Angry Makhaza residents take to the streets

Residents of the Makhaza informal settlement in Khayelitsha on the Cape Flats staged service delivery protests on Wednesday morning, police said.

"There was a tense situation this morning [Wednesday]. It is all about service delivery," said Captain Frederick van Wyk.

Protesters barricaded roads with burning tyres but the situation had calmed down by 11.20am.

"The police were called to the scene. We just talked to the people. It is calm again," said Van Wyk.

No injuries were reported. - Sapa

Western Cape could be stripped of powers

Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Sicelo Shiceka has warned the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape provincial government that they will be stripped of their powers if they fail to deliver basic services to poor residents soon.

Shiceka, along with MP Marius Fransman, visited Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha yesterday where residents slammed Western Cape government officials and ward councillors for failing to address service delivery complaints.

"If the city doesn't sort this out, they will lose their powers and the province must intervene. And if they don't sort it out, national will intervene," said Fransman.

- Cape Argus

It should be noted that Marius Fransman was the ANC MEC of Housing in the Western Cape for many years; this lack of delivery to which he refers is HIS OWN lack of delivery. He is part of the ANC management for which the labour minister apologises below... & it was HIS department that has given D6 back to the people twice already...

ANC says sorry for 'greed'

Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana yesterday made an unprecedented apology to the people of the Western Cape on behalf of the regional ANC.

Mdladlana added that "the truth is that the Western Cape ANC owes the people an apology for allowing itself to be torn apart by factionalism, abuse of power, patronage and greed. Good people who have genuine contributions to make have been marginalised. Structures are weak, particularly in coloured areas, and comrades fight one another for positions and personal gain."

- Cape Times

Progress on District Six land claims

Hundreds of former District Six landowners are closer to restitution - more than 13 years after they filed their claims.

The Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform is expected to confirm before Wednesday that 300 out of 800 landowners, who asked to be moved back to the area, will be accommodated.

This follows a month-long process of completing all outstanding owner claims, including the verification of documents and updating of claimant information to ensure compliance with the required regulation.

All claims had to be lodged before the end of 1996

The Commission on Restitution of Land Rights appointed two service providers, FG & W Development Projects cc and Sekhona IT Solutions, to interview claimants at the Moravian Church in District Six at the end of last week.

Beverley Jansen, the Western Cape Land Claims Commissioner, said owners had now been called to verify their claims.

The providers had to get personal information from each of the 300 owners, their siblings or other blood relatives to confirm the claims.

"The verification process included an interview whereby principal claimants could update their details, and perhaps surviving brothers and sisters or family members needed to show how they fit into the claim," she said.

All claimants had to show all the relevant documents to prove they had valid claims.

All claims had to be lodged before the end of 1996.

"Nobody can lodge claims now, and all those who have filed claims and have proof are entitled to restitution," she said.

Jansen said owners would have to fit into the town planning of the area, which includes commercial enterprises, a school and clinics, following the finalisation of the District Six business plan due next year.

"This is now the final process. We are well on track. There is a national task team comprising all national, provincial and local officials working together. While the commission works with the various verifications, there are experts working on the other aspects like the architects and town planners," she said.

There was, however, more than enough land, and people from other areas seeking restitution might also be given land there, according to Jansen.

- Cape Argus

Hlalani residents march into Knysna in protest

A GROUP of residents from Knysna’s Hlalani informal settlement marched along the N2 into town on Friday to once more highlight their need for housing and electricity.

Marching under the banner of the SA Communist Party and accompanied by a strong police presence, the protesters sang and chanted until they reached the town centre, where they sat down to highlight their protest.

Residents have held repeated meetings with various municipal officials and have handed a petition to Mayor Eleanore Bouw-Spies.

Some have built their shacks on an old landfill site.

Earlier, Knysna development and planning director Lauren Waring said although there were 356 households in Hlalani, there was only space to accommodate 111 households in a formal housing plan. So 245 households would have to be accommodated elsewhere.

Money for housing projects is allocated by the Western Cape government and the town needs to develop areas in Khayalethu, Flenters, Rhobololo, Concordia and Hornlee with the R31-million it has received for the year.

A basic planning and cost exercise for Hlalani has shown that more than R16- million will be needed to develop the area.

- The Weekend Post

Slum Cinema & The 'couch-guy'

MEC feels the pressure of delivering homes

Western Cape Housing MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela says there is immense pressure on his department to speed up the delivery of homes.

In recent months, the province’s numerous housing initiatives have been plagued by problems and controversy.

Apart from the troubled N2 Gateway Project, the Western Cape Housing Department and city council have run into problems with various other programs.

This week the handing over of new homes in Athlone was cancelled because of complaints from some community members over the allocation process.

Last weekend angry Mandela Park residents vandalised over 40 newly-built houses in Khayelitsha.

Madikizela laid criminal charges against several people arrested in connection with the incident.

He expressed concern about the tendency of recipients of low-cost homes to sell the properties because they were desperate for money. - Eyewitness News

'I can't sleep easily peacefully at night'

Residents of a government-subsidised housing scheme in Wallacedene, Kraaifontein say they may as well be sleeping with open doors.

The keys to their homes are not unique, and in many instances residents have discovered that they can use their keys to unlock the doors of their neighbours.

Thembi Xawuka, who has been living in the "France" housing development said her house had been burgled in once and her sister, lives next to her also had been broken into.

"I've changed the lock to my front door but have discovered that other keys, used for several doors inside the house, can be used on the doors of my neighbours," said Xawuka.

She had since resorted to burglar bars inside and outside of her house to protect her property.

"Despite this I can't sleep easily peacefully at night because at the back of my mind I'm always fearful that someone might break into my house," said Xawuka. - Cape Times

Dagga should be legalised: Police and prisonwardens

Cosatu's congress could end on a high note, with police union Popcru pushing for dagga to be legalised.

The proposal was due to come up for debate today when delegates debate resolutions.

Popcru general secretary Nkosinathi Theledi told The Star that by legalising dagga, the police would be freed to focus on fighting more serious crime.

If adopted, said Theledi, the proposal would be forwarded to the SAPS top brass for consideration.

"Whether we like it or not, dagga is being used and it should rather be legalised.

"We are saying it should be regulated ... the age limit on who is allowed to use it.

"Research even tells us that there are cases where doctors prescribe dagga for patients with particular ailments.

"If it happens, then this will save police resources - instead of chasing after (dagga sellers and producers), they can look at bigger crime," said Theledi.

Theledi, who says he does not smoke dagga, said he was initially opposed to the idea, but had been persuaded otherwise by his union.

While the use of dagga may encourage some users to try harder drugs, Theledi said regulation - such as that on alcohol sales - should be enforced.

Legalisation would also "empower the people who produce it and will add to the economy", according Theledi, stressing it would be up to congress delegates to debate and finalise the issue.

Meanwhile, Cosatu deputy general secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali said that, for the first time, the issue of global warming would feature at the congress.

- The Star

and like 5 other countries around the world with less of the raw product and housing demand - you too can build sustainable carbon negative cannabrick homes from it; click the pic to find out how

Grootboom case was a disaster - Judge Willis

Judge Nigel Willis called the Constitutional Court's decision on the Irene Grootboom case "a disaster" because it was unimplementable, when he was interviewed for one of four positions on that Bench on Tuesday.

"In the end, the Grootboom case was a disaster," said Willis, when asked to comment on the court's work.

He said the court had acted with the best intentions, but had made "one or two errors of judgment"...

"I think it has missed the point sometimes," he said.

He was not saying the court had done too much or too little, but "I am talking about orders that are not practically implementable".

There were orders that he would not have put his name to, he said.

He cited the 2000 Grootboom case, which many described as a landmark case in terms of the government providing adequate housing.

Grootboom was about to be evicted from a sports ground in Wallacedene, Cape Town, with several hundred other people.

Their case went all the way to the Constitutional Court, which ruled that they could not be evicted until the government had provided a decent housing alternative for them.

"Mrs Grootboom died without a house despite the fact that many people said what a great decision it was," Willis said. Grootboom died earlier this year. She was living in a shack at the time.

He said there was "not even one house" built... - SAPA

Mandela Park backyarders threaten more chaos

A group of backyard tenants, accused of vandalising 49 out of 53 newly built homes, has promised to turn Mandela Park in Khayelitsha into a "no-go zone".

If the community follows through with the threat, it would be the second no-go area in Khayelitsha after residents in BT-Section, Site C closed off a section of Lansdowne Road passing their informal settlement and have made it impassible for more than a fortnight..

- Read more Cape Times

Violence in Mandela Park

Violence erupted in Khayelitsha's Mandela Park when about 100 angry backyarders went on the rampage after learning they would be allocated only 15 of the 57 new state-subsidised houses in Housing Project 823.

During Saturday's rampage the protesters set fire to one of the newly built, but as yet unoccupied houses, broke windows in 42 houses, carted off doors, wood, sinks and other building materials, and burned tyres in the street.

The violence follows a meeting between the Mandela Park backyarders and Housing MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela last Wednesday, during which they accused Madikizela of reneging on promises to allocate 23 of the 57 new houses, comprising the last phase of the development, to backyarders.

The 57 homes are the last of a total of 823 built there by the provincial government. Last Wednesday Madikizela announced that the number of houses set aside for backyarders had been reduced to 15 as some of the potential backyard beneficiaries could not be found.

Backyard community leaders claim that the original promise of 23 houses was made by Madikizela at a meeting in August after they had lobbied to see themselves included on the housing list.

The August meeting had been called after a protest in April when former housing MEC Whitey Jacobs was prevented from handing out keys to the first beneficiaries of the Mandela Park project.

Backyarders said the fact that the beneficiaries came from other areas such as Gugulethu and Khayelitsha's Site C, while they squatted in backyards behind houses immediately next door to the housing development, was unacceptable.

One of the leaders of the Mandela Park backyarders, Loyiso Mfuku, said: "The people are tired of promises, which is why they are reacting this way. The worst part is that the MEC lied to them when he promised 23 houses and then changed it to 15, saying 'it's a favour'."

Speaking during the weekend rampage, which saw everyone from pensioners to teenagers join in, Mandela Park backyarder Nokuthula Jacobs said "action speaks louder than words".

"Now Madikizela will definitely know we mean business. And this is not the end, it's just the beginning of things to come," said Jacobs.

Another protester, Mzwandile Mjo, said: "We want (Human Settlements Minister) Tokyo (Sexwale) to come in person to see what we are doing here, and hear why we are doing it because the MEC failed and lied to us. We will destroy these houses and no one will live in them."

Yesterday Madikizela branded the Mandela Park rampage "unacceptable".

"It's total hooliganism and we are going to take action.

"We will identify those who were leading (the protest) and vigorous action will be taken against them," he said, saying the law would take its course.

Police spokeswoman Captain Bernadine Steyn said 42 houses were damaged by a group of about 90 people. She said three youths, all aged 18, were arrested.

They face charges of malicious damage to property. - West Cape News

Sexwaleisms

"If you do not focus on the task at hand, then goodbye.

We need to find out why people are protesting.

Proper councillors should find out why people are backing those leading these protests, who present themselves as representatives of people's concerns."

Sexwale denied that the problem was that the ANC government had not delivered.

"This government has delivered a lot. In fact, the 2.5 million houses built since 1994 is only second to China. What is a challenge is the quality of houses that we build. Why do they crack only six months after we have built them? It is because we give tenders to our friends, families and girlfriends.

"This is the time for sober analysis. What are the social challenges and what are the real issues of the people?"

- Pretoria News

R241,5-million bill to close Gateway agent

The National Department of Housing has guaranteed Thubelisha Homes, a technically insolvent government housing agent, R241,5-million to help it close down "on a voluntary basis", a confidential letter leaked to the Mail & Guardian reveals.

Implications for the BNG are staggering / flailing when the company who was given the Breaking New Ground (BNG) mandate by government & flagship the N2 Gateway both fail.

Thubelisha was the implementing agent of Cape Town's disastrous N2 Gateway project. Starved of funding by the national government, which provided only R294,6-million of the R2,3-billion budget, it built only 821 units of a planned 22 000 in the pilot stage.

Mandated to implement low-cost housing countrywide Thubelisha had targeted a profit of R49,5-million and made a loss of R67,5-million.

In a letter to John Duarte, the acting executive officer of Thubelisha, written in March this year, housing director general Itumeleng Kotsoane guaranteed R241,5-million to shut the company down: "We have reviewed the closure cost estimates and confirm the commitment of the national Department of Housing to provide the funding required for closing Thubelisha on a voluntary basis, based on the estimated closure cost of R241,5-million."

Kotsoane and the Housing Department did not answer the M&G's questions this week. In an interview, Duarte -- husband of Jessie Duarte, chief operating officer in President Jacob Zuma's office -- confirmed the R241,5-million guarantee to close the company.

Duarte was brought in two years ago to manage Thubelisha's closure. Without guaranteed funding, he said, he could not have proceeded.

"Thubelisha had leased office premises and there are still three years left on some of the leases and equipment. Liquidation could be messy, as the idea was to transfer the operation's projects to the government's new housing development agency."

Parliament's watchdog committee, the standing committee on public accounts, visited the project last week to see whether structural defects highlighted by the auditor general had been dealt with.

The members found collapsed plumbing and walls and exposed electrical cables. The housing development agency would handle repairs to the Gateway flats, Duarte said. Thubelisha has only 10 staff members left.

Western Cape Premier Helen Zille said the project's progress was being delayed by Thubelisha's "collapse".

"It owes substantial amounts to building contractors but has not been able to pay them because it does not have the [paperwork] required in law for payments to be made by provincial government," said Zille.

- M&G