Guns out for Madonsela as Nkandla report nears

POLITICAL pressure is building on Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, who believes there is a collective strategy to erode the credibility of her office ahead of the release this week of the report on upgrades to President Jacob Zuma’s private residence in Nkandla.

Ms Madonsela spoke to Business Day on Sunday just after Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson said she had filed a high court action to have Ms Madonsela’s findings against her set aside.

This comes after a group of religious leaders, acting in support of another of the targets of Ms Madonsela’s findings, SABC chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng, prayed last week for the "demons to be cast out of her office". And City Press newspaper reported on Sunday that African National Congress (ANC) members were being encouraged to disregard Ms Madonsela’s report on Nkandla, which will be released on Wednesday. The newspaper said the ANC believed the Nkandla report was designed to influence the outcome of May’s elections.

In November, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe questioned Ms Madonsela’s neutrality in the Nkandla investigation.

"Perhaps the media should ask why I have suddenly become incompetent," Ms Madonsela said on Sunday. "With the same minister there were no problems previously, and with others such as (former ANC Youth League leader Julius) Malema and (former national police commissioner Bheki) Cele. Perhaps the City Press is onto something."

She was referring to her report that said Mr Malema, now the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters, had benefited from the awarding of tenders in Limpopo through corrupt means in 2012.

In 2011, Ms Madonsela found Mr Cele guilty of maladministration in the awarding of a lease for the new police head office in Pretoria. A direct consequence of that report was Mr Cele’s removal from office by Mr Zuma.

Ms Joemat-Pettersson’s court challenge is to Ms Madonsela’s findings that, as minister in charge of the country’s fishing patrol vessels, which are supposed to be monitoring its waters, she was guilty of maladministration and of causing a loss of confidence in South Africa’s fishing industry and should be disciplined by Mr Zuma.

This was the second finding by Ms Madonsela against Ms Joemat-Pettersson. In 2012, she ordered Ms Joemat-Pettersson to repay the R400,000 it cost for her to fly back to South Africa from Sweden to help with Mr Zuma’s wedding.

The report, released in December on the day former president Nelson Mandela died, concerned the controversial awarding of the fishing patrol vessel tender worth about R800m annually, its sudden withdrawal and the handing over of the ships to the South African Navy, which was unable to maintain them. The vessels subsequently fell into disrepair and lost their seaworthiness certification and have had to be refurbished at a cost of R500m.

Ms Joemat-Pettersson said on Sunday that she respected the public protector’s office but had serious issues with the report.

Ms Madonsela acknowledged Ms Joemat-Pettersson’s right to ask for a review, but said it would be a waste of state legal resources "as there is no likelihood that a judge would find my decision irrational on the current facts and regulatory framework".

She said the law states that the president has to notify Parliament within 15 days of the public protector handing in a report of what his intention is. "Only once Parliament has conducted a debate on the matter can the report be taken on review (to a court)."

- BDLive

Nkandla report relief at last

Public Protector Thuli Madonsela will be a happy woman when she finally releases her report on Wednesday, 28 months after she began her probe into upgrades at President Jacob Zuma’s private home.

“With all investigations, my team and I are happy to finalise and part ways with the investigation. The same applies to this one,” Madonsela said on Saturday, in an SMS response to Independent Newspapers questions.

Several extraordinary security measures have been put in place, including a media “lock-up” room and searches on journalists attending the press conference in Pretoria, to ensure none of the report’s contents are leaked ahead of Madonsela’s official briefing.

“The media lock up is an information measure to enhance understanding of the bulky report, taking into account that Friday’s a holiday. It’s not a response to any security concerns. The lock up will be followed by my address at an open session,” Madonsela said.

While she was unable to say how much the marathon probe had cost the taxpayer, Madonsela said: “We suspect… that government spent far more in legal costs in relation to all its respondents.”

A list of stringent etiquette outlines the do’s and don’ts ahead of the briefing, which include that:

* After going through a metal detector, journalists will be searched.

* No laptops, cellphones or any other information-transmitting devices will be allowed.

* Journalists will not be free to leave the lock-up room until the lock-up time has lapsed.

* They will also be barred from transmitting or disclosing, by any means, to anyone outside the lock-up room, the contents of the report and fact sheets until the embargo is lifted.

* Photographers and videographers will not get the report and fact sheets.

* Failure to abide by the rules will lead to expulsion from the lock-up and the subsequent briefing, and a possible ban on the part of the offenders and the media houses they represent from covering future media briefings of the public protector.

Madonsela’s spokesman Oupa Segalwe said the investigation that started in December 2011 only involved two staff members who assisted the public protector “all at different phases of the investigation”.

He would not say how much the probe had cost the taxpayer.

Asked if the recommendations of the public protector’s findings were binding and if there were any sanctions that the government should undertake from it, Segalwe said: “A finding of the public protector is a ruling. Remedial action should be implemented unless, on review, a court says the public protector was unreasonable or irrational,” he said.

But he would not comment on the fact that several people against whom she had made adverse findings had made it into the list of ANC MP candidates.

They include ex-police chief Bheki Cele, former minister Dina Pule and Agriculture Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson. “That’s for the ANC and Parliament,” Segalwe said.

- Sunday Independent

Government Slams HRC Water Report - and Lawyer Slams Government

On Tuesday 11 March, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) officially launched their 2014 report on water and sanitation. But the Department of Water Affairs has called the report "outdated, baseless and misleading".

The SAHRC has investigated the status of water and sanitation services nationwide. The report reflects the data it has collected since 2009, including results of investigations by the Department of Monitoring and Evaluation, findings from nine provincial hearings between August 2012 and December 2012, and a National Conference held in March 2013.

The report "highlights systemic failures in governance and budgeting, particularly in the implementation of and spending on projects". It was dedicated to Michael Komape, the 6-year-old who died in a pit toilet at school, as well as other people affected by the lack of services and those injured during service delivery protests. The Komape family attended the launch of the report and shared the story of their son's death.

The SAHRC found that 1.4 million (11%) households have no sanitation services -- most of these in the former homelands. 3.8 million (26%) households lack adequate sanitation because existing toilet infrastructure has deteriorated. Municipalities do not have enough staff members to service their communities; 28% of municipal jobs are vacant. For example, 42% of municipalities do not have a registered engineer. 9% of municipalities are "in a state of crisis," and 38% are on the verge of deteriorating to such a state.

Municipalities do not receive a budget dedicated to sanitation; instead they receive a lump sum for municipal infrastructure which also includes roads, water, and energy. So municipalities spent most of their money on water and the rest on sanitation. Priority in water supply is given to industries, mines, and agribusiness, while farm workers and poorer farmers often lack access to water. See South Africa's water wars.

A total of R44.75 billion is required to provide water and sanitation to the unserved and for refurbishment of existing structures (according to 2011 prices). However, the 2014/2015 municipal infrastructure grant only allocates R14.68 billion, and the current budget only allocates R7.26 billion to water and sanitation.

The SAHRC stressed the urgent need to address existing backlogs. Pregs Govender, the lead commissioner on water and sanitation, officially presented the report to the Minister of Human Settlements, the Deputy Minister of Water Affairs, and the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee of Human Settlements. Govender called on Parliament and civil society to realise these rights.

The key recommendations of the report are to:

Develop a minimum standard for water and sanitation;

Return responsibility for providing sanitation to the Department of Water Affairs instead of the Department of Human Settlements;

Cross-subsidise poorer districts by well-resourced municipalities;

Monitor contractors used for water and sanitation delivery more closely;

Ensure that water and sanitation are treated as rights rather than commodities;

Ensure that communities have greater access to service delivery data; and

Improve cooperation between government departments and have more consultation with communities.

However, on Wednesday 12 March, the Department of Water Affairs rejected the report, labelling it "outdated, baseless and misleading". The media liaison officer for the Department, Themba Khumalo, said that the Department objected to the report firstly because "the hearings mentioned in the report were held in 2012, but we are in 2014 now."

The Department also criticised the report because it focused on areas with poor access to services. "The SAHRC held public hearings only in areas that experienced water challenges, but never bothered to consult with people who had benefited. The report says there are challenges in all nine provinces, but there are successes as well."

Khumalo said that the report did not reflect presentations the Acting Director-General for Water Affairs, Trevor Balzer, made to the SAHRC in 2013. He said that most of the challenges regarding sanitation should be directed towards the Department of Human Settlements, as the provision of sanitation had been part of their portfolio since 2009.

Pierre de Vos, an expert in constitutional law, said that although it is a grey area, the Department's response raises difficult questions. Like the office of the Public Protector, the SAHRC was established in terms of chapter 9 of the South African Constitution and is therefore called a chapter 9 institution.

De Vos says, "Where a government Department acts in a manner that attacks the credibility of such institutions or fails to take their advice seriously for no good reason, the department may be in breach of the Constitution. The Department is not legally obliged to implement all recommendations of the HRC and it is not prohibited from criticising a specific finding or recommendation, but the scurrilous attack comes close to undermining the HRC, which would be problematic. If a report of HRC is far-fetched or wrong a Department could approach a court to have it reviewed and set aside. But the HRC and Departments are supposed to work hand in hand to address problems."

"At best the Department's response illustrates a complete unwillingness to confront any problems demonstrated by the report," said De Vos.

- allAfrica

Council’s demolition of shacks unlawful - court

Cape Town - There were scenes of jubilation outside the Western Cape High Court on Thursday morning as residents from the Marikana informal settlement celebrated a judgment which deemed shack demolitions by the City of Cape Town in January unlawful and unconstitutional.

The city has been interdicted from demolishing further structures without a court order. The court ordered the city to build shacks to the equivalent of those demolished by the anti-land invasion unit on January 7 and 8.

The residents’ lawyer, Sheldon Magardie, hailed the judgment as a victory not only for the residents of Marikana but for shack dwellers everywhere.

Tumi Ramahlele, a Marikana resident and community leader, said the city’s anti-land invasion unit had never been welcome in Marikana, “and now the court has ruled that they must stay away. Amandla!” he shouted, over the singing of his compatriots.

The mayoral committee member for human settlements, Tandeka Gqada, had not been told about the judgment when contacted for comment on Thursday morning. She said she would consult the city’s lawyers before issuing a statement.

When the matter was heard in court about three weeks ago, Magardie, of the Legal Resources Centre, argued that the anti-land invasion unit acted “unlawfully and unconstitutionally” when it demolished shacks on a plot of private land off Lansdowne Road, in Philippi East.

The constitution states that “no one may be evicted from their home, or have their home demolished, without an order of court made after considering all the relevant circumstances”.

In court papers the city “emphatically denied” having acted unlawfully. An affidavit by anti-land invasion unit head Richard Hayward argued the structures which were demolished “were not homes”, that they were “unoccupied” and erected during a blitz land invasion on January 7.

Magardie said the unit had no legal right to define whether a structure was a “home” or not.

- Cape Argus

State views water as ‘commodity’ - SAHRC

Cape Town - Government is not protecting water as a basic human right, the SA Human Rights Commission said on Tuesday.

“...water is viewed mainly as an economic good or commodity by government departments and the private sector,” a SAHRC report on water and sanitation in the country, released in Cape Town, said.

“The result is that most of South Africa's water is used by business, especially agribusiness, mining, and other industries, at a relatively lower cost per kilolitre than poor households.”

In addition, the provision of water and sanitation was not approached on a human rights basis.

“This relates to the principles of transparency and public participation in the delivery of basic services and access to information.”

Government had also failed to budget appropriately for these basic services.

“The report highlights systemic failures in governance and budgeting, particularly in the implementation of and spending on projects,” the executive summary said.

“These failures point to the need for government to evaluate the current models of governance and funding.”

During hearings held on water and sanitation around the country, people had also claimed corruption had played a role in the lack of service delivery.

The areas worst affected by a lack of water and sanitation were poor black households.

“Those areas which lack water and sanitation mirror apartheid spatial geography,” the SAHRC said in its findings.

“Former homelands, townships, and informal settlements are the areas in which communities and schools, who are black and poor, predominantly do not enjoy these rights and many others.”

The lack of sanitation often led to other human rights being transgressed, including the rights to dignity, education, health, safety, and the environment.”

While nationally access to acceptable levels of water stood at 85 percent, in some provinces, like KwaZulu-Natal, 14 percent of people had no access to water at all.

Over 70 percent of South African households had access to acceptable levels of sanitation.

For the Eastern Cape, however, 12.5 percent of people had no access to sanitation.

The commission decided to investigate the state of water and sanitation provision in the country following two probes into the building of unenclosed toilets in Makhaza, Khayelitsha, in Cape Town and in Rammulotsi in the Free State.

Both the City of Cape Town and the Moqhaka municipality were found to have violated the rights of residents to dignity, privacy, and a clean environment. - Sapa

Nkandla could cost Zuma millions in tax bill

President Jacob Zuma is liable to pay fringe benefits tax, just like any other employed person, the National Treasury has confirmed.

This makes the president liable to pay for any personal benefit on the R206 million upgrades to his private Nkandla residence. This could leave Zuma with a hefty tax bill amounting to millions of rand.

Should a situation arise where the state decides to settle the tax arising from the taxable fringe benefits on Zuma’s behalf, this will be a payment of an employee’s debt, which gives rise to an additional taxable benefit on the president.

So, whichever way you look at it, Zuma will be liable to pay millions in tax, according to tax specialists who spoke to Independent Newspapers.

“South Africa is one of the few democracies where we are all equal when it comes to taxation, in that we are all taxed, with the exact amount determined by our income and fringe benefits, minus any allowed exemptions and deductions,” said Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan in a parliamentary reply released on Monday.

Gordhan was responding to DA finance spokesman Tim Harris, who asked whether the president is eligible to pay fringe benefits tax on personal benefits derived from state expenditure.

“All South Africans pay tax on their income and fringe benefits, be the person the president or an ordinary worker,” said Gordhan.

Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s provisional report, leaked to the Mail & Guardian last year, states that Zuma should repay the fiscus and explain himself in Parliament. A swimming pool, visitors’ centre, amphitheatre and a cattle kraal, among others, were all included in the security upgrade, Madonsela’s provisional Nkandla report found.

Madonsela will release her full report next Wednesday.

In the South African tax system, the more individuals earn, the more tax they pay. Zuma currently earns 2 622 561 a year following the latest 5.5 percent increase to his salary. For the 2014 tax year, the tax payable by an individual on first R638 600 is R185 205, which is subject to the tax table released by the Treasury last month.

Any income earned over and above R638 600 is taxable at 40 percent.

Sharon Smulders, head of tax and technical policy at the SA Institute of Tax Practitioners, said an individual can’t have fringe benefits unless he or she is formally employed. “Assuming it is taxable and it is a fringe benefit, then it would be liable for tax, like everybody else,” she said.

Smulders said schedule 7 of the Income Tax Act doesn’t exempt the president from paying tax, and any benefit enjoyed by a family member can also be regarded as a taxable benefit to him.

“The law is quite clear. These things (Nkandla benefits) are taxable unless he argues that Nkandla is a state house in the future and will qualify as government expenditure. But then he would have to move out,” said Smulders.

Sars spokesman Adrian Lackay said since 1994, under then-president Nelson Mandela, it was decided that the president, his cabinet and all elected public officials should be subject to income tax, “like any other South African”.

Until 1994, presidents and their deputies were exempt from paying income tax on remuneration.

This exemption was then repealed through an amendment to the Income Tax Act that was approved by the Mandela government “to ensure that the tax laws apply equally to all South African residents”.

- Political Bureau

Nkandla worries ANC: report

The ANC was concerned about how upgrades at President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla homestead were handled, the Sunday Independent reported.

African National Congress treasurer-general Zweli Mkhize told the newspaper: "The ANC is saying yes, we are uncomfortable with this and there must be further investigation."

The upgrades were necessary, but marred by inefficient supervision, he said.

"The need for a government to secure its president is not in question. But this project was not handled properly. The biggest problem has been the poor supervision of it all."

He expressed concerned over price adjustments, from R65 million to over R200m.

He also said there were communication problems on how the project had been explained to South Africans.

"There is a whole host of ministers, a whole host of officials who should have been out there communicating.

"If government had been upfront about it all, it would have made a big difference. And the ANC is uncomfortable with this," said Mkhize.

He said he had received satisfactory answers regarding some of the features of the upgrade, particularly the controversial R2,8 million firepool.

It had no steps, was two meters deep, with the silicone base of a swimming pool, and water was pumped from a reservoir, to the pool, and out through tubes to a sprinkler system.

He would not have known had he not asked.

- enca

SA's unspent cash blocks water flow

In many cases, the lack of basic services comes down to government's poor management of money.

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has described the lack of access to clean water and adequate sanitation in the country as a potential "national crisis".

A report by the organisation found that, as far as the provision of water is concerned, 38% of South Africa's municipalities are at a high risk of crisis and 9% are already in crisis, putting their inhabitants at risk of contracting disease.

In the Madibeng local municipality, for example, diarrhoea is recurrent, especially among children, because neither the water supplied erratically by the municipality nor the water delivered by trucks is of an adequate standard.

In January, four people died in the Madibeng townships of Damonsville and Mothutlung during clashes with the police following protests over the supply of water in January.

This week was marked by fresh protests over sanitation and water in areas such as Mbombela, Bushbuck­ridge, Tshwete and Pienaar.

Informal settlements

A department of water affairs report published in 2012 said that access to sanitation is increasing at a rate of 300 000 households a year but "the sanitation sector is faced with ongoing growth of formal and informal settlements, particularly in urban areas, due to rural-urban migration, population growth and the influx of foreign nationals".

But the increased provision of sanitation has been slow in the past two years "as there has been a lack of co-ordination between different departments and tiers of government," the SAHRC head of research, Karam Jeet Singh, said this week.

"The provision of basic services is a local government competency, happening in communities with no tax base. In many cases, local government has no resources to provide these resources.

"Sometimes local authorities get bulk grants from the government but they just don't know how to spend and they misallocate the funds, which is a polite way of saying there's corruption."

Singh said that water and sanitation must be one of the government's top five priorities because the right to them is linked to other rights.

'Safety issue'

"Improper toilets become a safety issue, especially for women.

"In schools with no proper toilets, it becomes an issue about the rights to education. If government were to prioritise it, there could be a co-ordinated response from the top.

"By no means are we saying it is a simple issue. The issue of new informal settlements is real but it can't be removed from other issues. It needs to be reprioritised so that it can be dealt with in a co-ordinated fashion," Singh said.

It is estimated that, at 2011's prices, about R45-billion was required to provide basic services and upgrade existing infrastructure, but the total grant to municipalities in the 2011-2012 financial year was R41-billion.

But the municipalities are also unable to spend their infrastructure grants.

Sabelo Mthantatho, a senior researcher of the Financial and Fiscal Commission, said that a lack of capacity and a failure to follow procurement regulations, which often led to service providers not delivering services of an acceptable standard, were largely responsible for underspending.

"Take the rural household infrastructure grant, for example, where conventional sanitation methods can't be used. That fund has experienced significant underspending since it was introduced in the 2010-2011 financial year."

Only 66.7% of that year's R100-million allocation was spent and, in the following financial year, only 72.8% of the R258-million allocation was spent. There was significant spending between February and March 2011 (R52-million), which raised the suspicion of "fiscal dumping".

"If a new grant is in the system," Mthantatho said, "you find that the beneficiaries are not aware or not sure how to use it, which is usually a lack of capacity."

The report also found the implementation of government's programmes for the very poor to be lacking.

"The issue there is that there are low levels of literacy – people don't know their rights – so you won't get the required levels of registration," Singh said. "If we got the required levels of response from the department of social development then people would know how to use it."

Protest statistics

According to data from the web-based data and intelligence service Municipal IQ, over the past 10 years, North West has accounted for 10% of all protests, with 42% of them related to water.

Kevin Allan, the managing director of Municipal IQ, said this week that painting a picture of broad failure in municipal delivery was an overstatement and that delivery has generally improved.

"In metros, delivery is broadly very good, notwithstanding significant population growth.

"The problem is with smaller municipalities and a number of delinquent municipalities. In these, capacity is poor – they can't spend their money and thus can't deliver.

"Also, we can't generalise about protests and nondelivery. While protests are often because of poor delivery, in metros, which experience many protests, delivery is good and protests rather reflect frustration in pockets of poverty, which are often on the periphery of municipalities and where people feel deprived relative to neighbouring, more established suburbs, wards or communities."

Waste not: Adequate sanitation and clean water are basic rights. 

What price economic growth without water?

The majority of Southern Africans are living in an "unrelenting struggle against sanitation and water poverty," according to a new report that accuses governments in the region of failing to prioritise their plight.

International nongovernmental organisation WaterAid said in its report, From Promise to Reality, that Southern African leaders have fallen behind on their promises to boost public spending on basic services, with the poorest and most vulnerable people hardest hit.

"There is a lot of economic growth in the region . . . but this is bypassing much of the population," said John Garratt, senior policy analyst at WaterAid, contrasting the optimism over Southern Africa's economic prospects with the region's lagging progress on clean water and sanitation targets.

An estimated 174-million people in Southern Africa – almost two-thirds of the total population – lack access to basic latrines, and more than 100-million go without clean drinking water. About 120 000 children under the age of five die every year in the region from diarrhoea caused by unsafe water and sanitation.

WaterAid says progress in increasing access to services in Southern Africa has been "stubbornly slow" since 1990. In some cases levels of access are "stalling or even falling".

A major increase in resources is needed, particularly in rural areas, it says.

Garratt said sanitation and hygiene have been particularly neglected, with some governments casting these as private issues best left for households and families to address. Where money is available, it often appears to be directed primarily to urban centres at the expense of rural areas.

In 2008, African governments signed the eThekwini declaration committing to spend at least 0.5% of their GDP on sanitation and hygiene, and to put in place separate budget lines to improve accountability and track progress.

WaterAid said no government in Southern Africa has met the spending target.

The NGO's report, which is based on case studies from Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland and Zambia, said increased revenue from natural resources should make it easier to fund basic services.

But governments do not always benefit enough from their natural resources and there is little transparency over how that money is spent, it said.

- M&G

Progress for district six: Nkwinti

Work on the third phase of the District Six housing development will start next week, Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti said on Saturday.

"We want to build... We want to start next week," he said to a cheering crowd of around a thousand people in central Cape Town.

"We want old people, please, old people [are a] priority. That would be the best news for this Christmas: that all the old people are back in District Six."

Residents were forcibly removed from the area in the 1960s, following the introduction of the Group Areas Act.

Around 1200 claimants had since opted to return to the area.

In the first phase, 24 units were built while 115 units were built in the second phase. All units had been allocated and title deeds were expected to be transferred by June.

Nkwinti organised a meeting on Saturday to report on the progress that had been made and arrangements in place for phase three, which would begin with bulk earthworks this month to prepare for construction.

A marquee was erected for the meeting on a piece of land donated by the neighbouring Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT).

Provincial land restitution chief director Michael Worsnip said power of attorney was still needed from CPUT and political principles still needed to give approval before phase three housing could be built on the land.

But Nkwinti said the land claimants had waited long enough and he had spoken to Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande to fast track development.

Zubeida Samsodien of the District Six reference group said over 300 dwellings would be built.

"The reality is that we do not believe from our engagement with the department that all the outstanding validated claimants will be back by the end of 2014," she said.

The crowd welcomed her announcements that no one would have to pay R225,000 for a house and would be exempted from rates for the first 10 years after occupation.

Some had opted for financial compensation instead of an apartment or row house.

Nkwinti handed over 59 financial vouchers to a grinning row of beneficiaries, the oldest of which was 84 years old and had to be assisted with walking.

The minister thanked the reference group for their hard work since being elected by the community last year.

"I have lost power completely. They are running in front and I am running behind them," he said.

- Timeslive

Court to rule on Siqalo

Cape Town - A tar road is all that divides two communities gripped in a war of class and race. On the one side are Mitchells Plain residents out to prevent what they view as an invasion, and on the other side are residents from Siqalo informal settlement trying to survive.

Residents of areas such as Colorado Park, London Village and Rondevlei say the informal settlement, which mushroomed in the past two years, has fuelled crime and caused property values to plummet.

Colorado Park itself has earned the nickname “The Constantia of Mitchells Plain” for its relatively high number of middle-class to upper middle-class residents.

Divided by Vanguard Drive, Siqalo is a sprawling township of about 6 000 people.

Residents from the formal areas refer to the informal settlement residents as “them”, as race tensions mount after protests by Siqalo residents blocked Vanguard Drive. One of the residents’ associations called for a wall to be built to isolate Siqalo from the neighbouring areas.

Even Mitchells Plain police cluster commander, Major-General Jeremy Vearey, weighed in on the matter and told the Cape Argus the opposing ratepayers’ association represented a “fringe, racist group”.

A high court date on May 12 is set to decide the future of Siqalo and in turn the residents of the surrounding areas.

Siqalo sprang up in 2012, although a small group occupied the privately owned land for at least seven years. It attracted many of the poorest from other informal settlements such as Khayelitsha, Philippi and Gugulethu because they didn’t have to pay rent.

What started off as a few shacks and fewer than 100 people exploded in months.

A few residents have set up small businesses to support themselves and the community.

Some of of the most notable features are the swarms of flies and puddles of brown water.

There is no drainage when it rains and this is a perfect breeding ground for disease.

Madiba Madiba, general secretary of the Siqalo Committee, said several children had been admitted to the Red Cross Children’s Hospital for diarrhoea.

“Sickness spreads quickly among the people, especially the children. There is no proper sanitation and that is one of the major issues here.”

Madiba said despite media reports that they had protested over voter registration issues, the real reason was a demand for more taps.

“Currently there are only four taps for 6 000 people. You sometimes have to wait up to three hours just to fill a bucket of water. We protested because we wanted more taps, just six more to help those deeper in the settlement.

“The city has posted police and metro police at the entrance to Siqalo, but they could have used the money for extra security to pay for more taps. It’s ridiculous.”

Madiba also denied allegations that crime in the neighbouring areas had gone up since Siqalo was established.

“I challenge them to tell us how many people from Siqalo have been arrested for housebreaking. I’m sure there may be some criminal elements, but to blame everyone is taking it too far.

“For them, it’s about the look of their neighbourhood. People have complained about people walking to and from Philippi station for work. It’s not about crime for them, it’s about class and race.

“Everyone is already on edge about relocation, but now we have to deal with this too. We don’t know if or when the city will move us. Some have already packed their things into bags.”

While the residents’ association declined to comment, some residents of Colorado agreed to speak on condition of anonymity.

“Our problem is not with all the people of Siqalo, but as long as it stands, our homes will continue to be broken into and our children robbed on the way to school,” said one woman.

“While I am sympathetic to them, they are there illegally. I cannot and will not put the interests of the people of Siqalo above my own family.”

Natalie Bent, ward councillor for ward 75, which includes Colorado Park and Rondevlei, said she had met the Siqalo Committee several times but their leadership was always changing.

“I have engaged with the committee several times over the past two years; however, its changing structures have made it difficult for effective communication. Still, we will meet them again soon to discuss the issues.”

The councillor said residents had brought her dozens of complaints about burglaries and robberies over the past few years.

“They feel unsafe, and measures like building a wall to separate Siqalo is what they believe will keep them safe. There is a similar plan, but with slightly different objectives, to bar access from Samora Machel into Colorado via the R300 highway. Not only is it dangerous to cross the highway, but it is also an attempt to curb break-ins by criminals from Samora.”

Abraham Isaacs, Mitchells Plain Community Police Forum spokesman, said other forces were at work in the conflict between Siqalo and the surrounding areas.

“If the issue truly was crime, why have they not called for a wall to be built between Colorado and New Woodlands, which is known as a gang-infested area? Race and crime are just being used to push someone else’s agenda. The matter is in court and that is where it will be dealt with.”

The Siqalo land is owned by mining company Lyton Props Twelve and Ross Demolitions, which used it to mine sand before abandoning it.

During court proceedings, the companies indicated they were willing to sell or lease the land to the city.

Ross Demolition’s attorney, Luisa de Gouveia, said it was unclear if the offer was still on the table and it was dependent on her client’s instructions.

Mayor Patricia de Lille met the area’s formal residents and assured them she would address their complaints once she had been able to consider all options.

Her spokesman, Solly Malatsi, said the city was doing its best to provide temporary services, but the violent protests had destroyed some of the infrastructure.

“The city is doing its best within the confines of the law to provide temporary services. The protest was an illegal and violent demonstration that led to disruption of public life and destruction of the toilets and standpipes provided by the city.”

Malatsi made it clear that while the residents of Siqalo would eventually be relocated, they would not be given housing immediately.

“This is privately owned land. The city provides housing opportunities to people on the city’s waiting list only. We cannot allow people to jump the queue on the waiting list, in the interest of fairness.”

- Saturday Argus

Date set for release of Nkandla report

The report relating to upgrades at President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla homestead will be released in two weeks, the Public Protector's office said on Thursday.

“Advocate Thuli Madonsela will release her final report on the investigation into allegations of improper conduct and maladministration relating to security installations and upgrades at the private residence of President Zuma,” spokeswoman Kgalalelo Masibi said.

A media briefing was scheduled for March 19 at her office in Pretoria.

More than R200 million was allegedly used for what was described as security upgrades at the Nkandla residence in KwaZulu-Natal.

In November, the Mail&Guardian reported that Madonsela had found in her preliminary report that Zuma had misled Parliament and benefited substantially from the upgrade.

An inter-ministerial task team report on the Nkandla expenditure was released in December, after it was declassified, confirming that a total of R206 420 644 was spent on the upgrade.

Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi, who initially classified the report, said at its release that allegations that Zuma had used State resources to build and upgrade the residence were unfounded.

In January, the newspaper reported that a leaked public protector letter showed that former top cop Bheki Cele failed to stop wasteful expenditure at the Nkandla home. - Sapa

Cape moves to secure Vanguard Drive

Cape Town -

The city is to install CCTV cameras and deploy more security officers along Vanguard Drive near Mitchells Plain to deter violent protests by residents from the Siqalo informal settlement in the area.

Authorities have had to close the road several times over the past month.

On Saturday and Monday, residents of Colorado Park called for their Siqalo counterparts to be relocated.

The move to secure Vanguard Drive, a key road, followed a heated stand-off between Siqalo and Colorado Park residents at a public meeting with mayor Patricia de Lille on Monday.

“The city has had to respond with all the available resources at our disposal to conduct safety operations,” said mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith.

“Since the meeting, we have increased our policing in the area to ensure a more visible presence to deal with the protest action.”

There are close to 1 800 families in Siqalo, just off Vanguard Drive.

The city said it had provided 2 000 portable flush toilets, 100 chemical toilets and water standpipes next to the road.

A CCTV camera at the R300 and Vanguard Drive intersection will be installed later this month, Smith said.

He said law enforcement officers would man a 24-hour satellite office on Vanguard Drive later this week.

“Our staff will be deployed on a 24-hour basis and are available immediately should roads be obstructed or lives be threatened.

“Due to complaints of traffic congestion during protests, we have allocated traffic pointsmen to guide motorists to alternative routes if there are any protests,” Smith said.

Siqalo resident Lundi Silolo said: “I think it should be illegal to install cameras to monitor people. We are being sidelined by the government and they are now targeting us for speaking out against the bad services in our area. We also have freedom of speech. Are our needs not important?”

Colville Ratepayers Association chairwoman Washiela Harris said Monday’s meeting with De Lille had been fruitless.

The association represents ratepayers from Colorado Park and London Village in Mitchells Plain.

“The mayor never gave us answers,” she said.

Harris said residents had asked for the relocation of Siqalo residents.

“Their protests blocked our roads leaving us with no route to go to work or school,” she said. “They caused chaos and damaged vehicles - we simply cannot allow that.

“I know that they need houses and services but the residents want these people to be relocated elsewhere.

“We were told by the city that they are not on the housing waiting list so I don’t understand what their major gripe is,” she said.

De Lille said: “The law prevented the city from providing services on privately owned land. The city provides temporary services on the nearest available city-owned land in the event of an illegal invasion on private land.”

Asked if the city had considered relocating Siqalo residents, De Lille said the matter was still before the Western Cape High Court and would be heard on May 12.

ANC leader in the city council Tony Ehrenreich said De Lille fanned racial tensions in Mitchells Plain.

jason.felix@inl.co.za

- Cape Times

Nkandla is our Versailles, Zuma our Louis XIV

NKANDLA has become the symbol of the corrupt, unaccountable and careless state. The R215m spent on security upgrades at President Jacob Zuma’s private estate continues to infuriate. Criticism of rampant state spending as symbolised by Nkandla has become routine in the election rhetoric of opposition parties. Too many questions over who knew about the gratuitous spending remain unanswered. Its extravagance continues its hold on the public imagination.

In these and many other ways, the president’s playground can be compared to that playground of playgrounds, the palace of Versailles.

The way in which information on building Nkandla was withheld from public scrutiny is nothing new. The cost of the spectacular palace of Versailles is unknown, but it would come to about $2.5bn today. Louis XIV was said to be obsessed with security. He moved the seat of government from Paris to Versailles, arguing this would benefit France’s safety.

Versailles was the ultimate vanity project. Louis surrounded himself with mythical and heroic imagery of himself. This form of extreme personal and political narcissism reached a climax in the building of the Hall of Mirrors. Versailles had to infinitely reflect the king’s grandeur. The rich symbolism and allegory of Versailles is easy to grasp: it entrenched the idea of absolutism according to which all power is concentrated in the monarch.

One illustration of the decadence at Versailles was Louis’s wish that the many fountains in the formal gardens run constantly. But there was not enough water to make this possible, so the king’s messengers ran ahead of him when he took his regular strolls through the grounds. Servants would turn the fountains on and off as the king passed them.

But it is not just the building and extravagant expense of Nkandla that can be compared to Versailles. The public reaction and public disturbances triggered by a government that fails to deliver the basics also hits home. The gap between the lifestyle of the nobility and the people of France led to the historic march on Versailles.

By the time of the rule of Louis XVI, the French state was in financial crisis. Poor harvests in 1788 meant grain supplies fell. The price of bread rose dramatically in 1789. This and its limited supply in 1789 mobilised the poor. In October 1789, food shortages led 6,000 women to march on Versailles in one of the most violent episodes of the French Revolution. It is unlikely that writings of Enlightenment philosophers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Voltaire alone mobilised the third estate. To a large extent, the revolution was triggered by bread. Bread can be the most powerful political mobiliser.

Like Versailles, Nkandla is a celebration of vapidity and consumerism. Like Versailles, the Nkandla homestead reflects an archaic, obsolete world. The materialistic values embodied by these structures are incongruous in a context of desperate poverty. The building and upgrade of Nkandla and the subsequent coverup of expenses offend not just South Africans but shows no sensitivity or solidarity with many countries that are still in economic recession. Building projects such as Nkandla show that a ruler is out of touch and has elevated his own needs and ego over those of his people.

When Zuma shrugs his shoulders when confronted with questions on Nkandla, this is tantamount to saying, "Let them eat cake." Asked if he would resign over Nkandla, Zuma argued that if he did not resign over the struggle, he would not give up over Nkandla. Equating his role in the struggle with overspending on Nkandla shows his ignorance of the moral questions attached to overspending on his private home. It also shows complete disregard for the seriousness with which the public views Nkandla.

Nkandla does not stand on its own. The cost of the recent ceremony accompanying the state of the nation address and after party was R5.7m.

The French Revolution raised its head again and again in my history syllabus in school. Apartheid and recent South African history were sorely neglected but the dramatic fate of the Bourbons was impressed on us year after year. The teachers of the time might have been unintentionally prescient in emphasising the French Revolution. By ignoring the plight and pleas of the poor, the ANC government is fuelling the fire of violent protests. At any moment, the dispossessed might decide not to suspend the revolution but to storm the Bastille.

• Swart is professor of international law at the University of Johannesburg.

- BDLive

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Mbeki’s own ‘Nkandla’

PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma’s private compound in Nkandla will be one of the stories of this year’s election. It was already the story of 2013. But it is not the first time South Africa has experienced such outrage concerning presidential homes. In 2006, then-president Thabo Mbeki was also subject to intense media and political scrutiny when it was revealed that about R22m would be spent on security for his private home.

It is worth looking at the reactions of many who, today, are highly critical of every detail surrounding Nkandla and the reasoning behind the R200m spent there on security. Their position on Mbeki often stands in stark contrast with the principles involved.

Likewise, it is worth noting the united front the African National Congress (ANC) put up in defence of its president. That, too, contrasts with the divided set of responses that have come out of the party and the ruling alliance on Nkandla and Zuma.

Here is how that story unfolded.

The story about Mbeki’s retirement home in Houghton, Johannesburg, first broke in the September 2006 edition of Noseweek magazine, which claimed that the cost of providing security at the property had escalated to R22m and that the Department of Public Works was "overseeing" the whole development.

The story was written partly tongue-in-cheek and said, among other things, that the house’s special features "are like something out of a James Bond movie. Next door to Mbeki’s first floor office is the siege room, encased by steel shutters which drop down in the event of an attack. And, it is rumoured, in case things get too hot and evacuation is the only option, there’s to be a secret underground escape tunnel!"

Later it stated: "Overseeing everything is the Department of Public Works, which indicates that the tab for the small farmhouse will be picked up by the taxpayer. With an original budget of around R8m, the cost has now soared to an estimated R22m and still rising."

It noted that Motheo, a black economic empowerment construction group, was doing the building. The group had previously done work for the Gauteng provincial government.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) was the first to respond, releasing a statement at midday on Thursday August 31 that set out a detailed parliamentary question and urged the Presidency and the department to "respond to this report, deny it if it is untrue and urgently put the correct facts into the public domain".

The statement said: "If it is indeed true that the taxpayer is footing the bill for the president’s personal residence, then the public has a right to know how and why that money is being spent."

By Thursday afternoon the media began to run with the story. At this stage a number of people had tried to contact the Department of Public Works to try to establish the facts. A spokesperson for the department initially answered calls. However, 30 minutes later all calls to that spokesperson were diverted to a secretary who said she had been instructed to take messages.

By 3pm the press was starting to phone the DA and ask for the address of the residence. Both SABC radio news and television called with the same request. But it was Matheo that provided it to the DA, upon enquiry. The party announced it intended to visit the property, to "go and see for ourselves", which, it argued, was what Helen Suzman had always exhorted parliamentarians to do.

At about 5.30pm on Thursday evening, the party issued a media alert that it intended to visit the site the next day. The media went into something of a frenzy. The News24 group had a car in the area, as did SABC television, both driving around Houghton trying unsuccessfully to find the house. The DA did give the location to News24 as an exclusive, and its reporters got to the property and took a photograph that was published the next morning in the Beeld and Die Burger.

That, however, did not stop about 40 journalists arriving for the DA’s visit to the property on Friday morning. DA chief whip Douglas Gibson led the delegation. Everyone was there — both the SABC and e.tv news channels, a full print contingent, photographers and many radio stations. Security at the property said all parties were not allowed inside. The DA obliged and questioned the construction firm outside the house. At this point a neighbour invited the media to photograph the property from her residence. They climbed the walls and balustrades to get the pictures.

That day and the next, the story ran prominently on radio and television and in all the newspapers. The Weekender ran a big story and picture; so did the Citizen and Beeld. The Independent Group ran a front-and inside-page story on the issue. (The Saturday Star even commissioned a helicopter to take an aerial photo.)

By Sunday, however, the media had started to turn. The Government Communications and Information System (GCIS), the ANC and Zanele Mbeki all had released statements attacking the DA on Friday evening (none of these stated how much public money was being used) and the Sunday media began to go after the DA.

The ANC said: "(The ANC) condemns in the strongest possible terms the irresponsible and bizarre behaviour of DA officials who took journalists to a site in Johannesburg where the home is being built."

The South African Communist Party said: "We find this action extremely distasteful, opportunistic and smacks of racist poking into the privacy of the leadership of our country and movement."

Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille said: "Quite frankly, I couldn’t care less how much the house cost, as long as the money comes from the Mbekis. The provision of security for a retired head of state is their right."

Even the deputy president at the time, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, weighed in, saying Gibson’s conduct "was indefensible and lacked all forms of common decency and (was) unbecoming of a senior parliamentarian". This political focus on Gibson seemed to result in the press conveniently forgetting their own role in the affair.

As a result, among other critical stories, the Sunday Times labelled Gibson its "mampara of the week", saying "little Dougie’s opportunism does call to mind certain phrases, including ‘half cocked’, ‘invasion of privacy’ and, oddly enough, ‘Napoleon’".

The next week, the media shifted their emphasis from the story and the money spent to gaze on the DA. The party was accused of cheap publicity, of invading privacy, of being racist, of failing to use the proper channels. Business Day wrote an editorial attacking the DA, as did The Citizen and many other papers. Op-ed and opinion pieces openly attacked the DA throughout the week.

The ANC, sensing an opportunity to hurt the official opposition, drove the whole thing home in Parliament. It called for a debate on the visit and Gibson’s censure, which it duly sanctioned, but before then, it used the first sitting of Parliament after the incident, on September 5, to round on the DA. It was a feeding frenzy, and the DA and Gibson were the chum.

An ANC caucus statement, leading into the sitting, had set the tone: "An attempt to invade the private residence and make false claims regarding the cost of the house in order to score cheap political points is an act of extreme political desperation and lunacy."

Here follow some of the comments made about the DA during that session:

• Public works minister Thoko Didiza: "I want to say, honourable members, without any equivocation that we, as members of the house, owe Mrs and Mr Mbeki an apology for the way in which one of us has acted."

• ANC MP Fezile Bhengu: "The callous action by the DA … reminds me of scavengers which, after gnawing every piece of rot on their way, turn to the living, mercilessly killing them and feast (sic) to satiate the genetic abnormality of being destructive."

• Bantu Holomisa, leader of the United Democratic Movement: "It shows a lack of ownership and pride in this country and its institutions as much as it shows a complete disregard for the right to privacy of every citizen."

• Kenneth Meshoe, leader of the African Christian Democratic Party: "This, we believe, is a disrespectful approach and it is unfortunate. It is the ACDP’s opinion that the DA should, at the very least, apologise to the president and his wife."

• Pan Africanist Congress MP Temba Godi: "On behalf of the PAC, I wish to join those who are sufficiently sane in condemning the conduct of the DA on this matter before the house. This whole tragic episode is the intention of besmirching the standing of the country’s president. We condemn this callous lack of respect for leaders of the liberation movement by remnants and defenders of the old order. We condemn! We rebuke! We censure!"

• Azapo MP Pandelani Nefolovhodwe: "Azapo believes that this is a racist attitude and there is no question of it not being a racist attitude. This attitude must be wiped off from our democracy and we must work tirelessly to reform some of the members of this Parliament."

In the following days, a slew of editorials and opinion pieces damned the DA. Pretoria News, Business Day, The Citizen, Natal Witness and the Daily Dispatch all climbed into the DA and Gibson:

• Vuyo Mvoko, a Business Day columnist, wrote: "There can be no doubt about Gibson’s intent. It was a cheap, self-serving and publicity-seeking stance."

• Zingisa Mkhuma, writing for the Saturday Star, asked, "I can’t help wondering: if the president were John Vorster, would Gibson have ever come close to the house, let alone bring the media in tow?"

• Vukani Mde, a political columnist for The Weekender, wrote: "Wednesday, September 6, marked the 40th anniversary of the killing of former apartheid prime minister Hendrik Verwoerd by Dimitri Tsafendas, a deranged parliamentary clerk. A few days before that anniversary, on Friday, September 1, South Africa was treated to the spectacle of thuggish, Verwoerdian-style politics by Douglas Gibson, a deranged parliamentarian."

• Suzman herself waded in, saying that "Gibson should have exhausted every avenue of parliamentary procedure to obtain the information he legitimately sought concerning the involvement of taxpayers’ money in the construction of the house. He also deliberately misinterpreted my advice to MPs to ‘see for themselves’."

When the debate on Gibson’s proposed censure did eventually arrive, on September 20, it followed a month of hostility towards the DA. Curiously, however, there still was no real clarity on the amount being spent or the justification for it. Nevertheless, the outrage was hyped up further still in the National Assembly. Only one or two parties were brave enough to support Gibson.

Here follows a selection of comments from that debate:

• Inkatha Freedom Party chief whip Koos van der Merwe: "There is no acceptable evidence to challenge Mr Gibson’s version. Therefore, we cannot find him guilty of the ANC’s emotional charges against him. Under these circumstances, we will not support the ANC motion."

• ANC MP Sylvia Sigcau: "Whilst the honourable Gibson denies that he spearheaded the invasion of the first family’s privacy, his tight-rope walk, just barely within letter of the law, was undeniable in other contravention of the spirit of the law."

• De Lille: "I think we have to respect her view and I agree with Helen Suzman that Douglas Gibson must apologise."

• ANC MP HP Maluleka: "The DA went on a wild, senseless, meaningless and absurd campaign to try to bring into the question the integrity of our president. You still have to tell us why you did this, Mr Gibson."

• Freedom Front Plus chief whip Connie Mulder: "I take it that you (ANC chief whip Mbulelo Goniwe) take the constitution seriously. You take it seriously. Fine, now let me quote to you. You used the following: ‘Everyone has the right to freedom of association and also the right to freedom of conscience, religion, thought, belief and opinion.’ Do you think that Mr Gibson is also entitled to that? He is entitled to that. So he exercised exactly that and now you want to misuse your majority to censure for him for exactly that. You are not doing Parliament a favour."

• Minority Front MP RB Bhoola: "It can easily be equated to Satan’s vindictive attempts and the misleading to the fire of hell. Honourable Gibson might not have the horns, but he certainly has the knack. The MF will support the motion."

Goniwe closed proceedings by saying: "What the honourable Gibson did, he knows in his heart of hearts was incorrect, was bad judgment and was on the spur of the moment. Of course, for a party actually in this country, we can tell without fear of contradiction that there is no opposition here. The opposition here — the practical opposition in this country — is the media. That’s why he needs the media. Every time they’ll do anything to get a sound bite in the media; they’ll do anything to draw the attention of TV cameras. But this time around, I think, you have overstepped the boundaries."

Gibson was duly censured but refused to apologise. There was no further interrogation of the public money spent on Mbeki’s house.

- BDLive