Police fire at Slovo residents invading N2 Gateway after fire razes homes

The City of Cape Town has laid a charge of vandalism and damage to property at the Langa police station after Joe Slovo fire victims cut the fence and broke down doors in an attempt to occupy flats at the N-2 Gateway.

A blaze early this morning gutted 100 shacks leaving more than 200 people homeless in Langa. Locals then took matters into their own hands and attempted to occupy vacant flats. A source within the City Council says the police have not made any arrests because the community did not offer any resistance when they were evicted.

Cape Town Disaster Management says over 80 flats of the project were vandalised by this victims of this morning's fire. Victims apparently forced their way into the flats by destroying the fencing and breaking doors. Wilfred Solomons, a disaster management spokesperson, says emergency preparations for accommodation and food are underway. Solomons says police investigations are continuing.

Mayor's hands tied: Helen Zille, the Cape Town mayor, says the allocation of the N-2 Gateway flats is out of her hands. Zille was responding to earlier calls from the community that the municipality allocate the flats. Earlier today, homeless people and backyard dwellers in Langa today called on Noma-India Mfeketo, the former mayor of Cape Town, to come and allocate the N-2 Gateway flats to the community. This is after a group of fire victims were evicted after they had forced their way into the flats following this morning's fire. Zille says the fate of the N-2 Gateway is now in the hands of the province. SABC

200 Homeless after another fire destroys homes in Jo Slovo settlement

50 Shacks (no doubt made from the governments last fire-starter kit, of flammable building material) have been destroyed by fire, the Radio Metro reported this morning. The fire chief said the blaze was brought under control.

200 people are with out a place to sleep, have their entire lives destroyed by fire again. SAPA

The voice of the people

The march was to emphasise President Thabo Mbeki’s call for zero tolerance on graft.

“We don’t have jobs and houses because of corrupt officials and this problem is rife in our municipality. “This is the first step. If we see no response we will continue with radical mass action until we are heard.” Herald

N2 Stateway - 5 Mill spent somewhere where's the deliverable?

The probe into the apparent mismanagement of the troubled N2 Gateway housing project was the main item for discussion at today's mayoral committee meeting.

At issue is the R5m deal appointing BEE company Cyberia as the project manager for the first phase of the huge housing development, and an additional sum of R4.6m paid to Cyberia earlier this year as part of the termination of the contract.

In a telling confidential e-mail in the documentation tabled at today's meeting, the city's project co-ordinator, engineer Peter Oscroft, noted in December 2004 that the adjudication committee (that considered the initial responses to requests for proposals) "did not consider Cyberia sufficiently experienced in the housing and infrastructure field to consider them beyond the first stage". Cape Argus

Housing takes the HIGH Road 15 February 2005...
Work has begun on one of South Africa's most ambitious housing projects to date. The multi-million rand N2 Gateway Project will benefit over 100 000 people who squat along the highway leading from Cape Town International Airport into the Mother City - and pilot a new model for tackling urban development in the country.

What was going to benefit over 100 000 people now will only house about 6 000 people for 3 times the tendered cost. And this is a national EXAMPLE of how South Africa is going to eridacte shacks...

Build your own Cannabrick Home

Cape ‘irritated by cheap political tactics’

Cape Town residents have become “bored and irritated” by the “senseless and cheap” points scoring by the ANC and its allies, says deputy mayor Andrew Arnolds.

His comments came in a statement at the start of the mayoral committee meeting on Wednesday.Arnolds warned that there was a real danger of a “tragic increase” in violence. Touching on the weekend incident in which mayor Helen Zille was attacked. Read More

Cape ANC councillor accused of housing scam

A corruption scam is brewing within the housing sector in the Western Cape. Mbongeni Ngombane, a former ANC ward 95 councillor, is being accused of taking bribes of R2 479 to get people onto a priority housing list.Dozens of beneficiaries of a housing development project in Khayelitsha, are being conned out of thousands of rands. As they wait patiently for their homes, the former city councillor is being accused of being the mastermind behind the scam. Several people have already laid complaints with the police.

A housing development company in Khayelitsha has instructed the Scorpions to investigate the matter. Ngombane, who stood as an independent, is now working for the housing department. Many complaintsThubelitsha, a housing development company overseeing the building of these homes, says it has received numerous complaints from beneficiaries, who were told to pay R2 479 get a house. SABC

Govt wonders why the lack of civility...

I wonder why, they can't realise years of failed projects and housing delivery. Or any human habitat planning - for that matter, no dams, no power stations, no new roads or public transport - just more people moving to the cities and more corruption and flying chairs.... and mayors getting stoned out of townships... (1st Pietertjie now Zille)

People in shacks will only listen to lies and pollitical promises for so long, then they get to a point when no matter what government says, they will hear nothing. When the government does not listen to the voice and concerns of the people, then people will make their voices clear, just as in Khutsong: One home was burned down and a petrol bomb was used to set the other on fire. Full Story....

I say: Build your own Cannabrick Home

Just look at the failed gateway exercise:

Gateway 'could be delayed by 5 years' Completion of the N2 Gateway housing development, scheduled for December, could be delayed by at least five years, while the City of Cape Town will have to pay an outstanding R34-million for the units already built.

Government slams lack of civility in township The government has slammed the attack on Cape Town mayor Helen Zille by protesters at the Crossroads informal settlement. "Whatever the circumstances surrounding the organisation of any lawful gathering, all of us are required to express our views in a civil manner," said state spokesperson Joel Netshitenzhe.

Special Assignment - No room for the poor

Many stinking and unsafe buildings tower above the streets of Johannesburg’s inner city. Some the original owners have just abandoned. Others have been “hijacked”, leaving landlords without an income or access to their properties.

his Tuesday Special Assignment takes us into the lives of the families who live in these dark and dilapidated blocks. Up till now the City of Joburg’s response to these so-called bad buildings was to evict the people living there. It was part of the strategy to transform Jozi into a world class city. Recently a high court judge ruled this to be unconstitutional: unless the city could come up with a plan for alternative housing, the evictions couldn’t be carried out.

Tonight on SABC 3 at 21h30 Special Assignment

Solution: Build your own Cannabrick Home

Take your city back - Chairs flung at mayor Zille

ANC supporters yesterday launched a violent attack on Cape Town mayor Helen Zille at a meeting in Crossroads, flinging chairs and shouting abuse at her as she tried to speak. Four bodyguards and a phalanx of police formed a tight cordon around the executive mayor as they rushed her to the safety of her car.

Police had to fire warning shots as an angry mob tried to stop the car from leaving, while rocks and half-bricks were hurled at the motorcade as she was driven away. The attack comes in the wake of a tense stand-off between the DA and the ANC over control of the city.

This is not the first time Zille has faced violence at the hands of ANC supporters.A month ago a group of heated ANC supporters also turned on Zille when she tried to meet residents of Khayelitsha to listen to their concerns over housing. On that occasion Zille was forced to retreat to the local police station. She was prevented from speaking to members of the community and her car was stoned when she left the area. Read More

Cape Town rat tailed maggots found feeding off poltical bullshit, population explodes in face of voters

The Western Cape government is taking seriously a request by African National Congress councillors to have Cape Town placed under provincial government administration and is forcing Democratic Alliance mayor Helen Zille to account for the continuing political strife in the council.

Local government and housing provincial minister Richard Dyantyi gave Zille until Wednesday to present her side of the wrangling over Wallace Mgoqi’s contract as city manager, after a petition by the ANC last week...

Dyantyi’s spokesperson, Vusi Tshose, said the provincial minister was “concerned”, but did not elaborate on what steps would be taken. “Service delivery may suffer because people are focused on the dispute,” he added. M&G

History [the last 5 years: 2000-2005; and the 5 before 1995-2000] shows us clearly that Service delivery WILL suffer becuase of politi'king.

Read the names and stories of those affected by lack of service delivery on this blog from housing riots and peacefull demonstrations, fraud and corruption, shack fires sewage and electricity - all those things that affect the human habitat in Cape Town; or read and sense the totals of people displaced by fire alone on InternAfrica in the last 5 years.

Imagine if you can what it's like to have ALL YOUR POSSESSIONS destroyed, ... 3 years in a row. Imagine the scale when all 92,000 people have to be re-processed by home affairs for an ID Book so they can vote away their houses, they had replaced by government with a flamable starter kit... AGAIN

If you need a house; Build it yourself while everyone else plays silly buggers with whose getting paid out (with bonus for doing a good job ;) and who's getting voted out and who's emailed who; and who's authorised which development for how much of a kickback....

Really now another 5 years, it's an endless saga of Zero Service delivery, or silent service delivery, happening only in the mouths and on the tongues of those in government municipal, provincial and national whose shady 'development' deals resulting in golf courses and developments named after a highway... notably is the increase in girth of these officials...

Clearly what feeds their success - has left over funds to feed their bellies extravagantly over a continued period... as it an ever increasing thing, while the mouth is full of food, and talk... little energy gets expended on actually delivering an action that results in a product other than obnoxious gas.

Really now don't get high on their politi'king bullshit and silent delivery, when the masses rise in may {as they do every year to protest the lack of housing delivery} Consider the right thing to do:

Build your own home!

Worst fire season ever sparks call for private intervention

With a record number of veld and shack fires this fire season, several groups are calling for the establishment of more fire protection associations (FPAs) in the Western Cape. Fire and Disaster Dynamics (FDD), an organisation of former fire chiefs, has organised an inaugural meeting to set up an FPA in the Drakenstein.

"The problem is very, very bad; over the last six months shack fires have cost many lives," Danny Joubert of FDD said. Full Story

Western Cape seeks more funds for housing

Patrick McKenzie, the chairperson of the governance committee in the Western Cape Legislature, says they will approach national government to secure more funds for housing. The housing department has indicated that they only get enough funds to build about 16 000 units in the financial year.

About R450 million was given to the department for the past financial year. McKenzie says the province is struggling to make up its housing backlog of 260 000 units.

"What we as a committee are going to do is a two pronged action, one - to have partnershps with banks and those people so that they can also come on board and help provide housing and two is to knock on the door of national government once again and asked them for a bigger allocation so that over a few years we might meet the housing needs of the people of the city. SABC

200 left homeless after heavy hail storm

An estimated 200 people have been left destitute following a heavy hail storm in the Northern Cape. According to residents at Ganspan near Jan Kempdorp, shanties and trees were razed to the ground by the hail.

Strong winds also caused damage and the storm affected sections of Taung in the North West. Today residents picked up the pieces after the storm that struck just after 6am. It swept through an informal settlement. Leonard Maribe, one of the destitute, says he saw his home being blown away. Maribe says he was unable to hide inside the house as the hail came from all directions.

More than 70 shacks were destroyed and trees were uprooted. Residents say their properties were an easy target because they don't have proper housing. The Phokowane municipality is assessing the damage and has set-up a disaster management team to assist. SABC

There's talking & there's Doing! Alicia Keys Rocks!

I am pleased to say that I have seen Alicia Keys live! What a talent and a treat. The 1st 46664 concert in Cape Town had one star, that clearly still shines brightly in my eyes. I am so chuffed I could boogey on down with this star (it was her and I at one stage the only two dancing dancing at the end of the platform:)

The global initiative to fight HIV/Aids hit Durban's predominantly coloured township of Wentworth today. Alicia Keys, a US singing superstar, reacted to the staggering toll the disease has taken in the country and especially in KwaZulu-Natal by pledging R3 million that has been used to purchase a building to be a home to Aids sufferers. SABC

Daggakraal soek huise

More than 150 families at Daggakraal in Mpumalanga who lost their houses during the heavy rains earlier this year, still have to wait longer to get proper houses. [Perhaps they should build their own dagga home.]

Instead of taking time off to attend Easter weekend church services, these families are repairing their damaged houses. They claim that not enough material has been supplied by government as promised. The department of local government and housing made a promise to continue assisting them after assessing the damage.

The community of Daggakraal was amongst other areas in the province hardest hit by the heavy rains. Most damage affected mud houses. The local authorities say it is now the responsibility of the local government and housing department to provide adequate housing for the people. SABC

Front page slippery slope

In the latest multi-million rand tender scandal, former Cape Town city manager Wallace Mgoqi may have to explain why a R5-million contract, which was extended by R3-million and eventually totalled more than R12-million, was approved in a closed tender process and a series of allocations by-passing the tender process. Read More

Axed Cape Town city manager Wallace Mgoqi approved payments totalling R4,3-million to a consultant working on the controversial Jewellery City project between the March 1 municipal elections and March 15, when a new mayor took office. Read More

& the Piss de Bwa HAR Har har Now we are surley FUCKING JOKeING!

Call for province to take over Cape Town

In the latest attack on the multiparty city of Cape Town government, both the African National Congress and the Independent Democrats on Wednesday called on local government and housing MEC Richard Dyantyi to place the city under provincial administration, while their councillors boycott portfolio committee meetings.

Political point scoring

"There are situations where there are more than two families using a toilet, and where people are forced to relieve themselves on the N2 or resort to the bucket system."They have to share their location with rats that are as big as cats. We want to start unlocking development in Site C as it is the oldest informal settlement in Khayelitsha."

Western Cape Housing and Local Government MEC, Richard Dyantyi - On plans to "immediately" relocate thousands of Khayelitsha squatters to "open land" in the area.

Dyantyi said while not all their housing plans would happen "overnight", [& lets pray not based on the 'success' of the N2 Gateway project failure] he wanted the relocation of these residents to be "immediate".He said they were still in the process of outlining initiatives. Really?

Truth comes Home

In December last year, we suggested in Business Day that there is a link between the drop in expenditure in Cape Town (compared with other large cities) and the disruptive influence of DA-ANC politics. Our assertion that the DA started the series of political purges in 2000 was indignantly denied by then-DA councillor in Cape Town, Belinda Walker.

Walker contended that the DA “put in place a top team of the city manager and 10 executive directors” in 2000, while “the ANC ... dismissed the city manager and six of these directors” in 2002.

However it is phrased, managerial dismissals — followed by new appointments each time the city is under new leadership — and the suspension of projects point to an alarming myopia on the part of politicians in what was once a well-run city. M&G

Home Truth Solution: InternAfrica.org

Cape shack fire leaves 20 people homeless

A group of about 20 people have lost their shacks due to a fire in Philippi, Cape Town last night. The Cape Town fire department says four wooden structures were gutted and the cause of the blaze is not known at this stage. There were no fatalities or injuries reported.

There was also a fire in an office block in the Cape Town inner city last night. A fire department spokesperson says the blaze on the ninth floor of the Absa building in Adderley Street was extinguished before midnight last night. He says members of the police will investigate the incident. SABC

Judas 57

"Look, you have been told everything.

Build IT

Lift up your eyes and look at the cloud and the light within it
and the stars surrounding it.
The star that leads the way is your star.”

National Geographic Lost Gospel

Fists fly in Cape Town eviction

Cape Town police had to cordon off a Woodstock street as angry residents resisted being evicted. Full Story

Housing - what the Judgements say

What the judgement says:
The City of Johannesburg v Rand Properties (Pty) Ltd and others:

On March 3 2006, the high court ruled that the City of Johannesburg could not evict residents of condemned buildings without providing alternative accommodation. Judge Mahommed Jajbhay ruled that the city had failed in its statutory and constitutional obligations to provide a suitable plan of action for rehousing inner-city residents, and prevented it from carrying out the evictions.

“Our Constitution obliges the State to act positively to ameliorate these conditions,” he said. In terms of Section 26 of the Constitution, all people have the right to access to adequate housing and the state must take reasonable measures to achieve the progressive realisation of this fact.

“We now require a coherent plan and the implementation of the plan at the micro level. The obligation is to provide access to adequate housing to those unable to support themselves and their dependents,” said Judge Jajbhay. M&G

Weeds / Cannabrick homes tonight 22H30

“Little boxes, Little boxes made of ticky tackey

& the people in the houses

All went to the university

Where they were put in boxes

& they all came out the same”

Except the houses made from cannabricks

the rest all look just the same

MNet

Africa must shape its own destiny: Mbeki

Unless Africa takes control of its own destiny, it will continue to be dictated to by the rich and powerful, according to President Thabo Mbeki who delivered the inaugural lecture of the Parliamentary Millennium Project. SABC

In line with Millennium Development Goals, the Cities without Slums Initiative and Urban 21 principals: Build your own eco-friendly Cannabrick home

Cape Town interdict bars homeless from land

The Homeless People's Crisis Committee in Grassy Park says it is seeking legal action against mayor Helen Zille and the City of Cape Town for interdicting its members from occupying land it says was granted provisionally by Zille. Full Story

April Fool's Power...

On the Edge Cape winter

Electricity load shedding in the Western Cape is expected to run throughout winter, but authorities have reassured residents and businesses that a comprehensive plan to deal with the power crisis is in place.

Power cuts cost Cape businesses dearly Rolling blackouts have cost Cape Town businesses almost R6-billion and there are fears that that these losses could rise.


Cape Point to get wind farm

Cape Point, one of South Africa's most famous landmarks, has been earmarked for a large wind farm to generate power to help alleviate the electricity crisis.

Cape warms to gel stoves

They're odourless, smokeless, tasteless and Capetonians are turning to them in droves. Stoves that burn on ethanol gel rather than paraffin are safer as they have a low centre of gravity and won't explode, while also being environmentally friendly and heat efficient.

Peter Barratt of Cape Town-based Greenheat has been selling the stoves and accompanying gel fuel since November and says sales have been growing by the week, spurred by the power crisis.

The have already sold around 2 000 in areas from "Khayelitsha to Bishopscourt"."We were doing a fair amount of work in the informal areas and we were introduced to them by a friend of mine," says Barratt.

"We immediately saw the enormous advantages from a safety aspect, when one considers all these houses getting burned down weekly by a paraffin stove getting knocked over." Full Story

Housing plans take shape

EARTHWORKS have started on the new residential development on erven 584 and 13259 south of Mbekweni.

The erven are being developed on the site of the old waterblommetjie dams between the Dal Josaphat industrial area and Mbekweni, to the west of Jan van Riebeeck Road. The project will consist of serviced erven where beneficiaries may erect their own homes.

Build your own Cannabrick Home

Plans for this development came after the devastating shack fires in the Drommedaris Street informal settlement at the beginning of 2005. It was then decided that the shack dwellers should be resettled as a matter of urgency. An amount of R19 384 129 was subsidised for this purpose by the Western Cape Department of Housing from their emergency fund.

The 43 hectares will provide accommodation to about 2 000 families, including the ones from Drommedaris Street. Meanwhile construction of showhouses has resumed in Project 2, where more than 800 erven have been waiting since 1998. The vandalised services to the sites are currently being replaced by the Municipality. Paarl Post