Long wait for ‘shoddy’ new homes

Cape Town - After more than 20 years on a waiting list for houses, residents from various informal settlements finally received new homes in Pelican Park, near Grassy Park – but many are bitterly disappointed at “shoddy workmanship”.

They complain of uneven floors, skew walls, poor ventilation and cheap alternative materials used in the building.

Winnie Poggenpoel, said her family had moved into their new house only three months ago. But the only difference between the house and their old shack was that they could no longer hear the rain like they did while living in Zille-Raine Heights in Parkwood.

“When we were staying in Zille-Raine Heights we were happy there. I was on the housing waiting list for 22 years and when I got the letter to say I qualify for this house, I was thrilled because I would finally have a place to call my own. I don’t want to sound ungrateful but this is not the standard of housing I expected.”

Poggenpoel lives in the two-bedroom house with her family of six. She says they’re not able to make any alterations because they rely on government grants for an income.

Her neighbour Yahgia Amaldien, who has worked previously in construction, said the houses were being built way too fast, and that the exterior walls had not been properly plastered.

“The walls look like they’re plastered on the outside, but when it rains the inside still gets wet. Besides the plastering, the ventilation is also not right, and in the bathroom there is a pipe which isn’t long enough, so they used a piece of plastic to make it longer.”

Amaldien said he and his family moved in three weeks ago. The only good thing was they now had electricity.

Paul Johnson, who also lived in Zille-Raine Heights, has been in his new house for five weeks.

He pointed to a number of problems, including doors too big for their frames.

“I am a pensioner and I cannot be fixing these things. I have made complaints to the company and they said they will get back to me, but so far I haven’t heard anything.”

Power Construction built the homes, and when approached for comment, spokesman Bongani Mgayi said they were aware of some of the complaints.

If residents reported complaints via the correct channels which had been made available, the company could respond to them properly.

yolisa.tswanya@inl.co.za

- Weekend Argus

Two boys die in Delft fire

Cape Town - Two boys died after a fire broke out in a homestead in Delft, Cape Town's disaster risk management centre said on Saturday.

“Two boys aged five and six died in the fire. It is not yet known what caused the fire,” said spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes.

The fire destroyed two backyard dwellings in Fort Worth Street in Delft on Friday night.

Police have opened an inquest docket, Solomons-Johannes said. - Sapa

Two housing protests in Cape

Cape Town - Tyres were burned, roads were closed and a motorist was stoned during two housing protests on Thursday.

About 2 000 residents of Illingelethu in Malmesbury went on a protest march to the Swartland municipal offices, demanding houses, land and better services.

They handed over a memorandum of grievances and gave the municipality seven days to respond. The group had marched down Darling Road singing Struggle songs while a police Nyala and traffic officers escorted them through the town.

A community leader, Thembile Mvovo, who handed the memorandum over to a municipal official, said: “We are demanding houses and better services for those who live in informal settlements. We want land to build homes and the municipality must service it.”

Illingelethu resident Thandi Dyanti, 60, has been living in the settlement for 22 years. She joined the protest because “there had been no municipal services since 1994”.

“You don’t see development in our area. The development of business and municipal buildings and services are mostly given to the white people and those with money. It is unfair. Our protest was peaceful, but we will increase the number of people here.

“The municipality must remember our frustrations will soon boil over,” she said.

Swartland municipality mayor Tijmen van Essen said the council would look at the residents’ grievances.

“They want land and houses. The land that is available within the municipality is either owned by us and earmarked for development. We cannot give them private land,” he said.

Van Essen said the municipality’s housing waiting list stands at 13 000.

“It would be unfair to just give protesting residents a house. If they are not registered, then they cannot get a house. It would also be unfair if we give houses on demand from protesters. There are people that have been waiting for homes since apartheid,” he said.

While the the march was peaceful and Public Order Police monitored the crowd, police spokesman Lorencial Johnson said an incident of malicious damage to property was reported after a motorist’s vehicle was damaged on the N7 freeway.

In a another protest, residents of Elsies River burned tyres and blocked streets with rubble. It was the second day in a row this had happened.

On Wednesday, a group of protesters, angry about the allocation of new houses in the area, had damaged a fence and burned tyres inside the Leonsdale Housing office in Elsies River.

Resident Isaac Esau said: “The houses were meant for us and now people from other areas are taking it from us. This is wrong. We are not done protesting. We want our leaders here and attending to our problems now.”

No one was arrested and police remained in the area to monitor the situation.

jason.felix@inl.co.za

- Cape Times

New Nkandla report fingers footsoldiers

Top politicians now seem more likely to escape blame for the controversial R246-million "security upgradings" at President Jacob Zuma's private compound in Nkandla, leaving public servants to take the fall.

Ten current or former employees of the Department of Public Works - including a former acting director-general - are cited in a report on the preliminary findings of a Special Investigating Unit investigation into the scandal. They are accused of failings related to the hiring of contractors for work on Zuma's home.

Details of the SIU's investigation are contained in correspondence from Mziwonke Dlabantu, director-general of the Department of Public Works, to Public Protector Thuli Madonsela.

The officials are not named but the report states that more Public Works employees might be implicated as the unit's investigations continue.

The SIU is expected to hand its final report to Zuma by the end of this week. An interministerial task team report - widely derided as a whitewash - absolved Zuma of personal involvement in the scandal, laying the blame squarely at the feet of Public Works employees and contractors, who are accused of inflating prices.

This is despite Zuma personally bringing his own architect, Minenhle Makhanya, into the prestige project, making him the de facto project manager. The job earned Makhanya a R16-million "management fee".

In his report, Dlabantu writes: ". The investigation reveals that 10 employees or former employees of the department are probably guilty of misconduct due to acts and omissions in 15 separate matters related to the appointment of contractors for the security upgrades."

He also reveals that:

• Public Works hopes to conclude agreements on apportioning some of the costs of the upgrades to the police and the defence force by the end of July;
• The department entered into a lease agreement with the board of the KwaZulu-Natal Ingonyama Trust on April 12 last year in connection with the property occupied by the state next to Zuma's home; and
• The police in KwaZulu-Natal, and the Kimberley office of the department, had expressed interest in taking over ownership of the accommodation for the police and defence force personnel on the Nkandla estate. The process is likely to be finalised before the end of next month.

The name of the former acting director-general of the Department of Public Works mentioned in Dlabantu' s report has been withheld. But in her final report Madonsela singled out former acting directors-general Solly Malebye and Sam Vukela for particular scorn.

Vukela was fired in July after being found guilty of negligence in the controversial R500-million Pretoria police headquarters deal.

Dlabantu's correspondence calls for the conduct of the officials to "be evaluated against the disciplinary code and procedures of the public service, as they are alleged to have failed to comply [with] and [to have] contravened the regulatory framework governing procurement, mismanaged the finances of the department and contravened the code of conduct of the public service".

In addition to an internal disciplinary investigation, the unnamed former acting director-general faces criminal prosecution.

Dlabantu wrote: "Among the 10 employees and former employees is a former acting director-general, whose conduct must be evaluated against the obligations placed upon accounting officers in terms of the Public Finance Management Act, which he is alleged to have contravened.

"The department has commenced initiating disciplinary proceedings against these officials, as well as criminal proceedings against the former acting director-general."

The Presidency's spokesman, Mac Maharaj, had by last night not said whether Zuma had been told of the Special Investigating Unit's preliminary findings, or whether he was expected to receive the unit's final report by the end of the month.

Zuma earlier this year controversially delayed responding to Madonsela's report, saying he would do so once the SIU had completed its investigation.

But his response could be further delayed by the decision of the previous cabinet's security cluster ministers to challenge Madonsela's report in court - a move blasted as premature because parliament has not yet pronounced on the matter.

Lucky Mochalibane, senior executive manager of communications marketing in the Department of Public Works, said: "The department. is attending to the issues and therefore cannot release any details at this stage."

SIU spokesman Boy Ndala said "time constraints" prevented him from responding to queries.

- Timeslive

Gravy train derailed with plush hotels a ‘no no’

Newly sworn-in ministers will not enjoy plush hotels for long periods of time.

This is if Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi has his way. Nxesi said his department has just three months to secure accommodation for 10 ministers. “We will have to see how we are going to get new property,” Nxesi said.

He said in the interim, ministers will be given temporary accommodation to avoid “big hotel bills”. “Buying property cannot be done in a month.

“But we are keen to sort this out as soon as possible,” Nxesi said. He said ministers who stay on in their portfolios may not receive new accommodation.

He said the ministerial handbook reads: “If, owing to exceptional circumstances, a state-owned residence is not immediately available for national members upon assumption of duty of office, expenses in connection with alternative accommodation may be debited to the state until an official residence becomes available.”

He added: “We want accommodation sorted out in Cape Town very soon because the ministers will have to start work (on) that side.” Ministers Nathi Mthethwa, Sbu Ndebele and Lindiwe Sisulu have in the past been accused of ringing up huge hotel bills. These have reportedly cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of rands. “We don’t want any controversy,” Nxesi added.

The renovations of ministerial houses have also been at the centre of controversy in the past. A Special Investigative Unit investigation found that R100m was spent on renovating 11 ministerial houses. Nxesi said the department had been instructed to spend prudently this time around.

In addition to providing housing, the department is responsible for the ministers’ relocation, moving costs, maintenance and cleaning as well as security.

qaanitahh@thenewage.co.za

- TNA

Lindiwe Sisulu to fast-track building of houses

Newly appointed Minister for Human Settlements Lindiwe Sisulu has promised to fast-track the delivery of “decent” houses as she takes up her new role.

She said the provision of housing was not only about chasing numbers.

It was about ensuring that all houses built by government were of high quality that afforded beneficiaries decent accommodation.

“Our primary task is to ensure that we provide decent housing and create an environment whereby the private sector will invest in low-income housing projects… ,” she said in a statement on Wednesday.

It will be Sisulu’s second stint in charge of the ministry. She headed the portfolio in 2004.

Sisulu said her office would play a critical role in implementing and delivering on the promises made by the African National Congress of improving people’s living conditions.

“The president has made it clear to all of us that the next five years are about fast-tracked service delivery, and I am happy that I have been given this task of leading such a critical service delivery department,” she said.

- Sapa

Minster from the past back to haunt us - Rapid urbanisation '"Still" a serious problem'

Rapid urbanisation is causing the demand for housing to grow faster than the government can deliver it, Minister of Housing Lindiwe Sisulu said on Friday. "At this rate, we are not going to get very far. We have a serious problem," she told the annual conference of the Black Management Forum in Johannesburg.

Rapid urbanisation is causing the demand for housing to grow faster than the government can deliver it, Minister of Housing Lindiwe Sisulu said on Friday.

“At this rate, we are not going to get very far. We have a serious problem,” she told the annual conference of the Black Management Forum in Johannesburg.

Of South Africa’s 2,4-million informal households, only 800 000 are on the government’s waiting list, she said.

Africa’s urban growth rate is currently 4%, twice as high as that of Latin America and Asia, and its speed has caught governments unaware.

“We have created 1,8-million houses in the last 10 years, but it hasn’t taken us very far.”

Referring to the recent eviction of slum dwellers in Zimbabwe, Sisulu said other African countries risk finding themselves in similar situations unless governments take action.

The top three areas in South Africa that are urbanising most rapidly and are severely affected by the housing shortage are Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni.

“All these areas of rapid urbanisation are [at present] a crisis for us,” she said.

Sisulu appealed to the private sector and construction companies to help the government solve the housing crisis.

A culture of responsibility also has to be created so that people improve the houses they receive, instead of selling them and returning to live in townships, she added.

Sisulu could not say how much of the government’s housing money is lost to corruption, but said the housing ministry will embark on a study with the auditor general to determine the extent of corruption in provinces like Limpopo.

Another problem is shoddy workmanship by construction companies. She acknowledged that in areas of the Free State this is a “serious problem”.

“We are putting together a housing code so that we can apply a uniform standard and are going to have a ‘living-worthy certificate’.”

She rejected the idea of turning dagga plants into bricks as a cheaper alternative to building materials.

“It’s a very cooling method of building a house, but not what we advocate.”

Published 14 Oct 2005 - Sapa

This X/revived minister of Human Settlements spent R40 Million is flights between 2009-2012. Her flights of fancy and N2 Gateway Legacy Failure are but a few of her characteristics - InternAfrica hold no faith in the re-appointed Minister of Human Settlements, and expect more of the same of her previous performance.

Cape shack fires leave 1 000 homeless

Cape Town - One person has died and over a 1000 people have been displaced following a number of shack fires across Cape Town on the weekend, the City's disaster operations centre said on Sunday.

The centre's acting head Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said that the fire which turned deadly occurred in the early hours of Saturday in Nomzamo in the Strand.

“The fire... claimed the life of a foreign national man, aged 29 years.”

Solomons-Johannes said that in the same incident, 22 people, including nine children, were displaced after seven homes were also destroyed.

Meanwhile, 1 300 people from the Masiphumelele informal settlement in Fish Hoek, spent the weekend dealing with the loss of their shacks after a fire broke on Friday afternoon destroying over 250 dwellings.

“The City is currently undertaking a post-fire reblocking process,” said Solomons-Johannes.

He said the process involved the rearrangement of shacks into carefully determined clusters.

Other fires causing displacement and the destruction of homes were reported in Khayelitsha, Goodwood and at the Pholile Park informal settlement in Llwandle in the Strand.

Solomons-Johannes said the displaced were being given food, clothing, toiletries and blankets.

“The local authorities will probe and (conduct an) investigation into the occurrence of the fires.”

- Sapa

Madonsela - more talk, less courts

 Advocate Thuli Madonsela has appealed to senior state leaders not to launch a court challenge to the Public Protector’s Nkandla report. 

 

Madonsela says a challenge will only lead to expensive and protracted legal wrangling and that she would rather sit down with leaders in government's security cluster. 

 

Madonsela wants to discuss claims that parts of her report are irrational and contradictory.

 

The Public Protector says the departments of Public Works and Defence have started implementing her recommendations and she says she needs to know which departments are involved in the security cluster’s threatened court action.

 

“I have written to the Minister of Justice but it was only recent, asking for clarification on what is it that is not understood, and also offered to assist them, whoever is having problems understanding, because clearly the department of Public Works did not indicate that it did not understand, and the bulk of the implementation process falls on the shoulders of the department of public works."

 

"The Department of Defence also did not indicate that it had any difficulties in implementing the remedial action."

 

Madonsela says the Presidency hasn’t questioned any of her Nkandla findings or recommendations.

 

“The Presidency has not formally indicated that there are any problems. The media release was saying that it’s the security cluster. It would be difficult for the security cluster to take the president’s issue, because when you make findings against several institutions, it’s not up to one institution to defend another. If the Presidency has any problems, it needs to deal with me directly – not through the security cluster, because the findings against the security cluster are different from the findings against the president.”

- eNCA

R2K slams government challenge of Nkandla report

The Right2Know (R2K) campaign on Tuesday condemned a decision by the security cluster of ministers to challenge Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s report on Nkandla in the high court.

“This move is the latest example of the use of state security structures to infringe on democratic processes and undermine accountability,” the R2K said in a statement.

“South Africans need to take note of how easily expansive national security priorities are being distorted and can encroach on democratic principles; in the wrong hands, national security can and has been used as an excuse to stifle debate, undermine accountability, and protect the powerful from embarrassment.”

The R2K wants the ministers to abandon their pending court action.

“Just as importantly, the president and his new ministers must reflect on the damage done to our democracy in the name of national security, and commit itself to a new mode of governance that is guided by the constitutional values of openness, participation and accountability.”

Last week, government announced it wanted the public protector’s report titled “Secure in Comfort” to be reviewed in the high court.

The ministers claim the report and Madonsela’s investigation infringed the constitutional doctrine of a separation of powers.

In her report Madonsela found President Jacob Zuma and his family unduly benefited from a R246 million security upgrade to his private Nkandla homestead in KwaZulu-Natal, which included a swimming pool, a cattle kraal, and an amphitheatre.

She recommended, among other things, that he repay a portion of the money.

Zuma has said he will await the outcome of another probe by the Special Investigating Unit before responding to the matter.

The Democratic Alliance said it was consulting its lawyers with a view to joining the high court case as an intervening party.

The DA believed the judicial review was part of a greater plan to block the reappointment of an ad hoc committee to consider the matter.

The committee, which was set to consider Zuma’s submissions on the Nkandla report, was effectively dissolved on April 28.

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

- Sapa

Nkandla village architects go to court

An architecture firm involved in the design of the planned "Zumaville", in Nkandla, has approached the courts in a bid to get back money owed to it, the Sunday Times reported.

 

A director at the Johannesburg architects' firm, Mashabane Rose Associates, Phil Mashabane filed papers in the High Court in Pretoria in a bid to get payment for two invoices totalling about R800,000.

 

Mashabane Rose Associates completed a feasibility study and mock-ups of the planned R2 billion village for Kombani Consulting. Kombani was contracted by the rural development and land reform department to do the work.

 

In court papers Mashabane claims Kombani contracted his company in January 2011 in a "partly oral, partly written" as project manager and architect for the village, and then did not pay R741,802 and R55,060.

 

The department and Kombani director Tinyiko Maswanganyi have each accused the other of approving the appointment of Mashabane Rose Associates.

 

At a meeting earlier this month, President Jacob Zuma, who has a homestead in the KwaZulu-Natal area, said that the Umlalazi-Nkandla Smart Growth Centre would be "the first town of its kind to be built by black people after democracy".

 

Nkandla municipal manager Sthembiso Mthembu said at the time he did not know about the project besides what he had gleaned through the media.

 

"I don't understand why, if a town is going to be built in our area, we're not part of it as the Nkandla municipality," the Sunday Times quoted him saying.

 

- Sapa

We were inspired by the Nkandla upgrade

It seems everyone is getting an upgrade, why not Sowetan LIVE?.

Inspired by the communal upgrades within Nkandla like the fire-pool, amphitheatre and spaza shop, Sowetan LIVE has created its own platform where users can engage with other community members using revamped features to enhance their experience.

“The redesign is a crucial step in keeping up with digital trends and to maintain and grow our digital audience.  The team has worked closely with the Sowetan LIVE readers as well as web design experts to come up with a new innovative website that speaks to the needs of our online community."

The relaunch of the new Sowetan LIVE website offers an intuitive navigation, which creates a better experience for our readers.

You will see an aesthetically pleasing and functional version of the site which will now feature responsive design, offering you the best experience, no matter what device you are accessing it from whether it’s a mobile phone, tablet, or computer.

A key focus of the new website is the enhanced community platform where you can now build and update your profiles as well as follow other community members to encourage quality engagement on the website – keeping in line with our new tagline “My News. My Community”.

Sowetanlive will be rolling out cool new features in phases over the next few weeks, so that you are not overwhelmed with all the changes.

Please register with us or update your profile after you have logged in (by clicking on your username on the top of the screen) to take advantage of the full benefits like our firepool (forum page) etc..

We value your opinions so kindly give us feedback below...

xx

- The Sowetan LIVE team

Nkandla review bid ‘legally nonsense’

The government’s plan to have Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s Nkandla report referred to court for a judicial review has been described by a constitutional law expert as “legally nonsense”.

On Thursday, the security cluster of ministers said it would ask the high court for a judicial review of the report because it was “irrational and contradictory”, acting government spokeswoman Phumla Williams said.

It was the ministers’ view that Madonsela’s report and the investigation “trespasses on the separation of powers doctrine and offends against section 198 (d) of the constitution which vests national security in Parliament and national executive”.

“It is also the ministers’ view that some of the findings and remedial action proposed by the public protector in her report are irrational, contradictory and are informed by material errors of law,” said Williams.

Madonsela described the move as premature.

“The architecture of our constitutional democracy as we understand it requires that the matter be debated in Parliament first,” she said.

“Should there be no common understanding, the matter can then be taken to court.”

She could not imagine any court finding in the ministers’ favour.

The DA said it was consulting lawyers with a view to joining as an “intervening party”.

Constitutional expert Pierre de Vos said the latest move sent a message to chapter nine institutions like the public protector that the executive was “above scrutiny”.

De Vos said politically it was a “good move” in a sense, because it postponed any “real discussion” dealing with the report.

“Legally, it’s nonsense. I can’t see that any court in South Africa is going to find the report breached the separation of powers or that it was irrational and set it aside. I don’t understand.

“I find it very difficult to understand how the spending of money on lawyers can be justified.”

Any lawyer with a good understanding of the constitution would know that the ministers’ chances were close to “zero”.

“Basically what this says is if the executive deal with matters of national security, they are claiming they are above the law and also above any scrutiny by chapter nine institutions. That is worrying because it’s a lack of appreciation and understanding of the role of chapter nines that are there to assist the executive,” said De Vos.

The executive secretary of the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution, Lawson Naidoo, said: “The government’s first line of attack is saying that the public protector does not have the jurisdiction to investigate issues of national security.

“I find this line of attack tenuous; it is very unlikely that they will succeed in court on this basis.”

Naidoo pointed out that when Zuma responded in Parliament, he said Madonsela had the appropriate constitutional mandate to conduct the investigations; now they had changed their minds by saying this was not her jurisdiction.

He added that many legal experts had looked at the report, but he had not heard one person point out any errors.

DA federal chairman James Selfe said: “This decision by the security cluster is a transparent case of the executive trying to interfere with the independence and impartiality of a chapter nine institution.”

The EFF has also called the move a

delaying tactic

“… Cognisant of the possibility that the outcome of the Parliamentary ad hoc committee reviewing the Nkandla report may lead to a motion to impeach the President, they have resorted to unnecessary and costly delaying tactics,” spokesman Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said in a statement.

The Economic Freedom Fighters said it was the ANC's intention to manufacture a sub judice defence against anticipated parliamentary debate on the Nkandla report.

“This is a proactive attempt by the ANC to block any efforts to have contents of the Nkandla report tabled in the National Assembly during the debate for re-election of President Zuma,” Ndlozi said.

ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu said the party respected any decision taken by the government.

In her report, Madonsela found that President Jacob Zuma unduly benefited from “exorbitant” upgrades to his Nkandla home and must pay back a reasonable portion of the costs to the state.

Zuma has said he would await the outcome of another probe by the Special Investigating Unit before responding to the matter.

- Political Bureau and Sapa

Poor at mercy of cold, wet weather

Khayelitshas QQ Section experienced heavy flooding last year.
Picture: Adrian de Kock

Independent Newspapers

Cape Town - As Cape Town’s poorest residents mopped up after the cold, wet weather and braced for more, the city’s disaster management teams have been put on high alert.

Some people living in informal settlements say there is little they could have done to prepare for the heavy rain and strong winds that started battering the province on Thursday and which are expected to continue into next week.

“When it rains, even if it’s a little rain, we have to go and ask for a place to stay at family or neighbours whose houses don’t get affected as badly,” said Funeka Mkwanabi of QQ Section in Khayelitsha.

Mkwanabi said they appreciated the little help they received from the city, which was mainly from councillor Monde Nqulwana.

“I have been here since 1993, but last year was the worst winter… we always say we won’t vote and make those kinds of threats but when the time comes we vote because we like to believe the people we vote for will be able to do something.”

Nqulwana said he hadn’t received any calls from residents needing help after the heavy rain.

Sakhumzi Macekiswana, from Siqalo, said he had to move his shack to another part of the informal settlement after heavy rains last year. He had sent his four children back to the Eastern Cape in March, ahead of the cold weather.

“I had a shop but the rain was so bad last year I had to move to another part of Siqalo. I have been here since 2012 and it is always the same this time of year. I know it will be bad and that’s why I sent my children back home.”

Macekiswana said people tried to raise their shacks off the ground using sand and rubble from construction sites and put plastic sheeting on their roofs.

“With the wind, the plastic doesn’t stay on long but we have to try what we can… the water is the biggest problem we have here. The city doesn’t help us because they say we are on private land.”

There were large pools of water in Siqalo yesterday, where residents were offloading sand and rubble to try to lift their homes above the water. Children sailed across the pools on chunks of polystyrene.

This week, the city launched a “comprehensive” plan to help people living in low-lying areas.

Mayco member for safety and security JP Smith said the city had put “some very good systems in place to try and counteract the forces of nature.

“But, of course, our job is made that much harder by illegal dumping… clogged stormwater systems are one of the biggest challenges we face every year because they are treated as waste receptacles.”

Smith said the city had been working with people living in low-lying areas to raise awareness about flooding.

“We have been working on cleaning stormwater gullies and working with people and showing them how to raise their structures and making sure sandbags are available. We have ensured early warning systems are in place for us to be able to respond promptly.”

In addition, emergency shelters had been identified to accommodate residents in the event of flooding.

“For a long time we were limping around with short-term solutions and this is our long-term solution…”

The SA Weather Service predicted rain until Tuesday, with temperatures in the high teens and low twenties.

- To report flooding, blocked drains or service disruptions, contact the city’s call centre at 0860 103 089.

yolisa.tswanya@inl.co.za

- Saturday Argus

Heh heh heh heh heH - Nkandla Style

Election edition the full picture