Five plans to save Cape Town stadium

Cape Town - Five models are being considered to ease the financial woes of Cape Town Stadium, but they do not include either demolition or a casino.

Angry ratepayers described the plans for the stadium and its precinct as a “farce”, “smoke and mirrors” and a waste of ratepayers’ money.

The stadium generates between R12 million and R15m a year, but it costs the city and ratepayers R55m to keep it going.

There are two proposals to help the stadium pay its way: the commercialisation of the stadium and the development of Granger Bay Boulevard, an area beside the stadium fronting on to the road known as Granger Bay Boulevard.

But ratepayers have been told that demolition is not an option. Nor are there plans to ease the stadium’s financial woes with the building of a casino.

“The harsh reality is that this stadium is costing you and I as the ratepayers,” Geoff Underwood of Planning Partners told about 40 people who attended a meeting at the stadium.

“There is no proposal to put a casino in the stadium. If anybody comes up with any proposal, it would have to follow national law in terms of casino licensing,” Underwood said.

The meeting was the first of eight hearings to be held across the city about the background and draft scoping reports for the two developments.

Both sites will have to be rezoned for general business to allow for the commercial activity recommended by the business plan that was commissioned by the City.

The stadium has about 20 000m2 which could be used for commercial activities. There is also an opportunity to expand seating from 55 000 to 62 000. But the commercialisation of the stadium alone would not be enough to make it financially viable.

Granger Bay Boulevard has been earmarked for a mixed-use development that could include retail and office space, a sports science facility and a hotel.

According to the background and scoping document prepared for the city by The Environmental Partnership, all five alternatives for the development - which includes buildings ranging from 15 to 60m high - will have a significant impact on the area.

Underwood said the low-development model for Granger Bay would yield an additional income of R9m, and a high-development option with buildings at maximum height could yield up to R45m extra a year.

One of the most significant implications of the development is that the land will no longer be available for public use.

Heritage Western Cape has asked for an impact assessment to be considered. This must include an archeological study with particular reference to Fort Wynyard. The study should also look at the possible intrusion of the development into sightlines. The proposed development would also have implications for services such as water and sewer generation.

The report noted that the increase in commuters to the site “may potentially result in traffic congestion”.

However, Underwood was at pains to emphasise that no decision had been made yet on the “design forms or intensity” of the building that would go up at Granger Bay Boulevard.

Most of the 40 people at the meeting expressed concerns about the cost of running the stadium and the potential impact of these two developments. None of their questions were answered, however, as the consultants insisted that their comments would be noted for inclusion in the next report. One participant called it a “smoke and mirrors” meeting.

A member of the Green Point Ratepayers’ Association was concerned that a noise assessment would not be done for the stadium.

“There could be a discotheque or a nightclub at the stadium. This could be a serious problem if it is allowed to operate at the current decibels allowed for concerts and sporting events.”

The association referred to the plans to develop Granger Bay Boulevard as “error in logic” on its website. “Their temptation is to plug the full financial hole created by the R40m gap between the stadium costs and stadium directed revenues by developing to the maximum possible potential on the adjoining site.”

The association also questioned the city’s focus on the stadium precinct for revenue, when the funds could come from new developments anywhere in the city.

Carmen du Toit, of The Environmental Partnership, said the issues raised would be taken forward, and there would an opportunity later to comment again.

The period for comment ends August 22.

anel.lewis@inl.co.za

- Cape Argus

Nkandla ‘to test Parliament’

THE re-establishment of the ad hoc committee on Nkandla would test Parliament’s credibility in how it carries its constitutional mandate to hold the executive arm of government accountable, says constitutional law expert Pierre de Vos.

He was one of the original complainants that led to Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s report into the R246m worth of publicly funded security upgrades at President Jacob Zuma’s private Nkandla residence.

On the weekend African National Congress (ANC) chief whip Stone Sizani said Parliament would restart the ad hoc committee on Nkandla once Mr Zuma had sent the legislature his letter on what he plans to do.

The Nkandla ad hoc committee was constituted during the fourth Parliament and was dissolved in May on the eve of the May 7 elections.

The committee’s mandate was to consider the report of the public protector on the security upgrades at the Nkandla homestead, the president’s written response thereto, and consequential action for any wrongdoing.

Mr Sizani’s spokesman, Moloto Mothapo, said on Monday: “There is nothing new in what the chief whip said. We (ANC) have always said we will support any mechanism Parliament may put in place to process the response of the president as and when he submits it to Parliament.”

Mr Zuma missed his own deadline of submitting that letter to Parliament in the middle of this month saying he was awaiting the outcome of the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) report.

SIU head Vas Soni told Parliament at the beginning of the month that his unit’s report would be delayed as it had only just then been given access to Nkandla and that two unnamed people were not co-operating with their responses to the SIU inquiries.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) said it would make an “important” announcement regarding the reconstitution of the Nkandla ad hoc committee on Tuesday.

“To date, the president has failed to provide such a written response to the public protector’s report, missing his self-imposed deadline of 16 July 2014,” the DA statement read. Mr de Vos said he did not know what else could be done to speed up the reconstitution of the ad hoc committee. “The point is that Parliament has received the facts as stated in the public protector’s report to guide it. Now two things have to be done. The first is the criminal prosecution of those who have done wrong and the second is holding those accountable who made the political decisions.”

Mr de Vos said the Nkandla matter was still relevant as it was about the accountability of spending public funds.

- BDLive

Proper homes if new runway built

Cape Town - A new runway at Cape Town International Airport could mean proper homes for impoverished people living in Freedom Farm.

Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) is pushing for the relocation of residents of Freedom Farm, a settlement on land owned by Acsa and in the direct line of aircraft flight paths, in order to make space for a new, rotated runway.

According to Acsa’s Final Scoping Report, the company is investigating the feasibility of relocating residents to land on the eastern side of the airport in the Symphony Way Development Corridor.

“The development of Symphony Way Development Corridor will serve as a buffer between the airport and adjacent residential developments, which will expand over time,” the report read.

Freedom Farm is an informal settlement on the northern boundary of the airport near the intersection of Robert Sobukwe Road and Stellenbosch Arterial. In 2012 residents staged large protests to demand houses, setting tyres on fire in hopes that the smoke would disrupt air traffic.

According to the report, Acsa has been discussing the relocation of Freedom Farm residents with the City of Cape Town since 2010.

“We want to move but many people don’t have identification or birth certificates so they can’t qualify for housing,” Sebastian Jooste, community leader of the settlement’s “R” block, said. “Acsa hasn’t assisted us in getting and submitting the proper paperwork.”

According to Jooste, 629 families live in the settlement. During the Freedom Farm protests in 2012, the then councillor for Ward 24, Asa Abrahams, stated that 547 families needed housing, suggesting people have since moved to Freedom Farm.

“We always worry about more people moving here,” Jooste said. “People hear we’re getting houses and suddenly new shacks spring up.”

According to Jooste, Acsa is doing its “utmost” to take care of Freedom Farm dwellers. But other residents, such as Banele Ngazi, disagree.

“No one is communicating to us about what’s going on,” Ngazi said. “There’s no communication from Acsa, there’s no communication with community leaders.”

Acsa meets four times a year with five community leaders from Freedom Farm, including Jooste, to discuss housing and other issues relating to the settlement and the airport.

According to the report, “The development of a viable commercial/industrial zone by Airports Company South Africa will partly address the high levels of unemployment in the local area and contribute towards the social and economic development of the area.”

Acsa did not specify the ways in which the development could do so.

The report also stated that a memorandum of understanding has been signed by Acsa and the City of Cape Town regarding the relocation of Freedom Farm residents and the development of the Symphony Way Development Corridor.

The report stated: “The City of Cape Town will relocate families from these informal settlements independently of the runway realignment project.”

christina.goldbaum@inl.co.za

- Cape Times

Housing delivery efforts 'hampered by residents'

CAPE TOWN – Western Cape Human Settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela says some Cape Town residents who are angry over housing issues are hampering housing delivery efforts themselves. 

Madikizela and City of Cape Town officials addressed the Langa community on Sunday. 

The meeting comes after dozens of residents took to the streets earlier this month in violent protests which rendered the township inaccessible for more than a day. 

Shack dwellers and backyarders in the area are demanding houses. 

A community meeting between Langa residents and Western Cape government officials went smoothly despite lingering tensions over housing. 

Madikizela addressed a packed community hall, saying his department has noted residents’ concerns.

He however pointed out that housing delivery has been delayed due to shack dwellers building structures on land earmarked for development. 

Madikizela appealed for patience, informing the community of two other projects currently underway.

- EWN

ANC backs new committee on Nkandla report

Cape Town - The ANC will not only support the re-establishment of Parliament’s ad hoc committee on the public protector’s Nkandla report, but will move for this to be done as soon as President Jacob Zuma has submitted his response to Parliament.

“What do you mean ‘support it’? We will establish it as soon as we have the response of the president,” said ANC chief whip Stone Sizani on the eve of the party’s caucus lekgotla in Cape Town this weekend.

The ANC has never said it is opposed to establishing a new committee, but has labelled opposition calls for this to be done premature, amid threats of court action after Speaker Baleka Mbete said it was not her decision.

Zuma came in for heavy criticism during the debate on the Presidency budget vote this week for failing to address the question many saw as the elephant in the room – his long-awaited, and overdue, response to Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s report on her investigation into the Nkandla scandal.

Zuma had committed to delivering his response by last week, but wrote to Mbete from the Brics summit in Brazil to say he was out of the country and would miss the deadline.

The speaker’s office had not received his response by Friday.

As ANC MPs, including all ministers and deputies, prepared for the caucus lekgotla, Sizani said the party would be giving no free passes in this Parliament.

The lekgotla was to draw up a five-year programme of action to ensure effective implementation of the party’s conference resolutions, election manifesto and the National Development Plan.

“There will be no free passes, no loafing. We will be judged on the basis of our effectiveness in providing oversight and being there in the community, and also making sure communities participate in law-making processes,” Sizani said in response to criticism that the party had been reluctant at times to take on the executive in the previous Parliament.

“Our responsibility is not to oppose anybody, but to make sure people are doing what they are supposed to be doing better and more effectively. Our robustness, therefore, is to insist on how best you can achieve value for money and have a better impact on the people.”

He said opposition parties seemed to see their oversight role as a stick to beat the ANC with, rather than adding value to policy or ensuring its proper implementation.

An example was EFF chief whip Floyd Shivambu’s refusal to accept the president’s assurance that promised action on the water supply in the Limpopo town of Giyani was on track.

Responding to EFF leader Julius Malema’s claim during the Presidency budget debate that nothing was happening, Zuma outlined a programme for the refurbishing of the water infrastructure, saying work had started and water would flow by September.

But on Friday, Shivambu was ejected from the National Assembly after suggesting Zuma had lied.

Sizani said this showed the EFF’s immaturity and misunderstanding of the work of Parliament.

“You have to look at what the process is. What is the programme, how do you monitor it, and will it be able to talk to people’s needs? Will it be able to make people aware of how they will participate in the process? If you are not allowing people to participate and have information, the members of Parliament surely would be guilty of dereliction of duty.”

Insulting Zuma did nothing to offer alternatives or improve government plans, but was “showing your hatred for the man”.

But Sizani felt the stormy opening season of Parliament would pass and no changes to the rules were needed.

“We are saying: ‘This is a passing phase.’ They will soon understand and learn how it is done in Parliament. Because Parliament is not a rally. You cannot shout at people, you cannot pass slogans. You have to say: ‘Here is what is not working in your policy’ and show it in practice, where it should be changed.”

He asked for the ANC in Parliament to be judged on the five-year plan its caucus would craft this weekend, and how well it stuck to this.

- Political Bureau

Lwandle inquiry to resume next week

Cape Town - An inquiry into the removal of people from Sanral-owned land in Cape Town will resume its public hearings next week, spokesman Vusi Tshose said on Friday.

He said the inquiry, appointed by Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, would move to Nomzamo on Tuesday for a third round of public hearings.

Residents directly affected by the SA National Roads Agency Limited's (Sanral) removals on June 2 and June 3 would give oral presentations.

“In the interest of transparency and meaningful public participation, the inquiry will conduct its hearings in public and anyone interested can attend,” Tshose said.

“However, this will apply on the basis of first come first served due to space limitations.”

The hearings would start at the Lwandle Community Hall at 10am.

The inquiry has spent the past few days collecting residents' statements.

On Monday and Tuesday it listened to testimony by Sanral, various NGOs and the Sheriff of the High Court who effected the removals through a court interdict.

Tshose said a fourth round of hearings was expected.

- Sapa

We were sick of poor sanitation: SJC

Cape Town - Social Justice Coalition (SJC) members refused to leave the Cape Town civic centre last year because they wanted to make a statement about poor sanitation, the city's magistrate's court heard on Thursday.

“Members had felt frustrated because we had been engaging with the city for two years,” SJC general secretary Phumeza Mlungwana testified.

“The decision was that we needed very strong action to get the mayor's attention.”

Mlungwana and 20 other members were arrested in September last year after singing and dancing at the stairs of the Cape Town civic centre without giving the city notice. Some of them had chained themselves to the stair railings, forming a human chain.

They had wanted to speak to mayor Patricia de Lille about the frustration at the city's perceived inaction over proper sanitation in informal settlements like Khayelitsha.

They were charged with convening a gathering or alternatively, convening or attending a prohibited gathering.

The group pleaded not guilty on the basis that their actions were not criminal.

Their lawyer Michael Bishop had applied for them to be discharged on Thursday, but this was refused.

Mlungwana said the SJC had fought tirelessly since 2008 to promote rights envisaged in the Constitution, accountability and active citizenship.

They decided to focus on sanitation after receiving numerous complaints about a lack of maintenance and consultation.

The SJC had been excited when De Lille committed to a janitorial service for informal settlement toilets at a sanitation summit in 2011.

Mlungwana said the implementation failed because of a lack of policy. The city eventually started stalling and “playing hide and seek”.

The SJC's executive council decided last year that they would go to the civic centre and not leave until they had handed over a letter of demands.

“We chose 15 people because we didn't want to apply for the picket and wanted to stay within the law,” Mlungwana said.

She will resume her testimony on October 7.

- Sapa

COSATU welcomes action against alleged Nkandla profiteers

Federation says it hopes this is not just a matter of junior officials being used as scapegoats

COSATU welcomes action against alleged Nkandla profiteers

The Congress of South African Trade Unions welcomes the report in the City Press (20 July 2014) that 13 senior government managers - who sat on the Bid Adjudication Committee that awarded contracts for the R246m upgrades to President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla homestead - have been charged with maladministration.

This follows investigations by the Special Investigating Unit, who recommended to the Minister of Public Works, Thulas Nxesi, names of officials to be charged with procurement irregularities, transgressing provisions of the Public Finance Management Act and failing to follow supply chain prescripts in connection with the upgrades.

COSATU however hopes that these are not just junior officials being used as scapegoats, and thus welcomes the assurance by the minister's legal advisor Phillip Masilo that "No official is made a scapegoat; everyone should account for his or her role in the project. Everyone found to have done anything wrong will be dealt with irrespective of the position".

Just as important is for equally tough action to be taken against private contractors who benefitted from irregular procurements, in line with the firm commitment by the African National Congress that "all public office bearers, officials and private sector companies involved in any maladministration must be brought to book and all funds that were acquired inappropriately must be recovered".

COSATU has never questioned the need for the state to take adequate measures to secure the President and other public office bearers, which is normal anywhere in the world. But, as we said when the Nkandla scandal first broke: "For the government to spend such a grotesque amount of public money on any one person is shocking and grossly insensitive to the workers, the poor and the homeless...

"All those who have been found to be behind this gross misuse of public funds must be held accountable, including any political office bearers who approved the use of these massive amounts of public money, or failed to monitor and stop the runaway expenditure".

And this must not just apply to Nkandla. The same City Press reported that two directors of Public Works who deal with accommodation for ministers and senior government officials, have been charged and dismissed for irregularities related to the R60m renovations of ministerial homes in Pretoria, after the SIU found that a contractor had been paid an extra R2.6m without supporting documentation.

The SIU is also investigating why R15m had been spent on renovating a house in Cape Town for Rural Development Minister Gugile Nkwinti, well above the property's actual value.

COSATU repeats its call for the publication of all the names of all the service providers, including the names of all their directors and shareholders. In particular we want to investigate whether there are any instances of officials allocating contracts to their own or family members' companies.

The guiding principle that must be observed and enforced is that public servants and representatives must choose between public service and private business, and never get involved in both at the same time. As a way of monitoring this, all government officials involved with supply chain management must be subjected to lifestyle audits.

Statement issued by COSATU national spokesperson, Patrick Craven

- Politicsweb

Cape mayor tackles HRC racist label

Cape Town - Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille says she is to file complaints against municipalities that have “bigger” sanitation problems than Cape Town’s, in the light of the SA Human Rights Commission (HRC) report that says the city’s sanitation arrangements violate the dignity of people living in shacks.

“If we are found to be racist and violating the dignity of people, then the other metros should also be judged on the same rule,” she told the council at its meeting on Wednesday.

In its report, released this month, the HRC said the city violated the human rights of people in informal settlements - particularly black Africans who made up most of this population - by “unreasonably” providing chemical toilets as a long-term measure.

The HRC said it had found the city was also unreasonable in applying emergency housing programme guidelines in situations that were not urgent, while following a fixed approach in determining sanitation needs.

De Lille said the HRC had been deployed to weigh in on Cape Town - “and Cape Town alone”.

“We have 45 days to respond to the HRC, but we will take it further. We will lay the same complaints in municipalities who face the same problem. If we are being rated the racist city, then all the other big metros should be labelled racist.”

The eThekwini municipality provided chemical toilets for hostels, De Lille said.

“Johannesburg pays R19 million a month for (chemical toilets) in informal settlements. Every major event uses chemical toilets, while Buffalo City and Nelson Mandela Bay have 23 000 bucket toilets. Are all of these cities inherently racist?”

The city had provided 44 500 chemical toilets this year in an effort to increase services.

“These realities, ignored by the HRC, can only mean one of two things. The HRC does not understand the realities of government in South Africa or it chooses to ignore these to make political points. It is true that the city is under attack from the ANC and its cohorts.”

De Lille took swipes at the ANC and the ministerial inquiry into the Lwandle evictions. She said inquiry chairman Denzil Potgieter, an advocate, was being paid R20 000 a day and the five inquiry members, all of them former MPs, R2 500 a day.

Inquiry spokesman Vusi Tshose referred all queries to Minister of Human Settlements Lindiwe Sisulu’s spokesman, Ndivuyho Mabaya, who could not be reached.

ANC chief whip Xolani Sotashe said: “The city is being mismanaged by the mayor. Her administration’s underspending is a clear ill-performance indicator.”

De Lille rejected the comments.

jason.felix@inl.co.za

- Cape Times

ANC ‘hit squad’ out to get us - De Lille

Cape Town - The City of Cape Town is under attack from the ANC, in collusion with the SA Human Rights Commission, Ses’Khona People’s Rights Movement and the Lwandle ministerial inquiry, mayor Patricia de Lille has charged.

In the council on Wednesday, De Lille slammed these entities for being ANC proxies.

Damage to city property – including burning tyres and violent demonstrations – were the “hallmarks of the modern ANC” in the province, and had already cost the city R20 million.

“Having realised they are not in a position to win fair and square at the ballot box, they have decided to try to win by hook or by crook with violence and disruption.”

It was unlikely that the ANC would take public responsibility for this damage by Ses’Khona and others “because it suits them to have a proxy” to do their work.

There was also a human cost to the ANC-motivated violence, since the R20m could have been used to build houses or provide services. “The ANC will do what it can to create havoc in our city and our province. Instead of allowing for democratic debate it would “lie, cheat, break things and shout to make its voice heard”.

De Lille said the Lwandle inquiry set up by Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu was a “farce”.

The “political hit squad” was made up of “spent forces of mostly former ANC MPs... to discredit the city”. They had already decided on the outcome.

As for the SA Human Rights Commission, it had been deployed “to weigh in on Cape Town and Cape Town alone”.

The commission recently accused the DA-led metro of racial discrimination for providing chemical toilets to four areas in Khayelitsha.

De Lille said the city respected Chapter 9 institutions, but it would not accept the findings of an institution being abused for political gains.

“Either the (commission) does not understand the realities of government in South Africa, or it chooses to ignore it to make political points.”

Despite poor sanitation delivery in other municipalities, the commission had accused only Cape Town of racism.

“We will... go to Johannesburg, Mandela Bay, Buffalo City and eThekwini to lay the same complaints with the (commission)... “

Cape Town had the country’s highest toilet provision target, and chemical toilets were a last resort. It was looking at sanitation solutions.

Taking a swipe at Ses’Khona, led by suspended ANC councillor Loyiso Nkohla, and the so-called poo protesters, De Lille said: “Their integrity is worth about as much as the poo they throw to make their point.”

Affidavits submitted by residents had shown Ses’Khona stood to make about R330 000 from selling plots on the Sanral-owned land in Lwandle.

The organisation had also taken responsibility for inciting violence in Kosovo and Philippi, leaving more than 5 000 households without power.

Nkohla was not given an opportunity to respond, but did question the mayor’s criticism of a “respected” institution such as the commission.

De Lille responded: “Anyone can say the city has violated the right to basic sanitation, but it must be backed up by fact. We would expect a Chapter 9 institution to be fair and equal to all.”

But the ANC’s metro leader Xolani Sotashe dismissed De Lille’s statement as “absolute rubbish”.

He told the Cape Argus after the meeting: “There is no organisation called the ANC Ses’khona. This is an old song of the mayor to cover up the city’s bias in terms of service delivery.”

He said the city wanted to blame service delivery protests on the ANC to taint the party’s image ahead of the 2010 local government election. “It is a defection strategy because the city is not servicing poor communities.”

Sotashe said De Lille’s criticism of the HRC was seen by the ANC as a sign of disrespect.

“If Chapter Nine institutions come out in favour of the DA, they are praised but now that the findings are against the DA, the SAHRC is attacked.”

Her allegations that the Lwandle Inquiry was nothing more than a political hit squad were also disrespectful.

Nkohla said later that Ses’Khona was blamed for everything that went wrong in the city. But he said the organisation was an independent NGO and not in alliance with the ANC or the DA.

He also challenged De Lille and Premier Helen Zille to provide proof that Ses’Khona benefited from the sale of land in Lwandle.

anel.lewis@inl.co.za

- Cape Argus

Nkandla probe ongoing: Presidency

The investigation by the SIU into upgrades to President Jacob Zuma's private home in Nkandla was still ongoing, the presidency said on Tuesday.

The investigation ensued after Zuma signed a proclamation authorising the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to probe the public works department's “prestige project” at Nkandla.

The presidency said the probe was one of 27 which were still ongoing following proclamations signed by the president.

In a report released in March, Public Protector Thuli Madonsela found Zuma and his family had unduly benefited from the R246 million spent on security upgrades to his private home in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal.

Zuma declined to respond to Madonsela's report in full within the required fortnight. Instead he said he would wait for the SIU's findings on the same issue.

The president had undertaken to hand National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete a comprehensive report on the outcome of three separate investigations into state spending on his home by the end of Wednesday last week.

However, on Thursday last week, his spokesman Mac Maharaj said the president needed more information before responding to findings about his home.

- Sapa

We are not short of ambition - Now offering 'Housing opportunities'

Lindiwe Sisulu says her department will provide 1.5 million housing opportunities over the next five years.

This past week, we led the international community in the celebration of the greatest struggle icon of our time, Nelson Mandela. Our government plans and the challenges it seeks to address, are linked with what Mandela stood for and fought against.

Addressing the court at the Rivonia Trial, Mandela said: “We fight against two features, which are the hallmarks of African life in South Africa: poverty and the lack of human dignity.”

If we are to be true in honouring his legacy, we should ask ourselves whether we are doing enough to emulate him in addressing those challenges.

Our people are the best judges. They have endorsed the work we have done in the past 20 years. They resoundingly proclaimed that under the ANC government, South Africa is better than it was 20 years ago. This has also been acknowledged by all the opposition parties.

But it should not blind us to the challenges ahead. As we try to address the seemingly intractable legacy of apartheid, we have had to contend with new challenges – arguably all linked to this ugly past.

We have brought back dignity to the more than 3 million households that have benefited from our pro-poor policies.

The mushrooming of squatter camps and informal settlements that blight our otherwise beautiful landscape are a consequence of land hunger – and economic dispossession spawned by apartheid.

We are not unmindful of the growing sense of desperation and impatience that has been expressed by our people.

Our analysis suggests South Africans are beginning to ask the difficult questions. One of which is, when will the backlog and waiting list of 1994 be eliminated?

Some housing experts are suggesting there must be a cut-off date for young people and we must focus on elders. They also suggest the government consider other forms of assistance to those younger than 60.

Developers, bankers and construction companies expect the minister to intervene to unblock red tape in municipalities.

Taxpayers expect the minister to ensure the houses built with their money are of quality and given to the right owners.

NGOs, in particular those operating in informal settlements, find the government unreasonable and uncaring about the plight of people living in informal settlements.

Low-income earners (R3 500 to R10 000) are struggling to find houses they can purchase within the price range of between R150 000 to R300 000. They cannot find affordable serviced stands to purchase where they can build their own houses. They expect the government to intervene and assist.

Many young people in urban areas who earn less than R5 000 a month are willing to build houses for themselves, but there is a lack of allocated land for them to buy and on which to build.

Town planners and developers believe it is possible for the process of township establishment, re-zoning, environmental impact assessments and approval of building plans to be fast-tracked.

They have specific proposals on how this can be done.

We are not short of ambition. And where ambition is combined with commitment, the sky is the limit.

Our bold measures are aimed at addressing the spatial planning and reversing the geopolitical imagination of apartheid in the next five years.

We must continue to ensure that all South Africans live in decent conditions in suitable settlements that provide inclusive amenities and public transport.

We will provide 1.5 million housing opportunities for qualifying households in urban and rural settlements over the next five years.

These will include fully subsidised houses, affordable low-income houses, social housing units and community residential units.

We will also accelerate the provision of basic services and infrastructure in all existing informal settlements.

Greater co-ordination among key role-players remains a key ingredient for success in this drive to improve living conditions of the 750 000 households found in informal settlements.

We will increase the supply of affordable housing for teachers, nurses, police officers, office workers and many others in the gap market.

Work is at an advanced stage with the Ministry of Public Service and Administration to introduce a programme to help meet the housing needs of public servants.

We will work with financial institutions, private sector organisations, co-operatives and social partners to increase the provision of capital for housing and overcome barriers to affordable housing finance.

Our considered view is that housing development will not be a drag to the economy, but will be a skills generator and a catalyst to many economic opportunities. As the government, we have made a commitment.

As I have indicated above, we can’t do this alone. This is a call for partnership for all society to place all hands on deck.

* Lindiwe Sisulu is the Minister of Human Settlements.

** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Newspapers.

- The Star

Sanral reprimanded for Lwandle evictions

Cape Town - An inquiry investigating the removal of people and structures from Sanral-owned land in Cape Town reprimanded the company on Tuesday for throwing people out onto the street.

Attorneys for the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) had testified about the circumstances leading to the removals in Lwandle on June 2 and June 3 through an interdict.

Sanral attorney Fiona Bester explained that the “tipping point” for getting the interdict was when the city's human settlements director sent a notice to the regional Sanral office on January 22 stating it had 14 days to rectify the situation or be liable for all legal costs.

Inquiry head, advocate Denzil Potgieter, said Sanral was not a private property owner and could not act as such.

“Sanral is a state-owned company.... so it doesn't behove Sanral to allow itself to be put into a position where it throws a large number of people out on the street in the beginning of winter,” he said.

“Why does it adopt a supine attitude when it comes to a situation which is obviously going to result in an emergency, obviously going to have people out on the street? I can't understand that.”

Potgieter said that Sanral should have asked the city to remove people from the site if it had been such an issue. He said it was clear the city had not done so because it would have had to consider a relocation spot.

Fellow Sanral attorney Shaun Hornby said that the land invasion was out of control between the granting of the interdict, on January 24, and June.

He said that Sanral's interdict would have been imposed in April or May had the public order police not been busy with elections and parliamentary activities.

“But you definitely couldn't send in the Sheriff with (their) own security and expect them to sort it out,” Hornby said.

The inquiry had earlier heard submissions from the Sheriff of the High Court for the region, who apologised for the impact the removals had on residents. He said he would have done things differently if given a second chance.

Potgieter said the first hearings were now closed and that the inquiry would proceed to Nonzamo, near Strand, on Wednesday to take statements from removed residents.

The next round of hearings in the area would be announced shortly.

- Sapa

Sheriff sorry about Lwandle

Cape Town - A Sheriff of the High Court who executed the removal of illegal shack dwellers from Sanral-owned land in Cape Town is sorry for the impact it had on residents, he said on Tuesday.

“If something like this happens again, I'll definitely handle this in a whole different manner,” Deon Burger told an inquiry investigating the removals from SA National Roads Agency Limited land in Lwandle on June 2 and 3.

“I thank the inquiry that we can learn from this experience and follow guidelines and that everybody across the country can benefit, so that law can also be accommodated in our communities.”

Burger said he received what he described as a court interdict granted by the Western Cape High Court on January 24, which authorised him to remove people and structures that came onto the land after that date.

He said he met police, city officials, and Sanral's contractors to discuss the “huge task”, and the first removals took place on February 3.

More shacks were erected on the land after that date and a second round of removals took place on June 2 and 3.

Burger initially mentioned that he was proud of the manner in which all officials had acted that day and assisted him. He also said no violence or injuries were brought to his attention.

Under questioning by inquiry members, he seemed to change his stance somewhat.

Members had asked, among other things, whether he had made provision for where the residents would be accommodated after their removal.

Burger replied that the court document in his possession did not make mention of that and agreed there should be more guidelines in future.

However, he said he and his team always prayed for the people they had to remove.

He described how his team would hold hands in the morning, have a moment of silence and pray for God to take control of the situation.

“We asked The Lord... to be a support to the communities we were removing, to realise we were only doing our jobs. I also asked God to take charge of the officials involved. They had weapons and were armed.”

He said in this light, the casualties and injuries on June 2 and June 3 were minimal.

“It's truly a miracle that nobody was injured and that it wouldn't erupt into a Marikana. I really thank God that it didn't happen.”

Thirty-four people, mostly striking mineworkers, were shot dead in a clash with police, over 70 were wounded, and another 250

arrested at Lonmin's mine in Marikana, North West, in August 2012. Police were apparently trying to disarm and disperse them.

Inquiry head advocate Denzil Potgieter said it was really unfortunate and unnecessary, that after all the removals at Lwandle, it had been decided that residents should be returned to the land.

He thanked Burger for his submission.

“Your attitude and approach is appreciated. Unlike what some people think, we are not here to apportion blame. We are trying to find solutions,” Potgieter said.

In a written submission last week, Western Cape premier Helen Zille had accused the inquiry of being a “political hit squad” aimed at apportioning blame on her province and the city of Cape Town.

- Sapa

Sheriff tells of Lwandle interdict

Cape Town - An interdict, and not an eviction order, was used to remove people from Sanral-owned land in Lwandle, Cape Town, the Sheriff of the High Court for the region said on Tuesday.

“An eviction order stops but an interdict is an ongoing thing. Until finalised, it remains intact,” Deon Burger told an inquiry investigating the evictions on June 2 and June 3.

He was first tasked with executing a Western Cape High Court order granted on January 24, to remove people from land owned by the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral).

Inquiry head advocate Denzil Potgieter had said he had not seen any mention of the word “eviction” on the order.

Burger replied the interdict allowed removal of people, structures, and building materials that came onto the land after January 24.

He met various police officials and Cape Town land invasion, law enforcement and traffic officials on January 28 to discuss the best way to execute the “huge task” ahead of them.

At a meeting a few days later, it was decided that people and structures would be removed on February 3.

Burger said he met with police, city officials and Sanral's contractor at the Strand police station before the eviction that day and then proceeded to the site.

“Upon their arrival (at the site), the court order was read out in three languages: English, Afrikaans, and Xhosa. After this, eight notice boards were erected. Not all structures could be removed,” he said.

Building material and possessions were marked and taken to Sanral-owned land in Gordon's Bay and Somerset West.

On March 28, Sanral's attorney issued a notice to Burger to remove new structures on the land. Burger said lawyers returned to court to extend the initial court interdict.

“Police could not assist until the general election was over. After the election, police were committed to parliamentary activities,” he said.

Public order police suggested on May 14 that alternate arrangements be made because 183 structures had been built on the land.

He said Sanral hired extra security guards to patrol the land and a contractor to build a fence.

A second round of shack removals was discussed at a final meeting at the Faure police station on May 26.

“We were very concerned about the weather and that's why a detailed weather forecast was downloaded from the internet. It did not show any rain for June 2 and June 3.”

The same parties met at the police station on the morning of June 2 and went to the site, where someone had removed the notice boards.

“We were met by petrol bombs, rocks, and road blocks that were burning,” Burger said.

People were warned about the removals with loudspeakers. By 3.30pm, 80 shacks had been removed.

On June 3, Burger said they were again greeted by petrol bombs, rocks, and road blocks. He said some people threw petrol bombs into their own structures and removed their belongings.

All shacks were removed by 3.30pm.

Burger said the councillor in the area, Mbuyiselo Matha, was not given a copy of the order or notice for both evictions.

“At 6pm, I received an e-mail from the instructing attorney to stop all instructions on the court order,” Burger said.

He said he was not told the reasons for halting the execution of the interdict.

Had the e-mail not arrived, they would have completed the fencing around the land.

The inquiry, set up by Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, has until August 5 to conclude its work.

- Sapa

Lwandle evictions brutal: NGO

Cape Town - A young man committed suicide and a woman miscarried following the eviction of illegal shack dwellers in Lwandle, Cape Town, last month, a non-governmental organisation said on Monday.

“These are just some I had occasion to consult with. I am trying to assist you in connecting with the real and the authentic,” said Sheena St Clair Jonker, founder of the Access to Justice Association of Southern Africa (AJASA).

She was testifying at an inquiry investigating the eviction of people from SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) land on June 2 and June 3.

Jonker said she was called by Ses'Khona People's Rights Movement leader Loyiso Nkohla to consult residents and provide legal services.

Her written and oral evidence was to supplement that of Ses'Khona.

She said a woman who was four months pregnant was kicked by a police officer carrying out the eviction, and she miscarried her baby later that day.

A 21-year-old man committed suicide after he arrived at the area to find his home demolished and his possessions gone, she claimed.

She showed the inquiry a newspaper photo of community leader Xoliswa Masakala, who was seen naked and held at the throat by a policeman.

Jonker said Masakala was “brutalised”, arrested and charged with public violence.

Many others were arrested on the same charges for asking questions about what was happening and trying to retrieve their possessions.

“A group of about 10 were arrested on the day, incarcerated at police holding cells for a few days and then all moved to Pollsmoor Prison,” she said.

She also claimed she had evidence that live ammunition was used.

“(The eviction) amounted to a shooting of the wounded, a further injury to the already injured and further impoverishment of the already impoverished. It's not okay.”

She recommended that a restorative justice dialogue take place with all parties to sort out compensation and reparation.

Inquiry member Butch Steyn said it was not in dispute that there had been some form of abuse but was concerned that Jonker had not verified a lot of the information coming from residents.

“It leaves me a little bit uncomfortable. Do you have affidavits to back this presentation? If you do, we need copies,” Steyn said.

Jonker replied that gathering information had taken a while and she did not have affidavits. However, she had comprehensive consultation notes that could be converted to affidavits.

Inquiry member Annelize van Wyk asked whether she had evidence regarding her claim of live ammunition and whether she had reported the alleged police misconduct to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid).

Jonker replied that a resident had retrieved a live round. She committed to laying complaints with Ipid.

Van Wyk asked that this be handed to the inquiry as soon as possible.

- Sapa

Nkandla charges welcomed

Cape Town - The DA has welcomed reports that 13 Public Works officials, some of them in senior management, have been charged with maladministration relating to the R246 million in upgrades to President Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla residence.

However, the party says the charges will be “mired in controversy” so long as politicians in public office avoid accountability.

“We can’t make scapegoats of relatively junior officials. All those implicated must face the law. The politicians involved in the Nkandla scandal can only be held accountable once President Zuma answers to Parliament, and acts on the recommendations made by the Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela, an advocate. This includes paying back some of the money spent on his private residence,” said MP and DA federal executive chairman James Selfe.

City Press reported on Sunday that the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) had recommended that officials, whom it named, be charged in connection with upgrades.

Last week, Zuma said he was still considering his response to Parliament about the upgrades at his Nkandla residence after missing a 30-day deadline he had given himself.

Selfe said Zuma had employed “numerous delaying tactics”.

Selfe said the charges laid against the departmental officials were an important step in the right direction, but “the buck does not stop there”.

- Political Bureau

‘Evictees enraged by broken promises’

Cape Town - People who erected shacks on Sanral-owned land in Lwandle, Cape Town, were enraged “backyarders” who were tired of unfulfilled service delivery promises, a city councillor said on Monday.

Residents of Wag 'n Bietjie, an informal settlement near Somerset West, had to be relocated after their shacks were destroyed in a large-scale fire in 2007, African National Congress (ANC) councillor Mbuyiselo Matha told the Lwandle inquiry.

“In 2007, (then mayor Helen) Zille made promises to move people after fire gutted their houses. Some people were moved and some could not,” he said.

Those who were not moved to three pieces of land in Nomzamo and Asanda Village, as part of an agreement, were forced to rent backyard dwellings in the area.

The inquiry, set up by Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, was investigating the circumstances around the eviction of illegal shack-dwellers in Lwandle on June 2 and 3.

Matha said that at the start of the year representatives of the backyarders told him they were going to occupy the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) road reserve next to the N2 because they were tired of poor service delivery and ill-treatment by their landlords.

He warned them about the implications of moving onto the land but they did not listen. The first eviction took place at the start of February and the second in June.

“I, as the ward councillor, was not informed of the evictions (beforehand).”

He said he was not invited to meetings with Sanral, city officials or the police before the evictions.

He first found out about the eviction on June 2 when he got a phone call from a resident that morning that police were carrying in barbed wire and firing teargas.

He asked the police official in charge on the scene to look for an amicable solution, but this was turned down.

“He could not provide me with the court order. Instead he gave people 10 minutes to disperse. People were fired with teargas and some people were assaulted, kicked, including a nine-months-pregnant woman.”

Matha said Ses'Khona People's Rights Movement leader Andile Lili got a copy of the order and found it was a draft court order from the February eviction.

“They stopped the operation and went away.”

Commission head advocate Denzil Potgieter said there was a dispute as to how many families and shacks were affected by the June eviction.

The Sheriff of the High Court recorded some 230 demolished structures while residents claimed 849 structures were destroyed.

He asked Matha whether he had figures of his own.

Matha replied that he was not invited to count the shacks being demolished and relied on the community's figure because they had records of who had lived on the land.

The commission has until August 5 to conclude the inquiry.

- Sapa

Public order policing to be prioritised

Parliament - Special focus will be placed on changing the perceived military-style approach of public order policing (POP) units, Police Minister Nathi Nhleko said on Monday.

Opening debate on the police budget vote, Nhleko said police allocated significant resources during the 2013/14 financial year to resourcing the POP units with new equipment.

Training of POP officers was also prioritised.

“In the intervening period, 1826 members successfully attended POP refresher training, on crowd management techniques for operational readiness; 60 members were trained as video camera operators and information managers to capture footage during crowd-related incidents,” Nhleko said.

“All these efforts are conducted in line with the national vision of demilitarising the police services as well as putting in place a civilian approach to public order policing with a view to reduce the levels of militaristic or perceived militaristic approach to public order policing.”

The POP units would play a vital role in stabilising areas affected by service delivery protests.

“In the past few years, there has been a spate of service delivery protests around the country which have stretched our capacity to maintain order as mandated by Section 205 1/83 3/8 of the Constitution,” Nhleko said.

“A total number of 13 575 community-related protest incidents were responded to and successfully stabilised.”

The protests stemmed mainly from labour disputes and unhappiness with service delivery by local municipalities.

“Of the 13 575 incidents, 11 668 were conducted peacefully and 1907 turned violent which led to the arrest of 2522 individuals,” Nhleko said.

He did not specify in which time period the protests took place.

“We will continue to attend to these community protests with vigilance as we have done in the past with the sole intention of ensuring that we secure property and life of all South Africans.”

The minister also announced a raft of legislative and policy reviews will be introduced over the next financial year.

This would include a review of the SAPS (SA Police Service) Act to “align it with the Constitution”.

Research would be done into how police could reduce “the barriers to the reporting of cases of violence against women and children, serial murders and rapes”.

A review on how community policing forums and community safety forums could help police in stabilising areas affected by service delivery protests would also be prioritised over the next few months.

A renewed focus would be placed on professionalising the service.

“As part of the process of professionalisation in the police service, we have approved changes to the recruitment strategy of entry-level constables with a view to ensure that only the best-suited candidates are recruited into the SAPS,” Nhleko said.

“All our new recruits will be taken through rigorous testing for their suitability before they start with their formal training.”

Police recruits will be thoroughly vetted, tested for physical fitness and behaviour patterns.

“These changes have been introduced as part of the Community Based Recruitment Strategy that is aimed at addressing challenges such as pending and/or previous convictions, fraudulent qualifications and to avoid nepotism in the recruitment of officers,” Nhleko said.

“In terms of this strategy, the role of the community in commenting on their suitability will also assist in completing the 360-degree cycle of suitability testing.”

- Sapa

Group raises stink over Khayelitsha loos

Cape Town - One in four flush toilets inspected by the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) in a number of Khayelitsha informal settlements is not working, according to the organisation.

The SJC carried out a social audit of flush toilets in Enkanini and PJS, BT and BM Sections last week.

SJC project manager Axolile Notywala said the preliminary findings showed the implementation of the janitorial service was “inconsistent and haphazard”. He said this was due to a lack of planning and consistency by the city.

The SJC inspected 528 of 888 flush toilets and interviewed 195 residents and 31 janitors. The 90-member team also perused city documents giving the operational details of the programme.

According to its preliminary findings, released on Saturday, 138 of the toilets inspected did not work.

The City of Cape Town says the audit was undertaken to “ambush” local government.

The mayoral committee member for utility services, Ernest Sonnenberg, said the audit was not a “fair” reflection of the janitorial system.

The city was investigating whether janitors were fulfilling their duties.

It had asked the SJC for the raw data from which it compiled its findings.

“Have they checked the validity of those findings? We were not given an opportunity to interrogate the findings before the SJC went public.”

With the findings in the public domain, many residents would regard them as fact.

Sonnenberg said the SJC had chosen the four areas because it “knew they were problematic and were in low-lying areas”.

The SJC found 78 toilets were blocked, 78 could not flush, and 65 had no water, while 31 were not connected to sewerage pipes. Its preliminary findings were that 149 toilets were dirty, 109 very dirty and 82 in such a bad state they could not be inspected.

Of the 195 residents interviewed, only 35 said their toilets were not cleaned, 65 said janitors cleaned their toilets once a week, while 32 said they were cleaned twice a week, with 28 cleaning their own toilets.

No janitors were allocated to the PJS, where there are 146 toilets, and residents were cleaning the toilets.

A final report on the audit would be released soon, the SJC said.

Western Cape Premier Helen Zille said in her SA Today newsletter that the city was spending about R25 million a year fixing vandalised toilets in informal settlements.

“The city is assigning a GPS code to every public toilet, which will then have its own serial number on the inside of the door, so the maintenance department can quickly target the exact toilet on the receipt of an SMS notification.”

At a cost of R60m year, the city was employing 800 janitors to clean public flush toilets in informal settlements - in addition to the company contracts to maintain and clean chemical toilets.

She said the SJC, as an NGO, should teach residents about the responsibility of looking after their toilets.

xolani.koyana@inl.co.za

- Cape Times

Focus on building families and homes

For the quest for decent human settlements to receive attention, civil society has to stand up a lot more, says Thabo Makgoba.

Cape Town - The recent cacophony of new voices from the various legislatures has drawn considerable attention to the parliamentary channel on DSTV.

Politicians at each other’s throats and others thrown out of the legislatures seem to have made good entertainment while generating interest in this important, yet less watched, channel – at least according to what I hear.

My interest in that parliamentary channel this week was, however, different. With temperatures plummeting towards the freezing point in some parts of our country in the past week, my heart is with the families of Lwandle, Lenasia and many others that may have been waiting with bated breath to hear what Minister of Human Settlements Lindiwe Sisulu had to say in her budget vote of 2014.

My interest, as it has always been, was to pay attention to what our government intends to do with the degenerating state of our communities, primarily caused by what is today referred to as inadequate human settlements or lack thereof.

Some of the most basic human rights lie in the provision of site and services, in particular sanitation and proper housing.

Madiba’s legacy, which we are all celebrating this week, has, as its foundation, the question of human dignity.

I hope you took some time to reflect how deeply hurtful and dehumanising the recent eviction of the people of Lwandle in the Western Cape was.

The images fed to us by TV cameras and print media were not only an eyesore to some of us, but took us back to the pre-1994 era, where forced removals and evictions were the order of the day.

I can relate with the people of Lwandle and Lenasia who, through the evictions, were forced to take what they could while they watched in horror what they used to call home being brought to rubble.

What do we say to these people when we ask them to remember Madiba?

Back in the early 1940s, my father, his brothers and their cousins left the picturesque Limpopo village called Magoebaskloof for the city of gold, where they settled in Alexandra.

After many years of forging strong community bonds, my family was unfortunately forcibly removed back in 1974 to Pimville, Soweto.

What this removal was insensitive to was the fact that any ill-prepared move was not only going to tear families apart, but it was the beginning of disintegrating a community.

But I guess on the part of any repressive regime, that may be an intentional move to deal with perceived threats or risks as they were calling us back in the day.

In post-apartheid South Africa, one which continues to advocate for nation-building and social cohesion, it is quite incomprehensible that during days of inclement weather, families can be evicted apartheid-style out of their homes.

The greatest difficulty facing our government and its lawmakers today is the competing interests that require planning and execution to lead our people out of the many challenges overwhelming them daily, in particular the poor.

While I acknowledge that the government has finite resources to deal with all the problems facing South Africans today, I firmly believe that even if people are employed and have access to education, and yet struggle with the basic human necessities – shelter and access to proper sanitation – many things will break and the consequences will be too dire to deal with.

Some of our people have to continuously live with the bucket-toilet system while children untimely meet their Maker because of open pit toilets and bacteria-laden water.

Human settlements has to be a priority of the government – not only on paper and in parliamentary debates. This prioritisation has to trickle down to the very people the government seeks to serve.

While many solutions lie on the doorstep of the government, a lot more lie within us.

As citizens, we need to go beyond imploring the government to act against such a travesty of human dignity – we need to ask ourselves hard questions, ones that require us to take action instead of apportioning blame.

In her speech in Parliament Sisulu reminded us that the Race Relations Institute reported back in 2012 that of all the service delivery protests in the past five years – 20 percent – were said to have been attributed to housing problems.

While this is a noteworthy report, the question to be poignantly asked to the faith communities is: where have you been all along while communities continue to struggle for services, including access to sanitation and decent housing?

In all towns, townships and major cities I never miss a church, mosque or a synagogue. In fact, I have also been observing an increase in congregations that do not require the four walls to gather for worship.

This to me is an indication of how pervasive the faith community is – but seemingly, we are not using our collective power to be the voice of people in communities.

Are we that afraid that politicians will say we are trying to take their jobs and we should stick to preaching and worship?

Other questions are: if a community has been without basic human rights related to sanitation and settlement, where are the faith communities that minister to them weekly?

What action have they taken to ensure that this situation changes?

We seem to be sitting too long on our hands – we have not been called to be bystanders while our communities burn in the form of service delivery protests.

For the quest for decent human settlements to receive attention, civil society has to stand up a lot more to enforce what are basic human rights.

We commend civil society initiatives, like the one on Limpopo, that have seen the birth of a coalition to focus on the issue of poor sanitation in schools.

Such civil society pressure groups must be replicated across the country to hold the government accountable.

The strike in Marikana, and the subsequent tragedy in that part of the country, has brought into focus the role of business in communities.

Mining companies, in particular, make billions from the minerals below our land.

The extent to which they plant back, both as a direct meeting of their obligations linked to their licence, and also simply as a moral duty to plant back, leaves much to be desired.

It’s common knowledge that mining companies, in particular, are responsible for the collapse of the family unit.

They are an example of what a migrant labour system can do to destabilise the family unit.

Therefore, a call for mining companies to invest in proper accommodation for families will go a long way towards rebuilding the fabric of family in what is a huge constituency of mine workers.

Second, and more importantly, the communities surrounding the mines must be attended to with huge investments that should eradicate things such as the bucket system, and therefore improve the health profile of these communities.

Finally, business in general must identify communities where they derive their income, and partner with the government to attend to the settlement challenges.

Investment in sporting facilities, or even mere fields, can go a long way towards ensuring that the settlement of communities is made even slightly bearable.

What has happened to local community action?

In our culture, letsema used to ensure that there was joint community action to clean up our places of abode. These days we wait for the government to do things for us.

The president called on all of us to clean up during Mandela Day – this is a call that we endorse only as a reminder of what communities ought to be doing all round the year to live up to the adage, “cleanliness is next to godliness”.

Once these things are done, we still have to attend to the spiritual challenge of refocusing the attention of society on the family.

The scriptures give us hope that this battle can be won.

The issue of fixing the family and the values that must underpin it must start with each one of us.

* Thabo Makgoba is the Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa.

** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Newspapers.

- Sunday Independent