New housing delivery plan ‘a DA poll ploy’

Cape Town - Opposition parties in the Cape Town city council were less than impressed with the city’s new housing delivery draft plan – which aims to speed up delivery – saying it was an election ploy and that the DA should come up with a radical plan to wipe out informal settlements.

The issue of land and housing came up several times in council this week, with mayor Patricia de Lille saying all roleplayers in the public sector had a part to play in addressing the housing crisis.

She told council that they had been trying to lobby the national government for about 10 years to release parcels of land at Youngsfield and Wingfield for housing.

Informal settlement groups and opposition parties have also appealed to the city to strengthen its efforts to acquire the land.

De Lille said: “We have sent numerous requests over a period of about 10 years to the two national departments… Unfortunately, not every branch of government, and certainly not most of national government, regards the needs of service delivery as urgently as Cape Town.”

Council has approved a new draft framework to manage housing delivery.

It will take up to 70 years to eradicate the backlog of 375,000 houses at the current delivery rate. The city says it currently builds about 6,100 homes annually, but that it needs to deliver five times more in order to level the backlog by 2031.

The city admitted that it was not able to keep up with the growing housing demand with a 30 percent population increase.

Ganief Hendricks, from Al-Jama-ah, said: “This policy is an admittance that the DA won’t be able to solve the housing backlog. It maintains the apartheid status quo.”

He said the city’s plan should be to completely eliminate informal settlements.

ACDP councillor Ferlon Christians said: “Why is this framework only before council now in an election year and not earlier? The DA is playing politics, promising people houses.”

ANC councillor Thembinkosi Pupa said: “At last the DA realises their current model for the delivery of houses is not working. We are supporting this framework and hopefully it will bring down the backlog, but we will monitor it closely.” Mayco member for human settlements Tandeka Gqada said: “We are not playing party politics, we are facing the reality.”

De Lille wrote to President Jacob Zuma earlier this month asking him to intervene and get the land at Wingfield and Youngsfield released, but said she had not received a substantive reply.

According to a provincial report, Youngsfield is being used by the Defence Department and is therefore not pursued for human settlements.

The report looked at an erf in Bloubergstrand that can accommodate about 13 880 units, Wingfield, which can accommodate about 9,760, and an erf in Khayelitsha which could deliver 25,872 houses.

zara.nicholson@inl.co.za

- Cape Times

Chaos as protesters march in Cape CBD

Cape Town - Chaos erupted in the city centre earlier on Thursday when hundreds of protesters marched through the CBD, chased by police officers.

Police officers aggressively dispersed the crowd and herded marchers back to the train station while revving their motorbikes and quad bikes. Some of them also threw stun grenades.

The march was organised by the Ses’khona People’s Movement, under the same leadership that wreaked havoc in a city protest last year.

A woman who was bumped by a police bike as she tried to run away said: “One came with a scooter and hit me, I couldn’t run because I’m too old, so I stood there. This is abuse.”

Mavis Mbangwa said the protestors had done nothing wrong. “We were going with our complaints to the legislature. We want land and proper sanitation – not this potta-potta (bucket toilets).”

Mbangwa was one of a group of women who were standing and sitting in St George’s Mall when around five police officers mounted on bikes roared through the pedestrian area. Police shouted and revved their engines hot on the heels of the terrorised protestors who were forced to run or be hit by the vehicles.

They were herded back to Cape Town station and instructed to get on trains.

Police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk spoke from the train station: “ We’re going to get these people back on the train now. There’s a couple hundred down here.”

Van Wyk said it was a joint operation with other law enforcement bodies.

“They are coming from different areas,” he said. “A lot have been taken off the train at Esplanade and Woodstock.”

He said that at least one person was arrested, although he was not sure of the total tally.

Van Wyk had no comment on the aggressive tactics used to usher people out of the city.

Vuyokazi Mancincana, a Khayelitsha resident and one of the protest organisers, said they applied for a permit in January but only received a response denying the permit last week Friday. “Our lawyers didn’t have time to appeal, so we decided to come anyway,” she said.

They hoped to pressure provincial government into making land, housing and sanitation available for residents of informal settlements in Cape Town.

“They don’t want us [to protest] in town; they want us to stay in the township and wreak havoc there,” Mancincana said. “But we are not going to give up at all.”

Chelsea.geach@inl.co.za

Zodidi.dano@inl.co.za

- Cape Argus

Illegal protesters descend on Cape Town CBD

Cape Town - About 150 protesters have descended on the city’s CBD as part of an illegal protest against poor service delivery.

Police have already warned vendors to pack up their goods. 

The police’s Captain FC Van Wyk told News24 that about 150 protesters were in the CBD but that they were being “contained” by officers. Van Wyk said there had been no violence thus far.

Marchers had already been stopped at Woodstock train station just outside the city. Marchers at other stations had also been stopped, police said.

A photo from @CapeTownFreeway shows a large group of protesters on the highway just outside Cape Town.

This is a developing story. More information will follow. 

- News24

Chaos erupts in Cape council meeting

Cape Town - A full meeting of the Cape Town city council was disrupted on Wednesday as ANC councillors threw their agendas on the floor to protest against the draft budget being tabled before the documents had been circulated.

By 3pm, the council was still stuck on the first agenda item as the Speaker had to call for several adjournments to restore order.

Despite the chaos, the council managed to approve the controversial new city logo, which has been lashed by a storm of criticism from the opposition and the public since it was revealed.

The uproar started when mayor Patricia de Lille tabled the draft budget for the next two years with the recommendation it be released for public comment.

ANC chief whip Xolani Sotashe said: “We’re told we must vote but we haven’t seen the documents. Are you saying that we must flout the legislation and approve something we have not seen? You circulate the information 72 hours before the sitting of the council. It’s wrong, Mr Speaker, and we won’t allow it.”

De Lille weighed in on the debate, saying differences in the interpretation of the Municipal Finance Management Act would not be resolved during a council meeting – the ANC could lodge a formal complaint afterwards.

ANC members said they should be able to see the draft budget and associated resolutions before the council meeting.

The DA-led city contended it was only a draft budget and the recommendation voted on on Wednesday was on whether to release it for public participation.

The draft budget was circulated after the mayor’s speech to all the councillors in the chamber. They said it was only when the budget had to be voted on that it would be circulated before the meeting.

On Wednesday, when the Speaker, Dirk Smit, ruled the council would still vote on the draft budget, ANC councillors started shouting and singing.

The meeting adjourned for almost 45 minutes, with ANC councillors remaining in the chamber chanting and dancing.

When the meeting resumed, Smit said: “The item in front of us is legally compliant and therefore this council is entitled to take the matter forward.”

Sotashe again interjected, saying Smit had reneged on a proposal made to the ANC during the break, that he would adjourn the meeting so that legal opinion could be sought.

When Smit denied this, Sotashe jumped up and approached the podium to address the Speaker directly.

As tempers flared, other ANC councillors also came forward to throw their agendas with the draft budget in front of the podium. The floor was soon covered in mounds of paper as ANC councillors continued to dance and chant in the chamber.

After several minutes of this the DA councillors walked out.

The dancing and singing continued for another half hour, until DA councillors returned to the chamber to gather the agendas off the floor.

Sotashe told his caucus during the break that the Speaker had lied about seeking legal opinion and about adjourning the meeting.

When council resumed, the Speaker again called for a vote on the recommendation to submit the budget for public participation, which sparked yet more outrage.

De Lille said: “Even if there are disagreements, there are procedures to follow. We are paid to manage and govern the city.”

She added that the ANC’s behaviour was yet another action by the party to make the city ungovernable.

Although the meeting resumed in the afternoon, with the ANC councillors in their seats, the party’s reaction to the budget drew criticism from other opposition parties.

JC Krynauw of Cope, said he was “disgusted” by the behaviour of both the ANC and the DA. He said the city had been wrong to push the draft budget through last year without first circulating the documents, and it was wrong to do so again.

“Two wrongs don’t make a right. This is an arrogance that we are detecting in both parties.”

The ACDP’s Demetrius Dudley said: “It is clear that both the ANC and the DA disregarded protocol and decorum and showed total disrespect for the Speaker’s position and the institution of council.”

He added that the DA’s approach to presenting the budget was an “election ploy”, but that the ANC had disregarded respectability and tolerance with their reaction. “The ACDP does not and never will condone such behaviour and process.”

anel.lewis@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Denial of right to march insulting, says group

Cape Town - The Ses’khona People’s Movement expects “action” from its members in response to the City of Cape Town denying it the right to march on the CBD on Thursday.

The march has been organised by the same people whose march in October last year led to city centre chaos.

It is unclear what “action” had been contemplated for Thursday, although the group’s spokesman, Sithembele Majova, said on Wednesday that there were no plans for a formal march.

“But, there’s no telling what may happen. Our members are very disappointed in the city and feel the denial of our right to march is insulting.”

In its application, the group said the aim was to compel the government to make land, housing and sanitation available for residents of informal settlements in Cape Town.

JP Smith, mayoral committee member for safety and security, said permission for marches was considered via an objective and independent process.

“There is no political interference. We have nothing to do with denying a right to march, so I cannot comment on that aspect.”

Referring to the march last October led by former ANC councillors and Ses’khona leaders Andile Lili and Loyiso Nkohla, Smith, said: “If the march goes ahead, illegally and with violence, then the law must take its course.

“We are currently pursuing a civil matter against march leaders for damages incurred last October. We will be monitoring and recording any illegal protests. If these individuals are involved in vandalism, they can expect to be sued for more damages.”

The City of Cape Town has warned “credible evidence” from police indicated that today’s action could result in disruptions to traffic, injuries to people and damage to property.

Permission for the march was denied because “police, city traffic services and metro police would be unable to contain the threat posed by (this march)”, said city media manager Priya Reddy.

The threat to march on Thursday came after the ANC disciplined Nkohla and Lili for leading marches without the party’s consent.

The pair are also prohibited from taking part in an illegal march as part of bail conditions pertaining to a pending case against them.

Meanwhile, Nkohla and Lili said on Tuesday that they would challenge the ANC’s decision to expel and suspend them,respectively.

They were found guilty of bringing the party into disrepute for protests, which included the dumping of faeces at the airport and provincial legislature, last year.

daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za

- Cape Argus

SANCWG Press Release

The Medical Innovation Bill recently announced in parliament by Mario Oriani-Ambrosini brings cannabis into discussion and more in line with international changes. Issues arising from the bill will serve as important instruments to guide the law and policymakers through the process of reform.

Oriani-Ambrosini spoke of The Cannabis Position Paper, available at cannabis.reforms.co.za, which he gave to President Jacob Zuma and Minister of Health Dr Aaron Motsoledi. It summarises current scientific literature in an easy-to-read format that sets out the historical backdrop of prohibition and its negative effects.

The SANCWG is engaged in discussions with the Central Drug Authority (CDA) regarding the review and reform of cannabis policies. To bring our laws in line with international policies in a manner that is equitable and resistant to monopolisation. A complaint laid in 2013 with the Public Protector regarding impropriety in the cannabis trials performed by government thus far, is under investigation. Friday, Advocate Johan Raunbenheimer, investigator on this complaint said that he will be meeting with the Director-General of the Department of Health in the coming week regarding this, and will be reporting back once this meeting has been held.

In the President’s SONA speech he indicated, other than mining, five other job drivers were identified: tourism, agriculture, the green economy, infrastructure development and manufacturing. The SANCWG, InternAfrica and NORML ZA will make application to research the cannabis plant’s full potential and to participate in the trials that will supply the first hospital pilots.

Cannabis, has been identified as a niche product worth exploring and can serve as a cash crop with labour-intensive job creation. The National Development Plan 2030 contemplates niche markets that provide opportunities for South African’s to compete globally. Agricultural niche crops are mentioned as target markets. Cannabis used for all its industrial purposes has the potential to radically transform some of South Africa’s poorest regions. A regulated environment will allow this.

President Zuma instructed the Minister of Health to investigate this further. Support from the legal and medical fraternity has been widespread and positive.

The SANCWG will make representations on the Medical Innovation Bill by the due date.

SANCWG - South African National Cannabis Working Group 

Contact: Info@reforms.co.za

Anger at ‘costly’ Cape Town logo plan

Cape Town - The City of Cape Town has its work cut out to sell its proposed new logo after it came under fire from politicians and critics.

There have been calls for the Public Protector to investigate the costs of the rebranding exercise, and citizens have vented their anger at the dumping of the old “This City Works For You” tagline and Table Mountain logo.

A source close to the rebranding process said the city had “wanted something fresh and new because Cape Town had made such great progress in recent years”.

The Cape Argus yesterday ran what it had been informed was the new logo – made up of green, black, blue, purple, white and mustard-edged rings – but which the City of Cape Town denied was the proposed logo due to be presented and tabled before a full council meeting on Wednesday.

It is understood the Cape Argus version was an earlier design template and that the official proposed logo will feature “a muted version of the colours of the South African flag”.

City spokeswoman Priya Reddy vehemently denied media reports that the new logo, designed by the award-winning King James Advertising agency, cost millions to produce.

“It is regrettable that there has been a rush to report on this matter, based on ill-informed and anonymous comment,” Reddy said.

“We… have been forced to respond as a result of misleading reports. Depending on the council’s decision, further and full information will be provided.”

But social media has been abuzz with talk of the new design – and not much was favourable.

SMS comments to Weekend Argus included: “At least Cape Town’s current logo depicts our City’s position with Table Mountain. This new one is just plain uninspiring and unnecessary. Why not use our iconic mountain outline?”, ‘The ‘City that works for you’ should rather read ‘the City that fleeces you’. How many millions is it going to cost the ratepayers for this rebranding?” said one SMS.

“Surely there are far more important issues which need to be addressed than massaging some egos and lining some pockets, or did they not want be left out of the Nkandla-like spending spree?”

Another said: “The new City logo is absolute rubbish. We don’t need a new one. Whoever designed it was smoking an illegal substance. The one we have shows the beauty of Cape Town.”

News broke this week that the city planned to shelve the iconic “Table Mountain” logo and tagline as it was “completely misaligned with the City’s vision”.

While the city had earlier said the redesign of the logo had only cost R313 720, the massive undertaking – which will see the city, which employs 25 000 people, rebrand everything from stationery, e-mail signatures, gift bags and signs, to buildings and vehicles – is likely to run into hundreds of millions of rand.

However, the rebranding is expected to be gradually phased in.

The city remained cagey yesterday about the cost of the rebranding.

Asked by Weekend Argus whether a cost analysis had been done before awarding the tender, Reddy said all questions would be answered at a press conference on Monday.

However, Cosatu provincial secretary Tony Ehrenreich, in a letter to the Public Protector, asked Thuli Madonsela to immediately investigate the reported costs of the rebranding.

“We want a referendum held on whether the new logo should be accepted and whether the cost implications justify the expenditure,” Ehrenreich said.

“The replacement of all branding will cost millions to the city that could have been spent elsewhere.”

Ehrenreich added that the logo has been a rushed job to support the “dwindling fortune” of DA support in the Western Cape.

A source linked to the redesign process said a brand review committee had been established and that every city council department had been invited to send a representative to attend while hundreds of top leaders had also been consulted to ensure there was widespread consultation.

The source added that the new logo was meant to symbolise an “opportunity city” as opposed to “This City works for you” which had been misconstrued to create a culture of dependence.

The rebranding is based on the vision of Cape Town being an opportunity-driven, safe, caring, inclusive and well-run city.

Meanwhile, questions have been raised about Carol Avenant who is the director of the city’s integrated strategic communications and branding department but who was previously employed by Yellowwood Future Architects. King James Advertising and Yellowwood Future Architects submitted a joint bid for the tender.

Avenant was embroiled in a tender scandal in 2011 when she chaired a bid committee during her time as Western Cape communications director in the Department of the Premier. The committee granted TBWA/Hunt Lascaris a year-long extension with the province. TBWA/Hunt Lascaris owns Yellowwood Future Architects.

- Saturday Argus

Zuma notes MP’s call for medicinal canabis

Cape Town - IFP MP Mario Oriani-Ambrosini’s urgent call for the legalisation of marijuana for medicinal use seems to have found an ear in the country’s top office.

“I was touched to see the man I’ve known and worked with for more than 20 years in this condition. I’ve asked the minister of health to look into this matter,” President Jacob Zuma said on Thursday during his reply to the parliamentary debate on the State of the Nation address.

Less than two hours earlier, Oriani-Ambrosini, flanked by IFP president Mangosuthu Buthelezi and IFP caucus chairman Ndlovu Velaphi, released details of his private member’s bill, the Medical Innovation Bill.

“I am here because I am a man of principle. This is not an easy thing to do,” said Oriani-Ambrosini, the day after he used his four minutes in the parliamentary debate on Wednesday to make his call – almost a year after he was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.

“I am now in the 0.01 percent survival rate… Being a politician, paid by the people of South Africa to do a job, it became natural for me (to speak) for those who do not have a voice. The most important thing to do is to remove the legal obstacles.”

His private member’s bill seeks to make it possible to prescribe marijuana, or other alternative treatments, to terminally ill patients. It excludes doctors and patients from possible prosecution, seeks to regulate the use of medical marijuana – “to trade criminal profits into tax for people”, according to Oriani-Ambrosini – while also establishing at least one research hospital for medical treatment innovation.

Published in the Government Gazette on Valentine’s Day, the private member’s bill also sets out a framework for the commercial and industrial uses of cannabis, which is already used in textiles and building materials in a global industry.

“This is my contribution – I don’t want to say last contribution – I hope God will give me the strength… ” said Oriani-Ambrosini, who with his usual self-depreciating wit touched on the consequences of using medicinal dagga.

“There are no side effects except my hair growing curly for the first time in my life. I’m still looking to manage this,” he quipped, adding that he appreciated his glowing skin.

Buthelezi confirmed his support for his MP.

“Dr Ambrosini, we have travelled a long road with him. We have slaughtered many monsters… He has taken on one of the most fearsome monsters at this time.

“I do hope, with God’s help, he will do something not only for himself, because this is not his attitude, but for the whole human race.”

Advocate Robin Stransham-Ford, also a cancer patient on alternative treatment, outlined plans to push for a constitutional challenge to decriminalise dagga for medicinal use next year, but acknowledged Oriani-Ambrosini’s request to try for a political solution.

It is understood the president has already received from Oriani-Ambrosini the large volumes of work of the South African national working group on the medicinal use of marijuana.

Submitted to the government last November, it includes reports on various clinical trials, including several run by US teaching hospitals, on the benefits of medicinal marijuana.

- Political Bureau

City of Cape Town’s new logo revealed

Cape Town - The Cape Argus can reveal the City of Cape Town’s proposed new logo to be presented to the council for approval next week.

Three people who attended the “Top 500” managers event, where the logo was unveiled, have confirmed this is the design that will be submitted on Wednesday.

Priya Reddy, the city’s media manager, confirmed on Thursday that a review of the city’s current corporate identity and accompanying tagline – “This city works for you” – found it to be “completely misaligned to this government’s vision”.

As part of this review process, the city issued an “open and public tender” for a communication agency to help develop a revised corporate identity and pay-off line.

Reddy said this “vigorous process” had led to no appeals, and as a result, the city’s mayoral committee had recommended a proposal to the council for its consideration.

The submission was considered this week, during a closed mayoral committee meeting.

According to the City of Cape Town’s website, a tender for the “provision of professional services: branding agency” was awarded to King James Advertising Cape Town and Yellowwood Future Architects Joint Venture in December. The estimated value of the tender was R8 million.

Carol Avenant now the director of the city’s integrated strategic communication and branding department, worked for Yellowwood Future Architects before she joined the provincial government as Premier Helen Zille’s corporate communications director.

Her appointment to Zille’s office came under scrutiny in 2011 when it emerged that she had chaired a bid committee that had granted TBWA/Hunt Lascaris a year-long extension to its contract with the province. TBWA/Hunt Lascaris owns Yellowwood Future Architects.

In response to questions about the tender awarded in December for a branding agency, the city said no tender was awarded to a value of R8m.

This figure, the city said, had been based on past spend for above-the-line services by the city, and was used for participating agencies to express their commission based on the estimated spend for supply chain management to have comparative costing.

Reddy said reports that the new logo would cost millions of rand were misleading, since the associated cost was R313 720.

City insiders have, however, estimated that it could cost the city an estimated R100m to implement its new corporate identity, which would appear on everything from stationery, depots, uniforms and vehicles, to municipal bills and public signage.

A former senior city official said one could not change perceptions about a brand by merely changing the logo. “A brand gains value or integrity over time.”

Because of the cost and effort involved in making changes, it was best to make minor adjustments to a logo or corporate identity. There also needed to be a detailed briefing process so the agency involved fully understood what the brand was about, and what the logo needed to symbolise.

The current logo was launched in 2003.

Reddy said: “Every effort had been made to minimise the costs associated with this process.” Furthermore, the city had allocated existing budget to maintain and communicate the corporate identity and pay-off line.

The statement by City of Cape Town media manager Priya Reddy:

“The City of Cape Town has been reviewing its corporate identity to ensure it is aligned to the strategy and vision contained in the Integrated Development Plan and supporting documents. This review established that the current corporate identity and accompanying pay-off line is completely misaligned to this government’s vision and has a number of technical limitations.

And the review found that the current brand architecture of the city has seen a vast number of sub-brands created, often at an enormous and unnecessary expense and with little or no impact on citizens.

As part of this review process, the city issued an open and public tender for a communication agency to assist with the development of a revised corporate identity and pay-off line. This was a vigorous process, as indicated by the fact that it led to no appeals. Internal communication and brand architecture forums were established to help inform city staff and guide the process. As a result of these processes, the mayoral committee has now recommended a proposal to council for its consideration.

There have been misleading reports that the creation of this proposed identity has cost millions, when in fact the associated cost is R313 720.

It must be stressed that the city currently allocates existing budget to maintain and communicate the current corporate identity and pay-off line. This budget would be used to phase in a new corporate identity and pay-off line... This implementation would not be at the expense of service delivery. Indeed, every effort has been made to minimise costs in this process. For example, the brand framework was developed internally.

It is regrettable that there has been a rush to report on this matter, based on ill-informed and anonymous comment. We cannot, in terms of the rules of council, provide more information until such time as council has formally considered this matter, but have been forced to respond as a result of misleading reports. Depending on council’s decision, further and full information will be provided.

Citizens can rest assured that any proposal to council has been responsibly and carefully considered.”

anel.lewis@inl.co.za

- Cape Argus

2010 Stadium all over again - housing ‘football’

Cape Town - Western Cape premier Helen Zille accused the ANC on Friday of playing “political football” with housing in the province.

“They have repeatedly claimed that when they were in government in the province 'they built 16,000 houses per year, while the Democratic Alliance has only been able to build 10,000 houses per year',” she said during her state-of-the-province address in Cape Town.

She said she was sceptical of the African National Congress's claims and asked her department's forensic investigation unit (FIU) to do an audit on the source of this data, namely the 2008/9 annual local government and housing report produced under the ANC administration.

She said the report claimed the ANC completed 15 717 houses during that period but that the FIU found this claim could not be verified.

“For a start, the ANC's thumb-suck figure includes programmes that had nothing to do with building and delivering housing units,” Zille claimed.

“And it also shows that the ANC simply shifted the deadline, and counted units that had not been completed by the end of the financial year.”

The premier alleged the party “got away” with this conduct because the auditor general (AG) was not verifying statistics at that stage by actually counting the finalised housing total by the cut-off date.

She said the AG had noted in the report that the evidence provided to support the department's performance was “materially inconsistent” in a number of instances with the reported performance.

Opposition MPLs jeered at Zille's remarks and claimed her administration had not even managed to build as many as 10 000 houses per year.

Leader of the opposition in the legislature Lynne Brown criticised the FIU by shouting: “How much did that cost?”

Zille continued after order had been called.

“That is AG speak for 'you were talking nonsense'... In short, their claim to have built 16 000 houses each year is without foundation.

“I would use stronger terms than this but it would probably be unparliamentary, Mr Speaker.”

- Sapa

Cape Town’s new logo cost millions

Cape Town - The City of Cape Town has spent millions redesigning its logo and pay-off line, but has yet to reveal what this new identity will look like, or how much it will cost to implement.

Paul Boughey, chief of staff in the mayor’s office, had only this to say: “(The mayoral committee) has approved a submission that will allow council to consider the adoption of new corporate identity and pay-off line for the City of Cape Town. Until such time as council has considered this submission it would be inappropriate to discuss in any more detail.”

The submission was approved this week by the mayoral committee during a session that was closed to the media and the public.

Boughey said all the necessary information would be considered by the council when it met on Wednesday, and a decision would be made.

Councillors contacted on Wednesday did not know anything about the proposed new logo, which was reportedly unveiled by mayor Patricia de Lille at a recent event for the city’s “top 500” managers.

Two people who attended the event spoke to the Cape Argus on condition of anonymity, saying the new branding resembled the flower-like BP logo.

Several managers at the event reportedly complained that the trademark Table Mountain design of the oldlogo would be replaced with something more abstract.

There were also concerns the logo had been chosen “in secret” without any public participation.

“It will cost hundreds of millions to implement and yet (the city doesn’t) have the budget for houses and toilets,” said one of the managers who saw the new logo.

The Cape Argus has been unable to obtain a copy of the logo.

The city said it would only be able to answer questions about the name of the agency involved, the cost of appointing this agency and the estimated cost of implementing the logo after the council meeting next week.

It is unclear whether the city invited tenders for the new logo, or if the new branding was chosen in an open adjudication process.

The current logo, which features Table Mountain, was designed in 2003 by leading advertising agency Ogilvy. It carries the strapline: “This city works for you.”

The logo featured prominently at high-profile local and international events and occasions, including the 2010 World Cup and the bid for the World Design Capital title.

But the tagline has also been the subject of derision, with service delivery protesters saying the “city only works for some”.

The cost of implementing the new logo is expected to have huge implications for the city.

Carol Avenant, a former communications director in Western Cape Premier Helen Zille’s office, is the head of the city’s integrated strategic communication and branding department, responsible for “owning and driving” the review of the city’s brand strategy.

anel.lewis@inl.co.za

- Cape Argus

Legal threats delay Nkandla report

The release of public protector Thuli Madonsela's highly anticipated Nkandla report is being delayed by threats of legal action.

The report examines the controversial R208-million upgrading of President Jacob Zuma's private home.

"At some stage we will release the report and whoever wants to take us to court must do so," Madonsela told The Times.

Zuma said in a television interview that he would abide by the report provided it was accurate.

Its release is expected on 1 March.

On Saturday, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe said that communications regarding the use of taxpayers' money could have been handled better and that the scandal has dented South Africa's image.

"It has taken its toll on not only the image of the presidency but on the government and the whole country," said Motlanthe according to IOL News. "It has created doubt about our commitment to root out corruption."

DA parliamentary lead Lindiwe Mazibuko vowed to table a motion to impeach Zuma should the report implicate him in wrongdoing.

- iafrica

MEC chased at housing handover

Cape Town - Bonginkosi Madikizela, the MEC for Human Settlements, was escorted to safety when a group of angry residents confronted him as he tried to address a housing handover ceremony in George Kerridge in Vredenburg on Monday.

The residents, many of them wearing ANC shirts, claimed he was there to score “political points” before the elections. Police escorted him to his car as the crowd became rowdy and he was blocked from entering the community hall where the ceremony was held

.

Madikizela and Saldanha mayor Francois Schippers had to skip the ceremony and went directly to the houses where they handed them over to the beneficiaries.

Madikizela said: “I am disgusted by what happened at the hall. People use this to score points as elections are looming. We decided to leave them because we did not want to fight with them. We are not here to campaign, people need to understand that.”

He said he would not hand houses to beneficiaries wearing T-shirts of a political party.

“People need to be clear that this is a government event not an election campaign. I am not going to hand over a house to anyone wearing a T-shirt from any political party. We left the hall because we did not want to argue with them, but now they are following us. I will not tolerate this. This is not in the spirit of democracy,” Madikizela said.

He said residents had been given ANC T-shirts to politicise the event.

Thanduxolo Salman, an ANC member in the area, said the venue had been booked for another event which was later cancelled.

“I found it very disturbing that the MEC said he will not hand over houses to people wearing ANC T-shirts. How do you tell people what to wear or not wear. He was there as a government representative and he turned it into a political thing.”

On Monday, 400 houses were handed over to beneficiaries. Another 64 will be handed over by April.

Mpilanga Manqeyi, 60, was among those who received a house on Monday. He and his family had spent for over 10 years in a shack.

“I still can’t believe we have a place that we can call home. I never thought of it. Not many people get a proper house, but we did get it. I think the wait was worthwhile. We feel safer than ever because when you stay in a shack, you have to be cautious about the things you do,” Manqeyi said.

siyavuya.mzantsi@inl.co.za

- Cape Times

Nkandla: Nxesi to pay DA court costs

Cape Town - Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi will pay the costs of the DA's application to have the full Nkandla report released, the Western Cape High Court ruled on Tuesday.

This, after Democratic Alliance parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko was informed by Nxesi's department that there was no difference between the January 2013 report she sought and the report released in December 2013.

This information effectively made the matter moot.

Mazibuko last year requested the disclosure of the public works task team report on security upgrades to President Jacob Zuma's private home in Nkandla.

She first tried to gain access to the January 2013 report in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (Paia), but was rejected. She then turned to the Western Cape High Court, which ruled in October that the DA's bid for the report to be released was indeed urgent.

In December, Cabinet resolved to release the report and held a media briefing. Mazibuko said at the time that the DA was not satisfied the document released was the actual report.

She said it appeared it had been re-written in a way that hid the nature and extent of any exclusions of sensitive security aspects of the upgrade.

At the time, Nxesi said the reason for classifying the report as top secret was because exclusions were made in terms of the “nature and location of the bullet proof windows and the safe haven”.

In a further affidavit filed on Friday, Mazibuko said she had received an affidavit from Nxesi's special adviser Phillip Masilo with a “shocking” revelation that the December 19 report was in fact the January 13 task team report and had not been altered in any respect.

Mazibuko said this disclosure led her to conclude Nxesi had misrepresented the report to the public.

“In truth, there never was any lawful basis to classify the report as top secret... In light of what Masilo has revealed, the minister abused the government's national security protections,” she said in the affidavit.

“As I pointed out in my replying affidavit, seeking to shield the president from political embarrassment is not a matter of national security which justifies a top secret classification.” She said the department's director-general, listed as the second respondent, had no legal basis to ignore her Paia request.

“The respondents now claim that this matter is moot. They however do not concede that the conduct of the minister and the director general was unlawful and invalid,” Mazibuko said.

In her affidavit she asks the court to declare the conduct as such so the respondents would know how to deal lawfully with such a Paia request in future.

She said she was entitled to the costs of the application. In court on Tuesday, her legal team handed up a draft order agreed to by both parties, in which Nxesi and his director general would pay Mazibuko's costs, including those incurred at hearings in October last year and on Tuesday.

The draft order states: “Given the release into the public domain of the task team report, no order is made in respect of the remaining prayers in the notice of motion”.

Judge Jeanette Traverso finalised the order. - Sapa

Zuma's not resigning over Nkandla

In a TV interview, Jacob Zuma has instisted he will not resign over the Nkandla scandal, saying SA does not know if he has done anything wrong.


President Jacob Zuma on Sunday said he was not about to resign from the Union Buildings because of the Nkandla multimillion-rand scandal.
In an interview with television news channel eNCA aired on Sunday night, Zuma said while the row about the more than R200-million spent on upgrades at his private Nkandla homestead has put a strain on his family, he will not give up the presidency job.

• Read: Nkandla: Zuma disputes R200m security-upgrade cost

"Not at all," Zuma told eNCA's Dan Moyane in an interview. "I should have thought of giving up the struggle when it was very tough. Never."

Zuma, who is the ANC's presidential candidate for the May elections, is preparing to occupy South Africa's highest office for a second term.

"Because I think I have got a commitment that I made, firstly to liberate South Africa, secondly to change the quality of life of this country. As long as the ANC gives me that opportunity I can't say halfway [I'll resign], as if I decided on my own. I didn't apply for this job, I was deployed to do the job.

Backtracked
Attempts by some in the ANC to get the party to debate the possibility of Zuma letting the state presidency go did not get far enough, amid fear of victimisation should the idea fail to enjoy adequate support. Some regional leaders in KwaZulu-Natal – Zuma's strongest base and home province – had planned to approach him and ask him not to stand for a second term in the presidency. They backtracked when it became clear the ANC still prefers Zuma as its face of elections and state president.

Opposition parties have also tried unsuccessfully to get Zuma to let go of the first citizen title. A few days before he delivered his state of the nation address last week, Congress of the People (Cope) president Mosiuoa Lekota called on him to resign.

"The president should confess in Parliament that he has failed the nation and should announce his resignation from active politics with immediate effect. He is a walking disaster and the source of national embarrassment," Lekota said in a statement.

Zuma believes the public protector's report, when it's eventually released, will clear him of any wrongdoing related to Nkandla and its costs. Those who believe that he has done something wrong "don't know me", Zuma said in the eNCA interview.

"Some South Africans pretend to know me. They don't know me. That's why they believe I could have done something wrong," he said.

'Substantial' personal benefit

A leaked provisional report by the public protector found that Zuma derived "substantial" personal benefit from works that exceeded security needs at his homestead and must repay the state. But an inter-ministerial task team report exonerated Zuma, saying that the president did not ask for the security upgrades and no state funds were used for his private residence.

In an effort to demonstrate how his family has been persecuted in public because of their relations to him, Zuma referred to a car accident his son Duduzane was involved in.

"Just recently my son had a car accident. A week thereafter it becomes an issue because it's Zuma's son. But there are so many accidents everyday … there's no story about them. You can see the exaggeration that comes with all of these," he said.

Duduzane Zuma's Porsche is said to have smashed into a minibus taxi, causing it to overturn repeatedly and leaving one passenger dead. The Democratic Alliance was unhappy that a breathalyser test was overlooked and  Zuma was allowed to have his car towed away instead of Metro police impounding the car to keep as evidence. Jo'burg Metro police spokesperson Wayne Minnaar said the breathalyser test was not conducted because  Zuma "was sober" and that it was not standard procedure to conduct such a test at an accident scene.

The spending of state funds on Nkandla is expected to feature prominently in this year's election campaigns.

- M&G

‘I woke up to find a taxi on top of me’

Cape Town - A Khayelitsha grandfather was saved by community members after a taxi landed on top of him when it crashed into his shack at TR section early on Sunday.

Joseph Cingcu 66, was woken by a taxi that ploughed through his bedroom wall at about 1am. Cingcu, who escaped with “minor injuries” was with three other people – including his one-year-old twin grandchildren, Ntlantla and Ntlakanipho, who were unharmed.

The driver of the taxi has not been found.

Cingcu said he had been burnt by the acid leaking from the taxi’s battery.

“I woke up and I realised there was a taxi on top of me,” Cingcu said.

Picture: Bheki RadebeCAPE TIMES

“I did not hear anything because I was asleep when it drove into my shack. I screamed for help but no one could help me. I continued screaming until the point where I had lost my voice and I gave up screaming.”

He said he had been saved by his son Sintu Cingcu and other community members.

“I tried to lift (the taxi) so that I could escape, but I gave up because I ran out of energy. I could not move and could not breathe properly. I got burnt by the acid coming from the battery. It leaked all over me. I thought I was not going to survive and I still can’t believe it,” he said.

He was taken to Khayelitsha Hospital and was later discharged.

His son, Sintu Cingcu 33 was sleeping in his room with his twins when the taxi smashed into their bedroom and living room.

“The first thing that came into my mind was my children. I checked if they were safe before I could do anything. We were lucky to escape but my father was not that lucky,” Sintu Cingcu said.

“My father was trapped under the taxi. I called my neighbours to help me. After a while of trying to lift it, we managed to save him. I am glad that my grandmother who is 95 years old slept at a relative’s house,” he said.

The police said no one had been arrested.

Anyone with information can contact Crime Stop at 08600 10111.”

Residents later blocked Mew Way Road by burning tyres and prevented taxis from operating there.

siyavuya.mzantsi@inl.co.za

- Cape Times

Cop raid on squatters ‘recalls apartheid’

Cape Town - Residents of Isiqalo in Mitchells Plain say they had a flashback to apartheid when police raided the informal settlement on Thursday night, following violent protests in recent days.

They said shortly before midnight, police kicked in doors, broke windows, beat men in front of their children and dragged some away in handcuffs, leaving their families guessing about their whereabouts this morning.

It has been a week of upheaval for the settlement after protests about voter registration erupted. On two occasions, protesters burnt tyres, forcing the closure of Vanguard Drive. There were running battles with riot police.

Residents see last night’s clampdown by police as retaliation for these protests.

“Many of the police were horribly racist,” said Nosibabalwe Dyantyi, whose door was kicked in.

“They were mocking us and shouting: ‘Come on you k*****, open up!’ They didn’t even give us a chance and just kicked in the door.”

Dyantyi said her husband Thobile Dyantyi was beaten up in front of their kids, handcuffed and dragged away.

Two other men, Vuyo Booi and Nontembiso Ngcwangu, were beaten and taken away under similar circumstances, family members said.

Police had asked for the men by name, leading to suspicion someone in the community had provided the names of the protest ringleaders.

“If we find that person, there is no telling what will happen to them,” a resident, who asked not to be named, said. “But it is also shameful that police exploit the poverty here and pay people to betray their neighbours.”

Residents showed the Cape Argus dozens of shacks where police had apparently broken windows and kicked doors off their hinges.

Lungiswa Bashe said she was dressed in nothing but a pair of panties when police kicked down her door and pushed her to the ground.

Ngcwangu’s wife, Mandisi, said her shack was “turned upside-down”.

“The police said they were looking for a loudspeaker but they could not find one,” she said, holding her 20-month-old son, who had witnessed his father being beaten.

“As (the police) left, they said to me: ‘Take a good look at your husband because we are going to kill him.’ Up until now, I do not know where they have taken him.”

This week, Siqalo residents protested against attempts by the IEC to register voters in the area. There is a consensus among many in the community they do not want to vote. Come election day, they threaten to petrol-bomb voting stations.

They complain political parties and the government ignore their grievances – lack of housing, water, electricity, sanitation and waste removal – and only give them attention when elections are approaching.

Police confirmed they arrested four people for public violence on Thursday night.

“Allegations of brutality in this regard are best addressed by an official compliant to police management or Independent Police Investigative Directorate.

“This office will not be responding to unsubstantiated allegations,” said police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Andre Traut.

daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za

- Cape Argus

SONA

Fellow South Africans,

Honourable Members,

Other than mining, we had identified five other job drivers in 2009.

These are tourism, agriculture, the green economy, infrastructure development and manufacturing.

 

- SONA

Fresh protests shut Vanguard Drive

Cape Town - For the second time this week, protesters from Siqalo informal settlement burnt tyres and closed a section of Vanguard Drive overnight.

Protests first started on Sunday and carried on overnight into Monday morning. Residents told the Cape Argus they were retaliating to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) setting up a tent for voter registration in the area. The tent was petrol bombed and destroyed on Sunday.

Seven people were arrested for public violence after this incident and residents said they were angry because none of these people had been released on bail.

Trouble then flared up again last night and carried on into the early hours on Thursday.

Lacking houses and basic services, including access to water, toilets and electricity, residents in Siqalo say they are fed up with empty electioneering promises by both the DA and the ANC. Boycotting and sabotaging the IEC’s registration drive was a way to voice this frustration, said protester Roy Nobatana.

Other residents said they had to walk about 20 minutes to get to water and the whole area stank of sewerage.

Solid Waste Management workers were busy clearing Vanguard Drive, which remained closed between Morgenster and the R300 until mid-morning.

By then the protests had died down and residents went about their daily chores, or looked on as the road was being cleared.

Armoured police vehicles remained at the scene while police officers armed with shotguns patrolled the area.

- Cape Argus

‘Tap ran dry as blaze engulfed family’

Cape Town - The family of five who died in a Lotus River shack fire on Monday had been without proper access to water for more than a month. Now relatives are seeking answers from the City of Cape Town, after the taps ran dry while they were attempting to fight the deadly blaze.

Peter Jacobs, his wife Carmen, their daughter Chandre Agulhas, 23, their son Kirk, 13, and grandson Matthew Agulhas, 2, died when they were trapped in a backyard wendy house at 408 Fifth Avenue in Lotus River.

On Tuesday Jacobs’s sister, Selena Jacobs, told the Cape Argus about the desperation she felt when, in a scramble to fight the fire, she tried to open a tap in the backyard. Water trickled out and then stopped. Selena lives in the house next to her brother’s family’s wendy house.

“It was up to the neighbours to rig up their hosepipes, to climb on their roofs and to hose the flames from the other side of the wall,” she said.

Jacobs admitted it was impossible to save the family by the time she was alerted to the fire – even if the hosepipe had worked. But she feels robbed of the opportunity to have tried to douse the flames herself.

Water access had been inconsistent at the house since Christmas Day, she said.

“I went to the municipal offices in early January to inquire about it,” Selena said. “They looked on their records and said that they had not switched off the water supply. They could not tell me what was wrong, but promised to send someone. Yet, since then they have not done so or even called me back.”

Ernest Sonnenberg, mayoral committee member for utility services, said the city had not cut off the property’s water supply, but added that city officials would visit the property to find the fault. “Water to put out fires is taken from fire hydrants and not from domestic connections,” he said.

“Thus the water that Fire and Rescue Services uses for fighting fire is not affected by any restrictions on domestic supplies. It must also be noted that in these dense and flammable environments, residents must develop habits that promote fire safety. While a garden hose may help to a certain extent if it is available, this would only be in the incipient stages of a fire.”

daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za

- Cape Argus

Three held in Mitchells Plain protest

Cape Town - A crowd of 200 blockaded Vanguard Drive in Mitchells Plain with burning tyres late on Monday night after a second day of protests over services by Isiqalo residents.

In the informal settlement earlier on Monday, three people were arrested in clashes with the police, where protesters caused traffic chaos along the busy road.

At issue, residents say, is the need for formal houses, decent sanitation and electricity.

A number of journalists, including a Cape Times team, were pelted with stones on Monday by people in a crowd hiding between shacks in the settlement.

Police deployed a number of officers, two Nyalas and five other vehicles. Stun grenades were lobbed to disperse the crowd and a water cannon was used to douse fires in the road.

Traffic lights on Vanguard Drive were damaged and motorists were diverted along the R300.

Three people were arrested for public violence. Police spokesman Frederick van Wyk said they would appear in court once they were charged.

City traffic spokesman Richard Coleman said Morgenster Road also had to be closed to traffic.

“Once the SAPS gives us the clearance that the area is safe, we will open the road again. About three roads were closed in the area and caused delays.”

The roads were re-opened at 1pm on Monday.

Isiqalo residents want the city council to provide better services.

Situated on private land, the settlement is home to about 1 800 families. The city has provided several standpipes, about 100 chemical toilets and hundreds of portable toilets.

“We want houses, electricity, running water and a decent living. We don’t want to use the portable toilets, and living in the shacks for so long is not comfortable,” resident Theresa Baatjies said.

“We all have to make use of these taps and some people who live at the back of the area have to walk almost a kilometre to get water. I have to sit here and wash my clothes right next to the road.”

Baatjies, who said she was unemployed, has beenliving in the settlement for three years.

She complained that the city had not met the community. “It looks like they have thrown us away. We cannot afford to buy houses and we cannot rent. All we want is a bit of assistance from the city.”

Natalie Bent, councillor for the area which includes Colorado Park and parts of Philippi, said a community meeting was been scheduled for May 2.

“The community want more taps and toilets. I will have to meet with the mayor to see if we can have more toilets and taps because the decision doesn’t lie with me alone,” she said.

jason.felix@inl.co.za

- Cape Times

Family of five wiped out in blaze

Cape Town - A 21-year-old Lotus River man came home after a night out to find his entire family – parents, sister, brother and two-year-old nephew – had died in a fire early on Monday.

When Jason Jacobs got home to Fifth Avenue he found three backyard structures had been razed. The occupants of two of the shacks escaped with their lives, but Jacobs’s family were all dead.

They were his father, Peter Jacobs, 59, his mother Carmen Jacobs, 39; his brother Kirk Jacobs, 13; his sister Chandre Agulhas, 23; and his nephew Matthew Agulhas, 2.

After the flames had died down, other relatives on the property found the body of young Kirk on his knees beside his bed, apparently in prayer.

When the Cape Argus arrived at the site on Monday, Jason Jacobs, who had spent the night with friends, was there being consoled by relatives. He was too distraught to be interviewed.

Other family members recounted the harrowing experience of hearing the family screaming inside the shack and pleading for help as the flames spread from the kitchen to the rest of the house.

Peter Jacobs’s sister, Selena Jacobs, 52, who lives in the brick house on the property, was woken just after midnight by screams from the backyard. She ran outside to see the shacks on fire.

Her brother and his family were pleading for help from behind the burglar bars of an open window at the far end of the shack. By that stage, the fire had spread from the kitchen, which had the only door to the outside, through the lounge and was moments away from engulfing the family in the bedroom.

“It was terrible because there was nothing that any of us could do,” said Rogena Vergotine, Peter Jacobs’s niece.

She said: “The structure was too strong for them to break out and they could not dash for the exit because the fire was between them and the kitchen door. The screams went on and became more and more desperate.

“Suddenly it became very quiet inside the shack and we knew that it was over.”

Surviving members of the family have taken some solace in the fact that 13-year-old Kirk was found on his knees beside the bed.

“He was praying. For us it is a sign that he was near God at the time of his death,” Vergotine said.

Monday’s vigil at the house gave family and friends the opportunity to reminisce about those who died.

They were described as “pleasant”, “loving” and “close” with one another. Kirk had just started school at Zeekoevlei Secondary School. He was “obsessive” about soccer and had signed up for a rowing team.

Toddler Matthew would have celebrated his third birthday on Friday. His mother Chandre, had been planning his party.

Peter and Carmen were happily married and regularly took the family to visit their grandparents, Mariam and Suleiman Hendricks, in Elsies River for Sunday braais.

Peter was a keen fisherman who liked to take the family on trips to Gordon’s Bay, his favourite angling spot.

Community leader Vincent Carelse said the incident was more than just a family tragedy and should draw attention to the vulnerability of backyard dwellers and people living in shacks throughout the city.

“It is too often we hear about these fires,” he said.

“Today just shows how deadly they can be. It is a personal tragedy, but it is also a challenge to the government. People need houses and the rollout is happening too slowly.”

City disaster management spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said that the cause of the fire remained unclear and was being investigated by police.

“The disaster response teams and social workers are currently there offering trauma counselling as a result of the sad loss and providing social relief aid,” he said.

daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za

- Cape Argus

‘Anti-election’ protest shuts Vanguard Drive

Cape Town - Anti-election protesters from the Siqala informal settlement shut a large section of Vanguard Drive on Monday morning.

Protesters burned tyres, toyi-toyied and removed party election posters from lamp posts.

On the backs of these, slogans were painted – “no vote, no houses, no toilets, no electricity”.

They also dumped faeces from portaloos on the road.

Siqala resident Roy Nobatana, 37, has lived in a shack there for the past seven years.

He said the ANC and the DA had both failed to bring meaningful improvements to his life since the advent of democracy.

“I will not vote again, and we forbid other people from voting.”

He added that residents had attacked and petrol-bombed a voting registration station in Siqala on Sunday.

As Nobatana was speaking to the Cape Argus, fellow protesters set fire to a stack of tyres. Police responded by throwing two stun grenades and chasing after the protesters on foot.

By mid-morning police Nyalas and armoured vehicles with water hoses had arrived too.

Businesses in Vanguard Drive complained about a morning of lost trading.

Pacific Ocean wholesalers, a seafood and dried fruit outlet, has its busiest trading period of the week on Monday mornings, said director Achmat Carr.

“This is when hawkers come to us to get their stock for the week. There is no other access, so our business is effectively closed,” he said.

Sidney Marais, who’s lived in the area for 25 years, came to warn Carr that protesters had threatened to loot the wholesaler if it opened.

“This has been going on since 6pm on Sunday and they have not stopped since,” Marais said, adding that he was pelted with stones when he walked to Vanguard Drive to check the commotion early Monday morning.

The Siqala protest follows similar, yet isolated protests elsewhere in the province. In Kayamandi informal settlement near Stellenbosch, residents closed a voting station this weekend and issued death threats to people attempting to register as voters.

At the time of publication, Vanguard Drive was closed to traffic.

Police spokesman Andre Traut said the protest was being monitored by police. No arrests had been made.

- Cape Argus

Five killed in Cape fire

Cape Town - Five family members including two young boys burned to death at Lotus River in Cape Town on Monday, Western Cape Fire and Rescue Services said.

The family - a man, two women and two boys, - died just before 1am, said spokesman Theo Layne.

The fire started in the outside rooms of a house.

“At the moment the cause of the fire is unknown and the incident was handed over to the police.”

Layne urged the public to be cautious when dealing with heating and cooking devices. - Sapa

ANC not pressing Nkandla issue: Thuli

Public Protector Thuli Madonsela says her Nkandla report will be out by March 1.

She said on Saturday that the ANC was definitely not delaying the release of her report on security upgrades to President Jacob Zuma’s homestead in Nkandla.

But she said she was awaiting an answer from “a respondent”, and former police commissioner Bheki Cele is the only person on record involved in a spat with Madonsela over information in the report.

Yesterday Madonsela said she wanted the report released expeditiously.

And, she said: “The ANC wants the report out urgently.”

She was responding to claims there was pressure relating to the release in view of the May 7 election date announced on Friday.

Madonsela shot down these claims, including those by DA parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko this week that her office was under pressure to stall the release of the report.

“That couldn’t be any further from the truth,” she told the Sunday Tribune.

Mazibuko this week expressed concern that Madonsela might bow to ANC pressure and delay the Nkandla report further.

There was some expectation that the report would be released today.

But Madonsela said she had never promised it by February 9.

“My office never undertook to release the report tomorrow (today). Our media release on the matter, which is still on our website, stated that I would announce the date of release for the Nkandla report around the 9th.

“I will be unable to announce the date of release because a respondent has requested an extension to provide comments on provisional findings on February 14, 2014.”

This week Mazibuko said Cele was being used to stall the report as part of a strategy to delay the report and potential embarrassment to Zuma.

But on Saturday Madonsela said the claims of pressure placed on her were far-fetched.

She said the report would finally be released “on a date to be announced shortly after February 14. It will be no more than 14 days after the last response is received on February 14.”

- Sunday Independent