One in four toilets in Khayelitsha informal settlement not working: SJC

This was one of the preliminary findings of a week-long social audit on

the janitorial service for communal flush toilets, the SJC said in a statement.

A social audit is a tool that enables community participation in monitoring government service delivery and spending.

On Saturday the SJC and Ndifuna Ukwazi hosted a public hearing to report back to communities on the social audit.

"At the public hearing... participants presented their evidence and

community members gave testimonies of their experiences of this service," the SJC said.

The social audit also found that almost half of the toilets inspected were "either dirty or very dirty".

Not all areas had enough janitors to service the toilets, and janitors did not have the required cleaning equipment or receive the required training.

The preliminary report also indicated that janitors were not being inoculated against disease and did not have the required protective personal equipment, the SJC said.

The SJC made headlines in September when 18 of its members were arrested along with Treatment Action Campaign founder Zachie Achmat after they chained themselves to railings of the Cape Town civic centre to demonstrate their frustration over sanitation provision in Khayelitsha.

- Timeslive

13 officials to face Nkandla music

Thirteen officials, some of whom sat on the committee that decided who to award the Nkandla refurbishment contracts to, have been charged in an internal disciplinary hearing for maladministration related to the R246 million upgrades to President Jacob Zuma’s rural homestead.

The Special Investigating Unit, which conducted its own investigations into the Nkandla upgrades scandal, recommended to Public Works the names of officials to be charged in connection with the saga.

They are facing charges related to procurement irregularities and transgressing provisions of the Public Finance Management Act and failure to follow supply chain prescripts.

More officials are expected to face the music in the coming weeks in connection with Nkandla, according to Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi.

- Citypress

Lack of communication is an injustice in land restitution

By signing the Restitution of Land Rights Amendment Bill, President Jacob Zuma recently initiated round two of SA’s programme of land restitution.

By signing the Restitution of Land Rights Amendment Bill, President Jacob Zuma recently initiated round two of South Africa’s programme of land restitution. Yet, before entering this new phase, the Commission on the Restitution of Land Rights will have to learn from its previous mistakes and build on its successes.

For my new book, We Want What’s Ours, I interviewed 150 land claimants whose families were forcibly removed from urban areas. Through these interviews, we can begin to understand the commission’s successes and failures from the most important vantage point – that of dispossessed individuals and communities.

One of the principal findings in We Want What’s Ours is that good communication between commission officials and claimants is absolutely vital. Stories from former residents of the Luyolo township in Simon’s Town illustrate this point.

The Luyolo claimants were one of the few communities to have had a choice between receiving land or financial compensation. Whereas those who selected financial compensation have been paid out, those who chose land are still waiting – even 16 years after filing their claims.

There is no doubt that locating and transferring land to claimants is a complex task that takes time. But if claimants do not get regular updates on the challenges faced by the commission, they are left waiting in the dark and feeling disrespected, anxious, and frustrated. When I asked a former resident of Luyolo, who was among those waiting for land, if the commission was doing anything well, he angrily replied: “A big no! A big no! [They] are doing an injustice! Yes, it’s an injustice!”

If the commission had mechanisms to keep communities regularly informed about the inevitable challenges it faced, claimants could have taken a ride in the front seat of the process, alongside the commission, as partners in the long journey, instead of being left in the dark.

Although there are several things the commission must do to improve communication in round two, I will provide two specific suggestions.

First, the commission relied heavily on claimant committees under volunteer community leaders to communicate with claimants, but did not provide them with the resources they needed to do this effectively. A member of the claimant committee for the people of Kilnerton said: “We didn’t even get a cent for helping those people … People from the [department of] land affairs didn’t see it in that light, you see. They felt it was our job; it was our obligation to do that … We used our phones, we travel around, you move. It’s all costs. ”

Committee members often did not have the money for airtime to call commission officials for updates or to communicate with other community members. If the commission did provide financial support for these types of activities, many claimant committees would have been able to usher their former neighbours through the restitution process more effectively. Most importantly, the pervasive sense of disappointment and disrespect that came from being uninformed and unheard could have been avoided.

The second suggestion is for the commission to set up mobile offices, something akin to the mobile clinics that have become popular in healthcare. Most claimants are poor and do not have money to go to, or to call, the commission for updates or information, so communication breakdowns happened frequently.

The government should come to the people’s doorstep when the people are unable to come to the government. Mobile offices could be equipped so that project officers spend 80% or more of their time in the communities they are serving.

“Because there [were] so many claims in Paarl,” said one member of a claimant committee in that area, “we actually suggested: set up the office here for six months and you have somebody here on a full-time basis, so people can come to you [instead of people going] from Paarl to Cape Town just to fill in the form.” He is absolutely right.

Whether in South Africa, Europe or the United States, communication is a challenge for all government agencies serving poor constituencies.

Nevertheless, in round two of South Africa’s land restitution programme, the land commission must create a more effective communication strategy so that claimants know exactly what is going on and are not left uninformed, frustrated and feeling like second-class citizens.

If this does not happen, the restitution process could further rip the wounds it was meant to heal.

Bernadette Atuahene is a professor of law at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law and chief executive of Land Solutions International. Her book We Want What’s Ours: Learning from South Africa’s Land Restitution Process is published by Oxford University Press. For more information go to wewantwhatsours.com

- M&G

Zuma’s excuse unacceptable:

The explanation that President Jacob Zuma's response to the Nkandla report was delayed because he was overseas is unacceptable, the DA said on Friday.

“The president has now made the fact that he was abroad the reason for his delay, and he has committed to submitting the final report upon his return,” Democratic Alliance federal executive head James Selfe said in a statement.

“This is completely bizarre. It is neither an excuse, nor can it be accepted in any way.”

The reason was contained in a letter the DA received from acting National Assembly Speaker Lechesa Tsenoli, following a letter the opposition party wrote to Speaker Baleka Mbete.

It had wanted Mbete to give clarity about what steps Parliament would take to ensure Zuma submitted his response to the report.

Zuma had undertaken to hand Mbete a comprehensive report on the outcome of three separate investigations into state spending of R246 million on his private home in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal, by the end of Wednesday.

On Thursday, Zuma's spokesman Mac Maharaj said the president needed more information before responding to findings about his home.

In a report released in March, Public Protector Thuli Madonsela found Zuma had derived undue benefit and should pay for some of it out of his own pocket.

Zuma declined to respond to Madonsela's report in full within the required fortnight. Instead he said he would wait for the Special Investigating Unit's findings on the same issue.

On July 5, the African National Congress Chief Whip's office said Zuma had received the provisional SIU report and would provide Mbete with a final and comprehensive response within 30 days.

Public spending on security upgrades at Nkandla have turned into one of the major controversies of the Zuma presidency as costs escalated and it emerged that the project included a swimming pool, an amphitheatre, and a chicken run.

Selfe on Friday said it was worrying that Tsenoli, in his reply, had not said what steps would be taken to ensure Zuma's submission was submitted timeously to Mbete.

He said Zuma returned from Brazil on Thursday, where he attended a Brics summit, and was currently in the Eastern Cape for Mandela Day.

“The president was well aware of the deadline, which he set himself, and surely he was equally aware of his travelling schedule,” he said.

“If he had taken this seriously, he would have submitted it in advance of his travels to Brazil.”

Selfe claimed this was a reflection of how Zuma viewed Parliament and the office of the Public Protector, as the report should receive top priority.

- Sapa

Over 1 300 taken off Cape streets

Cape Town - More than 1 300 people have been moved off the streets to rehabilitation centres and some have been reunited with families over the past six months, says the City of Cape Town.

The city’s Social Development Department said more and more street people were using its facilities which were designed to help street people get back on their feet.

The Street Intervention Project started last November. Since then 1 128 people from the streets have received medical and “rehabilitative” help.

In January the city opened eight assessment centres which have seen a further 300 homeless people.

Sixty-five people were returned to their home towns and more than 200 have received assistance with state grants, job skills development and medical health services.

Mayoral committee member for Social Development and Early Childhood Development councillor Suzette Little said she was pleased with the project’s progress.

“I am encouraged by the progress we are making. When we consider the mammoth challenge that we are faced with, it gives me confidence that we are on the right track.”

Little said people could not be forced into the programme or to go to shelters, but her department would continue in offering assistance.

During the period under review, the city’s field workers found an estimated 180 new people had migrated to the streets – a focus area which the department is investing in heavily.

“Our efforts to help people get off the streets would be futile if we ignored others who continue to migrate to the streets.

“Unfortunately, it will take some time before the fruits of our labour become apparent.”

The department has meanwhile stepped up its efforts to meet the needs of street people during winter. Sixteen organisations have qualified for the R280 000 in aid that the city has made available as part of its street people winter readiness programme, in association with the Community Chest and Western Cape government.

In the first few weeks, 200 mattresses and blankets were distributed to the organisations.

zodidi.dano@inl.co.za

- Cape Argus

Zuma delays response on Nkandla report again

PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma has again delayed responding to Parliament about the R246m upgrade to his Nkandla home, despite his undertaking to do so to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Baleka Mbete.

Mr Zuma has echoed his undertaking in a letter to Parliament in March that he would wait for the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to complete its report on Nkandla before responding to the damning findings by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela.

Ms Madonsela found that Mr Zuma had inappropriately benefited from the upgrades and should repay some of the money.

Wednesday’s deadline is the second that Mr Zuma has missed. Ms Madonsela initially asked him to respond to her findings within 14 days but he missed that deadline, which was set for early April. He subsequently wrote to Ms Mbete saying he would wait for the SIU report to be completed. That 30-day deadline was missed on Wednesday.

Last week the head of the SIU, Vas Soni, told a parliamentary committee that he had only gained access to the Nkandla property a few days before and had answers outstanding from two people. He was unable to say how long it would now take to complete his report.

On Thursday Mr Zuma’s spokesman, Mac Maharaj, said in a statement that "President Jacob Zuma is still seized with preparing the report to the speaker on the upgrades at his Nkandla home, as undertaken to the speaker of the National Assembly".

The latest delay drew an angry response from Democratic Alliance MP James Selfe.

" More than three months later, Parliament has still not had a full explanation from the president," Mr Selfe said.

- BDLive

SAHRC doesn’t understand: de Lille

Cape Town - An SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) report into sanitation in Cape Town's informal settlements has numerous shortcomings, the city's mayor Patricia de Lille said on Thursday.

In a weekly newsletter, De Lille said the SAHRC's recommendations showed it did not understand the practical realities of service delivery.

“It is particularly astounding that the HRC can argue that the city's provision of chemical toilets constitutes unfair discrimination,” she said.

According to the recently-released report people's right to basic sanitation, equality and dignity had been violated.

Basic sanitation was defined as a toilet that was safe, reliable, easy to keep clean and kept smells to a minimum.

It recommended the city develop norms and standards for a basic sanitation plan for informal settlements within six months.

De Lille said these were recommendations, not instructions or rulings as claimed in recent media reports. She argued chemical toilets were used by municipalities across the country.

“Is the HRC arguing that their provision in every such instance constitutes unfair discrimination? Unless they do so, in these cases it will create the impression that they are deliberately targeting Cape Town.”

The Social Justice Coalition (SJC) said the report was a “major victory” for the poor and working class.

SJC project manager Axolile Notywala said the SAHRC investigation was the result of an SJC complaint and social audit.

The audit last year looked at the state of chemical toilets in Khayelitsha provided and serviced by outsourced company Mshengu Services, under contract between 2010 and 2013.

The commission began its investigation soon after. It said the city often treated “basic” and “emergency” sanitation as interchangeable terms in its programme.

It found the city had been formulaic in its sanitation provision without considering changing socio-economic contexts.

“A reasonable programme to realise the rights of basic sanitation must treat all persons affected... with 'care and concern' rather than merely an exercise of statistical compliance or a cold problem-solving endeavour,” the report stated.

The city treated the emergency ratio of one toilet per five households as a target or milestone, rather than as a ceiling not to be exceeded, the SAHRC stated.

“Of course, the city would like to provide full flush toilets on a 1:1 ratio, but this is simply not possible given very real practical constraints,” De Lille responded.

She said no other municipality voluntarily imposed a higher standard for access to sanitation, with 94 percent of households served at this ratio.

The commission opined that the city's widespread use of chemical toilets as viable basic sanitation in the long-term was unsatisfactory and did not meet mandatory national and local criteria.

De Lille said chemical toilets were only provided as a last resort and that portable flush toilets were provided to any community that requested them on a 1:1 ratio.

On equality, the SAHRC found that over 80 percent of the chemical toilets were in overwhelmingly black informal settlements.

The SAHRC found that though the city may not have overtly intended to discriminate, the violation of the right to access basic sanitation fell disproportionately on blacks.

On dignity, it was the commission's opinion that the city had equated the “informal” in informal settlements with temporary, despite many being in existence for years.

It said the city's sanitation programme for informal settlements continually referred to guidelines for emergency situations.

“To conceive of life in informal settlements as equivalent to emergencies, constant state of crises, is a fundamental affront to the dignity of the residents of those areas.”

De Lille said the commission had ignored the fact that it had improved the provision of sanitation in informal settlements from 14 000 in 2006 to over 44 500 this year.

She accused the SAHRC of playing the race card and linked it to the African National Congress's election campaign.

“Finally, while I respect the important role of Chapter nine institutions, it needs to be understood that they are there to underpin our democracy, not to undermine elected governments and their electoral mandate,” she said.

- Sapa

Sisulu eyes end to free housing

Cape Town - Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu is determined to eradicate the 2.3 million unit housing backlog before she thinks of a possible end to free government housing, although not state-subsidised housing.

She says the key to getting to grips with South Africa’s housing logjam is a database to get a full picture of who still needs free housing 20 years into democracy, and to eliminate fraud, corruption and queue-jumping of the housing waiting list.

“It never was the intention of this government to give free homes ad infinitum,” Sisulu told the Cape Argus on Wednesday.

“What makes an 18-year-old think the state owes them a house? It’s a culture of entitlement… We can’t continue with a dependency culture.”

When the government introduced free housing, it was to correct the wrongs of the past affecting the majority of South Africans through dispossession and forced removals, she said. But beyond a certain point, questions needed to be asked.

Determined to go “full steam” to clear the housing backlog, Sisulu also said it might be necessary to look, via a housing database, into the “closing-off of free houses”.

“Somebody has to have the courage to say this is not what we intended,” she said. Free housing was not in the Freedom Charter, which talked of there being houses, or in the constitution, which set out the right of access to adequate shelter.

It is a potentially controversial stance. But the minister maintained there were many options to ensure no vulnerable, poor South African was left without access to adequate shelter. This included providing state housing subsidies through the social grant system, and affordable rentals.

Currently there was simply not enough information on the country’s housing needs, while reports abounded of shoddy and incomplete work by contractors. There were also reports of beneficiaries of free government housing selling their homes, often for next to nothing and without the right paper work.

In her budget speech this week Sisulu said it was do-able to provide 1.5 million housing opportunities over the next five years.

This included about one million brick-and-mortar free government houses, with 50 mega-projects of at least 10 000 units to get under way within 100 days.

The remainder would be made up of site and service spots, where people could build their own homes, affordable rental accommodation and the financing in the gap housing market for those earning too much to qualify for free homes and too little for commercial mortgages.

Land is at the heart of state housing provision in integrated human settlements. Sisulu is determined suitable land will be identified and acquired: “We might think of expro- priating for this purpose.”

But as the Lwandle evictions in a freezing mid-winter cold spell showed, politicking is never far from housing. The complex mix of the DA-controlled Cape Town council and provincial administration, the government-owned SA National Roads Agency and the national transport and human settlements departments is currently the subject to a ministerial inquiry.

Sisulu is adamant the lessons from this heart-breaking eviction will be applied countrywide and, if necessary, the Prevention of Illegal Eviction Act will be amended to ensure every party is aware and sticks to its obligations.

“It’s not just about Lwandle,” Sisulu said.

- Political Bureau

Acquitted poo protesters now take aim at city

Cape Town - Now that they have been acquitted, the “poo protesters” have turned their sights on the city.

On the steps of the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday – just moments after his not-guilty verdict – Andile Lili said he planned to sue the local and provincial governments for neglecting sanitation in the townships.

“They prosecuted the victims here and they lost,” he shouted, to a roar of cheering and applause. “Helen Zille and Patricia de Lille have seven days to publicly apologise. If they don’t we will sue them.”

The jovial atmosphere outside was a far cry from the quiet courtroom where Lili and his co-accused – Mzwethemba Gulwa, Thembela Mbanjwa, Yandani Kulati, Xolisa Ngwelazi, Yanga Mjingwana and Pam Nyakaza – awaited judgment.

While they joked in the dock, the tension was palpable when magistrate Jasthree Steyn took his seat.

The accused were among 186 protesters arrested at the Esplanade station in Woodstock in June last year. They were headed for the city, allegedly planning to dump faeces at the provincial legislature.

Charged with contravening the Environmental Health by-law, a guilty verdict would have meant fines and even prison for the Ses’Khona Human Rights Movement leadership.

But furrowed brows began to fade as Steyn dug into the State’s evidence. What emerged was a list of contradictions between statements made by police who couldn’t agree on any of the details.

Two of the officers, who were cross-examined during the trial, revealed they had even danced with the protesters.

Steyn labelled the case a “futile exercise” on behalf of the State which had failed to provide vital documentation or concrete evidence that the group was planning to unload buckets of faeces in the city.

After the seven were acquitted of all charges, supporters who had packed into the gallery began to applaud.

“Viva,” they shouted.

Speaking to the Cape Argus on Wednesday afternoon, Lili said now that he had “beaten” the city he could do it again.

How he will fund his new case against the city remains to be seen.

He said he could no longer afford the attorneys who had successfully defended him this time.

A lack of funding had previously led to the other pending cases against him being delayed until next month.

And his legal woes may not be over.

On Wednesday, the DA announced that its spokesman on human settlements, Makashule Gana, would lay criminal charges against several Ses’Khona and ANC leaders in Cape Town on Thursday.

The charges related to the illegal selling of plots on private land in Lwandle before Sanral’s evictions in the area. Affidavits would also be presented to the police documenting Ses’Khona’s alleged illegal diversion of food and blankets from the affected residents.

Lili and others are also still set to face charges relating to two poo protests outside the provincial legislature and the airport.

“We will find the money, but maybe we won’t need to if De Lille and Zille do the right thing and apologise.”

But mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith said this was not going to happen. “They owe Cape Town residents an apology for their violent and criminal behaviour.”

He said the magistrate’s verdict was surprising. “We have a number of reservations about the way this case was handled, particularly since critical State evidence was not allowed to be submitted, including photos and other evidence. We expect that the State will appeal against the ruling.”

kieran.legg@inl.co.za

- Cape Argus

Sisulu promises 1.5-million houses in five years

THE Department of Human Settlements plans to facilitate the construction of 1.5-million homes and informal housing upgrades over the next five years, Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said on Tuesday.

But to achieve this, more financial resources would be required, the minister said at a media briefing ahead of her budget vote speech during an extended committee of the National Assembly.

A delivery budget of R29bn was allocated to the department this year, and it will rise to R32bn and R34bn over the next two years. In addition, the government will be trying to encourage greater private sector financing in housing projects. This will be necessary to address the backlog of about 2.3-million housing units and the 2,200 informal settlements mushrooming around the country.

Ms Sisulu said a decision had been taken to only construct "mega" projects involving a minimum of 10,000 units, both to achieve economies of scale and to fast-track delivery. Fifty national priority mega projects would be identified throughout the country for integrated and sustainable developments which would include economic and social amenities.

In terms of the department’s master plan, 30% of these houses would be houses for the indigent, 20% gap houses for those earning between R1,500 to R10,000 a month, 20% for rental accommodation, 10% would be social housing and 20% would be serviced sites in informal settlements.

"We believe the building of houses must be a catalyst for skills development and job creation. South Africa is about to become the biggest construction site in Africa and most probably in the developing world. We will build close to 270,000 houses annually as a sector.

"After reviewing housing delivery from 2005 to 2009 and 2009 to 2014 we have come to the conclusion that we need to change our approach. We need to move from small projects of 200 houses to mega projects of integrated housing mix to cater for different incomes and needs."

In her speech, the minister stressed the need for comprehensive, accurate housing lists, noting with concern the number of people who sold the houses they received and then put their names again on the lists. Also of concern were the number of 18 year olds who expected the state to provide them with a house.

A national database will be developed to ensure proper record keeping and to clear out fraud.

Between August and December this year 1,956 houses would be built in each province by women for women to celebrate Women’s Month in August.

Another objective for the next 100 days will be for the Estate Agency Affairs Board to prioritise the issue of title deeds for pre- and post-1994 housing stock. A dedicated unit will be established to fast-track this process so owners can realise their "dead assets".

The N2 Gateway Project in Cape Town will be taken over as a national project owned by all provinces — with the agreement of the Western Cape government — in order to overcome bottlenecks and to expedite delivery.

Ms Sisulu said this was a pilot project which would provide insights into how these projects should be undertaken. The Western Cape government will be responsible for allocating houses.

Another priority for the next five years will be to revitalise mining towns.

Ms Sisulu said the banking sector had been reluctant to enter this market for fear of these towns becoming ghost towns after the closure of the mines. The towns would have to be made economically viable.

The Housing Development Agency will become a fully fledged property development agency mandated to acquire and prepare land, and act as project managers for municipalities.

- BDLive

Flak over Nkandla despite ‘turning corner’

NOT even an account of success in turning around the Department of Public Works could save its minister, Thulas Nxesi, from a barrage of criticism from opposition parties over his department’s role in Nkandla.

The department and the security cluster of ministers were at the heart of the R246m upgrade to President Jacob Zuma’s private property, which Public Protector Thuli Madonsela found had improperly benefited the president.

Within the department itself, two key issues identified as problematic in audit reports were the leasing of properties and the management of an immovable asset register.

However, during the budget vote speech on Wednesday Mr Nxesi indicated that he believed the department had turned the corner on these issues.

"With National Treasury we have conducted an audit of the 2,162 properties leased-in from the private sector, and introduced more robust systems to manage the leasing portfolio," the minister said.

The department had overhauled supply chain management processes in the leasing environment and negotiated, with the Treasury, a special dispensation to fast-track the resigning of expired leases.

As a result of the audit the department had been able to renegotiate leases downward in 50% of cases, Mr Nxesi said.

The Treasury had also placed a cap on the escalation of leases of 5%, creating further savings. Most businesses had accepted these terms.

"The audit also highlighted leases where fraud and collusion is suspected. Findings included that the Department of Public Works has been paying rental to the tune of R5m a month for 108 properties that were vacant or unoccupied.

"The escalation rates of certain leased accommodation differed (from) market escalation rates and there were 578 leases where no lease agreements could be located, leading to potential irregular expenditure."

Payments for vacant properties had been stopped and other matters had been referred to the Special Investigating Unit for investigation.

The department was intent on prosecuting those implicated in corruption and would work to recover monies fraudulently paid out.

The opposition charge was led by Democratic Alliance MP Kenneth Mubu, who reminded the minister that the nickname for his department was the department of jokes.

Mr Mubu accused Mr Nxesi of misleading the nation over Nkandla and using excuses in seeking to categorise the upgrades there as merely security measures.

Economic Freedom Fighters MP Nokulunga Sonti also went on the attack, saying the expanded public works programme should provide permanent jobs with a basic salary of more than R4,000 a month.

- BDLive

Porta potties are racist – HRC

The City of Cape Town is racially discriminating against black Africans living in informal settlements, says the South African Human Rights Commission.

“Use of long-term contracts for provision of chemical toilets in informal settlements within the City of Cape Town significantly and adversely affected black, African people… in comparison with white, Indian and coloured persons,” notes the damning 71-page report, released on Wednesday.

It goes on to say the vast majority of the chemical toilets – 84.4 percent – are in informal settlements with populations that are “overwhelmingly black”.

The commission has recommended that the city develop norms and standards for basic sanitation in these areas within six months.

It also found:

* The city’s programme for providing basic services in four informal settlements in Khayelitsha was inadequate.

* The use of chemical toilets on a long-term basis violated the right to basic sanitation.

* The city ignored the plight of residents in informal settlements by referring to them as temporary and imposing emergency sanitation measures.

“The respondent’s institutionalisation of disparate, inadequate basic sanitation service provision to residents of informal settlements violated residents’ right to dignity.”

But the city is not accepting the findings, and has indicated it will challenge the commission’s recommendations.

Mayoral spokeswoman Zara Nicholson said: “The city only yesterday received the Human Rights Commission’s report… and we are studying its contents. Our initial impression is that we have serious reservations about many of the findings and we intend to appeal against the recommendations contained in the report.”

The commission’s probe was in response to the Social Justice Coalition’s complaint, lodged last year, about the conditions of portable chemical toilets in Khayelitsha.

The city had contracted Mshengu Services to supply and service these toilets at a cost of R165 million. However, residents complained that the toilets were not being properly cleaned. They were also concerned that there had been no consultation before the toilets were introduced.

The coalition alleged there was maladministration, since Mshengu Services had not fulfilled its contractual obligations to maintain the toilets. Its social audit and inspections had found that 138 of the 256 chemical toilets counted were overflowing, unstable or severely damaged.

The coalition also accused the city of violating residents’ rights to equality, human dignity, privacy and an environment that would not be harmful to their health.

The commission assessed the situation and on July 11 met the office of the public protector. On July 12 last year it wrote to the city asking for a response to the coalition’s allegations, and for further information.

This included details of how the distribution ratios of the chemical toilets were determined and what efforts were made to engage with residents.

The commission meanwhile conducted site visits, led by deputy chairwoman Pregs Govender, and held meetings to see whether there had been human rights violations.

In its report, the commission slammed the city’s use of long-term contracts for chemical toilets that were supposed to be an emergency measure.

Furthermore, the evidence indicated that the adverse impact of these chemical toilets fell “on a single racial group in comparison to others”, which constituted indirect discrimination on the basis of race.

While there was no evidence suggesting that the city intended its actions to unfairly discriminate against a particular racial group, the commission said: “There can be no doubt of the impact of the discriminatory treatment… on this racial group.”

The commission also found the city’s community engagement had been inadequate. Community liaison officers were not employed because they were “more expensive to maintain”.

The city has in the past said it leads the country in service provision. It also used a janitorial programme to clean toilets in informal settlements. Mayoral committee member for utility services Ernest Sonnenberg said previously the city had engaged with the coalition on its concerns about the chemical toilets in Khayelitsha, and provided a detailed response to its social audit. This included information about the tender, invoices and monitoring and tracking information.

The coalition hailed the findings as a “victory” for informal dwellers throughout the country.

The city has been asked to immediately stop using the guidelines for emergency housing as set out in the National Housing Code and to develop guidelines that take human rights principles and the social context of the affected communities into account.

These norms must ensure that services are “available, accessible, acceptable to users, and of the appropriate quality,” said the commission.

The city should also develop its own emergency housing programme.

It also recommended the national Department of Human Settlements develop standards for sanitation in informal settlements that were not defined as emergency housing.

The city has 45 days to lodge its appeal.

anel.lewis@inl.co.za

- Cape Argus

Poo protesters want an apology

Cape Town - Western Cape premier Helen Zille must apologise to those she has “targeted” in poo-throwing campaigns, Ses'Khona People's Rights Movement leader Andile Lili said on Wednesday.

“Within seven days, Helen Zille must go public and apologise to Ses'Khona as well as apologise to the informal settlements of Cape Town,” he told a crowd outside the Cape Town Magistrate's Court.

“There is nothing wrong that Ses'Khona has done other than to fight for the rights of the people. They have to clear their name.”

Lili said he would sue Zille if she did not apologise but did not specify the exact basis of the legal action.

He was speaking after he and six co-accused were acquitted on Wednesday of plotting to dump human waste at the Western Cape legislature.

Lili, Mzwithemba Victor Gulwa,Yadani Kulanti, Thembela Mbanjwa, Xoliswa Ngwekazi, Yanga Mlingwana and Phamela Nyakaza appeared before Magistrate Jasthree Steyn.

Steyn found that although the seven chose not to testify in their own defence, the State had provided insufficient evidence to prove their culpability on all charges.

He said the prosecution had been a “futile exercise”, made worse by the numerous inconsistencies in the testimonies of four police witnesses.

Lili and his co-accused punched their fists in the air when they were acquitted.

A packed public gallery of supporters shouted “Amandla”, and sang while a smiling Steyn watched them leave his courtroom.

The seven were charged with contravening a municipal bylaw dictating the proper removal of human waste. The alternative charges related to conspiring or inciting under the Riotous Assemblies Act.

The seven were arrested with 176 protesters who disembarked from two carriages at the Esplanade train station in Woodstock last June.

Several people had allegedly been carrying portable flush toilets and singing freedom songs which included a reference to Zille as a dog.

Some carried human waste in blue municipal bags contained in milk crates.

Lili identified himself to a warrant officer who asked him what they were doing at the station. Apparently Lili had said they were on their way to Cape Town to throw faeces at the provincial legislature.

Charges were later withdrawn against the 176 protesters.

Outside the court building, around 150 supporters gathered peacefully under the watchful eye of public order police vans.

They embraced Lili as he informed them of the outcome.

“The judgment is in our favour. That means we are the winners. The city of Cape Town, the provincial goverment, they are the losers,” Lili said before being drowned out by the sound of vuvuzelas.

- Sapa

Five-year window open for land claims

Cape Town - A stream of new land claims may have to take the back seat for now - the settlement of the province’s older land claims is the priority.

This was according to Vuyani Nkasayi, a spokesman for the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform in the Western Cape. More than a decade and a half after the cut-off in terms of the old land claims process, the province has more than 1 000 claims yet to be settled.

“Right now, we need to prioritise claims lodged before 1998. Those claims will be prioritised,” said Nkasayi.

How long people who had lodged land claims in terms of the new process would wait to see an outcome, however, he could not say. He said he could not give a definite answer because he did not want to create the “wrong impression or expectation”.

The old process had had several hurdles that had since been overcome, making the process smoother and faster. But the new process presented other challenges, which included housing backlogs, poverty and unemployment.

“All of those affect the settlement of land claims,” said Nkasayi.

Patrick Thembani, a project co-ordinator for the regional Land Claims Commission, said they were awaiting guidance from the national Department of Rural Development and Land Reform and the minister as to when they would start processing new land claims and the budget for the new process. Thembani explained that broadly speaking, there were 10 main phases in the life cycle of a land claim.

How to lodge an application:

* Lodging the claim

The first step to lodging a new land claim was submitting the claim at a lodgement office and taking along all the necessary documents. The details of the claim were then captured and stored on the commission’s system.

* Acknowledgment

Once the claim was lodged, the claimant was issued with a reference number and an acknowledgment of the receipt of the claim - an important document to prove that the claim was lodged before the cut-off date in 2019.

The acknowledgment previously took time to arrive by post, but it was now handed over immediately when the claim was lodged.

* Registry

The claimant’s documents were then sent to the commission’s registry - based at the department’s offices in the city centre - for the formal opening of the file. The information would be captured and stored in their database.

* Allocation

The claim was allocated a project officer, who would then begin processing the claim. Where there were several beneficiaries, a principal claimant would be appointed to deal with the commission on behalf of the entire family.

The claimant would also then choose an option of the type of restitution they wanted. The options were financial compensation or restoration of the original dispossessed property, and where restoration was not feasible, alternative state land.

* Research

The commission then investigated the validity of the claim, which included looking into whether a right in land was indeed lost and whether the person claiming could do so. The research phase of the claim was often one of the longest.

* Gazetting

Once the commission was satisfied the claim was valid, it published a notice in the Government Gazette informing all interested parties - such as family members of the claimant and the land owner - that a claim had been lodged.

* Verification

The commission then probed the claimant’s family tree to verify the beneficiaries and to ensure that no beneficiaries had been excluded from the claim.

* Negotiations

This was the longest part of the claim, which involved negotiating either over financial compensation, or for land in terms of restoration of the original dispossessed land or alternative state land.

* Settlement

The land claim would go to a quality control committee to ensure everything had been done up to standard.

It would then go for final approval to the chief land claims commissioner or the minister, depending on the size of the claim.

* Implementation

Once the land claim was approved, the final phase was implemented - the paying out of financial compensation or transferring of a title deed.

leila.samodien@inl.co.za

- Cape Times