Housing a hot button issue in Cape

Cape Town - Housing is always a hotly contested election issue, but it is especially so in the Western Cape where protests about access to housing opportunities and the basic services that come with these have become widespread.

The ANC and the DA have reminded voters about their housing delivery statistics in the “good stories” they want to tell before the nation votes next Wednesday.

Independent organisation Africa Check analysed some of the figures supplied recently by the National Department of Human Settlements, and found that they did add up.

The department said that in the Western Cape, between 1994 and 1998, an average of 17 925 houses were provided each year. This dropped to an average of 13 518 houses each year since the DA took over the province in 2009. But the figures also showed that there was a similar drop in other provinces where the ANC was in power.

Africa Check noted that this was partly because provinces moved towards providing serviced sites, or pieces of land with access to basic services, rather than houses.

According to the State of Environment Outlook Report for the Western Cape, released last year, the number of houses built in the province had decreased from 12 000 in the City of Cape Town in 2005/2006 to almost 6 000 in the 2011/2012 financial year.

There was a drop in the number of houses built in other municipalities too. The report noted that the number of sites serviced had also declined since the period between 2004 and 2008. This was attributed to limited budget availability, delays in the planning processes and allocations of funds for top structures and infrastructure.

One of the outlooks highlighted was that the housing backlog was increasing, given the increase in population numbers. In 2001, 16 percent of households were in informal dwellings. In 2011, this had increased to just over 18 percent.

While there was no clear majority party in power before 2009, a period of floor-crossing in 2005 enabled the New National Party and the ANC to merge. The province was previously in the hands of the New National Party and the Democratic Party.

When Ebrahim Rasool became premier, he listed housing as one of the ANC administration’s key performance targets. He promised that his government would address the housing backlog “from the Joe Slovo settlement to the backyards of Mitchells Plain and Langa”.

The housing backlog was not a problem of the ANC’s making, Rasool contended. He said the province would spend R1.2 billion a year on housing from 2007 to 2009.

One of the biggest blots on his administration’s housing delivery record was the N2 Gateway project. Led by the national government, this intergovernmental initiative failed to provide the 22 000 housing units within the time frames promised.

During the ANC’s time in office, the DA accused it of failing to provide sufficient housing and put the backlog at 400 000 units.

But the ANC has managed to deliver 164 033 housing opportunities since 2004, compared with the DA/NNP government that over 10 years had delivered only 3 099 housing opportunities.

In 2009, the DA won the majority vote, enabling it to wrest control from the ANC. This meant that the city, led by the DA since 2006, and the province were both being run by the DA. The party said then that the ANC’s housing policy “which had focused almost entirely on formally constructed housing” would only ever reach a “handful of people in need”.

The DA said it would therefore move away from this approach to give more housing options to more people.

“Access to land first, and basic services second, are immediate priorities,” was the party’s approach to housing.

Human Settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela said during the annual budget speech last month that from April 2009 to March last year, 53 758 houses and 40 470 sites would have been provided in the province.

He said R166.3 million had been spent on individual subsidies since 2009, creating more than 2 300 new housing opportunities.

* N2 Gateway background

Unrealistic targets, mismanagement and shoddy workmanship are among the challenges that have dogged the N2 Gateway housing project. Launched in 2005, the flagship national government housing project promised to provide 22 000 houses in 12 months. It was supposed to be an example of intergovernmental co-operation, with all three spheres working together to provide fully subsidised, rental and bonded housing.

But by 2006, the national government had stripped the DA-led City of Cape Town of its involvement in the project and appointed the Housing Development Agency to take over its management. The city refused to take on the outstanding tab of R200m for overrun costs and claims by contractors for payment delays.

Three years later, a local non-profit organisation called for a full investigation of those involved in the project. It alleged that all three levels of government were guilty of poor planning and mismanagement. There were also concerns about the housing allocation, the selling of houses illegally and various housing committees vying for power in the community.

By 2009, only 11 800 housing units were complete. The numbers have not improved much since then, but the provincial Department of Human Settlements said in February that a target of 14 172 houses near the N2 would be ready by next year.

The provincial government has also hired mediators to resolve tension in the community so that construction can continue.

According to the Housing Development Agency website, 668 fully subsidised houses have been built in New Rest. The project is not yet complete. Delft Symphony is divided into various precincts with fully subsidised and bonded units. The project has delivered 4 228 fully subsidised houses and 351 bonded houses. In Delft Symphony 3 and 5, construction is under way on 1 911 houses. The 4 491 houses in Delft 7-9 were handed over last year. Work in Boystown was reportedly at a standstill in January, because of community discussions. But 503 of the 1 392 houses have been handed over. About 400 houses are expected to be delivered in Joe Slovo during this year.

* Blikkiesdorp background

In 2007, the DA-led City of Cape Town set up a temporary relocation area (TRA) near Delft for people displaced from Joe Slovo and other informal settlements. Families who invaded unfinished units at the N2 Gateway housing project were also relocated to Blikkiesdorp. It was supposed to be a short-term housing solution. But many of the people who were moved into the corrugated iron units that crisscross the sandy terrain of Delft have been living in this “camp” for eight years.

In 2011, the city’s director of housing said it would take three to five years to find permanent housing solutions for the 6 000-odd people living at the site. Tandeka Gqada, mayoral committee member for human settlements, told the Cape Argus this week that the site, with its 1 750 corrugated iron structures, would be maintained as a TRA for the time being.

So far, 33 families have been moved out of Blikkiesdorp to new housing opportunities, with a further 55 families being identified for a new housing project called Eindhofen.

“There are no plans to develop formal housing in Blikkiesdorp’s current location,” Gqada said.

anel.lewis@inl.co.za

- Cape Argus

Judge orders Nkandla PAIA documents be produced

Beleaguered Public Works Minister Thembelani Nxesi suffered another setback when the High Court in Pretoria ordered him on Tuesday to provide the Mail & Guardian Centre for Investigative Journalism with a full set of Nkandla documents.

The High Court in Cape Town in February ordered Nxesi to pay the costs of the DA's application to have the full Nkandla report released.

The application became moot after Cabinet in December last year resolved to release the report and the department informed the Democratic Alliance there was no difference between the January 2013 report it sought and the report released in December.

The report exonerated President Jacob Zuma from any wrongdoing.

In contrast Public Protector
Thuli Madonsela's report, which was released last month, found that the president had “unduly benefited” from the upgrades to his private home in KwaZulu-Natal and recommended that he should pay back at least part of the over R246 million spent on the improvements.

The Parliamentary ad hoc committee which was set to consider President Zuma's submissions on the Public Protector's report was effectively dissolved on Monday.

This was after Parliament carried the ANC's proposal to let the matter stand over for the next Parliament to consider after the May 7 elections.

The committee said there was insufficient time to complete the work as set out in the terms of reference before the current Parliamentary term ended.

On Tuesday Judge Vuyelwa Tlhapi ordered Nxesi and the department to furnish the centre with a full set of Nkandla documents, including documents filed at the department's head office in Pretoria, within the next 30 days.

The department's director general Mziwonke Dlabantu was ordered to comply with section 23(1) of the Promotion of Access to Information Act to account for all those documents the department claimed could not be traced or did not exist.

The court also granted a costs order against Nxesi and his department.

Although the centre asked for the application to be referred for oral evidence so that the records not disclosed could be examined, Tlhapi said it would not yield any result because the department had not completed the exercise of disclosure and the court might embark on a wild goose chase.

“I take this dim view because of the dilly dallying conduct displayed by the respondents in dealing with this request for access to information,” she said.

Tlhapi said in her view the centre was correct in its submission that the department had failed to disclose documents pertaining to top management or top level meetings or decisions.

She said a leaked document showed there was reason to believe there were documents in existence which were not disclosed.

“There were no disclosures from Head Office, Pretoria and no search was conducted for the missing documents at such office.

“The idea or suggestion of the possibility of no record of documents in writing or no records being kept pertaining to “top management” decisions being available, especially those records like in this matter that have or might have financial implications to the Nkandla project, is a serious indictment against those in public office who deal with the business of government and this should not go unchallenged.

“Failure to keep record or a tendency to lose documents, or to hide them or to deal with government business under a cloud of secrecy where it is not justified or, like in this matter to confine disclosure to the project managers documents in situations where a government department is taken to task or where the shoe might pinch certain officials ... constitutes a dereliction of one of the most important obligations on a government, which is to keep proper records.

“Such conduct on the part of government does not advance the values espoused in our Constitution, that of a democratic, transparent and accountable government.

“It is in the public interest to keep record in order to give credence to the business of government itself and to those who govern.

“Records are kept so that such records are preserved for posterity in keeping with our national heritage.

“The National Archives Act... places an obligation on all government employees from the top to the bottom to create proper records, whether these concern casual, ordinary or classified information, when conducting government business,” Tlhapi said.

- Sapa

Dad blames himself for baby’s fire death

Cape Town - A father was left blaming himself for the death of his 9-month-old baby and his girlfriend’s injuries after a fire destroyed their shack in Delft.

“I was too late. I was supposed be there to protect them. I should’ve done more,” Ondela Mtati said.

On the evening of Freedom Day, his 9-month-old son, Base Singxo, and his girlfriend, Zanele Singxo, were asleep in their backyard dwelling in Delft South.

The shack was attached to the house of Base’s grandmother, Pamella Mtati.

Mtati had left to go to his friend’s house only 10 minutes before the fire started.

Fire and Rescue spokeswoman Sharon Bosch said the cause of the fire was unknown.

On Monday, Ondela Mtati said he hated himself for not being there to save his child.

“I don’t want to be here. I want to get away and never come back,” he said.

Mtati’s only photograph of his son and girlfriend was destroyed in the fire. Pamella Mtati said she was woken by Singxo’s screams for help.

“All she was saying was: ‘My child, my child. Someone save my child.’

“When I ran outside to see what was happening, I saw the fire. Zanele and Base were trapped inside.” Mtati said.

“It was difficult for me to do anything because the fire was so big and the smoke was tightening my chest.”

Neighbour Edward van Wyk, who was also woken by the screams saved Singxo, but said he didn’t know there was a baby in the shack.

“I wet myself with water from the hosepipe and used a spade to break down the door,” he said.

“Zanele was sitting on the floor, unconscious. Her face and arms were badly burnt. I picked her up and laid her on the pavement.

“I didn’t even know that there was a baby inside. The mother couldn’t speak. If I had known, I would’ve went in and saved the baby first,” Van Wyk said.

Laticia Pienaar, spokeswoman at Tygerberg Hospital, said Singxo was in a stable condition.

Police spokesman Tembinkosi Kinana said an inquest docket had been opened.

francesca.villette@inl.co.za

- Cape Times

Nkandla committee dissolved

The Parliamentary ad hoc committee which was set to consider President Jacob Zuma’s submissions on the Public Protector’s report on Nkandla was effectively dissolved on Monday.

A report by the committee referring the matter to the fifth Parliament was adopted, following heated arguments between ANC MPs and their opposition counterparts.

The matter was put to a vote after the ANC proposed the matter stand over for the next Parliament to consider after the May 7 elections.

The ANC used its majority to win the vote.

“The first motion therefore was carried. The committee noted that despite its commitment to the task, there was insufficient time to complete the work as set out in the terms of reference,” the adopted committee report read.

“The ad hoc committee recommends that this matter be referred to the fifth Parliament for consideration.”

The DA tabled its minority view, which was also adopted.

“The committee believes that nothing less than a consistent effort to discharge its responsibility to the Constitution before the fourth Parliament is dissolved would constitute a gross dereliction of duty and negation of its members’ oath of office,” the opposition party report read.

The ANC argued there was not enough time for the committee to do its job properly before the current Parliamentary term ends.

“We want to do justice to this matter. That is why we are saying time is against us,” ANC whip Dorris Dlakude said.

“There is no reason we cannot refer this matter to the fifth Parliament.”

Frustrated opposition party MPs objected strongly.

“This is a pretty shameful state of affairs. The ANC claims the committee does not have the time to do the work. We have yet to hear… from the ANC on what the work is,” said a very irate Democratic Alliance Parliamentary leader, Lindiwe Mazibuko.

The meeting became heated when ANC MP Buti Manamela chided Mazibuko for using the word ‘shameful’ and accused her of using the committee as an electioneering stunt.

“If we want the committee to work until the 6th of May, we’ll be setting the committee up for failure,” Manamela explained.

Dlakude accused opposition parties of having a pre-meditated outcome before the committee had even started deliberations.

“It seems they know what they want to achieve on this one. As the ANC we say we stick to our motion. We are not going to do something and then leave it. We want to do a thorough job,” Dlakude argued.

Freedom Front Plus MP Corne Mulder interrupted her, shouting: “I don’t believe you.”

“It’s quite clear what’s happening. You want things discussed, just not before the 7th of May,” Mulder said.

The ad hoc committee, established by National Assembly speaker Max Sisulu, was set to investigate submissions made by Zuma in response to a damning report by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela.

Madonsela found Zuma and his family had unduly benefited from security upgrades to his Nkandla residence to the value of R246 million.

- Sapa

Responding to low-cost housing demand – Homes for the low-income mass market

I was very interested to read this email newsletter from Hennie Botes, CEO of moladi, South Africa:

 An award winning Port Elizabeth based company, established in 1986, makes housing accessible to low-income people through innovative and eco-friendly reusable recycled plastic formwork technology, creating employment. Decent affordable housing is one of the key factors in the fight against poverty and social exclusion. It is not just about putting a roof over someone’s head. 

Academic research proves that access to a clean and stable home implicates an improvement in security, health and education. With the motto “Train the unemployed to build for the homeless” moladi combines construction with economic development to bring about change. Hennie Botes, the inventor and CEO of moladi, has been invited as keynote speaker at this prestigious event. This symposium has been organized jointly by Shelter Afrique and the Ministry of Housing, Cote D’Ivoire.

For more information visit Shelter Afrique Alternate building technologies and construction methods. Sustainable solution to alleviating housing deficit in Africa.

I was intrigued by this housing solution. After digging around the internet for a couple of minutes, I soon found an interview with this social entrepreneur, which you can see here:

Hennie Botes - moladi CEO from moladi

Hennie is setting about the de-skilling of the construction process in order to meet housing demand. He has a vision of creating a production line for housing, “to be the Henry Ford of the housing market”.

The process is based on generating employment with on-site work, with most of the parts in the house being cast on site with plastic molds. They are even talking about providing finance for their clients. This seems an immensely pragmatic and effective way to develop sustainable solutions. 

 Is this unique or are there other examples of this kind of activity?

For more information visit moladi.net

- Ceeforum

Protesting residents torch tyres, toilets

Cape Town - Firefighters were chased out of Esibaneni informal settlement near Mfuleni as more than 10 temporary toilets were torched by residents during a service delivery protest on Tuesday.

About 300 residents took to the streets demanding a project to relocate them be stopped because the area was “unsuitable”.

The protest was organised by Ses’kona People’s Rights Movement – a group of activists from informal settlements.

Esibaneni residents said the city had ordered them to move to sites called Phase 5A and 5B, but that the sites were not properly developed.

They burnt tyres and dumped rubble into the streets. One group moved the bucket toilets together and set them alight. Police used stun grenades to disperse the crowd.

Ses’kona activist Advocate Tshayela said: “We stopped operations in these projects about a week ago. The city moved people from one informal settlement to another. How can they say people who share a piece of a plot are backyarders?

“We want to know why they relocated people to a place that has no water and sanitation. Even the roads are not finished.”

“This goes on to show that the City of Cape Town does not care about us. How can you not have bucket toilets emptied for three months? There are no services here, yet people were relocated here,” he said.

Plumes of smoke could be seen as more toilets were burnt.

Esibaneni resident Mandisa Mohale said: “We will continue protesting because we are being treated like dogs. We will never back down because we are fighting for our rights. There is no way we will allow this to happen. Our children are suffering from diseases due to these stuffed toilets.”

Ses’kona leader Andile Lili said: “Last week I was there and there was a crisis in that area. How can they relocate people in a place that has no services?”

Lili said Ses’kona would march in the CBD today to demand better services.

Police arrested Tshayela and another Ses’kona member, Thobile George, for public violence.

Police spokesman FC Van Wyk said the protesters were warned, but had refused to disperse and police used stun grenades to disperse them.

The mayoral committee member for human settlements, Tandeka Gqada, said: “The city views the allegations made in a very serious light and will investigate the allegations levelled as a matter of urgency.”

siyavuya.mzantsi@inl.co.za

- Cape Times

Mixed reactions as city unlocks doors

Cape Town - When Johanna Januarie opened the door to her new home at Mountain View in Ocean View on Tuesday, she said it felt as if she had unlocked the door to her future.

Although her husband, David, died last year, while the couple were waiting for the house, she could feel his presence when the keys were handed over, she said.

At 92, he would have been the oldest beneficiary of the City of Cape Town’s R46 million housing project.

The site off Slangkop Road was earmarked for housing in the late 1980s, but concerns about the high cost of excavating the mountain rock almost derailed the project.

Premier Helen Zille, who attended the key handover ceremony on Tuesday with mayor Patricia de Lille and the MEC for Human Settlements, Bonginkosi Madikizela, acknowledged that the beneficiaries had been waiting several years for their houses.

Zille said government red tape had been largely to blame, as there was a “rule for everything”. But she said that “sometimes you have to put delivery ahead of the rules”.

The project, now part of the official World Design Capital programme for its innovative use of local material, was an example of how the government could “think outside of the box”.

Zille also noted that there had been “a lot of anger” when the project started several years ago. But despite the long wait and the many obstacles, the community had been patient without resorting to violence.

Councillor Felicity Purchase, who has worked on the project since it was first mooted, said an intervention from the Department of Social Development had saved it from being shelved.

The contractor almost walked off the site when it became apparent that many of the workers, who were to own the houses, had drug and alcohol addictions. The city hosted workshops to help them deal with their problems, and the project continued.

De Lille said it showed how design-led thinking could resolve complex challenges and improve quality of life.

She said 30 trainees were skilled in stone masonry and almost 500 workers were employed by the city’s Expanded Public Works Programme.

By 2015, there would be 543 houses.

“Not only will these houses give people dignity, they will be reminders of everything that is possible when communities work with the city to transform the way that they live.”

But this sentiment was not shared by all the beneficiaries.

“We voted for housing, not for these houses. A big dog would not be able to sleep in that room. There is not even place for a bed to fit,” said Magrieta Jantjies, who has lived in the area for 27 years.

She said the community had not elected the steering community that claimed to represent their interests.

Other disgruntled beneficiaries, many of whom are involved in the construction of the houses, complained that the structures were too small to accommodate families.

“We are not dogs,” they said. One woman said she would have to leave most of her possessions, and half of her family, in the bungalow at the informal settlement where she was living. There were also concerns about safety as the houses were built close together with no protective walls.

- Cape Argus

anel.lewis@inl.co.za

Build a Cannabrick Home

Peacefully Demonstrated outside the Department of Housing May 7 2005

1. Plant a cannabis seed. Water and allow the plant to grow and produce seed. Plant and water these seeds. Your goal is to grow enough to build a house, you will need about 1 acre to build a 5 roomed home.
   
   
   Tyala imbewu ntsangu (ye-cannabis). Nkcenkceshela imbewu uze uyinike ithuba lokuba ikhule ide ikhuphe eyayo imbewu. Uyothi ke uyityale nalembewu uyinkcenkceshele njalo. Injongo yakho kukukhulisa izityalo ezothi zonele ekwakheni indlu, uyakudinga i-acre (malunga nentsimi) enye ukuze wakhe indlu enamagumbi amahlanu.
   
   
   Plant 'n hemp saad. Water en laat die plante om te groei en saad te produseer. Plant en water hierdie sade. Jou doel is om  genoeg te groei om 'n huis bou, jy sal ongeveer een aker benodig om 'n 5-kamer huis te bou.
   
   
   Sokutshala imbewu insangu njalo. Amanzi nokuvumela isitshalo ukuze zikhule futhi ukhiqize imbewu. Plant namanzi lezi zinhlamvu. Umgomo wakho iwukuba akhule ngokwanele ukwakha indlu, uzodinga 1 Acre ukwakha 5 roomed ekhaya.
   
   
   
   
2. Consider the many relevant points presented in the guidelines of Build a house with hemp / Building with hemp.
   
   
   Qwalasela yonke imigaqo oyibekelweyo kwincwadana i-Build a house with hemp / Building with hemp.
   
   
   Oorweeg die baie relevante punte in die riglyne van die Build a house with hemp / Building with hemp.
   
   
   Cabangela amaphuzu amaningi efanele evezwa neziqondiso of Yakha indlu nge insangu / Building nge insangu.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Start planning where your house will stand. Consider everything about the environment you’ll be building in, like winter and summer sunshine, wind and rain – you don’t want to build on a floodplain, or your house will wash away. Be sure to plan all your water and waste requirements.
   
   
   Ceba indawo ozokwakha kuyo indlu yakho. Qwalasela yonke into ngomhlaba lo uzokwakha kuwo indlu yakho, izinto ezinje ngemimoya, ilanga, neemvula zehlobo nobusika, akekho umntu ofuna ukwakha indlu yakhe emgxobhozweni okanye apho iyothi ibe lilifa lezikhukhula khona. Uqiniseke ukuba unamanzi akulungeleyo ukwenza oku.
   
   
   Begin met die beplanning, waar jou huis sal staan. Oorweeg dit alles oor die omgewing en jy sal gebou in, soos winter en somer son, wind en reën - jy wil nie op 'n vloedvlakte bou nie, of jou huis sal wegspoel. Maak seker om te beplan al jou water en afval vereistes voldoen.
   
   
   Qala uhlela kuphi indlu yakho eyokuma. Cabanga konke mayelana imvelo uyobe ngokwakha ku, efana ebusika kanye kwelanga ehlobo, umoya nemvula-ungafuni ukwakha ethile kwemfunda, noma indlu yakho iyoba basuse. Qiniseka ukuhlela konke amanzi kanye imfucuza izidingo zakho.
   
   
4. Cut the grown cannabis plants down and leave in the field to rett for a week. The morning dew and natural rotting process will loosen the fibers from the plant.
   
   
   a. Process the plant matter by cutting leaves and branches off, then hit small bundles the length of the plant over and upturned rake.
   b. The long fiber parts that remain in your hand are good for weaving rugs and making various other items your skills can accomplish.
   c. The seed can be gathered for more housing.
   d. Gather the small woody bits (the hurd) that have fallen, this waste is what will be used in the construction material.
   
   
   Sika / sarha izityalo uzibeke egadini ixesha elingangeveki ukuze zibole. Umbethe wasekuseni nezinye izinto zendalo ezibolisayo ziya kuyikhulula I-fibre ezityalweni.
   
   
   a. Yikhawulezise ngohlukanisa intonga zezityalo namagqabi, uhlale uyiharika rhoqo.
   b. Intonga ezi zinothi zincede kwezinye izinto ezifana nokwenza ingubo nezinye izinto onothi uzibonele zona ngokolwazi lwakho.
   c. Imbewu inokuqokelelwe ukwakha ezinye izindlu.
   d. Qokelela imithana ethe yaziwela njengokuba uzoyisebenzisa xa usakha indlu yakho.
   
   
   Sny die gegroei hemp/cannabis plante af en in die veld verlaat om rhett vir 'n week. Die oggend-dou en die natuurlike verrotting proses sal die vesel van die plant los te maak.
   
   
   a. Proses van die plantmateriaal deur te sny blare en takke af, dan is getref klein bundels die lengte van die plant oor en omgekeerde hark.
   b. Die lang vesel dele wat in jou hand bly is goed vir die matte weef en die maak van verskeie ander items jou vaardighede kan bereik.
   c. Die saad kan vir meer behuising ingesamel word.
   d. Versamel die klein houtagtige bits (die hurd) wat gedaal het, die afval is wat sal in die konstruksie materiaal gebruik kan word.
   
   
   Sika izitshalo insangu njalo. isikhule phansi endle ukuze rhett isonto lonke. Amazolo ekuseni inqubo lwemvelo ukubola kuzokwenza athambise imicu kulesi simila.
   
   
   a. Ukucubungula udaba plant ukusika amaqabunga namagatsha ahambe ke hit izinyanda amancane ubude sitshalo phezu ne hala sokutakula.
   b. I-long fibre izingxenye ezisele esandleni sakho kukhona okuhle ngokuba ihlanganisa omata kanye nokwenza ezinye izinto ahlukahlukene amakhono akho kungaba afeze.
   c. Imbewu kungenziwa babuthana izindlu xaxa.
   d. Ubuthe izingcezu bok encane (i-hurd) ukuthi uwe, lokhu imfucuza okuzokusiza lisetshenziswe ukwaziswa yezokwakha
   
   
5. Wash the hurd, dry it, then wash it again. Be careful not to allow the matter to rot or decay during this process, by turning, airing and allowing the African sun to dry the hurd properly. Now combine in proportions 10:2:3:3 combine the cannabis/ntsangu/dagga Hurd(10), washed river sand 0.5mm(2), hydraulic lime(3) and water(3) to make the mulch (This process may need tweaking depending on your geographic location, humidity, rainfall etc)
   
   
   Hlamba ingqokelela yakho, uyomise, uphinde uyihlambe.Ulumkele ukuba lengqokelela ibole kwelithuba, yiguquguqule, uyivumele ibethwe ngumoya uvumele nelanga lase Afrika liyomise lengqokelela. Dibanisa ngokwalo mgaqo 10:2:3:3, dibanisa ke lemvuno yakho yomgquba wentsangu (10) kunye nesanti yasemlanjeni 0.5mm(2), ikalika (3) kunye namanzi (3) ukwenza udaka (Nale into ke iyokuthi ixhomekeke kwindawo leyo ukuyo nemvula zakhona njalo-njalo).
   
   
   Was die kudde, droog dit af, dan was dit weer. Wees versigtig om nie toe te laat die aangeleentheid te verrot of verval gedurende hierdie proses, deur die draai, voorlê en laat die Afrika-son om droog die kudde goed. Nou kombineer in verhoudings 10:2:3:3 kombineer die cannabis / ntsangu / dagga Hurd (10), gewaste riviersand 0.5 mm (2), hidrouliese kalk (3) en water (3) aan die deklaag te maak (Hierdie proses kan tweaking nodig, afhangende van jou geografiese ligging, humiditeit, reën, ens)
   
   
   Geza the hurd , zoma it ke geza futhi . Qaphela ukuba singavumeli udaba ukubola noma ukubola kulo msebenzi , ngokubhekisa , angabiki futhi sivumele ilanga Afrika ukuze ome le hurd kahle . Sebesebenzisa ngezabelo 10:2:3:3 hlanganisa insangu njalo. / ntsangu / insangu Hurd (10) , umfula wageza isihlabathi 0.5mm (2) , wokubacindezela umcako (3) kanye namanzi (3) ukwenza semboza ngabo izithombo zezihlahla (Le nqubo may badinga tweaking kuye ngokuthi indawo yokuhlala yakho, umswakama, imvula, njll)
   
   
6. Now build your house! Ngoku ke yakha indlu yakho! Nou bou jou huis! Manje ukwakha indlu yakho!
   
   
7. Teach others. Fundisa abanye. Onderrig ander.
   
   

You can use this “dagga-cement” for making bricks, shutter casting or the proven “pole-and-dagga” method. This last method allows for a sturdy, warm, fireproof and water proof home – built with pride and intuitive engineering, not a ‘uniform box’.

Be sure to consider all aspects of your house design and structural requirements. Although the cannabis-cement will become stronger than steel in time, it is not advised to build over 2 floors high without considering structural implications. With planning this cement can be used to build up to 4 floors high.

The cannabis-cement will dry over a period of a month (depending on the weather). At this point you will be able to add the roof. Seal your home’s walls with lime; lime external walls annually. Decorate your house with masonry to make it unique, and paint with coloured lime as per custom.

Always PLANT A TREE in a place that will provide shade, to commemorate this accomplishment.

Assist your family, friends or neighbors with your experience and expertise. Share information and technique; you can uplift yourself and your community.

Nkandla an international scandal – Archbishop

An interfaith group, led by Anglican Arch Bishop Thabo Makgoba, has challenged President Jacob Zuma to break the silence and say what role he played in the multi-million rands security upgrade at his private residence in Nkandla, Kwa Zulu Natal.

Makgoba, former archbishops Desmond Tutu, Njongonkulu Ndungane and religious leaders from different church denominations led an interfaith procession from District Six to Parliament.

More than 3 000 people participated in the procession.  

"All the nation wants is a leader who sets an example by taking responsibility"

Arch Bishop Makgoba says the Nkandla debacle is an international scandal. “Mr President, how you are remembered in history, your legacy, is going to be determined by how you speak to the nation about how you made the decisions you have made.”

Makgoba says: “All the nation wants is a leader who sets an example by taking responsibility. A leader who is transparent. A leader who acknowledges imperfection and who in acknowledging imperfection commits to a life as a values-based leader. Nothing short of that will be enough.”

The Public Protector’s report found Jacob Zuma and his family to have improperly benefited from upgrades to his private residence.

- SABC

Shack fires: Over 200 homeless in Hout Bay

CAPE TOWN – Over 200 Hout Bay residents have been left homeless after a fire swept through the Imizamo Yethu informal settlement yesterday.

Disaster teams battled to control the blaze after it broke out just after 2pm yesterday afternoon. 

Disaster Risk Management’s Wilfred Solomons-Johannes says additional emergency vehicles had to be dispatched to the scene when the fire spread to the mountain.

“We have opened the community hall but are also providing social relief aid in terms of food parcels, clothing, blankets and hot meals. Building material will also be brought to the area.”

Solomons- Johannes says relief efforts will continue throughout the weekend.

“The cause of the fire has not yet been determined and our disaster management teams will work with the families throughout the weekend to rebuild their homes.”

- EWN

Election ribbon cutting and "good stories"

No legal challenge to Nkandla report - Mbete

Cape Town - There are no plans to legally challenge Public Protector Thuli Madonsela's report on Nkandla, ANC national chairperson Baleka Mbete said on Thursday.

"We have not taken such a decision," she told reporters in Cape Town.

There were also no plans to take action against Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa for his role in the security upgrades at President Jacob Zuma's private Nkandla homestead in KwaZulu-Natal.

"Again, we have taken no such decision."

Madonsela found that Mthethwa's declaration of the homestead as a national key point amounted to improper conduct and maladministration.

This finding formed part of her final report, released last month, on the security upgrades totalling R246m.

She found that Zuma and his family unduly benefited from the upgrades, and said Zuma should pay back a portion of the cost.

Mbete said Madonsela's report and a report released by government's task team were largely similar in context, and that Zuma was found to have not lied to Parliament.

The ANC agreed that the escalating cost of Nkandla had to be probed because there was "too much of this culture" in government, and the public works department in particular.

However, it believed some of Madonsela's remarks amounted to interference in terms of African tradition.

"A lot was clarified, in fact, by Thuli's report. She then goes on to say a few things which, in our view, are actually debatable because in the African tradition you don't interfere with a man's kraal.

"The issue of a man's kraal or a kraal of a family is a holy space."

She said security experts had looked at his KwaZulu-Natal home from a security perspective and shifted it in such a way that did not benefit the family.

"And Thuli says: 'No, they benefited and, therefore, President Zuma ought to think of paying some money'. We beg to differ very strongly, very, very strongly."

The tuckshop of Zuma's first wife, Ma Khumalo, had to be moved from where it had been for many years to an inconvenient spot far away because of security considerations.

Mbete questioned how this could have benefited the family.

"It's a longer distance that she now has to walk. It's a tinier space and those who have seen it say it doesn't look like a five-star shop or anything."

Public urged to calm down

She said visitors to Nkandla had noted Ma Khumalo's negative feelings about the "attention, noise and intrusion into their private family space".

Mbete asked the public to "calm down" until the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) had released its report on the matter because it would reveal who was responsible.

National Assembly speaker Max Sisulu announced last week that an ad hoc Parliamentary committee on Nkandla would be set up.

Its mandate is to consider Zuma's response to Madonsela's report and make recommendations, where applicable.

Zuma reacted to Madonsela's report earlier this month, saying he would give a substantive response once the SIU had completed its probe.

On Monday, DA parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko accused the ANC of deliberately trying to delay the committee's work by not submitting the names of its members who would serve on it.

But Mbete said choosing the best qualified people took time.

"I can tell you my personal experience of getting names from the ANC. It's a pain... the ANC is a huge monster," she said.

"It takes forever... because you often have to convene the appropriate structure that is supposed to take such a decision."

She said it was not a deliberate move and one had to keep in mind that people were campaigning all over the country.

"However, I would also maybe dare to comment that at this point, that committee would have very little to consider.

"It would be best when finally the SIU report is on the table and the president has actually given us a comprehensive response, then it would be in a much better space for such a committee to look at something more substantive."

- SAPA

ANC stalls committee probing Nkandla

OPPOSITION hopes that the special parliamentary committee established to probe the Nkandla scandal would begin work this week were dashed on Monday when it emerged that the ANC in the National Assembly would only nominate its members on April 23.

In the clearest indication yet that the ANC in Parliament will close ranks in the committee to protect President Jacob Zuma, it was learned that the ANC would leave the committee a scant seven days to complete its work.

When National Assembly speaker Max Sisulu announced the establishment of an ad hoc committee to probe Mr Zuma’s response to Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s report on the R246m upgrade to his private home, he gave the committee until April 30 to complete its work.

The rules of Parliament allow political parties 10 working days to nominate their representatives to an ad hoc committee. The ANC’s intention to use the full time allowed in the rules will seriously limit the amount of work the committee can do.

Democratic Alliance parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko has expressed her outrage at "the ANC’s attempts to delay the start of the ad hoc committee".

"We have confirmed this morning that the ANC have yet to submit the names of their members who will serve on the committee — more than four days after it was announced. Until this happens, and all names are reflected in Parliament’s Announcements, Tablings and Committee Reports (ATC) document, the ad hoc committee cannot begin its work."

ANC caucus spokesman Moloto Mothapo insists that the ANC is simply following procedures.

He acknowledges that the deadlines were tight "but the issue of how many days are left is not anyone’s fault, that is the process".

Ms Mazibuko says she has sent an urgent letter to Mr Sisulu urging him to ensure that the ad hoc committee meets this week.

"Indeed, since the ad hoc committee must report back to Parliament by April 30 2014, time is of the essence. To delay it by just one day is to undermine the important task it must complete in a very short period of time. The ANC is clearly running scared and now doing everything possible to protect President Zuma.

"They know that it is impossible to defend the spending of nearly R250m of public money to build President Zuma a palace in Nkandla. They know too that the powers of the committee are such that it will be able to force answers — which to date President Zuma refuses to provide," said Ms Mazibuko.

"This delay is a great disservice to Parliament and the constitution, and undermines the office of the speaker — who established this committee, with a clear indication that it must start its work ‘as soon as possible’," she said.

- BDLive

State spent R7.9m on Nkandla relocations

CAPE TOWN — The government spent R7.9m to relocate four households neighbouring on President Jacob Zuma’s private Nkandla residence, as they were within a 50m radius, said Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi.

In reply to a parliamentary question from the Democratic Alliance (DA), Mr Nxesi said similar security assessments done on the households of former presidents Nelson Mandela, Kgalema Motlanthe and Thabo Mbeki had indicated that such removals were not necessary.

The news of the cost of the four removals comes as Parliament’s multiparty ad hoc committee to consider Mr Zuma’s response to the Public Protector’s report on the R246m security upgrades to his Nkandla homestead prepares for its first meeting this week. The committee will have to submit a report to Parliament by April 30.

Although the Nkandla security upgrades have been done since 2009, it was only when the security cluster of ministers released its report in December that it emerged that several households had been relocated. The probe could not put a number on the households.

Mr Nxesi’s parliamentary reply did not state where the households had been moved to.

DA MP Anchen Dreyer said on Sunday Mr Nxesi’s answer and the fact that four households were moved created further suspicion around the real intention behind the costly relocation. "Indeed, how can it be a security threat in one instance, but not in another?" she asked.

Public Protector Thuli Madonsela said in her report on the security upgrades done at taxpayer expense to Mr Zuma’s residence that she could not "find any authority or legitimate reason for classifying the relocation of the households at state expense as a security measure".

Ms Dreyer said her party would submit further parliamentary questions at the next available opportunity to get more details on the "security" concerns that warranted the removal of families at the public’s expense.

- BDLive

Girl, 4, trapped in burning shack

Cape Town - Neighbours tried in vain to rescue 4-year-old Yolanda Rigala who was trapped inside a burning shack in Wilhelmina Schaefer Street in Strand.

Fire broke out at about 4am on Sunday and swept through two backyard shacks, one of them occupied by Yolanda, her mother Thobeka Rigala and her 1-year-old sibling.

Fire and Rescue spokesmen said the fire was the result of a fallen candle.

Neighbours said the blaze was uncontrollable and had already destroyed the shack in which Yolanda had been sleeping with her family.

“We used everything we could find. The blaze prevented us from getting inside.

“After I woke up, I rushed outside and saw Thobeka at the door. She told me Yolanda was inside the shack. She was carrying her baby,” neighbour Thobela Kibido said yesterday.

He was among neighbours who tried to help save Yolanda.

“I don’t think there was anything else we could have done. We used everything to try and get inside, but it was too late.

“It is hard to accept the way she died. She was just a lovely child,” he said.

Yolanda attended a pre-school in Broadlands, Strand. She had been living in Strand for three months after arriving from the Eastern Cape.

Her mother, Thobeka, was too distraught to be interviewed on Monday.

Yolanda’s grandmother, Annelise Pampi, said the pain of their loss would last forever.

“She stayed with us most of the time and would only visit her mother during holidays. On Saturday, her mother came here and Yolanda wanted to leave with her. I told her she could not go with her mother, but she cried. I thought I should let her go because it was a weekend and she was not going to school the next day,” she said.

“She was happy when she left with her mother. She was a clever child.

“I was teaching her Afrikaans because our community is Afrikaans-speaking and she struggled to talk with the other children,” Pampi said.

“The way she died is hurtful.

“I still have her in my mind playing and dancing around the house. She was an active child who loved making jokes and having fun,” said Pampi.

siyavuya.mzantsi@inl.co.za

- Cape Times

Zuma built house in Nkandla with his own money, says Nzimande

"Zuma built his own house, he did not use taxpayers' money to build his house," Nzimande told the National Union of Minewokers' national shop stewards council in Boksburg, east of Johannesburg.

"He never asked for those extra upgrades."

Nzimande said the homes of all previous South African presidents had also been upgraded.

Last month, Public Protector Thuli Madonsela found that Zuma and his family had improperly benefited from R246 million security upgrades to his Nkandla homestead. This included a swimming pool, a cattle kraal and an amphitheatre.

Nzimande described Madonsel'a report as "white people's lies".

"Papers are the lies of a white man. We are not told the truth about Nkandla. It is being used as a political tool," he said.

Nzimande said his ministerial home in Cape Town was upgraded without his knowledge or permission.

"They changed the pavement because it did not match the colour of the house's wall and they put in a guard house larger than an RDP house," he said.

All ministers homes were upgraded and cost R100 million, he said.

Nzimande said he was tired of white people's lies.

- Timeslive

Cope withdraws from Nkandla special committee

Cope has announced it will not form part of the special parliamentary commitee to investigate President Jacob Zuma's response to the Nkandla report.

The Congress of the People (Cope) will not be part of the special parliamentary committee established this week to scrutinise President Jacob Zuma's response to the public protector on her investigation of the upgrades at Zuma's Nkandla home.

Cope on Friday said it believes that instead of instituting further investigations on the Nkandla matter, Parliament and the state in general should be concerned with the implementation of public protector Thuli Madonsela's recommendations.

Madonsela had found that Zuma and his family had unduly benefited on the upgrading of his home and she called on him to pay back to the state a portion of the money spent on non-security measures such as the swimming pool, amphitheatre, and the cattle kraal with culvert and chicken run.

Cope national spokesperson Johann Abrie said Parliament should not have set up a committee to do more investigations, but that it should have pronounced itself on the implementation of remedial action and "not this waste of time".

The public protector is empowered by national legislation and chapter nine of the Constitution to investigate any conduct in state affairs, or in the public administration in any sphere of government, that is alleged or suspected to be improper.

"Despite her patience with and respect for the office of the president, the first citizen dismissively delayed the investigation, either ignored or provided sloppy responses to some of the questions posed to him and laid to bare his unfaithful relationship with the truth.

"Frankly, President Zuma is so dishonest, we can't even be sure that what he is telling us are lies," Cope said in a statement.

A proper example

Cope said instead of setting a proper example as the custodian of our Constitution and commence with the implementation of the remedial action, Zuma "spends his time to engineer a cunning plan to outwit the public protector".

Abrie said the public protector report was "a meticulous 450-page body of evidence confirming to South Africans what we suspected all along".

Abrie said Cope decided to turn down National Assembly speaker Max Sisulu's courtesy of inviting them to take part in an ad-hoc committee that will process Madonsela's report.

"Cope is of the opinion that the implementation of this chapter nine institution's remedial action should not be circumvented by any institution, including Parliament.

"The public protector's order is that Zuma must pay for the non-security upgrades at his private dwelling which include the visitors' centre, an amphitheatre, a swimming pool, a cattle kraal, a culvert, a chicken run and extensive paving," said Abrie.

He said the sequence was not logical and Zuma should first comply with the findings and the order, which cannot be equal to or being override by the Special Investigative Unit's investigation.

"By participating in an ad-hoc committee, which will certainly be packed with a majority of President Zuma's most loyal batsmen, a dangerous precedent will be created to which the Congress of the People cannot be party to.

"At this time, our participation in a committee of this nature would be tantamount to assisting President Zuma avoiding his responsibility to uphold the Constitution," said Abrie.

He said they remain resolute that Zuma's conduct was not dissimilar to that of a person who came in possession of stolen goods, but refuse to return them to the rightful owners, the taxpayer.

Other political parties represented in Parliament, including the ruling ANC, have welcomed the establishment of the ad hoc committee.

Parliament had not responded on whether Cope's seat in the committee would be deferred to another party at the time of publishing.

- M&G

Nkandla findings final - protector

Public Protector Thuli Madonsela will not discuss her findings on Nkandla with the government's security cluster of ministers, her office said on Friday.

Spokesperson Kgalalelo Masibi confirmed that the office had received a letter from the cluster.

The ministers wanted clarification about her report on costly security upgrades to President Jacob Zuma's home in Nkandla.

Masibi said Madonsela would be available to discuss why the State found the implementation of remedial action difficult or impossible.

"Her findings are, however, not issues for discussion."

Madonsela released her final report on the security upgrades totaling R246m last month.

She found that Zuma and his family unduly benefited from the upgrades, and said Zuma should pay back a portion of the cost.

On Tuesday, the government said the security ministers had studied the report but needed more information and clarification from Madonsela.

Masibi said on Friday Madonsela's comment was that her findings were final.

"The public protector's expectation is that remedial action be implemented and that there is no room to discuss her findings."

- SAPA

Reports of CPT homeless 'work camps' alarming

The Cape Argus on Friday published a shocking exposé on a new City of Cape Town plan to rid the city centre of people who live and make a living on the streets. Anyone who refuses to voluntarily participate in these "community village" rehabilitation programmes would be forcibly placed there through the community courts system.

In the Argus, however, member of the city's mayoral committee (Mayco) for social development, Suzette Little, said that it was "proposed for community villages to complement existing street people programmes and services". In fact, the way the city is spinning the idea is, according to safety and security mayco member JP Smith, "part of a general move towards a more caring and supportive approach in dealing with street people" and as an "alternative to a 'law enforcement' approach". In other words, Little and Smith are claiming that this new programme is about love, care and rehabilitation, rather than discipline and punishment.

But that is not how homeless rights advocates and others see the programme, which was presented as a "done deal" to city improvement district (CID) representatives in a private meeting on the March 15 this year.

According to a source (who asked to remain anonymous because his/her organisation's funding comes through the city), Little presented the programme to the CIDs in a very different light. In the said meeting, she dispelled any semblance of compassion by asserting that "food or jobs cleaning streets or recycling attracts them [street people] to the city, so we must start cutting them off".

Showing a lack of understanding and empathy for people who live on the streets, Little apparently exclaimed: "Dis lekker op die straat, dis a free party. [It's nice on the streets, its a free party]." (It is not as if Little has never gotten paid for having a party of her own: she was infamously caught playing Solitaire during a 2013 budget vote.)

In other words, Little wants to use a reported R40-million budget allocation for helping street people to put an end to all support initiatives in the city centre. This includes soup kitchens, recycling initiatives and even the religious Straatwerk jobs programme. As a result, this would make it hard for them to live on the streets and a new "Street People's Reintegration Unit" would encourage them to "go home" (nevermind the inconvenient truth that most often their home is the street itself).

'Blocking the pavement'

But if people living on the street refuse to go – because the freedom of movement and right to refuse work is their dignified right as per the anti-slavery provision in the Constitution – the unit, with the help of law enforcement will build a dossier against them of minor by-law infractions, such as "blocking the pavement", and eventually use the community courts to force them into these rehabilitation villages.

The source claims that twice during the meeting, Little let slip the word "camp" and had to correct herself. According to the source, "winking at her executive director for social development Ivan Bromfield", Little reportedly said that "he'd be angry if she uses the wrong words".

Why is the word "camp" a big no-no? Simply because it immediately brings to mind war-time forced labour camps, Chinese re-education camps and even the horrifying concentration camp. (If one remembers, the English pioneered the concentration camp against Afrikaners and black South Africans during the Anglo-Boer War).

This account of the private meeting with CID representatives is so important precisely because Little and Smith assumed they were preaching to the converted. In a private meeting to the representatives, they felt that they could be candid about their true intentions while assuming they generally already agreed with and actively participated in the criminalisation of street people.

This is not the first time the municipality has been caught trying to "cleanse" the city centre of street people. Smith, in fact, was instrumental in the winter readiness plan: the arrest and forced removal of hundreds of street people from around Cape Town Stadium in anticipation for the 2010 World Cup.

What is becoming more clear about this initiative is that rather than being caring and supportive, the city's plan is to use by-laws to strip away the little dignity this vulnerable section of the population has left. 

It does not matter how rehabilitative these so-called villages will be – if the individual is not going there of his/her own free will, then it cannot be effective. By forcing street people into these villages, they are effectively incarcerating them for not having a roof over their head.

These villages are nothing more than glorified prisons a la the controversial Chinese Detox Centres; they are essentially presentable and unoffensive versions of Nazi forced-labour camps.

This time, however, its not Jews or homosexuals or communists that fascism has deemed a scapegoat for society's ills. Instead, it is merely street people whose freedom and dignity in this country don't count because their only home blocks a pavement in front of a nightclub and their "unsavoury" form of livelihood scares away the tourists.

- M&G