rhetoric rhetoric ... housing corruption

... ... ...

Here to stay
Meanwhile, research done at a Cape Town informal settlement suggests people living in such settlements plan on staying there permanently. This is despite the fact that they go to areas close to big centres like Cape Town in the hope of finding employment.

The research findings were presented at the Population Association of Southern Africa conference in Mafikeng. One of the researchers, Ravayi Marindo, says: "There are lots of networks that bring people into the informal settlements. Many of them actually come looking for jobs. Part of it has to do with people who actually come because somebody has found a job for them.

"Others come because of the hope of getting a job... There is lots of construction going on and they get those kinds of jobs. The majority of people actually look at the informal settlement as a home and they are not planning to go back although they do keep ties with their family homes."

- SABC

Thousands left homeless after Cape shack fire

More than 2,000 people have been displaced by a fire that gutted some 300 shacks at the Wag 'n Biejie informal settlement at Lwandle in the Strand, near Cape Town.

Residents say the fire could have been caused by a candle that fell over in one of the shacks this morning.

Fire-fighters at the scene have managed to extinguish the flames, but smoke can still be seen rising from the destroyed homes.

There have been no reports of deaths or injuries at this stage.

Council authorities say fires are a constant danger to the area, particularly because it is situated under Eskom power lines. Ward councillor for the area, Xolani Sotashe, says a number of pylons have caught fire. - SABC

Victory for Joe Slovo residents

Courtroom number one in the Cape Town High Court is proof that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

On Wednesday, an entire Bench in court was taken up by senior government and housing officials all anxious to secure eviction orders so they can start the relocation of about 5,000 homeless Joe Slovo residents -- “relocation” is the preferred term used by the political authorities these days for “forced removals”.

Outside court 1,500 residents of Joe Slovo informal settlement in Langa sat in the road patiently waiting to hear their fate. When local leaders announced the judge’s ruling of an eight-day stay of execution the ululations and cheers could be heard for blocks.

In court, Director General for Housing Itumeleng Kotsoane, Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu’s special adviser Sathssss Moodley, Prince Xhanti Sigcawu, the general manager of the state-owned developer and project manager of the N2 Gateway housing project Thubelisha Homes, and various senior Thubelisha Homes officials were in attendance, with their two senior advocates.

Policemen allowed a small group of Joe Slovo residents inside the court and when community representatives said they had no legal representation, presiding Cape Judge President John Hlophe allowed community spokesperson Mzwanele Zulu to address the court.

Generally, only advocates can appear before a supreme court judge.

Hlophe suggested that the community contact the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) and later that afternoon top Cape Town housing lawyer Steve Kahanovitz from the LRC was consulted by the community.

On Tuesday, it took the court and employees from Nongogo and Nuku Attorneys, the firm representing the government, more than five hours to stamp each resident’s objection form and a copy of it at tables set up on the pavement outside the court.

The housing minister’s legal team and Thubelisha Homes were seeking an order under eviction legislation that will allow them to clear the ground for more housing in the N2 Gateway project.

This followed what is described as one of the biggest class action cases brought in South Africa, when more than 3,500 Joe Slovo residents walked to the Cape High Court on Tuesday and individually lodged their objections to being removed by the housing ministry.

The N2 Gateway project is government’s biggest and most ambitious housing project yet and has been mired in controversy from the outset.

Apart from a budget overrun of more than R135-million, its biggest challenge is coming from residents of Joe Slovo, who were promised houses when large sections of this informal settlement were destroyed in two big fires three years ago. It is now clear that houses will not be built to accommodate Joe Slovo residents, but those who can afford the bond houses planned by First National Bank in Joe Slovo can apply.

Phases two and three of this massive 22,000 unit development were halted a few months ago because these 5,000 residents have refused to move.

Community leaders of the Joe Slovo task team were upbeat, hailing as a “victory for the poor” Hlophe’s decision to allow them one week to consult a legal representative.

“The court’s decision filled us with hope. This was a victory for us. The government wants to force us with court orders, bulldozers and guns to move. And we’ve stopped the housing minister for now. After 14 years here, I don’t want to move unless they tell us we can come back after they’ve developed the land,” said community leader Manyenzeke Sopaqa.

Thubelisha’s Sigcawu said he “hated” the proceedings this week but had no choice but to go to court to obtain an eviction order.

“These are our brothers and sisters. We want to build houses for the poor and in order to eradicate shacks, we can’t allow people to do as they want and stay where they want. I hate this situation -- we want to relocate them, we don’t want to forcibly remove them,”

Sigcawu said. - M&G

Township house inflation still rising

The residential property market is booming in the townships, where annual house price inflation rose to 39 percent in March this year after hovering below 10 percent before 2003, according to a new report.

The analysis by Lightstone Risk Management of the market in these areas - demarcated as peri-urban residential zones for black people under apartheid - notes that the nature of township transactions has changed significantly since 1994.

A key driver of increased demand in townships is the combined effect of upgrades to township infrastructure and increased economic activity, which has made previously neglected areas more attractive to upwardly mobile buyers.

Dramatic price rises in former white areas in recent years have also forced many buyers to seek more affordable properties in the townships.

Lightstone's analysis says the total number of township property transactions peaked at more than 120,000 a year during 1998 to 1999. It declined to between 40,000 and 50,000 a year in the past three years.

However, the earlier peaks were driven by municipal sales of land to individuals, as the state sought to raise property ownership among previously disadvantaged groups.

The proportion of property sales to individuals by organisations, mainly municipalities, has declined from 66 percent in 2000 to 21 percent this year. At R35,000 the average price of these sales was R165,000 lower than the average sale price between individuals.

The report says sales between individuals have increased from 23 percent of the township market in 2000 to 64 percent this year.

Only 15 percent of property sales were financed by mortgages in 2003, compared with 45 percent this year. The loan value of township mortgages has risen from between 60 percent and 80 percent of the sale price to more than 90 percent this year.

Lightstone's first township residential property index tracks the price of 1.4 million property sales across South Africa back to 2000.

Pam Golding Property reported a capital growth in the sale of township homes of between 30 percent and 40 percent in the year to February. The average selling price was R442 000 in this period.

First National Bank property strategist John Loos, a co-author of the report, said yesterday that the township market was coming off a low base but price inflation as at March was accelerating, while the national market had been decelerating.

Loos said the impressive performance was driven by mounting affordability issues in the former white areas, as well as upgrades to township infrastructure that would transform these dormitory towns into more mixed-use economies.

What made this market's strength even more impressive was that many upwardly mobile people were still leaving the townships for the more affordable former white areas.

Between 2000 and 2007, the report says, 54 percent of sellers moved to affordable or mid-value housing areas outside the townships, which points favourably towards sustaining the long-term house price inflation for middle-class properties. By contrast, only 0.5 percent of township sellers moved into areas with an average house price above R700 000, it says.

Loos said the sustainability of township demand, despite significant numbers of people moving out of these areas, appeared to reflect solid economic growth on one hand and a relative shortage of new stock on the other. - Business Report

Joe Slovo residents to get lawyers

Three hours. This is the length of time it took to postpone an application in the Cape High Court for a week.

The applicants were the Minister of Housing Lindiwe Sisulu, housing company Thubelisha Homes and local government and housing MEC Richard Dyantyi.

The respondents were about 4,000 residents of the Joe Slovo informal settlement, who represent the families living in that area.

They came to fight an application by the government to have the residents removed from the land next to the N2 to make way for the next phase of the N2 Gateway Project.

Temporary housing has been arranged for them in Delft.

But the residents refuse to move and have united in their efforts to be heard by the Cape High Court.

The residents arrived in their thousands by train early Wednesday morning and flocked to the court.

Those elected as leaders of the group addressed Cape Judge President John Hlophe.

Mzwanele Zulu told the court the residents attended because they wanted the court to see that they wanted to be heard.

He asked the court for six months' grace, saying that they needed time to raise the money to pay for legal representation.

But Steve Kirk-Cohen, SC, who is acting for the government, said this was too long, adding that the matter was "of considerable urgency".

Judge Hlophe adjourned for an hour to give the residents time to establish the way forward. When they returned, Kirk-Cohen told the court that the Legal Resources Centre had been approached and that it would make a decision on whether to represent the residents by next week.

Kirk-Cohen also said there were many residents who were not opposed to the relocation and asked the court to request that they be allowed to do so without being intimidated.

Fiona Bester, of the firm Chennells Albertyn, said she had also been approached by one of the residents, Siphiwo Penze, to represent him and his "task team" in the application.

Judge Hlophe asked Penze about this and he confirmed that he had approached Bester to represent all the residents.

Judge Hlophe told the parties that it was clear that the residents wanted to be legally represented and that they had a right to be legally represented.

The only way forward was to postpone the case so that the residents could finalise that aspect and for Bester to obtain proper instructions.

He postponed the application to October 4.

But, before adjourning, Judge Hlophe thanked the residents for their co-operation and appealed to them to act within the law.

"We realise that this is an emotive issue," he said, adding that it would be best for the residents to find trained legal representatives.

After the proceedings, the Director-General in the Department of Housing, Itumeleng Kotoane, told the media he thought it was fair to give the residents an opportunity to obtain legal representation.

He said it was important for the residents to understand that the relocation was only temporary.

"We are doing it in the best interests of the people," he said.

He added that some of the residents did not qualify for subsidised housing and they were there to stir up the emotions of the rest of the group.

Zulu said it was not true that some of the residents were willing to move. - Cape Times

Housing - Evictions & Hotells - Restaurants & Hunger

2006/07 DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING EXPENSES - DOH FACT SHEET

Accommodation Costs (Ranked by percentage increase/decrease)
RANK	2004/05	2005/06	2006/07	TOTAL AMOUNT	%
1	Refusal to respond	R 1,503,725.14	R 3,623,994.84	R 2,120,269.70	141.00%
Travel Costs (Ranked by percentage increase/decrease)
RANK	2004/05	2005/06	2006/07	TOTAL AMOUNT	%
1	Refusal to respond	R 6,750,080.86	R 16,441,487.10	R 9,691,406.24	143.60%
Food Costs (Ranked by percentage increase/decrease)
RANK	2004/05	2005/06	2006/07	TOTAL AMOUNT	%
9	Refusal to respond	N/A	R 804,147.62	R 804,147.62	-

• Amount spent by the Department of housing on accommodation R3.6 million.

• In percentage terms, the biggest increase came from the Housing department which spent 148% or R2.1 million more on accommodation in 2006/07 than it did in 2005/06 (up from R1.5 to R3.5 million).
  
  National Departments spend R1.2 billion on hotels, travel and restaurants in 2007

A better life for all - a chance to be heard in court

Over a 1000 residents of Cape Town's Joe Slovo informal settlement have gathered outside the city's high court ahead of an eviction hearing.

The residents, who were closely monitored by police, are objecting to a plan to remove them to make way for the N2 Gateway housing development.

Cape Judge President Judge Hlophe is expected to rule later on Wednesday morning on an application by Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu and state owned developer Thubelisha Homes for the eviction order.

On Tuesday residents descended en masse on the city centre to lodge individual objection notices to the application.

Some where still handing in their forms in Wednesday morning .

As they waited for the hearing to get underway, they sat peacefully in the street .

Many of them held posters including ones that read "Stop oppressing poor people." "That is not a better (life) for all and "No to capitalist forced removal." - Sapa

Court action to be launched for TB patients

The Western Cape's Department of Health is just days away from making a submission to the Cape Town High Court that could see TB patients who have absconded being legally forced to return to the Brooklyn Chest Hospital and continue treatment for the disease.

If the department is successful, it will have the right to dispatch police to bring patients back to hospital and will be able to enforce medical treatment.

Patients in state facilities are currently not obliged to receive treatment for life-threatening and contagious illnesses.

Health Department spokesperson Faiza Steyn confirmed on Tuesday that court papers and the department's submission would be ready "by this Friday".

The department's proposed legal action followed media reports that several Extremely Drug Resistant (XDR) TB patients had absconded from the Brooklyn Chest while they were still infected and receiving treatment.

One man had returned home to his wife and six young children and was photographed coughing into one hand while holding his two-year-old daughter in the other... Read More - Cape Times

5,000 at court to fight N2 evictions

It was a day Cape High Court officials will probably never forget.

Two tables were hauled into the foyer of the court building and officials lined up behind them to stamp about 10,000 documents - two copies of a notice from each of the 5,000 families living at the Joe Slovo informal settlement to say they intend to oppose a government application for their eviction.

The notice was a single page, comprising no more than 150 words, and had to be stamped twice: by the court and attorneys.

It took the gathering of about 5,000 people more than five hours to have each of their two copies stamped by the court and by employees of Nongogo and Nuku Attorneys - the firm representing the government and housing company Thubelisha Homes.

We want to prove that we are not the hooligans they say we are

They came by train to the city centre shortly before 11am and moved to the Paul Sauer building to the firm of attorneys representing the government and Thubelisha Homes.

There they wanted to serve a copy of the notice on the attorneys.

But they were told to wait outside the court, where representatives of the firm would receive the notices.

The large crowd then peacefully made its way across Adderley Street, into St George's Mall to the Cape High Court, stopping traffic and attracting the puzzled gazes of curious onlookers.

Some stopped in the middle of their shopping or lunches to ask what the march was about.

The armed police officers who had followed the march from the Foreshore to the court building blocked off roads to make way for marchers and sped off to the high court to wait for the people to arrive.

The crowd stopped in Keerom Street outside the court and sat in the road waiting for those in charge to explain the process.

Five residents at a time were allowed to get up and proceed to five women representing the attorneys.

The attorneys' stamp was necessary proof that the residents had served the document on them.

Five women - two standing and three sitting on the steps of the court building - stamped each page before signing it and giving the date and time it was received.

After a while, employees of the nearby coffee shop, Castello's, said the women could use their tables and chairs.

In other cases, the documents are taken to room one in the building to be stamped.

But on Monday, officials working in that office and in other parts of the building set up tables in the foyer for the stamping of the documents.

The first batch were brought into the building and court official Andrew Fraser began stamping.

Moments later the others joined him.

The legal co-ordinator of the Anti-Eviction Campaign, Ashraf Cassiem, said the residents would have liked to have obtained legal representation, but there was no time to apply for legal aid.

The residents had to represent themselves and had to file individual notices of intention to oppose the application, he said.

But he emphasised that the crowd was not there to cause chaos.

"We want to prove that we are not the hooligans they say we are," he said.

Mzonke Poni. of the Anti-Eviction Campaign, said he was aware of the difficulties in filing and serving the documents the way the residents had done.

But he added that they were all lay people.

"We'll do it the lay way," he said.

Last week, Cape Judge President John Hlophe granted a temporary order for people to be moved.

The order was sought by Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, housing company Thubelisha, which is overseeing the N2 Gateway project, and MEC for Local Government and Housing Richard Dyantyi.

The government wants to clear land in Joe Slovo for formal housing.

Temporary housing has been arranged in Delft for the families who are to be moved.

But the people to be moved say Delft is too far away.

A schedule has been prepared for 100 families a week to be moved to Delft, beginning on Tuesday.

This will not take place, however, if the residents succeed in persuading the court that the order should not be made final. - Cape Times

Slovo residents fight for their houses

Hundreds of residents of Cape Town's Joe Slovo informal settlement on Tuesday filed formal objections to their looming forced removal.

They gathered in the street outside the Cape High Court under the watchful eye of police, as lawyers seated at tables on the pavement stamped and dated the individual forms before handing them over to court officials.

Cape judge president John Hlophe last week said he would hear argument on Wednesday on why he should not make a final eviction order against the squatters.

This followed an application by Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu and state-owned developer Thubelisha to have Joe Slovo cleared to make way for development of the N2 Gateway housing project.

A number of residents are resisting the move to housing at Delft on the Cape Flats.

Two weeks ago they clashed with police along the N2 highway, which runs past the settlement. - Sapa

Police fire on Potsdam service delivery protest - Mshiniwam Mshiniwam

FURIOUS RESPONSE: Residents of Potsdam, in Mdantsane, vent their anger in fire against the slow pace of service delivery, while police attempt to contain the protest. Pictures: MICHAEL PINYANA

POLICE yesterday used rubber bullets and teargas to disperse hundreds of disgruntled residents of Potsdam village who blockaded their main road protesting a lack of service delivery.

Trouble erupted at the village near Mdantsane’s NU18 after police declared the gathering illegal and ordered the residents to disperse.

Instead, residents who had littered the road with burning tyres, rubbish bins, rocks and branches, began stoning the contingent of about 20 police officers.

Police then shot rubber bullets and teargas in the direction of the unruly crowd, who were also singing Mshiniwam Mshiniwam (a warcry made popular by ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma).

Mlungisi Matomela, a member of a task team formed by residents, said police arrested about 20 residents.

Police Captain Leon Fortune confirmed “a group of people” had been arrested for public violence.

Schoolchildren at the scene said they had not been to school because the roads were blocked.

Residents told the Dispatch they were fed up with the lack of housing, sanitation and infrastructure, including roads and electricity.

They said they took action yesterday after their letters to both Eastern Cape Premier Nosimo Balindlela and Buffalo City mayor Zintle Peter appealing for their urgent intervention failed to yield results.

Last week, the residents threatened to turn Potsdam village into another Khutsong if they did not get a response from Balindlela by the end of this week.

“When they want votes they run to us with promises but they fail to fulfil them,” said Matomela.

“We have no life here, and that means our children will not get anywhere in life. We have a right to service delivery.”

Another disgruntled resident said: “People have burnt to death inside shacks and we are forced to carry their bodies away as there are no roads for cars.”

Provincial government spokesperson Phaphama Mfenyana was unable to confirm whether the residents’ letter had been received by Balindlela.

However, he said they would follow up on the correspondence and then refer the concerns to the relevant government departments.

“We urge the community to give the Premier a chance to respond, which she will do within 14 days,” Mfenyana said

Vuyo Zambodla, the director in the Office of the Mayor, said he was not aware of the letter and would therefore not comment.

Residents also called for the immediate removal of their ward councillor, Lindelwa Maxengwana. - Daily Dispatch

'Give us homes ... or face our wrath'

Heritage Day in Pretoria was marred by a series of violent protests sparked by poor service delivery.

Police fired rubber bullets on Soshanguve demonstrators less than 24 hours after the township's residents gave council officials two weeks to provide them with houses and better service delivery.

Early Monday morning, more than 600 Mamelodi residents stormed a section of land near Nellmapius that had been earmarked for RDP housing.

The protesters threatened to destroy the 2,000 houses built on the land if they did not get them.

'We are tired of being patient'

The council is in the process of building 3,600 RDP houses along Hans Strijdom Drive between Nellmapius and Mamelodi.

Mamelodi's Phase 1 extension residents said they would demonstrate until the council conceded to their demands.

Group leader Sisco Seabi said they were tired of the council's excuses. "We want our houses now. Council has been promising houses to us for years but we are still waiting," he said.

Seabi said they had heard that there was a waiting list but they had yet to see it.

"We keep on hearing about this waiting list and are told that we must be patient."

"We are tired of being patient, especially when people from other areas get these new houses," he said.

Seabi said they would continue to occupy the land even if they had to fight.

"What is happening is not fair. It is not right," he said.

Phase 1 resident Francina Tshabalala said she desperately wanted a house.

"I need a proper house for my children. We are living in poverty and my children are always sick."

"We cannot live like this. I am going to fight for a house."

"I will die if it means my children will have a house," she said.

Abraham Mmopane said he had been waiting for a house since 1994.

"I am tired of waiting. I want my home now. It is what we were promised," he said.

Mmopane said he was tired of living in a shack.

"My shack leaks and it is cold at night. I have no place to cook food for my children and they have no bedroom to sleep in," he said.

Yelling at one of the new homeowners Agnes Shiloda, Mmopane said she did not deserve the house because she was not from the area.

"It is not fair. Council is selling the houses to outside people," he said. Shiloda received her house for free and only had to pay R50 for her water and electricity connection.

However, she thought so little of her new house that she said the "land invaders" could have it.

"They (the houses) are too small. They are not nice."

"I do not know how people are meant to live in them," she said.

Tshwane Metro Police spokesperson William Baloyi confirmed the demonstrations saying that, in Soshanguve, police had opened fire on more than 200 protesters who had blockaded roads.

"When the people refused to disperse, we had no choice but to use force to clear them from the roads," he said, adding that one suspect had been arrested for public violence.

Baloyi said that after a tense stand-off in Nellmapius, police persuaded demonstrators to leave.

He said police were going to be monitoring the situation and would maintain a high police presence in both areas.

"We are not going to let people disrupt services and take over homes. Anyone trying to make trouble will be arrested," he said, adding that they were expecting further demonstrations this week.

Sonto Thipe, health and social development MMC, appealed to people to be patient and said everyone would get a house, "eventually".

"We have a list which we are working through and everyone will eventually get a house."

- Pretoria News

Two brothers killed in Cape Town fire

Two brothers have been killed after their shack caught alight at an informal settlement in Overcome Heights at Muizenberg in the Cape Peninsula.

Police spokesperson, Bernadine Steyn, says the brothers, aged 28 and 29, were the only people inside the shack at the time of the blaze early this morning.

Steyn says the cause of the fire is not yet known. They are investigating the possibility that a stove could have fallen over. - SABC

Two children die in Eastern Cape fire

Two children were burnt beyond recognition when the hut they were sleeping in caught fire in the early hours of this morning, said Eastern Cape police.

Superintendent Msukisi Fatyela said the boys were aged six and eight. One was found dead in a bedroom. The other was in the lounge. It appeared that he had been trying to flee.

He said they were alone at the time. Their mother had gone out for the night.

Although the cause of the fire was not known, police suspected it started when a paraffin lamp fell over. "The fire seems to have started inside the house," said Fatyela.

Police were called to the scene at 2am, but by then the house, in Cwecweni locality, Engcobo, had been destroyed. - Sapa