

The city had not responded to questions about the need for an urgent plan by the time of going to press.

anel.lewis@inl.co.za

- Cape Argus

Bid to get Cape Town Stadium millions back

Cape Town - The City of Cape Town is determined to recoup some of the billions it spent on building Cape Town Stadium.

* It is claiming on insurance for design changes that were made to the structure while it was being built.

* It is lodging a civil claim against the construction companies found by the Competition Commission to have been involved in tender rigging and price fixing for the project.

* It is in talks with the professional team to settle a disputed R200 million for construction fees.

Although the initial construction budget was estimated at R2.9 billion, costs ballooned to R4.5bn as the city raced to get the 2010 World Cup venue completed on time.

Deputy mayor Ian Neilson said in April that although the city had been suspicious about the rising costs, it had no option but to continue to meet Fifa’s deadline.

PricewaterhouseCoopers forecast then that the stadium would run at an annual loss of R7.1m for the first three years. But the city revealed earlier this year that its operating costs amounted to more than R436m since the 2009/10 financial year. Its income for the period was just R92m.

The city has subsequently spent R4m on advice from experts and lawyers to recover damages from the construction companies that admitted to rigging the bids and fixing prices.

Two years ago, the Competition Commission found that 15 construction companies had been involved in tender collusion and price fixing for World Cup stadium tenders, including Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon (WBHO), Stefanutti Stocks, Murray & Roberts and Group Five.

Cape Town Stadium, built in 32 months by Group Five and WBHO, was one of the affected stadiums. Although the 15 firms reached a settlement agreement and paid a combined R1.5bn in fines, the City of Cape Town is lodging a civil claim to recoup some of the money it was overcharged.

An advocate specialising in construction has advised the city that it can also claim professional indemnity insurance if there was evidence of negligence or misjudgement in the design of the stadium, said deputy city manager Mike Marsden.

He told the city’s financial oversight committee that design changes to the raking columns made the stadium less rigid, so an additional bracing had to be inserted.

Pressed for more detail, Marsden said the changes to the stadium design “made the stadium construction more complex and costly”.

The city is also hoping to settle a disputed amount of R200m that was charged in professional fees. Marsden said that while the arbitrators found in favour of the professional team, which included architects, engineers and environmentalists, the city’s contractual agreement allowed it to appeal against this ruling.

Marsden said the city’s legal team were meeting the professional team to resolve the matter, and was confident of “a reasonable and a fair settlement”.

The city has been saddled with the running costs of the stadium since December 2010 when the original operation company SAIL and Stade de France terminated a 30-year contract.

Although various events have been held at the stadium, the city needs to look at a long-term operating model if it hopes to break even.

A premium anchor tenant would ensure returns on the investment, and there has been speculation that the Western Province Football Rugby Union might move from Newlands to Green Point. Other tenants mooted are Big Concerts, Ajax and Chippa United.

It is also hoped to change the zoning that restricts commercial activities on non-event days. Options here include a casino, a nightclub and possibly a hotel.

- Cape Argus

Cape spends R16m on flood relief

The City of Cape Town has spent nearly R16 million since August to help people affected by storms and floods, it said on Monday.

“Since August, 204 206 residents have been affected by flooding caused by the severe weather,” city spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said in a statement.

“The number of flood victims who have been helped by the city since August is nearing 160 000.”

He said more people were helped during bad weather conditions at the weekend.

“The city provided flood relief to more than 400 residents over the weekend, restored electricity connections, and cleared roads affected by the inclement weather.”

He said 60 houses were affected by floods in the low-lying area of Khayelitsha. Hot meals and blankets were provided to the displaced.

The Lotus Park informal settlement was waterlogged and the city provided sand to the area, Solomons-Johannes said. - Sapa

Madonsela waiting for Nkandla info

Public Protector Thuli Madonsela is still awaiting information to complete a probe into the upgrade of President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla home, her office said on Monday.

"The relevant party has been requested to provide the outstanding information by 30 September 2013," Madonsela's spokesperson Kgalalelo Masibi said in a statement.

"Upon receipt of the information, the public protector will finalise the provisional report, which will only be shared with affected parties."

Madonsela's report is expected to shed light on how money was spent on refurbishing President Jacob Zuma's private homestead at Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal.

Masibi said the purpose of releasing a provision report was to give affected parties an opportunity to respond to the findings.

She reminded the media that section (7) 2 of the Public Protector Act prohibited the disclosure and publication of the contents of a provisional report.

"The public protector will study the responses and integrate them to the extent possible in the final report.

"The responses will not be discussed or commented on, as this undermines the integrity of the investigation as well as the public protector's effectiveness," Masibi said.

The final report would be made public after it had been finalised.

The date had not yet been decided.

- SAPA

Gale force winds, rain headed for the Cape

Cape Town - The city has warned residents to expect adverse weather, including gale force winds, for the next few days.

Cape Town’s Disaster Management spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said rough seas and north-westerly winds of up to 65km/h were forecast.

“The extended period of precipitation will exacerbate the discomfort levels and flood-risk situation on the Cape Flats as the water table will increase significantly,” he said on Sunday night.

The weather service issued a severe weather alert on Sunday of high seas with waves exceeding 6m between Table Bay and Plettenberg Bay. This would subside overnight.

According to the city, 158 880 residents and 39 505 household structures had been negatively affected by storms last month and this.

It had spent nearly R16 million providing help to people during the winter months. Sunday’s high winds and heavy rain in Cape Town caused further flooding.

Sonja Jordaan who lives in an informal settlement in Schaapkraal said her children were sick and she could not remember a winter as bad as this one.

Her shack was wet and her clothes never dried. “We can’t even light a fire because everything is wet.

“Children can’t live like this,” she said.

“The water is contaminated.

“We can’t take our children to school… how can they walk through it?”

Solomons-Johannes said: “It is private property and has nothing to do with the city.”

matthew.hirsch@inl.co.za

- Cadet News Agency

Nine in the dock after poo protests

Cape Town - Nine men who allegedly dumped human waste at Cape Town International Airport appeared in the Bellville Magistrate's Court on Monday.

The men, all out on bail, were told their case had been transferred to the Bellville Regional Court.

They would return to court on October 23.

The men are Loyiso Nkohla, Andile Lili, Yanga Mjingwana, Ben Dyani, Jaji Diniso, Bongile Zanazo, Thembela Mbanjwa, Bantubakhe Mqobodiya, and Wandisile Mkapa.

They allegedly dumped 10 buckets of faeces at the airport's departures terminal on June 25. They are charged under the Civil Aviation Act, and face up to 30 years in prison if found guilty.

Nkohla is an ANC councillor and Lili is a former councillor. They were out on a warning for a similar offence at a Cape Town train station at the time of their arrest. Seven of the men were initially denied bail, but were later released following an application in the Western Cape High Court.

They were ordered not to convene or attend a protest without authorisation, to refrain from threatening, intimidating, or interfering with members of the public, and to not damage public property.

Nkohla, Diniso, Mbanjwa, Mjingwana, and Zanazo recently had their ANC membership temporarily suspended pending a disciplinary hearing outcome, related to sanitation protests in the province.

“This is the result of continuous defiance of the organisational instruction to desist from engaging in activities that bring the African National Congress into disrepute,” provincial secretary Songezo Mjongile said at the time.

Lili was expelled as a councillor in March after being found guilty of taking part in the illegal demolition of houses and for making derogatory comments to Khayelitsha residents.

The ANC suspended him for bringing the party into disrepute.

He is challenging the expulsion in the Western Cape High Court.

Nkohla was given a three-year suspended sentence last year for disrupting President Jacob Zuma's centenary speech at the Good Hope Centre.

Cape Town has been hit by a number of human waste dumping incidents in the past few months by people protesting about sanitation in informal settlements.

Many believed the portable flush toilets (PFTs) being rolled out by the city were no better than the bucket system. - Sapa

HEMP SEMINAR ON TRANSFER OF HEMP TO COMMERCIAL REALITY

A report on Hemp Seminar, titled: Challenges on transfer of hemp (Cannabis sativa) from agricultural feasibility to commercial reality, by Monde Sotana, Rural Development Centre (RDC) training coordinator at Fort Cox College of Agriculture & Forestry on the 6 September 2013.

The proceedings of the occasion were led by Ms Vuvu Ngcofe, the manager for public relations and marketing who was representing the college in the hemp project. The seminar was held at the RDC main hall which is situated at the old college section of the main college. It was well attended as the hall was full. It was attended by: RDC manager Mr Cebani who open the proceedings, the college students who are completing a national diploma in agriculture at National Qualification Framework (NQF) Level 6, the out of school youth National Rural Youth Service Corps (NARYSEC) that are sponsored by Department of Rural Development & Land Reform (DRDLR). Students were excited and interacted so well with the panel and general audience.

Mr Monde Sotana is a hemp project manager for Eastern Cape Hemp Pilot Project Initiative (ECHPPI) that was launched on the 6 August 1999 by Mr Max Mamase who was the provincial minister of Agriculture in 1997 till 2005. The project was divided into two phases: Phase 1 period (1999 till 2005) where agricultural test was done to determine the suitability of hemp for fibre and oil production. Mr Sotana was the researcher on the project since its establishment, hence now we are celebrating 14 years of the hemp industry by holding this seminar.

Mr Sotana has worked with other pioneers in hemp industry and this includes the likes of Dr Sunshine Blouw of Council for Scientific Industrial Research (CSIR), Dr Deon Joubert of Agricultural Research Council – Institute for Industrial Crops (ARC-IIC) and Dr Thandeka Kunene the CEO of House of Hemp (HoH). The tour was given on the origins and challenges of the hemp industry for the past 14 years of its existence.

The hemp experts can easily differentiate between hemp and marijuana or dagga. The hemp was tested at farmers land in Mthiza near East London, Qamata, Libode, Qumbu, Mbizana, and Maluti. It was also done at research stations like Dohne, Addo, Fort Cox College of Agriculture & Forestry, University of Fort Hare, and Tsolo. A total of 11 experiments were conducted. A hemp production guideline for farmers written by Mr Sotana and others was published in 2005. It is available on request from Dohne Agricultural Development Institute in Stutterheim tel. 043-683 1240 and at ARC-IIC in Rustenburg. He outlined that hemp is grown under licence valid for 12 months. The hemp market is about R400 million, hence the proposal to establish a factory of that amount in the province was made and supported by Department of Trade & Industry (DTI).

Mr Sotana exhibited products made from hemp: (west coat, bag, socks, tissue oil, cream and jeans). The president of the Eastern Cape hemp farmers called Indalo Oils & Fibre Industries Secondary Cooperative Mr Ziphilele Matinise and his secretary Ms Thami Madliwa were giving incisive inputs on the hemp industry establishment. The Eastern Cape House of Traditional Leaders (ECHTL) was represented by Chief David Gayika and Mrs Gayika. Mr Matinise was happy that the ECHTL was here together with the farmers so that we can all try influence towards enabling legislation. The current laws still regard hemp as illegal and as farmers we need special permission to grow it from national Department of Health (DoH).

Mr Gys Vermeulen, the head of academic at the college encouraged the hemp industry to think out of the box. He stressed the need for strengthening the purpose of agricultural colleges that straddle between Higher Education (HE) and Further Education & Training (FET) as there are now going to be called Agricultural Training Institutes (ATI’s). Fort Cox College needs to find its niche area of expertise, in that case, it could be hemp. Grootfontein Agricultural College is known for small stock. Cedara Agricultural College is known for dairy cattle. It is important for the college to diversify, we can get into other niche areas like organic production, job creation, entrepreneurs, value chain addition within the farm setting is taking place.

The way-forward:

1. The co-ordination of private sector, public, government agencies, farmers, in a systematic and productive way. Action: Mr Sotana’s office.
2. Establish three hemp shops in E.C. province at the college and two other areas. Start with Market outlet at college, as a point of departure, then start a hemp factory. Agro-processing activities to be undertaken. Action: Mr painter
3. The hemp conference at the college once a year every August.
4. Awareness campaign to be led by Ms Ngcofe.
5. Appropriate action plan to be drawn.
6. Registration and access to permit and Licencing arrangement.
7. Seeds multiplication led by ARC-IIC, farmers and HoH.
8. Re-structure hemp into Hemp-Eastern Cape at provincial and local affiliation.
9. Next meeting will be held on the 26 September 2013 at 10h00 at RDC at Fort Cox College of Agriculture & Forestry.

- Fort Cox College

Activists question toilet policy document

Cape Town - The Social Justice Coalition (SJC) and the City of Cape Town are engaged in a war of words over sanitation provision in Khayelitsha.

On Thursday, the SJC accused mayor Patricia de Lille of fabrication and “an exceptional show of force” after the arrest of 21 activists outside the Civic Centre on Wednesday.

Mayoral committee member for utility services Ernest Sonnenberg said the SJC was using the sanitation problems for “self-serving publicity”.

The city and the SJC have been at loggerheads over the provision of sanitation in informal settlements and about the way the city has monitored companies contracted to supply and clean chemical toilets.

On Wednesday, SJC activists, including general secretary Phumeza Mlungwana and Ndifuna Ukwazi director Zackie Achmat, chained themselves to railings outside the Civic Centre.

They were arrested and charged under the Illegal Gatherings Act and are to appear in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on September 18.

De Lille described the protest as a “publicity stunt” that “smacks of grandstanding”. She said the coalition had not responded to an offer to meet on October 8 or 17.

But the SJC said: “These are outright fabrications. The mayor only proposed these dates after the SJC’s lawyers, the Legal Resources Centre, sent two letters and it was clear that the SJC would be taking legal action against the city.”

The coalition again accused the city of being lax in its monitoring of toilet contractors and said it would continue to protest in spite of the arrests.

Mlungwana said the SJC had tried to set up an earlier date with De Lille as the sanitation problem in Khayelitsha was an “urgent” matter.

In June, it asked the city to provide a policy on sanitation and a plan to fix the problem in Khayelitsha, which the city had done.

“We had a lot of questions about the document. It didn’t say who was responsible for what and when they should be doing it. This is an urgent issue and we want the mayor to give answers,” Mlungwana said. In the policy document there was no indication of public consultation.

Achmat said the SJC wanted the city to provide a breakdown of how many people were employed to clean toilets, not only in Khayelitsha but other areas, and details of the equipment provided.

Sonnenberg said the 800 people employed in the programme were provided with “protective clothing, necessary immunisation and training”.

“There will always be management challenges… and the city has sought to respond to these as they arise. If the SJC has concerns…these should be reported as they arise so they can be remedied, not kept back to generate self-serving publicity.”

xolani.koyana@inl.co.za

- Cape Times

Toddler dies alone in shack blaze

Cape Town - Two-year-old Kietshepile Nakin died alone in a shack while her mom went out with a boyfriend.

The toddler was sleeping when her home caught fire in Witsand, Atlantis, on Friday .

The two-year-old’s charred remains were found among the ruins of her home.

Now residents want the child’s mom to be arrested for neglect.

Neighbours say Deboseng Nakin, 36, had left the child in the care of her grandmother and went to sleep at her boyfriend’s house nearby.

But the grandmother left for work the next morning, leaving the child sleeping alone inside the backyard shack of the family house.

An unattended electric stove is believed to have caused the blaze that partially destroyed a portion of the house.

When the Daily Voice visited the house on Wednesday, family members were busy tidying the house. A photograph of Kietshepile was hanging against a charred wall.

Deboseng said she regrets leaving her child for a boyfriend.

“I did not expect this to happen,” she said.

“I left her in the care of my mother, but she went to work in the morning.

“I still can’t believe this, it’s hard to accept. I am very much hurt.”

The child’s aunt, Nthuliseng Nakin, 28, said residents had tried to douse the fire with buckets of water. But the blaze had already covered the shack.

“The flames were coming out from under the door,” she said.

“I knew then that the child will not come out alive, it’s very sad.

“We will miss the baby, because she was a playful child who liked to sing.

“The family is angry and very sad because of what happened.”

Atlantis police said an inquest docket has been opened.

- Daily Voice

Sisulu lives it up in swanky Westcliff

Public Service Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has been spending thousands of rands in taxpayers’ money staying with her security officers at one of Joburg’s most expensive five-star hotels – less than 70km from her official residence in Pretoria.

The minister last week told The Sunday Independent she stayed at the luxurious Westcliff Hotel, north of Joburg, but said taxpayers only paid for her security and her accommodation when she was on official duty.

She said she paid for her private stay.

Sisulu initially promised to provide all the invoices for her stay at the hotel, ranked eighth out of Joburg’s 70 hotels, but 24 hours later the department refused to provide the invoices.

“This department will never give journalists invoices,” said Sisulu’s spokesman Ndivhuwo Mabaya.

He confirmed that the minister “officially” spent five nights at the hotel between June last year and June this year before the hotel closed for renovations.

“Each booking consisted of one day at a time, therefore it is five days in the 12 month period. These five times were for official purposes. Her private stay at the hotel is private, she deals with it privately when it comes to payments,” said Mabaya.

A businessman who met Sisulu for an official business meeting at the hotel said she stayed in a luxury suite.

The hotel said whatever he consumed would be covered by the ministry.

According to the Westcliff ratecard issued to a reputable travel agency, rooms at the Westcliff range from about R3 000 for a standard room to R7 500 for a one-bedroom suite.

The presidential suite is said to cost over R12 000 a night.

Had the minister occupied a one-bedroom suite and her driver and bodyguard a single room each, it would mean Sisulu spent at least R60 000 for just five nights.

Mabaya said: “Depending on (her) engagements for the following day, the time it starts and (her) engagements from the day before, the minister can stay at a hotel in Johannesburg,” said Mabaya.

“It is very normal for the minister to leave Cape Town and have a meeting in Johannesburg later in the evening to prepare for the engagement the following morning.”

Four sources – including two officials in her department, a businessman and a government employee from another department – said Sisulu stayed and worked from the hotel. They all spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

But their versions regarding the times of Sisulu’s stays at the hotel differed.

This could not be independently verified.

One source said Sisulu justified her stay by saying she was assisting the Mandela family during the former president’s stay in hospital.

Sisulu told The Sunday Independent that she had always used the hotel for private and official purposes.

An aide from her ministry confirmed that the minister “would work tirelessly throughout the night” and had to attend meetings at Luthuli House.

Mabaya however refused to divulge how much the ministry spent on accommodating Sisulu’s security detail.

“Whenever (a) minister is at any place there is security provided by the state. This is part of their work, that is standard, what’s the purpose of the invoices?” he asked.

“The reason they are called security is that they must secure the minister at all times. They protect the minister all the times. What will a security who is 100km away do to provide security… when they are 100km apart?”

At Sisulu’s official residence in Bryntirion, Pretoria, she would however have VIP protectors at her gate, allowing her driver and bodyguard to go home overnight.

This is not the first time Sisulu has come under scrutiny over her spending.

Last year, it was reported that she refused to move to the department’s headquarters at Batho Pele House in the Pretoria CBD because the building was derelict, in the wrong part of town and unsafe for ministerial staff.

Instead she was stationed at the State Information Technology Agency‘s offices in Erasmuskloof in Pretoria East.

Sisulu also came under fire for her alleged abuse of the SANDF’s ultra-luxury Gulfstream jets while she was the defence minister.

It was alleged that Sisulu took 203 trips over three years.

Sisulu however said she only undertook 35 official trips with the hired planes and that many of the trips were to and from international destinations or when the SA Air Force Falcon 50 allocated for use by the minister was not available. – Additional reporting by Moshoeshoe Monare. - Sunday Independent

Madonsela resists cabinet pressure to drop Nkandla probe

Members of President Jacob Zuma's cabinet tried to strong-arm public protector Thuli Madonsela at two meetings into dropping her investigation into his R208-million upgrade of his private Nkandla estate.

Several ministers and state law adviser Enver Daniels have confirmed there were discussions and meetings, but not that Madonsela was asked to back off.

A source with direct knowledge of the discussions told the Sunday Times, however, that Madonsela was twice told to stop her investigation but insisted she had a right and a duty to pursue the probe requested by Democratic Alliance parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko.

Mazibuko said the intervention was an "outrageous" violation of the constitutional protection of the independence of the public protector's office.

"There is no circumstance under which this is OK," she said yesterday.

Ministers Thulas Nxesi of public works, Nathi Mthethwa of police and Siyabonga Cwele of state security tried at the first meeting, held at police headquarters in Pretoria, to persuade Madonsela the job could better be done by the auditor-general, Terence Nombembe.

After Madonsela rejected a letter from the state attorney's office purporting to record her agreement to drop the investigation, she met four ministers at the offices of the Department of Public Works, the source said.

Daniels, who is known to have attended at least one of the meetings, confirmed that he was consulted on legal issues surrounding the probe into the massive revamp of Zuma's estate in KwaZulu-Natal.

"I was asked to advise on certain aspects. I may have made some recommendations but the professional ethics of my office mean I cannot talk about that," he said.

Nxesi said ministers in the security cluster had several meetings with Madonsela.

"We won't comment on the content of our discussions. But that we persuaded her not to investigate is nonsense. We reject that claim," he said.

Asked if he had wanted Madonsela to look into the Nkandla spending, Nxesi did not mention the public protector but said only: "Our preliminary report, which we released at the beginning of the year, talks to processes being taken by the AG [auditor-general] and the SIU [Special Investigating Unit]."

He said later that ministers had cooperated with Madonsela.

Zuma told parliament in November: "My residence in Nkandla has been paid for by the Zuma family. All the buildings and every room we use ... was built by ourselves as family and not by government. I have never asked government to build a home for me, and it has not done so. A necessary distinction must therefore be made between work which I have mandated and initiated in my home, as opposed to the security enhancement undertaken by government," he said.

It has since emerged that so-called security upgrades included a new shop for Zuma's first wife, tunnels, a cattle culvert, a bunker, sports fields, a clinic and other enhancements.

Nxesi commissioned the only other investigation into the Nkandla spending - an internal public works probe - but classified the report top secret and refused to discuss it in public. He suggested initially that it had been classified by Cwele, but later admitted he had himself decided to keep it secret.

At the second meeting with Madonsela, Nxesi, Mthethwa, Justice Minister Jeff Radebe and Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula told her that Nombembe had launched an investigation, and they again urged her to leave it to him.

Radebe eventually agreed at that meeting, however, that Madonsela should continue her parallel investigation.

The Sunday Times has established that neither the auditor-general nor the SIU has implemented any inquiry into the Nkandla spending.

"Up to now, we have not received any indication that the auditor-general's expertise is needed," said Africa Boso, Nombembe's spokesman. "This is an indication that the public protector is fully and capably in control of this process."

Madonsela confirmed through a spokesman yesterday that she had met several ministers, but declined to say what was discussed.

"Government has already informed the nation that there was a meeting on August 8 2013 preceded by a meeting on July 2. There have been other meetings but ... the public protector is unable to confirm what was discussed," her office said.

Madonsela visited Zuma's estate with Mapisa-Nqakula in August last year. She is expected to complete her investigation within days and will send a draft to Mazibuko and to all the people and agencies involved in the Nkandla upgrade for comment.

Other ministers said in a joint statement issued by justice spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga that they had not tried to pressure Madonsela.

"The ministers of the justice, crime prevention and security cluster confirm that there have been interactions and meetings with the public protector pertaining to the Nkandla investigation. The ministers wish to emphasise that some of these meetings were held at the request of the public protector, in pursuance of her mandate. The insinuations raised by faceless sources with respect to the purpose of these legitimate interactions are dismissed as devoid of any truth," they said.

Mazibuko asked the public protector in September last year to investigate "whether any undue influence was placed on the Department of Public Works to allocate these funds, whether the funds have been properly budgeted for, whether any funds have been transferred from other much-needed projects for this revamp and whether the allocation of funds to what is essentially a private home - which will not remain in the state's ownership - represents irregular expenditure".

She said yesterday it was particularly inappropriate for Radebe to have participated in a meeting to discuss Madonsela's inquiries because his department funds her office, but has no authority over it.

Radebe's office urged the public to await Madonsela's report. - Additional reporting by Caiphus Kgosana, Mzilikazi wa Afrika, Sibusiso Ngalwa and Brendan Boyle

- Timeslive

‘Install our toilets, or else’

Cape Town - The ringleaders behind the poo-flinging attacks in Cape Town have given Western Cape Premier Helen Zille and mayor Patricia de Lille an ultimatum to install their proposed toilet model for the city by the end of September or risk national government intervention.

The group revealed on Wednesday what they called an alternative solution to the sanitation crisis in the Western Cape during a media briefing in Site BM Khayelitsha.

It follows the ANC’s working committee decision to temporarily suspend the membership of seven of its members believed to be the ringleaders behind the poo-throwing protests.

Holding up a pamphlet of a Zapiro cartoon depicting Zille’s head as a toilet pot, and the words “I know, I know… it was a crap idea” written on it, the group, including some of the suspended members, said they had taken it upon themselves to explore alternatives to Zille’s “potta-potta” toilets.

Lwandile Baba gave a demonstration of how the SMARTSAN recycle toilet unit works. The tanks takes 300 litres of water, which is put in every three months.

The system uses bacteria that “digest” all the sewage from the pan. Toilet paper and newspapers are dissolved into liquid.

The pumps are run by solar power on top of the roof of the dwelling and a back-up battery is inside.

The toilet can be connected to between two or three houses.

The water that is poured into the system is circulated and cleaned up and then flushed back into the system.

Suspended ANC members Loyiso Nkohla and Andile Lili said they wanted the toilet model to be made available to each household in the township this month.

Lili added that residents had already indicated that they would be happy with the type of toilets the group is proposing.

Nkohla said that that the protest action by residents was not driven by any partisan political agenda.

“They (the protests) are caused by and driven by the despicable living conditions in our communities.”

He challenged the city to come up with a better solution, if it had any to bring to the table.

The group refused to discuss their temporary suspension by the ANC, saying the matter was internal.

Sthembele Majova said: “Some of the people charged, they don’t know anything about that. They have not been informed by the ANC.”

warda.meyer@inl.co.za

- Cape Argus