Govt departments called to clean up it's land

It would cost Cape Town just under R30 million to clear rubble and bush from vacant erven owned by government departments, the chairman of the city's health portfolio committee said on Friday.

Councillor James Vos said he recently inspected sites owned by the national and provincial departments of public works and was "appalled" at their condition.

"I am deeply concerned about the safety of residents as a result of the bushes, and the health risks posed by the dumped waste, rubble and pools of stagnant water," he said in a statement.

He said his committee had resolved that the city's health department should serve final notices on all national and provincial departments instructing them to clean and clear their erven.

The city had the power in law to clear the erven itself, then present the bill to the departments, but there was no guarantee the bill would be paid.

Clearing of national government erven would cost R13.6 million, while the clearing bill for provincial government erven would be R16 million.

"I thus call on the national and provincial departments of public works to fulfil their responsibility and maintain their undeveloped sites across the city," he said.

- Sapa

Cape Town housing policy shift making a difference

Christene Bergman, 64, who has had endless fights with her landlord, is among the first group of people to benefit from a shift in policy in favour of the provision of homes to rent in the Western Cape.

Before, people who, like Bergman, earned more than R3 500 a month did not qualify for the government's RDP housing subsidy.

Bergman expressed her gratitude for her new home, a two-bedroomed flat in the R40-million Steenberg Social Rental Housing Project.

"At my previous place where I was renting, my landlord gave me endless grief and there were always unexplained bills that me and my husband were expected to pay," said Bergman, a home-based caregiver.

She had been on the city's housing waiting list since 1985.

Under the provincial Department of Human Settlements' five-year plan, 16 910 new and refurbished rental units are to be made available, provided the department can find the funds.

These figures will barely make a difference in reducing the number of homes needed in the province - a figure that is just over 400 000.

The MEC for Human Settlements, Bonginkosi Madikizela, said public-private partnerships would help to leave provincial funds free for other priorities.

"We are prioritising the provision of serviced sites over the next five years, which will reduce the funds available for other (forms of housing)," said Madikizela.

The three-year budget projection for rental housing is R676 million, with R3.8 billion being required over five years to meet the goals of strategy.

The rental strategy requires that a large proportion of the funds be provided by the national department, with a proposed 30 percent increase in allocations for rental housing along with alternative mechanisms to bridge any gaps in funding.

Adre Bartis, of the privately owned Social Housing Company (Sohco), which is responsible for the project in Steenberg, built on provincial land sold to the company at a reasonable price, said 450 families would be given homes in the first phase.

Rentals range from R625 a month for a bachelor flat to R2 100 for a two-bedroomed unit.

Beneficiaries were screened and selected on the basis of their creditworthiness.

Madikizela said that privately run projects like those of social housing companies such as Communicare and Socho achieved far higher rental collections than government-owned properties.

"Admittedly they generally service a slightly higher income market than we do, but we still need to learn the lessons they can teach us,"said Madikizela.

He said the sales of a number of units in a gap housing project that was part of the N2 Gateway were being hamstrung by the stricter lending criteria.

Although 43 the units had been completed late last year, FNB was finding few buyers.

- Cape Times

Service delivery up but ‘discontent growing’

SERVICE delivery continued to expand last year, with more people getting access to education, housing, water and refuse removal, but discontent over the quality of state and municipal services was also rising, an official survey showed yesterday.

In light of widespread protests about service delivery, it is significant that the ratio of households getting piped water from their municipalities climbed to 83,3% last year from 78,2% in 2004, according to the latest general household survey from Statistics SA.

But only 56% rated the quality of their water services as good, down from 76% in 2005, and 72% in 2007. The Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal had the highest ratio of households unhappy with water quality, with 19% of households in the Eastern Cape, 12% in Mpumalanga and 9% in KwaZulu-Natal believing their piped water was unsafe.

“Significant proportions” of households in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape also reported problems with state-subsidised housing.

Overall, 16,1% of those in state- subsidised housing said their walls were very weak, while 14,9% viewed their roofs as very weak. The most widespread problems were in the Western and Eastern Cape, with more than 30% of occupants reporting problems.

“As coverage becomes bigger, capacity becomes more stretched and quality may be impacted,” said Kefiloe Masiteng, deputy director- general of population and social statistics. In the case of housing, the problem may lie with the fact that emerging contractors were being used, who were not as good as more established contractors, she said.

The survey showed the biggest problem lay with refuse disposal, which was one of the few services that actually deteriorated.

“The use and possible availability of refuse removal services of local municipalities ... decreased significantly between 2007 and 2009,” falling to 53,1% from 62,1%. Access to and use of refuse removal services were lowest in Limpopo, where only 12,8% of the population had access to municipal removal.

On a positive note, the portion of households living in informal dwellings declined to 13,4% last year from 15,7% in 2005. The ratio of those connected to electricity climbed to 82,5% from 76,8% in 2002, the report showed.

In terms of education, an official summary of the survey was upbeat. It noted that the ratio of people over 20 who had degrees rose to 26,1% last year from 21,5% in 2002.

Those with tertiary qualifications edged up to 10,9% from 9,2%.

But Econometrix economist Azar Jammine said the data showed there were far more matriculants who did not get more education — or jobs. “It’s very grim. We are falling further behind the rest of the world, and Africa. I don’t think the authorities recognise this to be as urgent an issue as it is. Lack of skills lies at the heart of all our problems — unemployment, crime and lack of competitiveness.”

- BusinessDay - News worth knowing

New govt. strategy for housing rentals

The Western Cape Human Settlements Department wants to change the perception of its rental housing units.

The department has set up a directorate to manage its rental stock, and is using housing projects in Brooklyn and Steenberg as its flagship initiatives.

The Human Settlements Department will be strengthening relationships with the private sector to improve the situation regarding its rental properties in the next five years.

Christine Bergman, who rents a house in Steenber, said it has changed her life.

“This is really a blessing, because when I had to be out at the place where I used to live, the owner gave me a real hard time,’ she said.

Human Settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela said their approach to rental housing has changed.

The MEC said, “After launching this strategy, you’ll see more funding being dedicated to the rental housing strategy."

- Eyewitness News

New housing development in Brooklyn

The Western Cape Human Settlements Department is building new houses in areas where people will have access to essential services.

The department said it was changing its historically lax approach to state-owned homes rented out to low income earners.

More than 200 houses are being built in Brooklyn and will be rented out.

The Housing Development Project Manager Gavin Wiseman said the homes were more than just a roof over people’s heads.

“Right across there’s the area library, there’s a clinic. It’s also on Koeberg Road which is an activity corridor so it just really speaks to people have access to work.”

MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela said his department wanted to manage the province’s rental houses better.

“We have now a directory of the rental housing which will mainly focus on the strategy and make sure that the partnership with the private sector is strengthened and we now move to a direction where more and more houses are built and more and more people are accommodated.”

- Eyewitness News

Winter makes a dramatic entrance

Wind, rock falls and floods hit Cape Town yesterday - portents of a stormy winter that officials believe will be much wetter than usual.

About 300 houses were flooded in the Solly's Town informal settlement, east of the city, and a rock fall in Tygervalley destroyed the entrance to a parking garage. Officials handed out blankets and hot meals to affected residents.

City disaster management spokesman Charlotte Powell said people should prepare for a wet winter.

In anticipation of further flooding, city authorities are setting up temporary relocation areas and have identified 20 communities that are living in "natural water course areas" that are at high risk.

The city said the extra precautions were necessary because of the unusually high levels of underground water, a result of last year's heavy rainfalls.

City spokesman Charles Cooper said: "The problem is not so much the rain coming down but the water coming up from below."

City and provincial authorities have fast-tracked construction of relocation areas, each of which can accommodate 1500 shelters. Work began this week at four sites in Khayelitsha and Mfuleni.

"Though Cape Town makes every effort to prepare for winter rains, it is difficult to prevent flooding in low-lying informal settlements," Elizabeth Thompson, mayoral committee member for transport, roads and major projects, said.

Chapman's Peak Drive was closed yesterday because of strong winds, and high seas kept many ships in port. Waves exceeding 5m were expected.

The weather office said steady rain across much of Western Cape was good news for farmers but could add to problems in informal settlements.

- TimesLive

Households living in formal dwellings in SA drops to 56%

The number of households living in formal dwellings in South Africa dropped from 57,8% (2007) to 56% (2009), according to a survey conducted by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA).

The dip between 2007 and 2009 was most likely caused by the recession which impacted severely on households’ liquidity during most of 2009. The decrease in full ownership between 2007 and 2009 was accompanied with growth in partial ownership and other kinds of tenure status, such as occupying the dwelling rent-free.

The survey indicates that the provinces with the highest percentage of households whose main dwelling was informal in 2009 were Gauteng (22,3%), Western Cape (17,1%), North West (16,0%) and Free State (14,8%). Of these provinces, North West has shown the least progress related to housing provision as there has been a significant increase in the percentage of shack dwellers from 12,2% in 2002 to 21,5% in 2007.

This may partially be attributed to changes in the housing policy of several mines, which entitled workers to a housing subsidy if they lived in their own dwellings. The provinces where most progress was observed in terms of reducing the proportion of households who live in informal dwellings include: Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.

Stats SA says that at the time of the survey 12,8% of South African households were living in “RDP” or state subsidised dwellings. Female-headed households were significantly more likely (11,5%) than their male counterparts (8,2%) to receive a government housing subsidy. Sixteen percent of those occupying “ RDP” or state subsidised housing said that the walls were weak and 14,9% regarded their roofs as weak. More than 30% of households in the Western and Eastern Cape reported problems with the quality of their walls and roofs.

- BusinessDay - News worth knowing

Shack dwellers on the decline: Stats SA

The number of people living in informal dwellings in South Africa has dropped, according to the latest Stats SA survey.

It said that in mid-2009, 13.4 percent of households lived in informal dwellings, down on 15 percent in 2007 and 2005, when previous household surveys were done.

The survey showed that though the state housing subsidy had increased, the quality of houses was questionable.

At least 16 percent of respondents had said the walls of RDP houses were weak, while 15 percent complained about weakness of roofs.

The Western Cape and the Eastern Cape were worst in this regard, with more than 30 percent of occupants facing problems of poor construction.

“Maybe this is where the minister of housing should start demolishing houses,” Stats SA’s deputy director-general Lesedi Dibakwane said at the release of the survey in Pretoria.

The survey also showed that on average 20 percent of households had inadequate access to food.

The worst provinces were the Free State (34 percent), Kwazulu-Natal (23 percent), Mpumalanga (22 percent) and the Eastern Cape (21 percent).

Limpopo’s figure was a mere 12 percent.

Dibakwane emphasised though that this year’s survey confirmed a number of continuing positive trends related to service delivery.

These included improved access to education services and an uptake of educational opportunities between 2002 and 2009.

The study found that the proportion of youth aged 20 years and older with tertiary qualifications had increased from 9.2 percent to 10.9 percent, while functional illiteracy rates had declined over the same period.

Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West and the Northern Cape remained the provinces with the highest illiteracy rates.

The highest illiteracy was among women.

The survey found that the number of households with electricity had increased significantly, from 77 percent in 2002 to 83 percent in 2009.

This had reduced dependency on wood and paraffin for cooking.

In terms of water, the study found that those receiving piped water from their local municipalities had increased by five percent since 2004.

Most of the respondents were however not satisfied with the quality of that water.

The Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga and Kwazulu-Natal (at 19 percent) had recorded the highest percentage of households unhappy with water quality.

On a more positive note, the number of households with no toilets or with bucket toilets had almost halved.

The figure stood at seven percent in 2009, compared to 13 percent in 2002.

- TimesLive

Sisulu patronises SA’s legitimately angry youth

THEY just don’t get it, do they? Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu told Parliament on Tuesday that she wanted to reintroduce conscription. According to a report by Business Day Online, Sisulu said this “will not be a compulsory national service, but an unavoidable national service”. She was quick to say the government did not want to repeat the mistakes of the past.

Sisulu reportedly told Parliament that she wanted the defence force to provide a rite of passage for young people “leaving school with no skills and no prospect of being absorbed into a labour market that is already glutted”. She said: “Every culture known to men has a process of coming of age. This includes some initiation into responsible adulthood, where the line is drawn from childish ways to purposeful, responsible adult behaviour. We can do that for this country, because that is the one thing we need, to build a future for our development and prosperity. A place where the young unemployed can find skills, dignity and purpose.”

Sisulu presides over the most pampered, but also the most inefficient military in Africa, what on earth makes her think the aged, generally obese, unprofessional and ill- disciplined South African National Defence Force is equipped to teach young people about “responsible adult behaviour”?

Does she seriously expect the public to believe that entrusting young people to the bloated men and women who run the defence force will do the trick and help these young people draw the line between childishness and responsible adulthood? Aren’t these the same men and women who cannot command, let alone discipline, the soldiers at their command? Did we not have recently the spectacle of soldiers, some drunk and in uniform, going on the rampage outside the Union Buildings to demand better pay?

Yet Sisulu seems to think that it is in the company of these soldiers that young men and women will learn about discipline and the value of hard work.

But it is not only the military about which Sisulu has no clue. She told Parliament: “Any television footage of service delivery protests will show you that at the forefront of this, in great majority, are our youth, with excessive anger and misdirected energy and frustration etched on their faces. We as a country can ill afford this. Our youth are an asset and we must direct them properly.”

No, what SA can ill-afford are the arrogance and ignorance that assume that young people take part in “service delivery protests” because of excessive anger, misdirected energy and frustration.

The protests we have seen in recent years are not youthful and childish frolics that would disappear with a stint in the military.

I have studied protests in four different towns in two provinces and have learnt enough to know not to patronise those who take part in them.

In a corner of Piet Retief, the lives of young people are centred on the fetching of water. They have to wake up in the early hours of the morning to queue outside a communal spigot that is erratic at best. They must fetch water before walking long distances to one of the two high schools in the township.

The schools are overcrowded, teachers indifferent and education dodgy. The kids are not stupid. They know that life does not have to be this way.

In Standerton, young people see council officials driving “yachts” — cars so expensive everyone is forever asking how people working for one of the poorest municipalities in a depressed part of the country can afford such possessions. It is the same in Hazy View and Katlehong, where corruption has become a part of daily life. In these places, young people have little or no hope of ever getting state jobs unless they “know” someone important or are willing to pay for one.

Even the august defence force that Sisulu expects to turn young people into responsible adult citizens is not immune from the corruption that has become endemic. Speak to young people in these and other towns and they will tell you that you have no chance of getting a job in the military unless you are prepared to buy that job. That is the depressing reality that confronts young people throughout SA. They protest because they do not believe the new SA is serving them. They protest because they see that as the only way to make their grievances known. Not because they are childish and have pent- up energies that need an outlet.

Sisulu, who has not exactly covered herself in competence — never mind glory — in her long career as a minister, should know this basic truth. But she doesn’t. How could she be expected to know it when she, like the African National Congress, refuses to take seriously the meanings of the protests that have erupted all over the country?

Young people, old people, South Africans are protesting because the new SA has failed to deliver on its promises to them.

They are protesting because they do not like the arrogance of those in power. They do not like the haughtiness of those, like Sisulu, who seem to think that accounting to a democratically elected Parliament is doing the legislature a favour.

Truth be told, it is Sisulu who could do with some discipline. What young people need are schools that work, safe neighbourhoods, meaningful jobs and a belief in the future — something Sisulu and her comrades have failed to deliver in 16 years of trying.

- BusinessDay - News Worth Knowing

Sanco calls for anc councillor’s head

Official blamed for inciting xenophobic attacks

THE Western Cape ANC councillor being investigated for inciting an attack on 2000 Zimbabweans is now under fire from his own political allies.

More than 300 members of the ANC-affiliated South African National Civic Organisation marched in De Doorns yesterday, calling for the removal of ANC ward councillor Mpumelelo Lubisi – this time after he called for the deportation of about 1000 Lesotho nationals who stay in the town.

The Sanco members have appealed to Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Sicelo Shiceka to remove Lubisi as their councillor.

“If you do not remove this councillor we will show you how to do so,” Sanco chairperson Bonisile Haus warned Shiceka yesterday.

Several community members said they were angry because when they questioned Lubisi about the slow pace of service delivery in the area, he blamed the Zimbabweans and allegedly incited young people to attack them.

Haus said: “Our youths were incited by his words to displace Zimbabweans, and their actions caused them to be arrested. Now he has again used hateful speech against Lesotho nationals.”

According to other alliance leaders in De Doorns, Lubisi called at a public meeting recently for the deportation of the Lesotho nationals who live in their own informal settlement known as Maseru.

Lubisi allegedly said that the Sotho-speaking residents should be “chased out” of De Doorns and “deported back to the homeland from which they came ”.

The ANC confirmed last month that they had suspended Lubisi while they investigated allegations that he incited a group of locals last year to attack the Zimbabweans living in De Doorns. More than 1300 Zimbabweans have been living in a United Nations refugee camp on a field in the town ever since.

Sanco also accused the municipality of wasting money on setting up serviced land for shacks, instead of building houses.

“For more than 17 years this community has had only one housing project. This project has only 147 RDP houses that were all built during (Nelson) Mandela’s term,” said the Sanco memorandum.

Lubisi has denied the allegations against him.

“What I said is that if you don’t have a South African identity book you don’t belong here. When people ask me at a meeting I can’t say Lesotho nationals are South African citizens,” Lubisi said.

He accused Sanco of trying to sabotage his project to move people living on dangerous mountain slopes and in the river bed to suitable land before the winter floods.

- Sowetan

South Africa street clean-up begins

South Africa is reportedly embarking on a major street clean-up operation ahead of the World Cup, with thousands of homeless, urban poor allegedly being taken off the streets and relocated for the tournament.

The country's leading weekly newspaper, the Sunday Times has dubbed it "hiding the homeless", while the English version of the paper with the same name calls it "slum clearance, South Africa-style."

The country's three major cities - Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban - have already started relocation programs, while six remaining host cities are set to follow suit.

Reports allege that more than 800 people have been taken from the derelict area surrounding Ellis Park in Johannesburg, the venue of seven matches including a quarter-final, and moved to shelters away from the inner city. There are also reported plans in place to see another 1,500 people, mostly street children, moved to alternate housing.

A Johannesburg government official was quoted as saying: "Homelessness and begging are big problems in the city. You have to clean your house before you have guests. There is nothing wrong with that."

In Cape Town, 300 people have moved from the city to Blikkiesdorp on the Cape Flats, a historically poor area, used by the Apartheid government as a place to allocate homes to non-whites. Durban has identified the grungy Warwick Triangle precinct as the place where they will house street children during the tournament.

The evictions have led to a Facebook group called Stop Concentration Camps for Homeless People in South Africa. The group has just 328 "fans" but there have been a host of comments suggesting that people are disgusted that the clean-up act is merely cosmetic for the duration of the tournament and will have no benefit post World Cup.

Non-governmental organisations have also made statements along those lines, saying that authorities are trying to hide the country's faults from the rest of the world. Warren Whitfield, of homeless charity Addiction Action, said: "It's a cosmetic fix to create an impression of South Africa for football fans which is not real."

What has made the clean up even more outrageous to locals is that it comes despite statements from government and soccer bosses that no one would be forced off the streets during the tournament.

In July last year, Tokyo Sekwale, minister of human settlements, said: "There is no policy that says government must evict people who are living in poverty or in shacks nearby venues. We cannot do that. We cannot hide people from the view of tourists."

Organising committee CEO Danny Jordaan affirmed this view, pointing out that the country had hosted other international events without needing to undergo any so-called sprucing up,

Jordaan said: "Government did not evict these people during the Rugby World Cup and Cricket World Cup and other major international events, why now?"

It seems the reason for the timing is because this summer's World Cup is set to attract hundreds of thousands more tourists that any other sporting event. Initially, over half a million visitors were expected, but the recession and slow ticket sales have seen that number drop to around 400,000.

Importantly, the vast majority of people that have been affected by the evictions are immigrants, sparking fears that another wave of xenophobic attacks could crash onto South Africa's shores. In May 2008, a series of violent attacks on immigrants, particularly from other African countries, saw at least 62 people killed, a third of them said to be South African citizens.

- ESPN Soccernet

De Doorns residents call for housing

De Doorns residents said on Monday Human Settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela must intervene to sort out their housing woes.

Locals from the Stofland informal settlement on Monday invaded a R25m housing project and tried to prevent workers from entering the site.

They claimed they were sidelined and despite having lived in shacks for decades, the new development would not benefit them.

They also demanded their local councillor, whom they called a liar, to be fired from his position.

The angry residents were clear about what they wanted and did not mince words.

“What we want in De Doorns and everyone knows that it is decent houses,” said one resident.

Some threatened to carry on protesting should the housing project continue.

Community leader Andile Mfuthwana said they wanted to meet with Madikizela over the matter.

“If he can come to De Doorns and see the circumstances we are living in, maybe he can make a plan.”

Meanwhile Councillor Mpumelelo Lubisi confirmed to Eyewitness News the current housing development was not earmarked for the demonstrators but did offer some consolation and vowed their shacks would be electrified in August.

Blaze started by lovers' tiff

A shack fire in Du Noon has left one person burnt beyond recognition and more than 500 residents without homes after flames swept through the informal settlement early yesterday.

The fire started at 1.15am, destroying 122 homes and displacing 520 residents, including 20 infants, said the city of Cape Town's Disaster Risk Management Centre spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes.

Fire crews brought the fire under control by 4.15am. The fire was believed to have been the result of a quarrel between a woman and her boyfriend who threatened to burn down her house, said community leader Albert Ndevu.

Neither party could be found yesterday, he said.

Police are still investigating and have not yet determined a cause.

One resident was burnt to death, but police could not identify the person's sex because of the severity of the burns, said Milnerton police spokeswoman Daphne Dell.

Mveliso Mbukushe put up a simple fence and laid a black plastic bag above the charred remains of the shack where the person had died. Mbukushe said the fire victim was his brother, Velile Codana, 28.

"People tried to cross here, but I'm trying to tell them not to cross, to show something dangerous happened here," Mbukushe said, removing his hat out of respect.

'Everything is gone, I've only got these clothes'

His brother, who was alone in the shack, had apparently been drinking and was asleep when the fire broke out, Mbukushe said. He had not seen the body before the police arrived and said he was upset that authorities did not place markers or tape to indicate where his brother had died.

"His blood and oils are still in the soil. I want to bury him, but his body's not there," Mbukushe explained, adding that he did not want neighbours walking over, or building on top of, the place where his brother died.

Emergency response teams arrived to provide food parcels, blankets and other aid for the affected victims, Solomons-Johannes said.

A local children's non-profit organisation, Home of Hope, donated clothes and toys for the children. Though the city had not arranged other accommodation for the displaced victims, the city's housing department was issuing building materials for residents to rebuild their homes, Solomons-Johannes said.

In the meantime, many of those who fled their burning homes said they hoped to stay with neighbours or relatives.

"I don't know, maybe I'll sleep at that place," said resident Enock Silo, pointing to a shack down the road still intact.

"Everything is gone, I've only got these clothes."

- Cape Argus

Bank found guilty of reckless lending

Absa bank has been found guilty of reckless lending after granting a Port Elizabeth pensioner a loan - despite knowing the instalments would be more than his entire monthly income.

The Herald Online reports that the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court found that the issuing of the bond was reckless and that the loan should be scrapped.

The bank had granted the 81-year-old pensioner a home loan of R350,000.

This while the man and his wife earned a monthly income of R3,700.

They had household expenditure of R2,472 - and the monthly instalment on the bond was R4,200.

The man defaulted on his repayments and the bank threatened to repossess his home in Lorraine.

Debt counsellors took up his case and went to court.

The ruling was believed to be the first of its kind in the country.

Banking ombudsman Clive Pillay said banks should know they were not above the law and should comply with the National Credit Act (NCA).

The act was specifically drawn up to protect consumers from becoming overly indebted. It had been in effect for four months when the pensioner signed the loan agreement with Absa.

- Sowetan - Sapa - Herald Online