Tenants fear eviction from flats

After watching 18 of her neighbours being evicted from their Masiphumelele homes, Penelope Ngcobo fears her family will be next.

The board of the Amakhaya Ngoku Housing Association was granted an eviction order by the Simon’s Town Magistrate’s Court last month allowing it to evict 21 tenants who had not paid rent since moving in during 2009.

On Monday, the sheriff of the court began carrying out the eviction order.

Ngcobo, 25, said the group used to live in shacks on the same piece of land before the flats were built by the association in consultation with the residents.

She said the agreement was they would pay R400 a month in rent for four years before owning the flats, but some residents were not able to afford that.

Ngcobo lives with her husband and three sons and said they were scared as they had not paid their rent for several months.

But Jeremy Wiley, secretary of the housing association’s board, said only the 21 tenant families were being evicted.

He said only 18 of these families were evicted on Monday as the other three were contesting the eviction and were awaiting confirmation of a court date.

He said people who were on the waiting list would be moved into the vacant properties.

Wiley said the evicted residents had not paid rent since moving in and each owed close to R8 400.

Nolubabalo Dlulane, 42, was among the residents evicted on Monday.

She said she hadn’t paid her rent because she had been unable to work since having a stroke a few years ago.

Dlulane said she had nowhere else to go with her two children as she had lived in a shack on the property for many years before the flats were built.

Wiley, however, said they had asked residents who were unable to pay the rent to apply for rental relief.

“Those who are not working could apply for a reduction of as much as R300 by doing work on the property in lieu of rent,” he said.

Dlulane said she had applied for rent relief on three occasions, but without success.

Some residents said they had been living on the land since 1997 and would prefer that the flats were demolished so they could go back to living in shacks.

“(The evicted) have nowhere to go. Today we are saying it is better if they evict us all,” said resident Francis Futshane.

Boniswa Mbelwa, another resident, said the association had gone back on its word.

She said that when the building project was initiated they were told the money to build the properties would come from donors and subsidies from the provincial government.

She said she had been working for the housing association when the project started.

“We thought that after we paid rent, we were done,” she said.

“But now we are told that we have to pay R7 200 after a four-year period and another R4 500 in legal costs before we can own the houses.”

Wiley confirmed that residents would have to pay the legal and transfer costs before they could own the properties, but said this had always been part of the agreement.

Mbelwa said it would have been better if the association had gone to each of the 21 evictees to find out their financial situation before taking steps to evict them.

She said the residents had called a meeting last night to discuss their next step.

- Cape Argus

Patricia de Lille on the Hangberg peace accord

Cape Town mayor says agreement will relegate violence to the past

SPEECH BY EXECUTIVE MAYOR ALDERMAN PATRICIA DE LILLE ON THE OCCASION OF THE SIGNING OF THE HANGBERG PEACE ACCORD, September 20 2011

The Premier of the Western Cape, Helen Zille,
The representative from SanParks,
The people of Hangberg,
The mediator, Brian Williams,
Officials,
Ladies and gentlemen.

We are honoured that you could join us here. For we come here today in the name of peace. We come here today in the name of healing. We come here today in the name of hope. We come here today for the future.

Emerging from the pain and the suffering of the past, we come to join hands. We come to move forward, together. This is a historic day for our city and for the people of Hangberg. Once more, they take their rightful place as a valued and recognised community in our metro.

Today marks the end of a complex peace process, one that has involved months of negotiations, delicate democratic processes and careful agreements. It is an end that brings together a range of diverse interests. It is an end that will ensure that we put violence behind us. It is an end that ensures the continued development of Hangberg.

This agreement will see those who live above the firebreak come down below the firebreak and then back into the Hangberg community below the sloot. In so doing, they will ensure their safety and the safety of their community, especially against fires and floods.

Those who move beneath the firebreak will be encouraged to move into areas that we can provide services to before they move back into the Hangberg community below the sloot. Still others will move into new housing opportunities once developed. Others will receive the transfer of the 60 row houses after all legal processes have been completed.

The whole community will receive services. They will especially receive the benefits of the City's departments of Economic Development, Social Development, and Sports Departments, as well as the department of Human Settlements, to say nothing of general City Services. We have been engaged in mediation since November 2010.

That mediation was born from a web of illegal actions, violence and resistance. It was born from pain. But that pain was the culmination of a relationship that had broken down.

We know what we have lost. But now we must know what we have gained. For the first time in too long, the people of Hangberg and the City are talking to each other again. We are engaging each other as equal partners in the future.

Our new relationship will enable us to improve the lives of the people of Hangberg. That is the significance of the Peace and Mediation Accord that we sign today. There will be those who seek to prevent us from forging this bond. There are always those who selfishly benefit from chaos.

There are those whose interests are served by promoting illegal behaviour and unrest. They are the enemies of peace. But we will not be deterred by them. I ask you all to join me in signing today. Let our signatures be the pact that shows our commitment to each other. That commitment will let us build an inclusive city, together.

Issued by the Communication Department, City of Cape Town, September 20 2011

Call to probe housing row

WESTERN Cape MEC for human settlements Bonginkosi Madikizela visited Eerste Rivier for a random inspection of houses in the Our Pride Housing Project.

This follows allegations that some people had attained houses through corrupt means, insinuating that the people who were staying in the houses were not the intended beneficiaries.

According to concerned residents, about 56 houses out of 940 - which were built as part of the project - were not given to the rightful beneficiaries.

Madikizela said: "I will ask the police's special investigating unit to probe the matter. We are not accusing anyone, but we want to find out who has done wrong.

"We have heard that some of the beneficiaries had applied in the late 1980s.

"This means they may have been between 14 or 15 years old when they applied. People of that age do not qualify.

"So, how did they get onto the (waiting) list?

"My assumption is that some people were kicked out and replaced either by colluding officials," he said.

Dumisani Sigege, who founded Guguletu Housing Project in 2001, said: "I am hurt because some of those who were supposed to get the houses are still living in backyards.

"All we want is for this project to be investigated so that the right owners get their houses.

Phumla Dlokolo, the chairwoman of Our Pride Housing Project, spoke to Sowetan in one of the RDP houses.

"All the people who are staying in the low-cost houses have been approved by the department with the help of BKS consultants," Dlokolo said.

"We have nothing to worry about. "We welcome the investigation.

"The beneficiaries were in their 20s when they applied for the houses."

Ntombekhaya Maputa accused Dlokolo of taking her late father's house which was meant for her.

"My father died four years ago and he had already paid the money which was asked by Dlokolo.

"I have proof of this at home," Maputa said.

- Sowetan

RIGHT2KNOW CANDLE-LIT VIGIL

RIGHT2KNOW CANDLE-LIT VIGIL

We would like to invite all South Africans to join us as we light candles in support of freedom of expression and access to information. Help us send a message to the Members of Parliament who will vote on the Bill that we will not stand by and allow these Freedoms to be snuffed out.

Date:

Monday 19 September 2011
Time:

18:00 to 20:00
Venue:

JHB: Kotze Street entrance to ConCourt

KZN: King’s House, Eastbourne Rd

CPT: Parliament, Plein Street

For comments please contact:

Gauteng: Dale McKinley (072 429 4086)

KZN: Quinton Kippen (083 871 7549)

Western Cape: Nkwame Cedile (078 227 6008)

SIU to look at fraud, corruption claims

THE SPECIAL Investigating Unit (SIU) will be asked to probe the low-cost Our Pride housing project in Eerste River following allegations of fraud and corruption in the allocation of houses, MEC for Human Settlements Bonginkosi Madikizela has said.

He was speaking during a random door-to-door inspection of houses yesterday to check if the people living in the houses were actually on the list held by the provincial human settlements department.

“This is a preliminary investigation as we have received complaints that some people who were part of the original housing lists were removed and not allocated houses.

“We have also heard that some people have sold their houses or are renting them out. We wanted to see for ourselves if this is correct.”

Madikizela said what was disturbing was that some people on the beneficiaries list were born in the late 1980s, which meant they must have been 14 or 15 years old at the time.

“People of that age do not qualify so how did they end up on the list?

“My assumption is that some people were kicked out and replaced either by colluding officials and committee members here,” he said.

Madikizela said the information would be handed to the SIU for investigation after which the department would take action.

According to residents, about 56 houses out of the 940 built as part of the Our Pride project were not given to the rightful beneficiaries.

The province’s investigation comes after the Gugulethu Concerned Backyarders group complained about corruption in the project.

The backyard residents are the remnants of a 300-strong group called the Gugulethu RDP Housing Project, which formed in 2001.

They appointed Phumla Dlokolo as their chairperson and approached the provincial housing department with their savings in 2006.

Dlokolo had told them that R2 500 was required for a two-roomed house, and up to R5 000 for a larger one.

Upon their submission to the department, then under MEC Richard Dyantyi, erven were obtained in Eerste River and an 821-unit housing project, named the Our Pride, was given the go-ahead.

The first phase was completed at the end of last year.

Backyarder Mhlayivayo Qabaka said that the Gugulethu Concerned Backyarders’ preliminary investigations had revealed that people living in the houses at the project came from Mfuleni, Khayelitsha, Delft, and were also foreigners.

The provincial housing list comprises 500,000 people, 386,000 of them in the City of Cape Town area.

A 2008 survey found that in most regions, on average 68 percent of beneficiaries remained in their homes.

In the Southern Cape – which included George, Mossel Bay, Knysna and Plettenberg Bay – the figure was lower, with on average only 47 percent living in their government allocated houses.

Several houses had been sold for a fraction of their value, and the beneficiaries had moved back into shacks. Other houses had been converted into shop.

The department was creating more stringent beneficiary criteria.

Meanwhile, a disciplinary hearing is under way for a City of Cape Town official linked to corruption involving housing waiting lists.

Mayoral spokesman Solly Malatsi said the official was accused of gross dishonesty, negligence and improper conduct.

Two other officials are to receive counselling for their negligence and a fourth person, who did not work for the city, was also implicated.

Two cases of fraud and corruption were reported to the police.

- IOL

Thousands lash out at secrecy Bill

South African politicians on Saturday joined thousands of people who marched outside Parliament to protest against the controversial secrecy Bill which will be tabled in Parliament next week.

The African National Congress used its majority to push through the Protection of Information Bill which proposes penalties for disclosure and possession of material classified secret.

Former intelligence minister Ronnie Kasrils and Cape Town premier Helen Zille were among activists opposed to the Bill.

The Bill is aimed at shielding South Africa's "silly leaders" from embarrassment, not protecting the country's real official secrets, former intelligence minister Ronnie Kasrils said.

Kasrils said the legislation was wrong.

Standing on the flatbed of a truck parked outside Parliament's main gates, Kasrils -- who wore a pink shirt and a straw hat -- said it was essential people raised their voice against the Bill.

"I have been asked by journalists why I, as a former minister, and a member of the [ANC] and the South African Communist Party [SACP], am at this march.

"The answer ... is very simple. When your mother or father, brother or sister, your family, is doing the wrong thing ... you raise your voice and say, 'That is wrong, it must not be done!'".

Kasrils said his love for his country "transcends the love of my party".

Self-interest
On media freedom, he suggested government was pushing through the Bill to spare itself embarrassment.

"This all-embracing Secrecy Bill ... we smell and suspect is not about the real secrets that must be defended but it's to prevent those silly leaders who have egg on their face, who have been exposed by the media for doing foolish and embarrassing things."

Among such things, he said, were "misusing and abusing" tenders and contracts as well as taxpayers' money.

Saturday's march -- which proceeded from Keizersgracht along Darling, Buitenkant and Roeland streets to Parliament -- was organised by Right2Know (R2K), a grouping of 400 civil society organisations that began fighting the controversial bill a year ago.

About 2 000 people took part, including provincial premier Helen Zille, cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro, better know as Zapiro, and Treatment Action Campaign head Zackie Achmat.

'The trust will keep us free'

The marchers were preceded by a group carrying a long white banner proclaiming "we have the right to know" and the image of a vuvuzela with a knot tied in the stem.

"Jou Ma se Secrecy Bill" read one poster. "The Truth will keep us Free," read another.

The final draft of the Bill is set to go before the National Assembly on Tuesday. It will then have to go to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) for concurrence, before being signed into law by President Jacob Zuma.

Those opposed to the measure say it seriously erodes the public's right to know and poses a threat to the freedom of the country's press.

'Grave' concern
According to an editorial in the Cape Times on Friday, the Bill "fails the media freedom test" because -- in its current form -- anyone who had documents that had been classified state secret would be liable for criminal prosecution.

"And it fails because even if you have a compelling argument for publishing the contents of such documents, you will not have the right to argue that it was in the public interest."

In a statement issued on Friday evening, after its annual general meeting in Cape Town, the South African National Editors' Forum (Sanef) said the information bill was of "grave" concern.

"[Its] lack of any public interest defence, draconian sentencing regime, broadness of application and excessive shielding from scrutiny of the intelligence services are of grave concern."

Sanef said it would continue to oppose the Bill being enacted "and will take legal action if necessary".

Speaking to Sapa on Saturday, Kasrils said the passing of the Bill would be a sad day for the country.

"It will be a very sad day to see the rights of the people stifled."

'Making a mistake'

Addressing the crowd, Achmat said if the Bill was passed without a public interest defence clause, "we will be making a mistake".

Speaking at the start of the march, Shapiro told protesters the R2K campaign would oppose the Bill's passage.

"We will not let the Bill go through the way it is now," he vowed.

Among the posters held aloft outside Parliament was one showing three chimpanzees, using their hands to cover, each in turn, their mouth, eyes and ears. It read, "We're taxpaying citizens -- not your dumb pets".

On the back of the speakers' truck, a woman in a red T-shirt and wearing a white doek on her head held up a poster advising government: "Keep the bill in your pants".

- Sapa

Sexwale to rope in top companies for housing drive

Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale will launch a campaign this week to get the top 200 companies listed on the JSE to assist his department in dealing with the country’s huge housing backlog.

Called “Each One Settle One”, the campaign involved a call to corporates to help with the housing needs of the communities where they operated and beyond, said Mandulo Maphumulo, a spokesperson for the department.

The campaign is aimed at lobbying and mobilising companies, individual stakeholders, private sector institutions and donor agencies to assist in settling more than 2 million households in need of shelter.

Maphumulo stressed that the department was not seeking cash from corporates.

Examples of what the department was seeking to achieve were the housing project in the North West launched by Impala Platinum (Implats) last year for people who worked for the company and the project launched last month in KwaZulu-Natal by cement producer Afrisam for a community in need of homes, she said.

Implats spent R522 million in its 2010 financial year on housing as part of its home ownership programme to help employees acquire their own property.

Afrisam’s project, proposed by the Mineral Resources Department and part of its social and labour plan commitments, involved the company handing over 24 houses to destitute families in Ladysmith.

The social and labour plan is an agreement undertaken by companies when they receive a mining right.

Afrisam established the Shayamoya housing project and built 24 three-bedroom houses with the help of the Uthukela District and Ladysmith local municipalities, which provided roads infrastructure, domestic water supply, storm water drainage systems and technical services.

Beneficiaries also received groceries to the value of R1 000 each when they received their new homes.

Afrisam followed its own criteria and selected beneficiaries in Steadville in Ladysmith who were categorised as child-headed families, orphans, elderly, physically or mentally abused and children infected with HIV and Aids.

The company also established two state-of-the-art computer centres, at Everest Height and Redcliffe Primary Schools in Verulam, each equipped with 20 computers and various hi-tech accessories.

“This is the kind of action the department envisages as opposed to seeking cash,” Maphumulo said.

She said the idea for the “Each One Settle One” campaign came out of consultations with various stakeholders in the human settlement space.

“It is championed by Minister Tokyo Sexwale and fully supported by all provinces.

“It is born out of a realisation that more partnerships are needed to deal with some of these challenges,” Maphumulo concluded. - Business Report

Bank backs initiative to provide homes for shack dwellers

Banking group Standard Bank and the Mellon Housing Initiative have handed over the final ten houses to the beneficiaries in a 40-house building project to provide homes for former shack dwellers.

Standard Bank donated up to R3,1-million for the building of 20 houses in Tembisa, Gauteng, and 20 in Witsand, in the Western Cape, to families that lived in shacks and had no access to running water or electricity.

The Mellon Housing Initiative is a Section 21 company focused on helping government build sustainable human settlements.

Each 40 m2 house consists of two bedrooms and one bathroom, is plastered and painted inside and out, and is connected to running water. Provision is made for the houses to be linked to the electricity grid when municipal supplies become available.

“This is an awesome initiative that the Mellon Housing Initiative has put together and we encourage other private companies to join in because this will speed up the process of housing delivery in South Africa,” Standard Bank Gauteng provincial director Hannah Sadiki stated last month at the handover ceremony.

She cautioned that the 2,1-million-unit backlog was significant and government could not be expected to meet this demand alone.

The Department of Human Settlements stated that the current housing backlog would be addressed over an eight-year period at a cost of over R170-billion. This would be realised at an annual public housing construction rate of over 250 000 houses a year.

“It is about time that the private sector and, most importantly, people that do not have jobs, volunteer their services to ensure that we deliver the required houses on time.”
Sadiki said that, in the bank’s Gauteng region, more than 800 employees had applied to work on site, mixing cement, clearing sites, painting and plastering, and planting trees.
“The interest and enthusiasm from our employees has been humbling. “Each site can only accommodate a specific number of people, so we’ve had to ask 400 of our people to wait for next year’s build and have given priority to those who were not involved last year.”
She noted that being relevant to the communities in which the bank operated was one of Standard Bank’s fundamental values.

- Engineering News

Threats to block N1 over lack of services

RESIDENTS of the Stofland informal settlement in De Doorns have threatened to block the N1 between Worcester and Touws River if local and provincial authorities don’t provide basic services.

During a provincial government oversight visit to the area yesterday, angry residents demanded answers from members of the provincial legislature (MPLs).

Monica Snyers, who moved to the area 39 years ago, told MPLs that residents were “tired of politicians and their lies”. She said residents who had been in the area for decades remained on the housing waiting list, while “youth”, some as young as 18, were given new RDP houses.

“It’s a big mess and we’ve had enough. People are living without water and electricity. Seniors have to relieve themselves outside. Someone has to do an audit of the housing waiting list to find out exactly what is going on here.”

But the MPLs, who were set to go on a walkabout, left the area after 30 minutes on the advice of provincial government officials without addressing the community’s concerns.

Dorothy Nkosi, 65, said: “I’m never voting again. Our people are suffering, but it seems the DA government, both at the municipality and in the province, don’t care about us.”

ANC MPL Mcebisi Skwatsha said he was “disappointed” that the committee had been advised to leave the area before they could talk to the residents. “It seems like the DA-led administration is not keen to deal with the needs of the most deprived communities. People have serious concerns...”

Stofland ward councillor Mpumelelo Lubisi said: “I’m not heard in council. I take these people’s concerns to the officials and the mayor, but they don’t do anything. The housing waiting list is maintained by the provincial government. I have no say there.”

Breede River deputy mayor John Levendal said the new DA administration was aware of the problems in Stofland and was devising a plan. “There are a lot of issues here, but we have just taken over this municipality from the ANC in May. We are still holding meetings with officials and community leaders to establish exactly what is happening.”

In 2008 residents blocked the N1 for two days during a service delivery protest in the area.

The committee also visited the Thusong Centre in Worcester yesterday. The centres are hubs where people in rural areas can get information about government services and employment opportunities according to the provincial government website. Instead, the committee found a dilapidated building and a community furious about lack of services.

Zwelethemba resident Bongani Ntshingila said: “This centre is a disaster. It’s an embarrassment.”

Manager Mawethu Bikani said there was no budget and only two cleaners and a data capturer. “We are struggling.”

Ntsietso Sesiu, director of service delivery integration in the Local Government Department, said most of the province’s 26 Thusong centres were in poor wards and should be managed by the municipalities.

She said there was a plan for the centres to be self-sufficient, but it was not working.

“There is a big problem with departments saying these centres are unfunded mandates. We are engaging with municipalities to ensure the centres are covered in their budgets. We are aware of the challenges at this centre and have made proposals to the Treasury to have it refurbished.”

Levendal said: “This is the first time I hear about these problems here. I will look at this to see how we can assist.”

- IOL

Ithembalabantu housing project halted by MEC

ALTHOUGH building started on the Ithembalabantu housing project in Makhaza on Thursday last week after weeks of protest, Human Settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela has put it on hold again.

The 163-unit housing project has been the subject of protests for weeks as backyarders in the area claim they were bumped off the beneficiary list.

A High Court instruction on Wednesday last week, made when ward councilor Danile Khatshwa was brought before the court on charges of instigating the protests, forbidding anyone to hinder the development, meant workers started digging foundation trenches on Thursday.

But now the MEC himself has halted the work.

Speaking in Makhaza on Sunday, Madikizela said he was ordering a halt to the development in order to investigate the allegations of corruption made by the backyarders.

He said he would go examine the original beneficiary list and take action against those who stood to occupy state houses illegally.

“I am still following the allegations of corruptin, we have the list of original beneficiaries since 2004. I’ll go door to door, each and every site,” he said.

The meeting, which took place in an open field in Makhaza, was attended by over 200 people.

At first backyarders heckled Madikizela, calling him a liar, but quietened down when they heard what he had to say.

The backyarders accuse previous ward councillor Thobile Ludidi of selling their plots to outsiders.

Resident Mbulelo Mkhumelwana accused Madikizela and DA MP Masizole Mnqasela of dividing the community. “You only interfere when it’s suit you,” said Mkhumelwana.

Resoident Primrose Merhani, agreed with Mkhumelwana. She said Mnqasela had been addressing meetings and telling people they would get houses.

“We’re tired of corruption in Makhaza. We want the project to stop until the investigation is finalised. I been living in a shack since 1992, and my house is leaking.”

Madikizela admitted to the crowd that political issues divided leaders and stood in the way of effective service delivery. However, political differences would be “put aside” to “face corruption”, he said.

He urged anyone with proof of corruption regarding the housing project to produce it.

— WestCape News

‘Toilet saga used in political games’

The recent open toilet saga had given politicians leeway to play “political football”, Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale said on Tuesday.

“It started being a game of which party was responsible and which party was not... that was rather unfortunate,” he told reporters in Pretoria, at the announcement of a sanitation task team to advise the government on open toilets.

“The idea is to sit down and do something about it,” he said.

The open toilets saga embarrassed the ANC on the eve of the municipal elections in May.

The ANC had criticised the Democratic Alliance for failing to enclose toilets in Khayelitsha on the Cape Flats. A court ruling compelled the city of Cape Town to enclose the 1316 toilets.

However, the ruling party itself was later found to be responsible for open toilets in Rammulotsi, near Viljoenskroon in the Free State, and in Tshiame near Harrismith.

Sexwale acknowledged that sanitation was a problem throughout the country.

He wanted to “shut this matter up” once and for all, he said.

“We care about the poor we cannot turn our backs on them.”

The sanitation team, headed by ANC stalwart Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, had three months to complete its work.

It consisted of 11 members, who met on Tuesday, and included a medical doctor, representatives of the SA Local Government Association, the water affairs department, the SA Municipal Workers' Union and people living in informal settlements.

The team was tasked with identifying irregularities and malpractice, the scale of the problem, its nature and geographic extent.

It would deal with problems in every province and all municipalities and would report back in January with recommendations on policy, legislation and budgeting.

Human settlement department director general Thabane Zulu said the sanitation task team had been budgeted for, but he could not give figures.

Sexwale praised Madikizela-Mandela as the “president of informal settlements”.

“She is a mother who must cover the wounds,” he said on Tuesday when Madikizela-Mandela was asked about what she brought to the team.

She, in turn, expressed delight at being at the forefront of efforts to accelerate service delivery.

She hoped Sexwale's department would leave a legacy for generations to come.

Speaking on the mushrooming of informal settlements, Sexwale said it was a “game that doesn't end”.

There were 2500 informal settlements in the country, down from 2700 when Sexwale took office.

The province most affected was Gauteng, he said. - Sapa

Toilets must wait while Winnie's foot is up in the air

ANC stalwart Winnie Madikizela-Mandela is recovering at a Johannesburg hospital after undergoing minor foot surgery at the weekend.

Madikizela-Mandela was admitted to hospital on Saturday as a result of a pain in her ankle, said ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu yesterday.

“She was checked by doctors and subsequently underwent a minor foot operation, which was successful,” he said, adding that she was recuperating well, but was still under medical observation.

Madikizela-Mandela turns 75 years old in two weeks.

Last week Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale announced that Madikizela-Mandela, as a member of Parliament, would head up a task team that would advise his ministry on the controversial issue of open toilets dotted around the country.

The task team will report back in January 2012 with recommendations relating to policy gaps, legislative short comings and budgetary issues.

- thenewage

Project stop-starts go on

Human settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela has put the Ithembalabantu housing project on hold again, after it eventually started last Thursday.

The 163-unit housing project has been the subject of protests for weeks as backyard tenants in the area claim they were bumped off the beneficiary list.

The Cape Town High Court last Wednesday ordered that construction resumes and forbade protesters from hindering work on the housing project site. But after work started the following day, Madikizela ordered that it be stopped.

Speaking in Makhaza at the weekend, Madikizela said he ordered work to stop so that an investigation could be conducted into the allegations of corruption the backyard tenants had made.

He said he would examine the original beneficiary list and take action against those who stood to occupy state houses illegally. “I am still following up the allegations of corruption.

“We have the list of original beneficiaries since 2004. I’ll go door to door to verify the authenticity of the names (on the list).”

Madikizela was in Makhaza to address a community meeting on the Ithembalabantu housing issue. The meeting took place in an open field and was attended by about 200 people.

At first the backyard tenants in the crowd heckled Madikizela, calling him a liar. They later gave him a chance to address them.

The backyarders accused previous ward councillor Thobile Ludidi of selling their plots to “outsiders”.

Resident Mbulelo Mkhumelwana accused Madikizela and DA MP Masizole Mnqasela of dividing the community. “You only interfere when it’s suits you,” he said.

Another resident, Primrose Merhani, accused Mnqasela of abetting corruption in housing. She said Mnqasela had been addressing meetings and telling people they would get houses.

“We’re tired of corruption in Makhaza. We want the project to stop until the investigation is finalised,” Merhani said. “I have been living in a shack since 1992 and (it) is leaking.”

Madikizela admitted to the crowd that political issues divided leaders and stood in the way of effective service delivery. “However, political differences would be put aside so that corruption could tackled head on,” he said.

He urged anyone with proof of corruption regarding the housing project to produce it.

– WCN - TNA

Bhisho meeting with Protector yields corruption claims

Claims of corruption in the Eastern Cape Human Settlements Department, two municipalities and a public hospital will be probed by Public Protector Advocate Thuli Madonsela, her office said on Friday.

"We cannot prejudge the cases. We will investigate each matter, working closely with the complainants," she said in a statement.

The complaints were made at a community outreach meeting in Bhisho on Friday.

According to the Protector's statement, MPL John Korkie claimed that no action had been taken about the alleged theft of R28-million from the municipality.

He also alleged that no action had been taken against the person who "stole" R1.4-million, since recovered, from the Kou-Kamma Municipality.

Life insurance on the terminally ill
Korkie further accused nurses at the Santa Hospital in Port Alfred of buying life insurance for terminally ill patients only so they could claim benefits when they died.

He asked: "How can we be sure that there will be good health care when the nurses stand to benefit from the patients' deaths?"

Madonsela's office said a community member had alleged that a company which had failed to deliver on a social housing project was still securing similar projects elsewhere in the province.

Korkie claimed that the company was awarded a R13-million tender to build 550 RDP houses, but delivered only 120, some of them falling apart, and was paid R9-million before its contract was terminated.

Madonsela had inspected the defective houses in Sweetwaters, her office said.

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Other matters raised at the meeting included the fairness of the land restitution process, pupil transport, the school nutrition programme and the lack of a secondary school in the area.

Concerns were also raised about crime, poor road conditions, basic municipal services and delays in pension benefits payouts for former South African National Defence Force members.

"The consultative process was aimed at soliciting feedback on the work of the Public Protector and fostering a common understanding of the institution's mandate and role," Madonsela's office said in the statement.

It was also aimed at implementing the Protector's remedial action to ensure administrative justice by organs of state when it came to service failure, and to ensure accountability in the exercise of state power and control over public resources. -- Sapa