Protesters shut down N2 near Grabouw

Cape Town - A stretch of the N2 near Grabouw was closed on Monday morning after protesters threw stones and set oil alight on the highway.

But a Grabouw community organisation has criticised the violence - distancing itself from “criminals who are not part of our protests”.

The N2 was closed between the foot of Sir Lowry’s Pass and the foot of Houwhoek Pass, at Bot River.

The violence prompted provincial traffic police to shut down the full stretch of N2 on either side of the Elgin Valley. Buses were unable to leave the valley, including school buses which operate in the Somerset West area.

John Michaels, chairman of the Grabouw Elgin Civic Association, explained why they were marching: “It’s basically to have a march to hand over a memorandum. Two weeks ago we marched, but the mayor of Theewaterskloof, Chris Punt, was not there to receive it.

“Today we are marching again to tell him to come to the table, or he will have ongoing protests.”

About 4 000 residents assembled on Monday monring at the intersection of Grabouw’s main road and the Old Cape Road, and planned to march to the Grabouw municipal buildings at around 11am.

Asked what their demands were, Michaels said: “Grabouw is divided into areas, and each area has its own problems. But mainly crime, housing, the condition of the roads and the delivery of all municipal services.”

He slammed the violence on the N2, and said his protesters had nothing to do with them.

“I know nothing about the N2. That’s wrong, unacceptable, and we condemn it in strongest possible terms. The police must act against those responsible.”

mwargusmobile@live.co.za

- Cape Argus

‘Property deal fails due to province’

Cape Town - The provincial government has been blamed for the collapse of a property development on the site of the old Conradie Hospital with the developer claiming it was “frustrated” by the province’s unwillingness to assist with infrastructure.

The developer - Iliza Elitsha Investments, a consortium comprising BEE partners, Nedbank and Abland Property Development - was initially sold the 25-hectare property in Pinelands for R80 million in 2006. The consortium had paid a 10 percent deposit on the land at the time.

The land was sold under the watch of then-public works MEC Marius Fransman and the idea was to have it developed for upmarket and low-cost housing as well as office and retail space.

But after seven years of delays the land was transferred back to the provincial government in July last year. The Department of Public Works paid Iliza Elitsha R13m for the land last year.

Last month Public Works MEC Donald Grant said the department was revisiting the development and would be calling for proposals from interested companies.

His spokesman, Siphesihle Dube, had said that the land was taken back by the province because Iliza Elitsha “could not meet contractual obligations”.

But the BEE partners in the consortium, including Iliza Elitsha chairman Dibhesi Tuntubele, have hit back accusing Grant of “blatant lies” and “misleading” the public. The company denied claims that it did not meet its contractual obligations. It said an R8 million deposit had been paid in the required time. It was also incorrect to say that Iliza Elitsha did not have the money to complete the project.

Requirements of the development including impact assessments of the environment and traffic as well as a public participation process, had all been completed before the development was dogged by delays, Iliza Elitsha said.

The company said the province and the City of Cape Town had failed to address the need for an improved sewerage system and that it had asked the city to expand the capacity without success.

Instead, the company said, it was asked by the city to spend a further R20m to fund a road link up between Central Park Development and the N1 in order to unlock Wingfield. “The developers were held hostage in a sense, that should they not comply they would not be able to secure the Record of Decision,” the company said.

“It is therefore no surprise that the moment the province bought the land back the city suddenly approved the additional sewerage bulk infrastructure capacity which is currently being implemented. We will be watching this space and assure the DA government in the city and the province that we will expose their nefarious intentions and war on transformation.”

Department spokesman Al-Ameen Kafaar said the provincial government and the Iliza Elitsha had agreed last year in July on the termination of the sale.

The company had agreed to a settlement of R13m - their R8m deposit and interest accrued during the seven years the money had been with the department.

“The Western Cape government rejects in the strongest possible terms any allegations of collusion or obstructive actions on its part.”

City spokeswoman Priya Reddy said they were looking into the matter.

- Cape Times

Who will save us from moral wasteland?

It is worrying that in the wake of the Nkandla report individuals with voices that carry ethical weight have chosen to remain mum, says Fikile-Ntsikelelo Moya.

Pretoria - One of the most glaring omissions in the light of Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s report on President Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla homestead has been the silence of voices that carry ethical and moral weight.

Virtually every piece of commentary has come from either political parties, the media or professional punditry.

Very little has come from what may be broadly referred to as the ethical and moral sector, such as faith communities and men and women of redoubtable personal integrity and stature beyond reproach.

There was a time when South Africa had plenty of such people.

The likes of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Dr Beyers Naude and Aggrey Klaaste were examples of individuals who did not need political office to say what was wrong in society and for their voices to carry weight.

The ANC itself was founded by men who were much more than political leaders in their communities.

These days such moral leadership is being entrusted to politicians.

It might be a throwback to the time when political leaders were understood to be men and women of integrity who carried themselves in accordance with that expectation.

It simply is not the case today.

In many instances, party politics have become dens of inequity where the extent of patronage is exchanged proportionally for the willingness to lie on behalf of the puppet master.

It is clear from this that those who seek to change society for the better might be making an egregious error in judgement if they assume political office is the best vehicle for pursuing a society with better morals.

One example after the other shows that politicians are straitjacketed by their sectarian interests.

Their comments on the moral and ethical failings of political leaders are always dismissed by their opponents as political point-scoring, rather than the desire to right wrongs.

It is not entirely the fault of politicians. They do what they naturally do. They became what they already are.

It is clear from this latest debacle that parliamentary politics have limitations.

It must now be clear that it is not necessary for all good patriots who have a vision of a different country to seek political office.

In many ways, party political office might hamstring those who want to speak truth to power.

The very person of President Jacob Zuma speaks to the folly of entrusting moral and ethical guidance to politicians.

How could we forget that it was the same Zuma who slept with the daughter of his friend – a young woman whom they both agreed during his rape trial shared the dynamic of a daughter to his father?

Civil society must not allow this moral crisis to continue.

There must surely be men and women in our communities whose stature is beyond reproach and who can be trusted to provide moral leadership.

I might not know who they are, but there must be a local equivalent of the international flavoured “Elders” created by Nelson Mandela.

The idea of the Elders was simple and universal enough.

Entrepreneur Richard Branson and musician Peter Gabriel agreed that communities in various parts of the world looked up to elders for guidance, dispute resolution and moral leadership and thought why not have a global group of elders who did this for all countries.

They took their idea to Madiba and in 2007, the group was launched.

Admittedly, the Elders are mainly individuals who have at various points in their lives held political office, but the key ingredient in choosing them was their impeccable moral and ethical integrity, and a demonstrated activism for greater social good that transcends political ideologies.

South Africa needs such a group.

It needs men and women who can help divert our country from the moral dumpsite to which it is headed.

The often cited “good people” in the ANC able to steer the party that once upon a time occupied the moral high ground in our society have not materialised.

If they exist, their silence in the never-ending drama of shameless affairs by cadres of the party means they have chosen the ANC over their country.

Having dispensed with the moral compass in their own party, they cannot be trusted to be the rudder our society desperately needs.

We have enough analysts, columnists and other pundits.

Many of them are adept at describing the problem.

But through no fault of their own, do not have the gravitas to ensure their words count for something politicians feel the need to worry about.

However, there is value in analysis of society and punditry.

But we need words of vision and hope more.

Our degenerative state of affairs requires that this be as good a time as any to give way for the words of modern-day prophets who might just intervene where it really matters and where our politicians have failed us time after time.

* Fikile-Ntsikelelo Moya is executive editor of the Pretoria News

- Pretoria News

Time to flush out evil legacy

Positive results will soon be felt by the people whose dignity has been assaulted by the bucket toilet system, says Human Settlements Minister Connie September.

On receiving the South African Human Rights Commission report on the state of water and sanitation, I promised deputy chairperson Pregs Govender that I would study and respond. I did so in the conviction that on assuming office I swore to uphold the constitution of this beloved country of ours and the SAHRC is an institution borne out of this constitution.

It gives me no joy to acknowledge the parlous state of sanitation in many of our communities, a fact brought home in my first meeting with the SAHRC on assuming office last year. I started a process in September to prioritise sanitation for the remainder of my tenure.

As we celebrate Human Rights Month it is apt to reflect on how far we have come in restoring human rights. That apartheid sought to destroy the dignity of black people is evident in the most degrading lack of basic sanitation services in general and the dehumanising bucket toilet system in particular.

In proactively responding to this evil inheritance, the Department of Human Settlements has implemented an intensive Bucket Eradication Programme (BEP) which will replace the bucket toilet system with water borne sanitation systems.

A partnership between the Departments of Human Settlements, Water Affairs and Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, as well as the Department of Science and Technology, has been forged to ensure an integrated and sustainable approach to this complex legacy.

As government we have tirelessly worked in our quest to restore our people’s dignity, through, among other things, the BEP. As President Jacob Zuma pronounced in his State of the Nation address, phase one of BEP will see the eradication of buckets in formalised townships of the Free State, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape. These provinces have the highest volume of bucket toilets. Phase two will ensure the eradication of buckets in each of South Africa’s nine provinces.

BEP is buttressed by a financial allocation as announced by Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan in his budget speech. A total of R40 billion in infrastructure grants has been made available for among other things, sanitation services.

The bucket system is the unwanted legacy of deliberate neglect. Daily the users of this unhygienic sanitation system as well as workers responsible for the collection and disposal of human waste from bucket toilets are subjected to dehumanising and unhygienic conditions.

Twenty years into our democracy, this inhumane sanitation legacy still poses a challenge. We still have fatal incidents that remind us of the death traps that these toilets can be. Recently 6-year-old Michael Komape died in a pit latrine at his school. Our country mourned with his family.

The integrated planning approach as well as implementation across departments ensures that sanitation service delivery is not reduced simply to a toilet at the expense of other matters related to sustainable sanitation services.

Because of the united approach, particular attention is focused on issues pertaining to environmental sustainability, community involvement, affordability, hy- giene, education, user education, operation and maintenance of wastewater treatment works. Part of the challenge facing the programme is the development of bulk water and wastewater treatment infrastructure where none exist, and the increase in capacity where infrastructure does exist but has not held pace with the growth of water borne sanitation.

The Troika of Ministries plus one (Science and Technology) have integrated working, as well as pooled resources, financial and technical, to ensure that the constitutional promise of the right to water and a safe environment is incrementally materialised.

Importantly this approach also sees that dignity is restored to communities robbed of safe and basic sanitation services. This marked improvement in co-operation between government departments and the three tiers of government not only proactively accords with SAHRC’s recommendations for improved co-operation but also provides a mechanism for speedily unblocking delivery and implementation blockages that may arise from time to time.

State-owned entities and institutions have been appointed as BEP implementing agents, in particular the Water Boards providing bulk water services in the various provinces and institutions like the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agency, National Urban Reconstruction and Housing Agency and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

Their involvement constitutes the public/private partnerships required to address the prevailing complex sanitation issues. These entities, which report to the Department of Human Settlements, have in an integrated manner implemented the intensive and extensive BEP and have provided effective project management.

The integrated nature of BEP also ensures that local municipalities are involved in the programme at every step of the way thus avoiding a top-down approach. This model of delivery has the added benefit of ensuring that the system is owned at a local government level. This augurs well for future maintenance and operations of the infrastructure being installed.

Contractors on the ground are also being closely monitored for timeous and quality delivery by the BEP implementing agents and in certain instances are being penalised financially for failure. The latter monitoring and evaluation role at ground level that is being played by the implementing agents proactively harmonises with the SAHRC’s recommendations regarding contractors and the need for monitoring their performance.

Throughout phase one of the BEP implementation we have learnt lessons from the past and have heeded the calls from communities to engage with beneficiaries before starting these programmes.

Community engagement has ensured participation in the pre-design stage and also in the pre-sanitation technology choice stage. It is through community participation processes that a one-size-fit-all approach has been avoided and we have now been able to identify families with special needs when it comes to sanitation. So for example in Makana District Municipality, Eastern Cape, we have been able to install toilets which were modified to accommodate disabled residents as a result of comprehensive engagement.

In addition, beneficiaries were consulted on the positioning of the waterborne toilet structures to be erected. All-embracing community engagement is an example of participatory democracy in action. We are further unwavering in improving on our community engagement and participation processes as directed by the SAHRC in its report.

We’ve committed ourselves to giving further effect to its recommendations. We will stand by this pledge.

In the priority provinces significant progress has been made in removing the apartheid scourge of the bucket system. Significantly, in the process we have also been party to job-creation and the empowerment of local contractors, including woman-owned and operated contracting firms.

The BEP in the Western Cape has also progressed. Improved delivery capacity has been added through the appointment of additional implementing agents.

The positive results will soon be seen and felt by the people whose dignity has been assaulted by the bucket toilet system.

A major challenge in the quest to eradicate buckets is the accessibility and presence of water and the accompanying water infrastructure. This is a challenge which, with partners like the Department of Water Affairs, the CSIR, and with the patience and fortitude of our communities with whom we have had ongoing engagement, we are confident of finding workable solutions.

In areas where capacity of water and water supply infrastructure and wastewater treatment capacity are lacking, or where bulk infrastructure is still being developed, or wastewater treatment plants are still in the process of being built, interim, alternative solutions are being implemented and explored.

Improved sanitation, represented by the BEP has reduced child diarrhoea and has contributed to improving overall child health. For women and girls the improved sanitation offers greater dignity, privacy and personal safety.

The bucket eradication programme has brought with it improved health benefits, improved, cleaner and safer environments and the restoration of human dignity to long-suffering communities and this progress is cause for celebration in Human Rights Month.

* Connie September is the Minister of Human Settlements.

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

- Cape Times

DA lays Zuma charges in Nkandla

Durban - DA national spokesman Mmusi Maimane laid a charge of corruption against President Jacob Zuma on Thursday.

Maimane said he did so at the Nkandla police station near the president's Nkandla private homestead.

“Criminal charges have been laid against President Jacob Zuma at the scene of the crime in Nkandla,” said Maimane.

“There can be no doubt that this Nkandla palace was built on corruption by the president for the president with our money.”

The laying of charges follows Wednesday's release of Public Protector Thuli Madonsela's final report on the upgrades to Zuma's private Nkandla homestead in KwaZulu-Natal.

In her report, Madonsela found Zuma “unduly benefited from the enormous capital investment” in the Nkandla upgrades, totalling R246 million.

Comment from the police could not be immediately obtained.

- Sapa

New housing delivery plan ‘a DA poll ploy’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

zara.nicholson@inl.co.za

- Cape Times

Chaos erupts in Cape council meeting

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

After several minutes of this the DA councillors walked out.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

anel.lewis@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

City of Cape Town’s new logo revealed

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The current logo was launched in 2003.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

anel.lewis@inl.co.za

- Cape Argus

Cape cleaners pelted with faeces

Cape Town - City of Cape Town employees and contract cleaning staff were pelted with stones and faeces by angry Barcelona informal settlement residents on Wednesday.

No injuries were reported.

The city council workers and contracted cleaning services staff had returned to the area, in Gugulethu, to commence their normal cleaning schedule, after months of violent disruptions had prohibited them from doing so.

On Tuesday, residents had had a go at a community leader, throwing faeces at the leader’s home.

Mayoral committee member for utility services Ernest Sonnenberg said an agreement for the city employees and cleaning staff to work in the area on Wednesday followed a meeting he had had with Sannicare CC, the ward councillor and Barcelona leaders.

“It is clear that this group does not represent the broader community, but rather some individuals with illegal interests who are prepared to jeopardise the wider community’s access to services,” he said.

Ward councillor Mzwakhe Nqavashe was to meet residents on Wednesday night to discuss the matter. Thereafter a decision would be made on when the city staff and cleaners would return to the area.

Sonnenberg said the city was committed to finding the best solution for all parties involved.

“The city will continue to do all that it can to resolve this matter so that the whole community can receive the best level of services. As part of this commitment (to residents) we have already agreed to provide additional janitorial services in Barcelona.”

- Cape Argus

Cape to get tough on rent payers

 Cape Town - The Western Cape provincial government is to take a hard line with tenants who don’t pay their rent for state social housing and will consider getting social housing institutions and companies to help manage its housing units.

The province is also contemplating handing units over to municipalities.

Human Settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela told the legislature on Thursday it was unacceptable that the administration’s rent collection rate was between 30 and 40 percent, whereas social housing institutions were able to collect 90 percent.

“I am not comfortable to spend money (on maintenance) if the collection rate is (almost) non-existent.”

The Western Cape would spend R33m over six years on maintenance. The province owns 785 rental units in Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Paarl and Worcester, but intends selling 246.

Madikizela said the province would look at two possible solutions – a partnership with social housing institutions or companies, or handing rental units over to municipalities.

The province is also working with municipalities to have more social housing homes built.

The areas administered by municipalities include Knysna, Plettenberg Bay, George, Oudtshoorn, Mossel Bay, Paarl, Wellington, Vredenburg, Saldanha, Worcester and Hermanus.

The Department of Human Settlements’ director for affordable housing, Kahmiela August, said there was a need for social housing, especially in towns like Plettenberg Bay, where there was a big demand for cheaper rental units.

“It is essentially about restructuring, looking where the poor live and where in advantaged areas we can build social units to give people better access to work and transport.”

August said only Cape Town and Oudtshoorn had plans to build new social housing units.

The City of Cape Town manages 43 000 units.

Norah Walker, the city’s director for strategic development, said the major challenge was maintenance. The city was refurbishing 7 665 flats and the work would be complete by mid-2015.

“It is very difficult to estimate the cost of these projects because you don’t know what is wrong in the flats,” she said.

The city was building new rental units in Scottsdene, near Kraaifontein, and would start doing so this year in Hangberg, Hout Bay, said Walker. In Hangberg it would cost about R400 000 to build a unit.

cobus.coetzee@inl.co.za

- Cape Times

Zuma's tangled road to Nkandla

The direction of funds towards Nkandla speaks to a deeper malaise in our leaders, who are bent on satisfying their own needs, writes Verashni Pillay.

A strangely shaped road is being built in KwaZulu-Natal. It runs from the coal-mining town of Vryheid in the north of the province, dips down into a valley to cross the Tugela river, and winds its way out again, to Kranskop in the south.

It runs a relatively straight path between the two towns, as roads tend to do,encompassing as it goes various villages that happen to be along the way. Nqutu. Silutshana. Qudeni.

But about 140km into its meander, the proposed road behaves rather oddly. Just past Qudeni, instead of completing the final stretch to Kranskop, the road turns suddenly to the left and makes a detour to Nkandla. Then it returns the 20 or so kilometres to carry on its journey as if nothing surprising had happened.

View Route Here

The planned detour sticks out of the road's proposed route like a spare limb; an unexplained anomaly that is a clear drain on resources.

Speaking of unexplained and pricey anomalies, the new road happens to lead to our president's private residence in Nkandla, the upgrade of which is costing the taxpayer more than R200-million. There are also plans to build a R2-billion town close to the village and a R582-million face-lift on roads leading to Nkandla, according to investigative reports.

The road is probably a necessary construction. The current gravel path becomes almost unusable during the rains that regularly drench the area.

But the same could probably be said for many other rural areas throughout this unevenly resourced country. In the hilly Transkei, for instance, villagers must traverse rocky and sandy paths that narrowing to little more than a footpath in many places, negotiating their way around herds of cattle as they go.

But this little area of KwaZulu-Natal is different. The first town being built in post-apartheid South Africa and it's attendant roads just happen to fall in an area that is sending the second largest delegation in the province to the ruling ANC's elective conference in Mangaung in December. This from a province that in itself is sending the most delegates to the conference. And of course there is Jacob Zuma's own sprawling compound (that racist word) smack bang in the middle of it all.  

You wouldn't think this is for a man with an election to win at the end of the year. But for many of our leaders there is never too busy or important a time for a casual detour here and there to attend their own needs, and then it's back to business as usual.

Very little gives them pause for thought. Not the casual horror of the Marikana massacre or the depressing economic downgrades that followed. Our ruling party used to be close to the people they were elected by. Now it's par for the course to strike out on their own, using public resources to satisfy their desires, with scarce thoughts for those they should be serving.

Last week the Mail & Guardian revealed how our former defence minister (also formerly known as  Housing Minister) Lindiwe Sisulu spent up to R40-million on luxury jet trips at R68 000 an hour, instead of using SAA like other ministers. (That may well explain her tears when Zuma unceremoniously reshuffled her in June this year. As Democratic Alliance MP David Maynier put it: "The minister's wings have been clipped and she finds herself grounded … condemned to chicken or beef, on SAA, for the remainder of her term.")

In Lenasia this week, Gauteng unsuspecting residents saw their houses demolished after they were fraudulently sold state-owned land. With scant regards to the dilemma these largely innocent citizens were faced with, local government merrily knocked over their homes, until the courts stepped in to intervene.

Back in KZN, the local health minister Sibongiseni Dhlomo apparently commandeered an air ambulance earlier this month, delaying an injured teenager's arrival at a Durban hospital, the Sunday Tribune reported. Dhlomo told the newspaper he was a medical doctor and could use the helicopter as he saw fit. He would not say what he had used it for. The teenager had to make the journey by road, losing precious minutes in his fight for survival.

And so it goes, one detour after the next on the road to governance. It should be a straight and preferably a high road, but instead we are left with a tangled mess of self-serving trips, diversions and sprees until it becomes the whole of the map.

About 180km below the road I first described is another well-known road. Alan Paton famously describes it in the opening lines of Cry, The Beloved Country: "There is a lovely road which runs from Ixopo into the hills. These hills are grass covered and rolling, and they are lovely beyond any singing of it."

I'm afraid the same can't be said for the path we currently find ourselves upon.

- M&G

Housing projects ‘under microscope’

Cape Town - The total value of housing contracts being probed by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) stood at R4-billion, President Jacob Zuma said on Sunday.

Replying in writing to a Parliamentary question, Zuma gave an update of the status of the SIU's investigations.

In respect of the Human Settlements Department, the president said 59 low-cost housing contracts were identified by the SIU for investigation.

“From the aforementioned 59 contracts, the investigations into 42 contracts have been completed and the investigations into 17 contracts are still ongoing across seven provinces,” said Zuma.

Some of these contracts dated back as far as 1996.

The investigations started in April 2007 and were originally due for completion by 2010, but the deadlines were extended several times.

The probe into the alleged misappropriated housing subsidies was done in March and a final report was being prepared.

“The estimated date for the conclusion of the remaining investigation is 30 April 2013,” said Zuma.

The president said the SIU had already made several “systemic findings” on the 17 contracts which were still being probed.

These include non-compliance with the Housing Act and National Housing Code as well as contraventions of procurement procedures.

Zuma said other findings by the SIU include:

- Fruitless and wasteful expenditure amounting to R27.9-million for certain investigations;

- Potential losses estimated at over R71-million suffered by provincial departments;

- Potential recoveries amounting to over R100-million in respect of certain investigations;

- Various instances of misconduct by officials, employees or agents of the institutions; and

- Possible criminal charges against some of the previous and/or current heads of departments.

The intention of the probe was to uncover the mismanagement and misuse of taxpayers’ money allocated to low-cost housing projects since 1994. - Sapa

City Says Majority of Its Budget Aimed At Helping the Poor

While the City of Cape Town announced that it was spending a huge chunk of its budget on improving lives of the poor, chemical toilets in many parts of Khayelitsha will remain for the foreseeable future.

On Thursday Mayor Patricia de Lille and her deputy Ian Neilson reiterated the city's commitment to delivering basic services to the poor, announcing that R10, 8 billion out of their budget of R18 billion focused on direct services spent on the poor.

But despite such efforts, when asked about the use of the bucket system in Khayelitsha's BM section, De Lille said the people there had refused other options saying they preferred the system.

She also said there was no space there to put proper toilets as the area was densely populated and part of the land did not belong to the city but to railfreight agency Transnet.

Neilson denied that it was a bucket system being used but "chemical toilets" which were "very expensive" to run as there were emptied regularly.

Pressed on whether he could install one at his house, he said the ideal situation would be to have flush toilets in every house.

On July 16 the SST community along with the Progressive Youth Movement in Khayelitsha protested against the bucket system saying they wanted "one toilet per household".

The residents, who spilled faeces on Lansdowne Road and barricaded it with burning tyres, also claimed that some residents were falling sick due fumes coming from the chemicals used in the toilets.

They claimed that "hundreds" of toddlers, children and the elderly were being infected with TB and diarrhea due to using the system.

Residents of France informal settlement in Site B were also up in arms in July against the bucket system.

During her address, De Lille said about 1,9 million Capetonians every month benefited from the city's "basket of free basic services" which included free water, electricity, sanitation and refusal removal.

On health Neilson said the city provided free basic health care to "all residents" and of the total health spend of R798 million, R681 was targeted for the poor.

On housing, he said the city had allocated almost its entire budget (99,1%) on pro-poor housing programmes (It allocated R1,449 billion out of its budget of R1,461 billion).

De Lille said she was prepared to meet and discuss service delivery issues with the ANC but not with the ruling party's youth league which has recently organized two protests on service delivery and marched on Premier Helen Zille's office threatening to make the city ungovernable.

She said she was also encouraging ANC councillors in the city to ask critical questions on service delivery.

De Lille conceded that some of the people who were protesting in the townships had genuine concerns and the city was prepared to improve their lot.

- allAfrica

Zuma attributes service delivery protests to lack of communication

The economic viability of municipalities has come under the spotlight at a special congress of the South African Local Government Association in Midrand. An Auditor-General report into the state of local government has revealed that more than half of municipalities are in financial trouble.

Failure to deliver has led to a wave of service delivery protests. President Jacob Zuma has attributed the protests to lack of proper communication.

“Where government had said a particular service would be provided, leaders or officials need to return to the people to explain that there would be delays in case of any, and how long the delays would take.   It is important to keep communities informed of the developments so that they are not kept guessing and they are not influenced by wrong people because they have no information,” says Zuma.

Zuma has instructed municipalities to adhere to basic human rights principles by providing social amenities that do not demean the dignity of people.

He was reacting to the outcry against the construction of open toilets. Zuma urged all spheres of government to set minimum standards of decency in the provision of services.

“It is unacceptable to provide services to our people that are demeaning to them.  Open toilets, bucket toilets and building houses which have toilets outside only, have no place in a caring democracy which is premised on the promotion of human rights.”

Dlodlo has declared September Public Service Month

Government says it's to intensify its monitoring of the functioning of local administration. Public Service and Administration's Ayanda Dlodlo has declared September Public Service Month as part of government's efforts to improve the delivery of basic services.

During the month, the late minister of the department Roy Padayachie will be honoured for his efforts to encourage professionalism among public servants. As service delivery protests escalate, Dlodlo says citizens need more platforms on which to express their concerns.

- SABC

Welcome to Zumaville

The first new town to be built in democratic South Africa will be just 3.2km from President Jacob Zuma's homestead in Nkandla in rural KwaZulu-Natal.

And it will be springing up in record time if the government department behind it has its way and its progress is lubricated with generous amounts of money.

Initial estimates are that the government will have to direct more than R1-billion of taxpayers' money  into the development, which will require a further R1-billion from the private sector to make the project viable.

It is the brainchild of Masibam­bisane, a rural development organ­isation Zuma chairs, which the Democratic Alliance has described as a "hand-out scheme used by President Zuma to curry favour".

But the department of rural develop­ment and land reform has taken up the project with apparent enthusiasm.

New York City of KwaZulu-Natal

The rapid state-sponsored development of Zuma's hometown has already been criticised and he has been accused of putting his interests, and those of his family, above those of the people of South Africa.

In July, expelled ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema accused him of building a "New York City of KwaZulu-Natal" in Nkandla.

So the "Zumaville" plans could plague the ANC leader as politicking in the party heats up in the run-up to the party's elective conference in Mangaung in December.

But Zuma's spokesperson, Mac Maharaj, has described the criticism as reckless and without basis in fact. "Rural development is one of the priorities of the government and is not restricted to one area," he told the Mail & Guardian.

Officially, the Zumaville development project is known as the Umlalazi-Nkandla Smart Growth Centre, but this is no mere multipurpose community centre – of which the area already has two. A new one was built right across the road from an older but functioning centre at a cost of R12.8-million.

Government documents refer to it as an "emerging town", but covering 200 hectares, which could comfortably accommodate 10 000 middle-class homes, that may be selling it short.

The envisaged project includes:

• Government facilities, including offices for home affairs and social development;
• New community facilities, includ­ing a library, theatre and ­recreation centre;
• A new school with boarding facilities;
• A community safety centre and additions to an existing clinic;
• A recreation centre featuring a swimming pool and tennis courts;
• Light industrial units, including an agricultural market; and
• Housing centred around community gardens.

The construction would transform what is a dusty backwater with basic government buildings scattered among isolated rural homesteads into tree-lined avenues and covered walkways connecting modern, architect-designed buildings.

But it will come at a high cost. An initial feasibility study dated November last year reveals that the area has no sewer or stormwater infrastructure and the electricity infrastructure would have to be upgraded substantially.

The study lists the components that are likely to be the most expensive as:

• Educational facilities at R178.8-million;
• Electrical infrastructure at R164.8-million;
• Agricultural and industrial facilities at R146.3-million;
• Housing at R136.2-million;
• New government and safety complexes at R127.6-million; and
• Community facilities at R80.1-million.

Documents show that the housing and street lights have been designed with their own solar panels. That, and a solar farm and a proposed wind-turbine installation, could see the town become independent of the national electricity grid.

According to the department of rural development, 100km of fencing has already been put up in the area and bush has been removed from 30 hectares.

Ground has already been broken on the project. In late May, Zuma went to Nkandla, accompanied by several Cabinet ministers and what the department described as "business bigwigs", to consult local traditional leaders about the project.

"In July, this town will begin to be built," he said at the time.

Two weeks before that trip, Rural Development Minister Gugile Nkwinti told Parliament that "feasibility studies and design work have been completed" and the site would be cleared for work by the end of July.

Tenders

Local residents and leaders have also been shown mock-ups of what they can expect.

But outstanding tenders suggest that primary work on the project could start, at the earliest, during 2014 if there are no major delays in the adjudication and awarding of big contracts.

If a proposed phased approach is followed, the residential units will not be built until 2016 at the earliest.

Potential town planners would meet department officials in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, on August 3 to receive details of a tender for the planning of Zumaville. Three months from the time the tender is awarded is allocated for planning – a time frame those in the industry say borders on the impossible – and another seven months are allocated to consult the affected communities and gain the necessary planning permission – a process notorious for its bureaucracy and stumbling blocks.

Local residents may be even more surprised to learn that the entire project could still be scrapped or scaled down significantly. An initial environmental impact assessment found no immediate impediments to the development, but final clearance has not yet been granted.

Economic feasibility 

Town planners will be required to do demand analysis and assessments of the economic feasibility of each component of the project. And, as the tender for their work makes clear, an adverse finding could still see major changes to what is actually built.

"The sequence of information sourced, work undertaken, reports and deliverables should be scheduled in such a way that the 'go/no go' gateways are very clearly identified in order that unnecessary work is avoided if it becomes apparent that the implementation of the master plan, as it stands, or components thereof, is or is not economically justified," the tender document states.

According to the department, the 200 hectares of land earmarked for the development is controlled by the Ingonyama Trust Board, a body King Goodwill Zwelithini chairs  that was set up to manage government-owned traditional lands in KwaZulu-Natal.

But a survey of land rights and uses has yet to be done. Under a proposed structure, the land would be released to the control of Zuma's Masibambisane organisation, which could then lease parts of it to retailers and factories.

The residential component is expected to be a mixture of rental and long-lease properties.

Employment opportunities

Although Zumaville's projected total yearly income is still unknown, it is expected to create 500 "employment opportunities" during the construction phase, generating an expected R10-million and 400 permanent jobs, according to a basic assessment report completed by SSI Engineers and Environmental Consultants on behalf of the KwaZulu-Natal department of agriculture and environmental affairs.

The report estimates that the current value of the employment opportunities in the first 10 years will be about R2-billion.

Census figures from 2001 show a combined population of 354673 for the Nkandla and Umlalazi municipalities. Zumaville would straddle the border between the two, but it includes people served by established towns such as Eshowe and Mandini. According to the latest uThungulu district municipality quality of life survey undertaken in 2010, Nkandla's unemployment stands at 47.4% and the average household income is between R800 and R1500 a month.

In a 2006 KwaZulu-Natal spatial development strategic report, Nkandla was noted as one of 50 of the most-deprived regions in the province and was earmarked to become a part of three priority corridors that would link the town with Msunduzi (Pietermaritzburg), Nqutu, Vryheid, Weenen, Eshowe and Ulundi.

The department of rural development has said that similar initiatives are due to begin soon at May Flower in Mpumalanga and in Jane Furse in Limpopo.

The ANC cites these projects as other examples of planned rural development not linked to the president's homestead.

By the time of going to press, the department had not responded to questions, including about budget allocations for the projects.

ANC Youth League deputy president Ronald Lamola said the league would express its unhappiness to the ANC about selective development of South Africa.

"Our view is that rural development must prioritise all areas in the country. We cannot afford to ­create an impression that the developments are only done in certain areas [where ANC leaders come from]."

 Department donates 'gift' to Zuma project

A non-profit organisation, which President Jacob Zuma established and chairs, recently received the latest in a tranche of big donations from individuals and groups who deal closely with his government. The latest donation came directly from a government department.

Two weeks ago, Tina Joemat-Pettersson, the agriculture, forestry and fisheries minister, announced the donation of R800-million to Zuma's Masibambisane rural development programme at a ­government function in Qumanco in the Eastern Cape.

A department official told the Mail & Guardian this week that in doing so Joemat-Pettersson had in effect diverted the R100-million budget for the department's Zero Hunger Programme to Zuma's project. The Zero Hunger Programme is a government initiative to support smallholder farmers and food ­security in rural areas.

"In essence, the department does not have a budget for the Zero Hunger Programme anymore," said the official. "There was a celebratory mood that, with this intervention, Tina has secured the Eastern Cape for JZ. Initially, the department availed R800-million towards the mechanisation programme of the department to buy tractors and implements. R100-million of this budget was meant for the Zero Hunger Programme, but Tina insisted it [all R800-million] must go to JZ's project."

According to information in the M&G's possession, the project, which is co-chaired by Zuma, is not a government initiative as claimed by the department of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, but a private entity owned by Deebo Mzobe, a businessman from KwaZulu-Natal.

In 2010, Masibambisane was officially launched at the Nkandla local municipality. Several businesspeople, including Patrice Motsepe, and government ministers attended the event where the government donated six tractors and the private sector 24.

Approached for comment about Zuma's influence, Mzobe said: "If you have a king who does something, it will carry weight. He is in overalls and getting busy. People appreciate this.

"Masibambisane doesn't have capacity to roll out projects. We facilitate public and private partnerships. We don't run the show. It is not about campaigning for Zuma. When he started this in 2010 he didn't have 2014 in mind. He is just doing his job, making people's lives better."

Zuma's opponents in the ANC have expressed concerns that he is using the rural programme to campaign for his re-election at the party's elective conference in Mangaung in December.

Responding to the M&G's questions, Joemat-Pettersson's spokesperson, Palesa Mokomele, said Masibambisane was "not the president's individual project, but a public-private partnership that has been running for three years to date. The initiative is a presidentially led public-private partnership, which is chaired by President Jacob Zuma with a broad spectrum of partners from the private sector. These companies include Walmart-Massmart, South African Breweries and other companies who share in the programme's view and intention to improve the lives of smallholder farmers, and especially rural communities, through skills provision, access to finance and access to markets.

"On the question of a budget for Zero Hunger, we wish to reiterate that there was never a budget for Zero Hunger because this was a campaign and not a government programme.

"Our participation [as the department of agriculture, forestry and fisheries] in Masibambisane does not fall out of our budget; instead, we have used money from projects that already had budgets to ­accelerate service delivery. It is discomforting that projects that operate to speed up delivery end up being shrouded in gossip and untruths." – Charles Molele & Jonathan Pienaar

 Zuma's swanky new pad

Since his election as South Africa's president in 2009, Jacob Zuma has embarked on a massive renovation of his homestead in Nkandla village in northern KwaZulu-Natal. Government officials estimate it will cost between R69-million and R400-million.

Among other things, the ostentatious Nkandla ­compound comprises underground living quarters with about 10 air-conditioned rooms, a clinic for the president and his family and a gymnasium.

There are 20 houses for security guards, underground parking, a helicopter pad, ­playgrounds and a visitor's ­centre.

Although it is not clear who is footing the bill, the department of public works has confirmed that it is spending R36-million on security-related construction. This includes 10 houses for air force personnel, 10 houses for South African Police Service staff, a military health facility, perimeter fencing, the helipad, landscaping, bulk infrastructure and water supply, and houses outside the compound for families who were relocated to build the compound.

According to architectural plans shown to the Mail & Guardian, the precinct also includes a garden with ­ancestral graves. The entire area will be ­cordoned off by a brick wall and will have only one entrance. The three houses are kidney-shaped and contain his-and-hers bathrooms, living rooms, walk-in closets and a study. One house has four bedrooms and another has three. The homes have double-volume ceilings and thatched roofs in the same style as the old homestead.

Zuma and his family, ­according to construction workers at his house, will be able to enter the underground bunkers through a 200m-long tunnel running from under the helicopter pad to the main house.

Two lifts have been installed for the president and his family. – M&G