AfriCAN HOUSEi┬

Cannabrick homes to be built in government drive

2009-06-06T13:47:00.001+03:00

A prototype three-bedroom house, funded by the taxpayer, will go on show today. The home is part of a government drive to build more housing with a smaller carbon footprint.

The "renewable house" features walls made from Hemcrete - a mix of hemp and lime - and was built thanks to a £200,000 grant from the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC).

The National Non-Food Crops Centre (NNFCC), which built the home, said building it used half the energy that building a traditional brick home would use.

It claims energy bills for the home owners would be as low as £150 a year, and predicts building on thousands of houses could begin soon.

Dr John Williams, head of materials at the NNFCC, told The Guardian: "The forecasts are that we could roll this out very quickly if someone places an order for 25,000 homes.

"Increasing numbers of farmers are growing hemp because it fits in with their current growing cycles between April and September and it is a good break crop for wheat.

"If just 1 per cent of the UK's agricultural land was used to grow hemp, it would be enough to build 180,000 homes per year."

The hemp house provides a cheaper alternative to traditional brick and mortar housing, with a build cost of £75,000 excluding groundworks.

The hemp absorbs carbon dioxide when it is growing and the NNFCC estimates that 110kg (242.5lb) of carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere, the equivalent of a return flight from Plymouth to Manchester, for every square metre of wall.

- Telegraph

InternAfrica would again like to point out that South Africa has both more of the raw product available than the UK - and MORE of a housing demand.

Here is how to build your own Cannabrick home.

Zuma smoked ‘zol’ but it wasn’t dagga

2008-11-02T07:29:00.000+02:00

ANC president Jacob Zuma did smoke "zol" with the late activist Billy Nair - but it was not dagga; just tobacco rolled in paper, the ruling party said today.

The African National Congress has noted reports in a number of newspapers today [Friday] suggesting that ANC President Jacob Zuma and the late Billy Nair smoked dagga," said spokeswoman Jessie Duarte.

"Speaking yesterday [Thursday] at the funeral service of struggle veteran Billy Nair, Zuma said that the two used to smoke ’zol’ together.

"He was talking about tobacco rolled in paper, often referred to on Robben Island as ’zol’," Duarte said in a statement.

She added however that the "ANC understands how Zuma’s statement could have been misunderstood.

"For the record, Zuma and Nair did not smoke dagga together," concluded Duarte.

- Sunday Times

Zuma: Farming must change

2008-06-20T09:05:00.000+03:00

South Africa needs to talk about the structure of commercial agriculture, ANC president Jacob Zuma said on Thursday.

"Simply put, we have to talk about how best we will use the land to feed the nation and to reduce dependency on food imports," he said at a Financial Times dinner in Johannesburg.

He said the agricultural sector had continued to develop in a manner characterised by a growing concentration of ownership and farm size, under-utilisation of vast tracts of land, capital intensity, job-shedding and the casualisation of labour.

To deal with rising food prices, he said: "We must get people to work the land in the countryside, through effective rural development programmes.

"We are not a producer of oil and but we have land that can be cultivated. We have a robust programme of land usage for food production, which can help us achieve food and job security."

He said there would be no major policy shifts when a new administration takes over next year.

"We say this as our policies are already in existence, they were adopted at the 52nd national conference in Polokwane.

"We cannot rule out fine-tuning and strengthening some of the policy areas, but in essence, the direction was charted in Polokwane."

However, he said there was a lot of room for improvement regarding implementation, which meant that civil servants were committed, ready and willing to effectively implement the policies of the government of the day.

"The public servants will need to be awake to the needs of a ruling party that will require a visible and tangible implementation of its policies."

He said SA had the potential for sustainable economic growth, coupled with job creation.

"We have a perfect idea of where we want to take the country over the next five years. Economic transformation is a key priority, The central and most pressing challenges we face are unemployment, poverty and inequality."

He said the most effective weapon in the campaign against poverty was the creation of decent work, which required faster economic growth. - Sapa

Moral Fibre

2008-03-31T10:27:00.018+03:00

Remember hemp? Dagga's non-narcotic cousin, the wonder plant that was going to alleviate rural poverty, stimulate small enterprises, provide jobs, houses, textiles, paper, food and possibly even save us from global warming and the oil crisis?

Well, that’s what we were told when the government launched the National Hemp Initiative back in 1998.

So where are all the fields of waving weed?

You’d have to go to the Eastern Cape to find them, and then you’d find only five little plots, adding up to about a hectare in total, each surrounded by a two-metre-high fence in case anyone is stupid enough to try and smoke the stuff.

After almost 10 years and the investment of tens of millions of rands, the government’s hemp-growing project has done little but prove that hemp grows very well in South Africa.

There is a small and flourishing local hemp industry, producing everything from clothing, cosmetics and bio-friendly nappies to food products and building materials, but the hemp they use comes from elsewhere, mostly China.

Why aren’t we growing our own? The short answer is that the law still doesn’t differentiate between dagga and industrial hemp.

The law, in this case certainly, is an ass. The hemp strains authorised for research in South Africa contain less than 1% of the psychoactive agent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). To be of the slightest interest to a recreational user, the plant would have to contain at least 3% THC, and no drug dealer of any disrepute would touch anything under 7%.

More than 40 other countries have managed to make the distinction, including most of Europe, Canada, Russia, India, Thailand, South Korea and, of course, China, which produces most of the world’s crop. Global hemp sales have rocketed from just $10 million in 1996 to $250 million in 2002, the last year for which we could find statistics. But the market is continuing to boom as the search for greener alternatives to everything becomes more urgent.

A noted absentee from the list of growers is the US, which, like South Africa, uses the spectre of mass drug addiction to justify its indiscriminate suppression of this incredibly useful and versatile plant (although this hasn't prevented six US states from issuing growing permits in defiance of federal law).

Where there is no reasonable explanation for government policy, it is not unreasonable to follow the money.

American corporate interests are widely blamed for the ruinous 1937 “marijuana” tax which destroyed the US hemp industry overnight. For hundreds of years before that, hemp had been an important fibre crop, used for sails, rope, clothing, paper, building materials, fuel, food and medicine. It was so important that you could be jailed for refusing to grow it.

But the well-connected timber and cotton barons, along with the increasingly muscular petrochemicals industry, weren’t willing to compete with a material that had so many uses, and which anyone could grow in their own back yard.

Could a similar conspiracy be behind South Africa’s reluctance to allow even the most tightly-regulated cultivation of a commercial hemp crop?

One man who has no doubts is former advisor to the Department of Agriculture Thierry-Alban Revert.

Revert, a food technology engineer, scientist, entrepreneur and sustainable development consultant, was a key member of the governmental task team charged with redesigning South Africa’s agricultural policy after 1994.

The team produced a series of policy framework documents aimed at transforming the agricultural sector by creating commercial opportunities for small farmers.

As both Revert (and any small farmer) can tell you, few of their recommendations have made it off the page. [Small farmers mean small money for politicians. Agribiz, however ... – Ed.]

But one proposal, the National Hemp Initiative, was enthusiastically adopted by government at the time.

Even the cannabis-shy Department of Health was persuaded to grant special permission for a pilot growing project, and the first seeds were planted in 1996 at the Agricultural Research Council's testing centre in Rustenberg.

Revert, who says he knew nothing about hemp before he began his research, was so excited about the plant’s potential that he joined the hemp revolution.

As a member of the officially sanctioned National Organic Produce Initiative, he joined forces with a number of other NGOs to form the Western Cape Hemp Initiative. In 2004, they partnered the provincial Agriculture Research Council in growing trials in Riversdale and Elsenberg, Stellenbosch.

The trials continued for four seasons with great success, so everyone involved was keen to move on to the next step – actually making use of the crop...

Africannabis has been advocating building your own cannabrick home for 9 years here's how!

They devised a project called Grow your House which would encourage rural communities to farm their own hemp and use it as building material. One hectare of hemp can produce enough material in four months for an RDP-sized house – a much stronger and more comfortable one too. The company hoped to build between 10 000 and 20 000 such houses over the next 10 years.

But this time, they were refused permission even to import the seeds.

Revert says they were told that the three hemp cultivars registered as industrial crops by the Department of Agriculture had “disappeared” from the register.

“It’s unbelievable. After all these years ... they’ve spent R65 million, and we’re back at the beginning.”

Revert blames greed, both of the national research councils which are getting all that tax-payers’ money to investigate what everyone already knows, and of hemp’s competitors in the commercial world.

“And of course the research councils have long-standing relationships with these industries, so their interests are often the same.”

Revert says he has spent enough time in the boardrooms of big corporations to know how they operate, and that he has no doubt that rival industries will do anything to stop hemp in its tracks.

“This is the worst form of insidious colonisation of our resources and people. The country has moved but the basic players in the first economy are the same. These guys have not transformed or changed their economic agenda.”

Hemp advocates like Revert can recite the plant’s competitive advantages like litany.

“It produces four times as much cellulose per hectare as a tree plantation, and it produces it in four months, while timber takes seven years.

“The pulp is almost white so you don’t need to use chloride bleach like you do with wood pulp.

“It is a more versatile fibre than cotton and more sustainable: it contains a natural pest repellent, it uses much less water and fertiliser and if you plant it properly, you don’t get weeds, so you don’t need herbicides. (So there is no profit in it for the agro chemicals industry? Bad idea!)

“It is also a very effective rotational crop – far better for enriching the soil than a legume.

“Bricks made from hemp and lime are seven times lighter than those made from clay or cement, provide excellent insulation and are much stronger.

“Cement uses huge amounts of fossil fuels so it is a carbon taxing industry, while hemp is a natural carbon sink (absorbs and holds carbon).

“Hemp seeds are a wonderful food. They contain more essential fatty acids than any other vegetable source and they are high in protein, B-vitamins and fibre.

“The plant has a very complex DNA so it is almost impossible to create a genetically engineered variety.”

And much, much more.

“So you can see,” Revert concludes, “why all these industries would be against hemp. Especially since it is so easy to grow. You don’t need to be a big corporation with big plantations and machinery.”

As far as he is concerned, if the government is serious about its developmental agenda, it “has a duty to promote this technology immediately”.

“In almost 14 years of democracy nothing has changed. The more we delay stuff, the more people get poor ... and poorer and poorer. This is very painful for all of us.

“Climate change is another reason this is so urgent. Hemp is not only relevant as a crop, but for the health of the planet.”

He says that in the coming weeks he intends “engaging” more strenuously with the Department of Agriculture in a last ditch attempt to make them see sense.

“I will try to explain why this is so urgent. If the explanation route doesn’t work, we will have to consider other options. Like a public awareness campaign. Perhaps even the legal route.”

In the meantime, the NGO will press on with its housing project, but it will be on a far smaller scale and will have to depend on hemp imported from more enlightened, more farsighted nations.

www.InternAfrica.org Continues to focus on delivering sustainable appropriate affordable carbon efficient cannabrick building options to the Western Cape Habitat Crisis.

(Next month noseweek takes a closer, critical look at the reasons and explanations offered by those hampering hemp's progress.) Noseweek

'I've smoked Africannabis with Bruce Willis'

2008-03-06T14:50:00.002+02:00

Bruce Willis was introduced to African cannabis by rapper Rick Ross.

The hip-hop star claimed he used to smoke the illegal drug with the Die Hard 4.0 actor during an interview on The Ramiro and Pebbles Morning Show on Boston's JAM'N 94.5 FM radio station on Wednesday.

When questioned about the most famous celebrity he has ever got high with, Rick laughed: "Bruce Willis".

He added: "He doesn't talk too much when he's high - he'll just look at you, you know, 'I'm really smoking with this dude'.

"You know, I had to introduce him to that African thing, I got him some Africannabis."

In a recent interview, the hip-hop star also revealed: "I'm a weed fanatic. I've smoked blunts with some of the biggest people in the world. To me, that's my hobby. To be able to say I smoked blunts with Snoop Dogg, I've smoked blunts with Bruce Willis, I've smoked a blunt with Too Short. I'm what you call a Cannabis Cup Champion!"

While Rick didn't reveal when he met up with Bruce, this isn't the actor's first encounter with the illegal substance.

He revealed recently: "Living in Manhattan was the most irresponsible, carefree time of my life. I had a great time going wild. I drank too much. I also smoked weed and tried various drugs.

"I only liked pot, though. I smoked a lot of pot and when I wasn't acting, I was out dancing every night. I had a blast and I could stretch $20 over three days - I would live off pizza and beer." - Tonight

Cannabis set to build new farm wealth

2008-03-03T08:00:00.002+02:00

THE Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is piloting a multi-billion-rand agri-business project that could encourage Eastern Cape farmers to grow hemp and flax for the textile industry.

The project is aimed at boosting economic activity. Hemp and flax are used for various purposes, including textiles and food.

“The main objective is to exploit these plants to extract long and short fibre,” said CSIR fibres and textile manager Abisha Tembo.

He said a recent presentation on this matter was well received by the provincial economic development forum and that a pilot project to grow flax would be established by the Cacadu district municipality before the end of the year.

“Other than the two Industrial development zones in Port Elizabeth and East London, the automotive industry, and, to a smaller extent, sheep and angora goat farming, there is no other flagship economic project.

“Growing and processing flax and hemp will provide a new industry that is viable and has the potential to be worth billions, if farmers get the required interventions in terms of government subsidies,” he said.

Trials the institute had conducted in Qamata, Libode, Addo and East London had shown that the province had the right climate to cultivate the crops.

Although hemp is illegal in South Africa as it is a member of the cannabis sativa family, various organisations, including the CSIR and the Agriculture Research Council, are lobbying government to change the legislation.

CSIR natural plant fibre centre manager Sunshine Blouw said: “The advantage of the two plants is that flax is grown in winter and hemp in summer. Farmers can grow both in different seasons without having to acquire different technologies for production and processing as both plants use the same technology.”

The CSIR, Blouw said, would help set up a processing and production facility in an area accessible to all farmers. “Ideally, the farmers should own it through a co-operative.”

Notwithstanding China‘s dominance in textiles and clothing, Blouw said markets were available.

“In 2004, South Africa imported R100-million worth of flax and R75-million worth of hemp. It would not make business sense to import if you can buy locally.” - The Herald

Migraine May Be Related To Underproduction Of Cannabinoids

2007-12-16T18:51:00.000+02:00

Perugia, Italy: Patients with a history of migraine headaches may be suffering from a clinical deficiency of the endocannabinoid system, according to clinical trial data published in the European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.

Investigators at Italy’s University of Perugia, Department of Public Health, reported that patients with chronic migraines possessed "significantly lower" levels of the endogenous cannabinoids anandamide and 2-arachidonylglycerol (2-AG) in their platelets compared to age-matched controls.

"These data support the potential involvement of a dysfunctioning of the endocannabinoid and serotonergic systems in the pathology of chronic migraine and medication-overuse headaches," researchers’ concluded.

A previous paper published in the journal Neuroendocrinology Letters similarly suggested that migraine, fibromyalgia, and other treatment-resistant conditions may be associated with dysfunctions in the endocannabinoid system. This system is believed to play a primary role in regulating humans' mood, appetite, skeletal development, motor coordination, digestion, and reproduction.

Full text of the study, "Endocannabinoids in platelets of chronic migraine patients and medication-overuse headache patients: relation with serotonin levels," appears in the November issue of the European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.
Benefits of Cannabis in Migraine, and other Treatment-Resistant Conditions - Russo EB

The real Swazi Gold

2007-12-13T07:37:00.000+02:00

Swiss Study Finds Cannabis Use Alone May Benefit Some Teens

2007-11-08T08:04:00.000+02:00

Teens that use cannabis may function better than teen tobacco-users, and appear to be more socially driven and have fewer psychosocial problems than those who do not use either substance, according to a Swiss survey.

Researchers at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland surveyed 5,263 students, including 455 who smoke marijuana only, 1,703 who smoke marijuana and tobacco and 3,105 who smoked neither one.

The survey, which will be published in the November issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, found that marijuana-only smokers had better relationships with friends, better grades and were more likely to play sports than teens who smoked tobacco and those who abstained from both substances.

A U.S. substance abuse expert disagreed with the study and said U.S. teens should not be encouraged to use marijuana, particularly since teenagers’ brains are still developing at this time.

“Switzerland is very liberal compared to us in many ways,” Dr. Edwin Salsitz, senior physician of chemical dependency at Beth Israel Medical Center. “In general, it’s not a good idea for teenagers to use psychoactive drugs. The brain is still developing until the age of 21.

“Maybe (there’s) a cultural bias there that says it’s ok to use marijuana once or twice a month,” he continued “But from what I know, I’ve never heard that anyone thought it was beneficial. Most experts here would say that it’s not a good idea to use cannabis before the age of 15, because it interferes with school and the development of brain.”

Researchers found that marijuana-only users had the following characteristics:

— More likely to be male (71.6 percent marijuana smokers versus 59.7 percent of teens who used tobacco and marijuana)

— Play sports (85.5 percent vs. 66.7 percent of tobacco and marijuana)

— Live with both parents (78.2 percent vs. 68.3 percent of tobacco and marijuana)

— Have good grades (77.5 percent vs. 66.6 percent of tobacco and marijuana)

Cannabis-only smokers were also less likely to have been drunk in the past 30 days, less likely to use cannabis before the age of 15 and less likely to use marijuana more than once or twice in the past 30 days. They were also less likely to use other illegal drugs, compared to students who used both substances, researchers found.

“The gateway theory hypothesizes that the use of legal drugs (tobacco and alcohol) is the previous step to cannabis consumption,” the authors wrote. “However, recent research also indicates that cannabis use may precede or be simultaneous to tobacco use and that, in fact, its use may reinforce cigarette smoking or lead to nicotine addiction independently of smoking status. In any case, and even though they do not seem to have great personal, family, or academic problems, the situation of those adolescents who use cannabis but who declare not using tobacco should not be trivialized.”

In comparison to students who abstained from both substances, marijuana-only smokers were:

— More likely to be male (71.6 percent cannabis users vs. 47.7 percent of teens who abstained)

— Have a good relationship with friends (87 percent vs. 83.2 percent)

— Be sensation-seeking (37.8 percent vs. 21.8 percent)

— Play sports (85.5 percent vs. 76.6 percent)

— Less likely to have a good relationship with their parents (74.1 percent vs. 82.4 percent)

The fact that some students who smoked marijuana were less likely to have a good relationship with their parents wasn’t surprising to Salsitz. “The way to look at it is to look at alcohol as an analogy,” he said. “Do adults or teens who use alcohol have better relationships than those abstinent? That’s just not true. It looks like if you smoke marijuana and not tobacco, it’s better for you.”

He said the study should be viewed in terms of culture. “In France, people drink wine with food, but they don’t get drunk,” he said. “Kids also start doing this when they are young, and that’s different from here. I don’t think anyone would say that the active ingredient in marijuana is doing anything good in the brain, compared to abstaining or smoking tobacco, so there must be cultural reason for this happening.” - FOX NEWS

Bom - Luck y Dube

2007-10-26T09:27:00.000+03:00

Legalise all drugs.

2007-10-15T10:15:00.000+03:00

One of Britain's most senior police officers is to call for all drugs – including heroin and cocaine – to be legalised and urges the Government to declare an end to the "failed" war on illegal narcotics.

Richard Brunstrom, the Chief Constable of North Wales, advocates an end to UK drug policy based on "prohibition". His comments come as the Home Office this week ends the process of gathering expert advice looking at the next 10 years of strategy.

In his radical analysis, which he will present to the North Wales Police Authority today, Mr Brunstrom points out that illegal drugs are now cheaper and more plentiful than ever before.

The number of users has soared while drug-related crime is rising with narcotics now supporting a worldwide business empire second only in value to oil. "If policy on drugs is in future to be pragmatic not moralistic, driven by ethics not dogma, then the current prohibitionist stance will have to be swept away as both unworkable and immoral, to be replaced with an evidence-based unified system (specifically including tobacco and alcohol) aimed at minimisation of harms to society," he will say.

The Chief Constable's verdict

* British drugs policy has been based upon prohibition for the last several decades – but this system has not worked well. Illegal drugs are in plentiful supply and have become consistently cheaper in real terms over the years.

* The number of drug users has increased dramatically. Drug-related crime has soared equally sharply as a direct consequence of the illegality of some drugs. The vast profits from illegal trading have supported a massive rise in organised crime.

* The ABC classification of drugs is said by the RSA Commission to be indefensible and is described as "crude, ineffective, riddled with anomalies and open to political manipulation". Most importantly, the current ABC system illogically excludes both alcohol and tobacco.

* Mr Brunstrom says: "If policy on drugs is in the future to be pragmatic not moralistic, driven by ethics not dogma, then the current prohibitionist stance will have to be swept away as both unworkable and immoral. Such a strategy leads inevitably to the legalisation and regulation of all drugs."

* The chief constable asserts that current British drugs policy is based upon an unwinnable "war on drugs" enshrined in a flawed understanding of the underlying United Nations conventions, and arising from a wholly outdated and thoroughly repugnant moralistic stance.

* He concludes: "The law is the law. In the meantime, I will continue to enforce it to the best of my ability despite my misgivings about its moral and practical worth."

Belfast Telegraph

Dagga seized in Port Alfred home

2007-09-26T14:54:00.000+03:00

Dagga packed in 50 kilogram bags worth about R120,000 was found at a house in Nemato in Port Alfred, Eastern Cape police said on Wednesday. Captain Mali Govender said police found the dagga on Tuesday night. No one was arrested as there was nobody in the house. - Sapa

Prince! Perfect!

2007-09-22T10:57:00.001+03:00

Azifwekaré - “homeless pothead” on the song "Style" and director credit to the "Face Down" video
adopted as official name from 1993 to 2000

Click the pic - you have 21 days...
Live Sky High Genius

Son of safety and security - drunk death on wheels

2007-09-22T10:38:00.000+03:00

The son of the national minister for safety and security, Siyabonga Nqakula, smelled of liquor when he allegedly drove into oncoming traffic and caused a head-on collision earlier this year, the Cape Town magistrate's court heard on Friday.

He was also unsteady on his feet, the victim, Yaseen Moses, told the court.

Nqakula, 27, of Bruma in Johannesburg, pleaded not guilty before magistrate Phindi Norman to charges of drunken driving and reckless driving... - SAPA

Labels warn boozers

2007-09-04T10:02:00.000+03:00

The Health Department has published regulations requiring labels on alcoholic beverages to carry messages “highlighting the negative effects of alcohol consumption”.

The regulations have been published under the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectant Act.

They are the result of lengthy consultations with parties concerned to address “the challenge of alcohol abuse”, the department said yesterday. – Sowetan

I wonder what these labels will look like:

Warning if you drink while pregnant your child could be affected.

That's mild and should get the message through...

Or

Could cause liver cirrhosis (sic)/e.g./i.e./'I-am-saying'/just like Health Minister Manto.

And for the illiterates? Is it going to be printed on papsak's? and on umqombothi yeast packs? in all 11 Languages....?

Oh yes! One day Cannabis will have a label on it that will read as a much milder and less harmful intoxicant. Truth will prevail!

Geen Boomplant week vir 2007

2007-09-01T09:36:00.000+03:00

Geen Boomplant Week vir 2007

Maar as jy will... Boomplant...

National Arbour Week kicks off in South Africa

This year's National Arbour Week will be celebrated under the theme "Plant a tree, grow our future". The week starts today and will end on September 7. In Limpopo, various events will be held in all the municipalities.

The main focus of the week is to highlight opportunities for sustainable economic development, community participation, poverty alleviation and job creation in forestry. It is also to focus on the vital role trees play in the natural environment and to encourage the youth to participate in tree-planting activities. - SABC

Alcohol abuse a drain on economy

2007-08-23T22:24:00.000+03:00

More than double the amount collected in liquor taxes is spent on the social costs of alcohol-related trauma and accidents in South Africa each year.

With this in mind, a government and industry initiative - aimed at reducing the socio-economic impact of alcohol by ensuring legal compliance by traders and responsible drinking by consumers - was announced on Monday... - Pretoria News

Rowerr!

2007-08-12T15:49:00.000+03:00

This lion was reared by the guys in the clip,he was then released into the wild in Africa but a year later the guys returned to see if he was doing OK.

Check out the look on the lions face as he realises-"thats not food its my MATES!!"
The wild lion he is friends with, has never met the humans and is totally passive towards them.

Rasta warders to take case to High Court

2007-08-03T19:32:00.001+03:00

Five prison warders were dismissed from their jobs for refusing to cut off their Rastafarian dreadlocks, their union said Friday.

The five, employed at the Pollsmoor prison outside Cape Town, were disciplined for contravening the Department of Correctional Services' dress code, said Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union spokesperson Benzi Soko.

"The dress code cannot supersede the constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion," said Soko, adding the matter would be pursued to the highest level necessary.

"Our lawyers are preparing an urgent application to the Cape High Court for the members' immediate reinstatement."

He said the five were barred from the workplace, but were receiving their full salaries pending the outcome of an internal appeal process.

The department confirmed the dismissals, saying the five "defiantly ignored warnings to comply" with its dress code.

"The department of correctional cervices fully respects the legal rights of every official but cannot compromise discipline nor appreciate the flouting of its policies and regulations," it said in a statement. - Sapa-AFP

City's heart is hardening, say homeless

2007-07-16T08:16:00.000+03:00

For the homeless on Fort Wynyard Road, the by-law is a puzzle: "I want to ask them why they don't take the rubbish away but they take us away," says Rasta. - Cape Argus

They Say..

2007-06-29T14:42:00.000+03:00

Police say, In the 2005/2006 financial year 290 000kg of dagga valued at R377-million was seized throughout South Africa while police, through their cannabis eradication programme, destroyed 170.5ha of dagga plantations valued at R119-million in the Eastern Cape alone.

Pretoria News

I would say - someone can't add... that looks like the appelton case below and not total figures, once again I would have to question these figures - which continuously seem to amaze me. How this can be called a success when each year the figure is higher - - - all that is clear to me - is the current way of dealing with drugs is flawed and destined to fail in preventing social harm.

Guard stoned to death

2007-06-15T15:04:00.000+03:00

A fire destroyed shacks at an informal settlement in Mamelodi near Pretoria on Friday, police said.

Police spokesperson Paul Ramaloko said the cause of the fire was not known, but it started after residents at the Lusaka informal settlement in Mamelodi East attacked security personnel who had arrived to evict them.

He said one of the security officers was stoned to death and a truck was also burnt.

He said people refused to move and a confrontation ensued between them and the security officers.

"They threw stones at security guards and one security officers was stoned to death.

"A truck that was to load their belonging was also set on fire," he said.

A strong police contingent had been sent to monitor the situation, he said. - Sapa

Police & Prison call for review of Cannabis/Dagga laws

2007-06-15T09:41:00.000+03:00

The union representing the majority of South Africa's police called on Thursday for a review of the laws against dagga and sex work.

In resolutions approved on the final day of its national congress in Cape Town, the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) declared that both areas should be "regulated".

One delegate even urged that if sex work was legalised it should be turned into a public-private partnership rather than be left to the vagaries of free enterprise.

The resolutions, both proposed by Popcru's Gauteng region, follow a suggestion earlier this year by National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi that prostitution be legalised for the 2010 soccer world cup.

The resolution on dagga noted that use of the drug was regulated in other parts of the world, such as Holland's Amsterdam.

It called for research on "the prospective aspects of dagga regulations" and on the drug's medical effects, and committed the union to work towards steps "to counter the stigma".

The union will also "pursue discussions with authorities on dagga regulations".

One delegate, Durban police officer Christopher Mkhize, told the congress that dagga had been around in South Africa long before white settlers arrived and decided it was wrong.

"We can't stay with that in a democratic country," he said. "It is our democracy and we are the ones who should say what is wrong and what is right."

He said he himself would not have achieved his current qualifications if it were not for the money raised by his family's cultivation of dagga in rural KwaZulu-Natal.

"Most of our kids have been taught through money generated by dagga," he said.

The resolution on sex work - described in the original motion as "prostitution" but changed after objection from a female delegate - called for "street transactions" to be made illegal, which they already are, and for a working environment which complied with labour legislation.

Giving his interpretation of the dagga resolution, union president Zizamele Cebekhulu told Sapa afterwards that the union was calling for research "that confirms the danger of dagga to a human being".

He said the drug contributed a certain percentage to South Africa's gross domestic product whether one liked it or not.

"Some parents are still smoking dagga in their house. It's outlawed, but they smoke it. So we say, regulate this thing, tax this thing, and... let dealers not go away with the money."

He insisted that regulation of the drug would mean a harsher regime than the current ban on dagga.

"It's useless to say it's illegal, and yet you have got no control measures over it.

"We say, regulate it, meaning that you put more stricter measures in terms of dealing and in terms of consuming dagga." - Sapa

Battle at Kruger!

2007-06-02T15:25:00.000+03:00

Irrigation scheme a white elephant

2007-05-26T11:32:00.000+03:00

More than R200-million spent on an irrigation project in Limpopo appears to have gone to waste, SABC television news reported on Friday.

The availability of water and electricity were not considered during the programme's initial planning and there was no water available in its installation area, according to the Friday night report.

Some of the R100-million worth of irrigation equipment had been vandalised. - Sapa

GM truth 2

2007-05-25T09:45:00.000+03:00

"The world would be a better place to live if more people smoked cannabis than drank alcohol,"

George Michael, also defended his use of cannabis.

"I'm not going to pretend that my drug of choice is not marijuana, because it is," he said.

"We could sit here with any number of policemen and doctors and they would all tell you if everybody who had a dependence on alcohol changed their mind and had a dependence on weed, the world would be a much easier place to live in.

"What I am saying is that nobody ever came home stoned and beat up their wife."

The singer plays a second straight night on Saturday in Aarhus, Denmark, on his 25 Live European tour that will see him become the first artist to play the new 90 000-seater Wembley Stadium in London, something he described as a "dream come true."

Scorpions burn 3 900 bricks of dagga - "It's a feel-good occasion"

2007-05-17T12:48:00.000+03:00

Standing outside a warehouse, Scorpions head Leonard McCarthy held up a shrink-wrapped, one-kilogramme brick of dagga and smiled for the cameras.

Behind him, workers inside the building were pushing four tons of the drug into a furnace to be incinerated - about 3 900 bricks with an estimated street value of R364-million, had the bricks reached their destination in England.

"It's a feel-good occasion," McCarthy said. "Scorpions in the Western Cape have punched a hole in organised crime."

The burning put a ceremonial cap on Operation Appleton. In July, the investigation led to the largest seizure of contraband in the Western Cape yet.

It was also the largest success yet in Project Red Cross, the Scorpions' two-year-old initiative targeting South Africa's drug syndicates.

Members of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) will not discuss the specifics of the programme for fear of tipping off criminals about their methods.

The project has its sights on international traffickers and importers and exporters who deal in the largest and most valuable drug loads and who have made South Africa a hotspot in the global drug trade.

The Scorpions had not gained extra manpower or funding for the effort, but officers were using resources more strategically, said NPA deputy spokesman Tlali Tlali.

"We are operating on the basis of what we have," he said. "We will not fold our arms and say it's not enough."

This translated into extra emphasis on fundamentals like information analyses and following up on even the smallest leads, he said.

In the case of Project Appleton, the tip-off seemed unextraordinary at best, said Jannie Stamatiadis, a Scorpions special investigator and the project's manager.

An ordinary theft complaint spurred the investigation, largely on a hunch. The Scorpions found the dagga - a seedless variety grown in Mozambique and prized on the European market - packed into the apple containers, two days before they were to be shipped to England.

A South African and two British nationals have been arrested. The investigation continues. Cape Times

'Apple box' drugs go up in smoke

2007-05-15T18:29:00.001+03:00

About four tons of dagga seized before it could be smuggled out of the country in apple boxes is due to go up in smoke on Wednesday.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Phumzile Kotane said on Tuesday that drugs, mostly dagga, were seized in the Scorpions' Operation Appleton in Cape Town, which foiled an international drug trade worth about R364-million.

"Operation Appleton ended in July 2006 with the arrest of two British nationals and a South African. The trio was caught in the act of concealing tons of drugs in boxes of apples which were being exported," said Kotane.

"A warehouse used to store more drugs was later discovered by the investigators.

"It was clear that the intention was to smuggle the drugs into the United Kingdom."

The three were convicted of trafficking in drugs and given sentences ranging from five to 12 years and fines.

NPA spokesperson Tlali Tlali said the drugs could not be destroyed until the court case and any appeals were over.

"You don't interfere with exhibits of evidence until the trial is concluded."

The drugs are due to be burnt in the Western Cape on Wednesday afternoon. - Sapa

Cops dump guns, drugs on city tip

2007-05-14T18:06:00.000+03:00

A haul of home-made guns, knives, cellphones and drugs, including tik, have been found at a municipal tip near Muizenberg - all of it believed to be evidence dumped by police.

There were at least 30 knives, homemade BB-type guns and drugs, including dagga, Mandrax and scores of tik straws and lollies.

The stash also included a large number of ampoules containing a local anaesthetic called Xylotox.

Attached to some of the items were police case numbers from last year and, on one official forensic laboratory bag, the name of a Mitchell's Plain constable. Cape Argus

Elements...

2007-05-09T19:46:00.000+03:00

All things nice & other things that go GrooOooVy Doof Doof !

You gotta roll with it!

2007-05-06T10:33:00.000+03:00

Freedom Day

2007-04-27T23:59:00.000+03:00

How to build a home from available Cannabis

2007-04-27T12:20:00.000+03:00

Demonstrated out side the Department of Housing

Plant a cannabis seed. Water and allow the plant to grow and produce seed. Plant and water these seeds. Your goal is to grow enough to build a house, you will need about 1 acre to build a 5 roomed home.

Tyala imbewu ntsangu (ye-cannabis). Nkcenkceshela imbewu uze uyinike ithuba lokuba ikhule ide ikhuphe eyayo imbewu. Uyothi ke uyityale nalembewu uyinkcenkceshele njalo. Injongo yakho kukukhulisa izityalo ezothi zonele ekwakheni indlu, uyakudinga i-acre (malunga nentsimi) enye ukuze wakhe indlu enamagumbi amahlanu.
Consider the many relevant points presented in the guidelines of Build your house step-by-step.

Qwalasela yonke imigaqo oyibekelweyo kwincwadana i-Build Your House Step By Step.

Download book from: InternAfrica
Start planning where your house will stand. Consider everything about the environment you’ll be building in, like winter and summer sunshine, wind and rain – you don’t want to build on a floodplain, or your house will wash away. Be sure to plan all your water and waste requirements.

Ceba indawo ozokwakha kuyo indlu yakho. Qwalasela yonke into ngomhlaba lo uzokwakha kuwo indlu yakho, izinto ezinje ngemimoya, ilanga, neemvula zehlobo nobusika, akekho umntu ofuna ukwakha indlu yakhe emgxobhozweni okanye apho iyothi ibe lilifa lezikhukhula khona. Uqiniseke ukuba unamanzi akulungeleyo ukwenza oku.
Cut the grown cannabis plants down and leave in the field to rhett for a week. The morning dew and natural rotting process will loosen the fibers from the plant.

a. Process the plant matter by cutting leaves and branches off, then hit small bundles the length of the plant over and upturned rake.
b. The long fiber parts that remain in your hand are good for weaving rugs and making various other items your skills can accomplish.
c. The seed can be gathered for more housing.
d. Gather the small woody bits (the hurd) that have fallen, this waste is what will be used in the construction material.

Sika / sarha izityalo uzibeke egadini ixesha elingangeveki ukuze zibole. Umbethe wasekuseni nezinye izinto zendalo ezibolisayo ziya kuyikhulula I-fibre ezityalweni.

a. Yikhawulezise ngohlukanisa intonga zezityalo namagqabi, uhlale uyiharika rhoqo.
b. Intonga ezi zinothi zincede kwezinye izinto ezifana nokwenza ingubo nezinye izinto onothi uzibonele zona ngokolwazi lwakho.
c. Imbewu inokuqokelelwe ukwakha ezinye izindlu.
d. Qokelela imithana ethe yaziwela njengokuba uzoyisebenzisa xa usakha indlu yakho.
Wash the hurd, dry it, then wash it again. Be careful not to allow the matter to rot or decay during this process, by turning, airing and allowing the African sun to dry the hurd properly. Now combine in proportions 10:2:3:3 combine the cannabis/ntsangu/dagga Hurd(10), washed river sand 0.5mm(2), hydraulic lime(3) and water(3) to make the mulch (This process may need tweaking depending on your geographic location, humidity, rainfall etc)

Hlamba ingqokelela yakho, uyomise, uphinde uyihlambe.Ulumkele ukuba lengqokelela ibole kwelithuba, yiguquguqule, uyivumele ibethwe ngumoya uvumele nelanga lase Afrika liyomise lengqokelela. Dibanisa ngokwalo mgaqo 10:2:3:3, dibanisa ke lemvuno yakho yomgquba wentsangu (10) kunye nesanti yasemlanjeni 0.5mm(2), ikalika (3) kunye namanzi (3) ukwenza udaka (Nale into ke iyokuthi ixhomekeke kwindawo leyo ukuyo nemvula zakhona njalo-njalo).
Now build your house! Ngoku ke yakha indlu yakho!
Teach others. Fundisa abanye.

· You can use this “dagga-cement” for making bricks, shutter casting or the proven “pole-and-dagga” method. This last method allows for a sturdy, warm, fireproof and water proof home – built with pride and intuitive engineering, not a ‘uniform box’.

Be sure to consider all aspects of your house design and structural requirements. Although the cannabis-cement will become stronger than steel in time, it is not advised to build over 2 floors high without considering structural implications. With planning this cement can be used to build up to 4 floors high.

The cannabis-cement will dry over a period of a month (depending on the weather). At this point you will be able to add the roof. Seal your home’s walls with lime; lime external walls annually.

Decorate your house with masonry to make it unique, and paint with coloured lime as per custom.

Always PLANT A TREE in a place that will provide shade, to commemorate this accomplishment.

Council will plant trees if citizens care for them. Call (021) 689-8938 http://www.trees.org.za/

Assist your family, friends or neighbors with your experience and expertise. Share information and technique; you can uplift yourself and your community.

2010 Love to be Legal!

2007-03-29T09:28:00.000+03:00

Prostitution and drinking in public could be legalised for the duration of the 2010 Soccer World Cup, if National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi has his way.

The police chief on Wednesday asked the National Assembly's safety and security committee to apply their minds to his dilemma of what to do with the thousands of "soccer hooligans" expected to imbibe in public spaces and those who would feel the urge to try out other more exotic pastimes both currently illegal in South Africa.

"You as a committee must be sitting and thinking of how we are going to get around this. If a visiting fan is out on the street having a bottle of beer, must I arrest him, because it is illegal?

IOL

Scientists want new drug rankings

2007-03-23T21:02:00.000+02:00

The drug classification system in the UK is not "fit for purpose" and should be scrapped, scientists have said.

They have drawn up an alternative system which they argue more accurately reflects the harm that drugs do.

The new ranking system places alcohol and tobacco in the upper half of the league table, ahead of cannabis and several Class A drugs such as ecstasy.

The study, published in The Lancet, has been welcomed by a team reviewing drug research for the government.

The Academy of Medical Sciences group plans to put its recommendations to ministers in the autumn.

I would say that on balance, many 'illegal' drugs are less harmful than the two 'legal' drugs available

Chris, Shropshire

A new commission is also due to undertake a three-year review of general government drug policy.

The new system has been developed by a team led by Professor David Nutt, from the University of Bristol, and Professor Colin Blakemore, chief executive of the Medical Research Council.

It assesses drugs on the harm they do to the individual, to society and whether or not they induce dependence.

A panel of experts were asked to rate 20 different drugs on nine individual categories, which were combined to produce an overall estimate of harm.

In order to provide familiar benchmarks, five legal drugs, including tobacco and alcohol were included in the assessment. Alcohol was rated the fifth most dangerous substance, and tobacco ninth.

Heroin was rated as the most dangerous drug, followed by cocaine and barbiturates. Ecstasy, however, rated only 18th, while cannabis was 11th.

Arbitrary ranking

CURRENT DRUG CLASSIFICATION

Class A

Cocaine/crack

Heroin

Ecstasy

LSD

Magic mushrooms

Crystal meth (pending)

Class A/B

Amphetamines

Class C

Cannabis

Ketamine

Drugs key facts

Crystal meth to be Class A

The researchers said the current ABC system was too arbitrary, and failed to give specific information about the relative risks of each drug.

It also gave too much importance to unusual reactions, which would only affect a tiny number of users.

Professor Nutt said people were not deterred by scare messages, which simply served to undermine trust in warnings about the danger of drugs.

He said: "The current system is not fit for purpose. Let's treat people as adults. We should have a much more considered debate how we deal with dangerous drugs."

He highlighted the fact that one person a week in the UK dies from alcohol poisoning, while less than 10 deaths a year are linked to ecstasy use.

Professor Blakemore said it was clear that current drugs' policies were not working.

"We face a huge problem. Illegal substances have never been more easily available, or more widely abused."

He said the beauty of the new system, unlike the current version, was that it could easily be updated to reflect new research.

Professor Leslie Iversen, a member of the Academy of Medical Sciences group considering drug policy, said the new system was a "landmark paper".

He said: "It is a real step towards evidence-based classification of drugs."

Professor Iversen said the fact that 500,000 young people routinely took ecstasy every weekend proved that current drug policy was in need of reform.

Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker said: "We have no intention of reviewing the drug classification system.

"Our priority is harm reduction and to achieve this we focus on enforcement, education and treatment."

He said there had been "unparalleled investment" of £7.5 billion since 1998, which had contributed to a 21% reduction in overall drug misuse in the last nine years and a fall of 20% in drug related crime since 2004.

But he added: "The government is not complacent and will continue to work with all of our partners to build on this progress."

MOST HARMFUL DRUGS

BBC

Soccer scores - homeless loose

2007-02-22T09:29:00.000+02:00

Plans to build hundreds of thousands of new low-cost homes could fall victim to shifting budget demands in the run-up to the 2010 Soccer World Cup, South Africa’s housing minister said on Thursday.

While the government has targeted the eradication of all shack dwellings by 2014, Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said there was a danger that her ministry’s demands for both cash and infrastructure “could be completely wiped off the radar screen”.

Sisulu said there was a “clear and present urgency” to secure the finance, raw materials and land needed to re-house the 2,4-million families currently living in informal settlements before the competition for resources becomes even more intense.

“This [low-cost housing for the poor] is a constitutional requirement of this government, so we want to make sure that … in the next two years we can have a massive injection in housing,” she said.

The minister said housing delivery would have to double from the current 250 000 units a year to achieve the goal of eradicating shantytowns by 2014.

A shortage of cement was only one of the obstacles, with retailers more willing to sell to private companies than the government, Sisulu said.

South Africa, with unemployment estimated as high as 40% and millions living in poverty, has budgeted R15-billion to host the first World Cup on the African continent. — AFP

Scroll down the page to find a sustianable eco-alternative to cement - why yes ITS THE CANNABRICK. 1 5th the price - readily available. Carbon trap. Green-building

At last some truth...

2007-02-13T07:24:00.000+02:00

Skweyiya said the most abused substance in the country was alcohol, followed by Cigarettes.

A SA Risk Survey conducted in 2004 found that 49 percent of South African teenagers consumed alcohol.

It showed that 31 percent smoked and 13 percent used dagga on a regular basis.

These figures are well within the norm.

To identify the problem a comparative pie chart showing the extent of the health and societal risk and burden, would be useful...

South African teenagers that report for treatment of:
Dagga Abuse?
Alcohol abuse?
TIK abuse?
Sugars abuse?

...while asking these questions...

It would be pertinant to start with a measureable cost to society.

Lets see what the comparative piechart looks like when we measure the Foetal cost:

What are the Foetal methamphetamine syndrome figures?
What are the Foetal alcohol syndrome figures?
What are the Foetal cannabis syndrome figures?
What are the Foetal crack/coke/heroin syndrome figures?

When compared against each other - we should be able to see which drug is causing the biggest problem to our unborn. A measureable statistic!

At home in the western Cape we have the worlds largest occurrence of FAS...?

and at a rate of 10 000 abortions a week?

One would believe that we have the right to choose what we do to our body.

What the state regulates as social harm, and allows other harms which are much greater in nature and number, than say smoking a doob...

Makes you think ? I hope! Please follow the links in the post for the revelations

Cop van packed with dagga

2007-02-08T08:53:00.000+02:00

Bloemfontein - A tip-off led to a constable being arrested and dagga with a street value of about R500 000 being seized from a police vehicle on Tuesday, said eastern Free State police.

Superintendent Motarafi Ntepe said the Bloemfontein dog unit was tipped off that a police vehicle was about to load and transport dagga in the Ficksburg area.

"On Tuesday, about 00:30, 10km from Ficksburg, they noticed the police bakkie travelling towards Rosendal."

Ntepe said the driver of the bakkie sped off when he realised he had been spotted.

In uniform and on duty

The bakkie was chased for about 30km until it was found parked on the premises of Rosendal police station.

The driver, who was trying to run away, was stopped and the vehicle searched.

Three bags of dagga were found on the front seat and there were another 16 bags in the back.

Ntepe said the 23-year-old constable was in full uniform and on duty when he was arrested.

Free State police commissioner Amon Mashigo said: "This kind of corrupt police official does not have a place in the South African Police Service.

"We are not going to tolerate this kind of behaviour in the police service," he said. SAPA

Dagga 'trees' cut down

2007-02-08T08:50:00.000+02:00

Ladysmith - Dagga smokers have been tossing their joint ends, and Nature has done its work, causing a massive growth in dagga bushes in and around the CBD.

SAPS area spokesperson, Captain Charmaine Struwig told the Witness that SAPS members had removed 7 321 dagga bushes valued at around R500 000, from vacant lots in between residential areas including Acaciavale, Lennoxville and areas adjacent to the CBD.

"They were more like trees, taller than our tall cops. The stems were 10 to 15cm in diameter. If we had not been using tree-poppers we would have been struggling," Struwig explained.

She said that the trees had not been deliberately cultivated, but were more likely the result of people discarding joints containing dagga seeds, speculating that dagga growers would have harvested the plants before they became so tall.

"There are a lot of vacant plots of land in Ladysmith in between residential areas which are densely overgrown. I mean, some of the weeds were as tall as the dagga trees," she said, adding that while Ladysmith had experienced "shoulder-high" dagga plants in previous years, this year had set records. The removed plants were all burnt, downwind of human settlements.

The SAPS would be monitoring the re-growth of the offending dagga plants, Struwig confirmed.

According to figures from a recently released South African Risk survey, in 2004 49% of teenagers used alcohol, 31% smoked and 13% used dagga regularly. The Witness

World's poor to be hardest hit by global warming: UN

2007-02-05T17:20:00.000+02:00

The world's poor, who are the least responsible for global warming, will suffer the most from climate change, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told environment ministers from around the world on Monday.

"The degradation of the global environment continues unabated ... and the effects of climate change are being felt across the globe," Ban said in a statement after last week's toughest warning yet that mankind is to blame for global warming.

In comments read on his behalf at the start of a major week-long gathering in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, Ban said all countries would feel the adverse impact of climate change.

"But it is the poor, in Africa and developing small island states and elsewhere, who will suffer the most, even though they are the least responsible for global warming."

Experts say Africa is the lowest emitter of the greenhouse gases blamed for rising temperatures, but due to its poverty, under-development and geography, has the most to lose under dire predictions of wrenching change in weather patterns... Reuters

110 Fires - 1000 people homeless

2007-01-25T18:06:00.001+02:00

It appears it's as hot as Sodom here - homes burning - publicAdministrators living it up - Sodomising the cityzenry - children burning....

A total of 110 fires have raged across greater Cape Town in just 24 hours - leaving firefighters exhausted and fearing the worst with temperatures in the city set to reach a blistering 38°C on Thursday…

The City of Cape Town’s acting chief fire officer, Ian Schnetler, said this morning that the 110 fires had been recorded between midnight on Tuesday and midnight last night - 66 of them grass or bush fires.

‘Close to 1 000 people had been left homeless after fires destroyed 240 shacks’

“Some firefighters left the stations at 9am yesterday (Wednesday) and had still not returned after 8pm last night,” said Schnetler. “It’s hectic.”

At the last count, close to 1 000 people had been left homeless after fires destroyed 240 shacks.

Help was at hand on Thursday for 320 people stranded when a devastating blaze tore through an informal settlement off Pama Road in Khayelitsha on Thursday, destroying 120 homes…Cape Argus

How to build an eco-house

2007-01-11T17:40:00.000+02:00

What does it mean to be green? Not too many months ago I visited a village in the Western Cape that has an eco-friendly home under construction. It also had no geysers, no electricity, hardly any plumbing and less than half a roof. Made of cob, it was all very interesting, but I came away thinking there would be no cold beer at the end of the day.

The truly green house is not connected to any grid. It collects its own water and generates its own energy. It also disposes of its own waste. It may even be carbon neutral or positive, selling excess clean energy into the central grid.

But it would be exceedingly costly and difficult -- stupid even -- to attempt such a house at present in the South African urban environment.

City homes can aim to be sustainable, though, if they are designed to minimise both inputs and outputs. They can aim to maximise efficiencies so that running costs are low, as is waste output.

Sustainable homes aim to limit negative effects on the environment by using local and natural materials, recycled items and local products and services. They aim to be low maintenance and maximise energy efficiency by good orientation to the sun and using effective insulation...

Some websites offer online checklists where you can score your home in terms of how sustainable it is. But these are usually of limited value as what makes sense in Europe, for instance, is unlikely to be suitable for Johannesburg. In the north heating is the main thing, in the south cooling may be as, or more, important...

Cement
The house has used a lot of cement, a natural product with almost magical building properties, but one that takes vast amounts of electricity to produce. Along the way I found out that by-products of industrial processes, such as fly ash or slag, can be used as extenders, reducing the cement content in each bag by up to 34%.

All cement bags are labelled to reflect this, you just have to know how to decode the label.

There is also a lot of embodied energy in the steel used to make windows, doors and stairs and to support three slabs.

The house is nearing completion. It will harvest rainwater, recycle grey water (from the washing machine and showers, but not from the dishwasher), it will use natural gas for space heating and hot water, lighting will be low-wattage and where there are large sections of glass, safety glass will be used which has better insulation properties. It will have a closed firebox linked to water-based under floor heating. An outbuilding will have a sod roof.

In the United Kingdom the market for ethical goods and services, at £29-billion, now exceeds that for cigarettes and alcohol, according to a recent report.

In Cape Town there appears to be an active market in green building products and services. In Gauteng there is none.

I have learned from this project that if there is an eco-consciousness in this country it is in Cape Town.

As far as Gauteng is concerned, Noah's flood could be coming, we don't know it and we don't care. M&G Kevin's Ark

How to build an Eco-Cannabrick Home

or read more below...

Driving Stoned vs. Driving Sober

2007-01-09T01:20:00.000+02:00

Here’s an interesting video aired on British television that’s been gaining popularity online.

It’s not the most scientifically sound piece of research on the planet, but it does illustrate the point that maybe driving while stoned isn’t as dangerous as everyone makes it out to be. The consensus is that a healthy dose of paranoia after smoking generates increased concentration in the driver. On the flip side, driving while drunk makes your more liable to take risks.

Pot is called biggest cash crop

2006-12-19T09:22:00.000+02:00

SACRAMENTO — For years, activists in the marijuana legalization movement have claimed that cannabis is America's biggest cash crop. Now they're citing government statistics to prove it.

A report released today by a marijuana public policy analyst contends that the market value of pot produced in the U.S. exceeds $35 billion — far more than the crop value of such heartland staples as corn, soybeans and hay, which are the top three legal cash crops.

California is responsible for more than a third of the cannabis harvest, with an estimated production of $13.8 billion that exceeds the value of the state's grapes, vegetables and hay combined — and marijuana is the top cash crop in a dozen states, the report states...

LA Times with video

Smell of R2m dagga was a giveaway

2006-12-14T09:58:00.000+02:00

Dagga worth about R2-million - concealed at the back of a truck believed to be owned by a Soweto man - has been discovered.

The 35-year-old driver, believed to be from Cape Town, was arrested by the Free State border police, but his accomplice fled the scene and is still on the run...

The Star

Leonardo Dicaprio - asks questions

2006-12-14T01:04:00.000+02:00

I’m an actor, environmentalist and board member of Global Green USA and the NRDC. In 1998 I founded the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation to foster awareness of environmental issues.

I'm becoming increasingly concerned that the impact of people on the planet is threatening our clean air to breathe, clean water to drink and the stable climate we live in... Yahoo! Answers

Vagrant high veld turned into fragrant green zone

2006-12-10T14:09:00.000+02:00

The Tshwane Metro Police are helping to reclaim a green area in Centurion for the birds, putting an end to the dagga-growing activities of local vagrants.

The Metro Police were alerted to the problem by Tshwane Nature Conservation that was recently granted control of the site. The area, on the corner of John Vorster and Nellmapius drives in Highveld, Centurion, is being transformed into a bird sanctuary called Findle Park.

Having long been a hide-out for vagrants, the situation turned dangerous when a group of 30 vagrants started stoning nature conservation workers tasked with clearing the area.

Tshwane nature conservationist Natalie Vos said they received complaints from their workers about the hostile vagrants. On further investigation the dagga plantation was found, which spanned more than a hectare. Pretoria News

Swazi Gold set to ease growing poverty

2006-11-26T15:15:00.000+02:00

A fundamental shift in Swaziland's attitude towards hemp, or dagga, the country's most lucrative cash crop, could be on the horizon.

The government is set to allow small-scale production of hemp to see if it has the potential to become an economically viable crop.

"In hemp we have an alternative to cotton, which has let us down badly over the past few years. It has been because of marijuana that we have found it difficult to talk about hemp, but that is changing, and we are beginning to shape public opinion to its benefits," said Lufto Dlamini, the Swazi Minister for Enterprise and Employment.

"The government is considering a proposal to grow hemp, and a decision will be reached by the end of this month. But I expect it will be given the go-ahead to grow for research purposes, and if that proves successful then we will see," he said.

'People are getting the idea that hemp can be used for purposes other than smoking'

Falling global prices for sugar and cotton, Swaziland's traditional crops, have led to dagga becoming "Swazi Gold" for many of the country's population, most of whom live on less than R7.20 a day.

According to the government's Annual Vulnerability Monitoring Report 2005, cotton prices have fallen steadily over the past few years as a result of international competition and last year's price for cotton was about 33 percent lower than the previous year.

A similar fate has befallen the sugar industry. The European Union plans to slash its price to suppliers in African, Caribbean and Pacific Least Developing Countries by 37 percent from the start of 2007 to bring it in line with the global price, causing the profits of Swazi producers to shrink significantly.

Dr Ben Dlamini, 70, a former education administrator in the Swazi Department of Education, was one of the first people to talk about the potential benefits of hemp production.

"The major emphasis on cannabis in Swaziland has always been on smoking it, but if we were to grow hemp commercially it would solve a lot of problems. It can be used to manufacture fuels, textiles, healthy oils and lotions," he said.

"People are getting the idea that hemp can be used for purposes other than smoking, but the process of understanding this is very slow."

Simon Mavimbela, 21, and Justice Dlamini, 26, have lived all their lives in Hhohho, in the north of the country, the main area for cultivating cannabis, where many people risk growing the illegal plant rather than other cash crops like maize or peanuts.

While both young men insisted that they did not grow cannabis themselves, they admitted that friends and members of their families had grown the plant for generations.

"People here will get around R80 for a 10kg bag of maize when they sell it at the market, but they will get R3 000 for a 10kg bag of cannabis if they can sell it to someone who is going to take it outside of Swaziland," Dlamini explained.

"A person can grow 30 10kg bags in a year up in the hills here, and they use the money to buy cows, furniture, send their children to school.

"We are in a good situation because our fathers grew dagga, so we could afford to go to school, have clothes and other benefits."

According to Dlamini, the only difference between growing cannabis and any other crop is that they have to avoid detection by the police by locating the plantations in inaccessible areas.

"If they are lucky, people from South Africa come and give them the money to start up. They then take the stuff through holes in the boarder fence into South Africa." - Tribune Foreign Correspondent

9 die in W Cape Fires

2006-11-20T19:11:00.000+02:00

Nine people died in fires across the province amid sweltering heat and strong winds at the weekend.

At least 60 people were left homeless by the fires.

Blazes in informal settlements were the biggest headache for fire services, Cape Town fire chief Sebastian Martin said on Monday. Cape Argus

Millions claimed after police burn Africannabis crop

2006-11-07T14:29:00.000+02:00

PRETORIA – A businessman from Brits and a Menlo Park company have instituted a damages claim for more than R5,8 million against Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula, after police arrested the man and destroyed his “scientific” dagga crop.

Transvaal Deputy Judge President Jerry Shongwe granted leave to businessman Russel de Beer and the company Leading Prospect Trading to proceed with legal action for unlawful arrest and delictual damages, despite them not giving timeous notice of their claim.

According to court papers, the police raided De Beer’s farm at Kameeldrift, near Brits, in February 2004, arrested him and destroyed his crops, stock and seeds.

This was despite the fact that he had been cultivating cannabis in collaboration with the Agricultural Research Council under permits issued by the Health Department since 2002, and had in fact developed a new variety of cannabis for industrial use.

De Beer was in the process of registering intellectual property rights in respect of the new variety locally and internationally, and had negotiated local and international contracts for the supply and cultivation of hemp when his crop was destroyed.

He was prosecuted for unlawful cultivation and dealing in a prohibited substance, but was acquitted.

Leading Prospect Trading, which owned the crop, is claiming R3,6 million damages, and De Beer more than R2,2 million for the injury to his good name and reputation, legal costs, loss of income and intellectual property rights and a loss of profits. Citizen Pretoria News IOL

Dagga growing under noses of police

2006-11-03T09:07:00.000+02:00

Hout Bay residents may be forgiven for believing the government has finally heeded calls to legalise dagga.

A flower bed in the middle of a traffic circle, in front of the Hout Bay police station, has provided fertile soil for a couple of marijuana plants that have mysteriously cropped up among the blooming vygies.

The dagga doesn't seem to be too high on the city council's agenda either, as workers continue to water them without noticing.

The plants were discovered by a landscaper, Tim Lundy, while working on the flower bed last week.

"Being a landscaper, I see these growing all over the place. You won't believe how many people grow it. A person must have been smoking weed and thrown down his stompie (in the flower bed). It's a few metres from the police station. And the council also happens to water the island."

Hout Bay police station commander Dirk Smit wouldn't believe it when told about the plants, and insisted the Cape Times was "pulling a prank" on him.

The interview didn't end on a high note. He hung up. Cape Times

SWAZILAND: Illegal cannabis could become legal 'Swazi Gold'

2006-10-30T22:41:00.000+02:00

(IRIN) - A fundamental shift in Swaziland's attitude towards the cannabis plant, or hemp, the country's most lucrative cash crop, could be on the horizon. The government is set to allow small-scale production of hemp to see if it has the potential to become an economically viable crop.

"In hemp we have an alternative to cotton, which has let us down badly over the last few years. It has been because of marijuana that we have found it difficult to talk about hemp, but that is changing, and we are beginning to shape public opinion to its benefits," said Lufto Dlamini, the Swazi Minister for Enterprise and Employment.

"The government is considering a proposal to grow hemp, and a decision will be reached by the end of this month. But I expect it will be given the go-ahead to grow for research purposes, and if that proves successful then we will see," he told IRIN.

Falling global prices for sugar and cotton, Swaziland's traditional crops, have led to cannabis, or 'dagga' as it is known locally, becoming 'Swazi Gold' for many of the country's impoverished population, most of whom live on less than US$1 a day.

According to the government's Annual Vulnerability Monitoring Report 2005, cotton prices have fallen steadily over the past few years as a result of international competition and last year's price for cotton was about 33 percent lower than the previous year.

A similar fate has befallen the sugar industry. The European Union plans to slash its price to suppliers in African, Caribbean and Pacific Least Developing Countries by 37 percent from the start of 2007 to bring it in line with the global price, causing the profits of Swazi producers to shrink significantly.

The ongoing decline of these major contributors to the agriculture sector, which is faltering as a whole, have led to widespread job losses and left many Swazis with no means of putting food on the table other than subsistence farming, including cannabis growing.

Swaziland's climate and soil are conducive to growing cannabis and the plant has been grown for many centuries, either for export or for use locally as a stimulant.

In the past four years an increasing number of entrepreneurs have suggested that the large-scale production of hemp would go a long way to counteracting poverty.

Dr Ben Dlamini, 70, a former education administrator in the Swazi Department of Education, was one of the first people to talk about the potential benefits of hemp production.

"The major emphasis on cannabis in Swaziland has always been on smoking it and getting a 'high', but if we were to grow hemp commercially it would solve a lot of problems. It can be used to manufacture fuels, textiles, healthy oils and lotions," he pointed out.

"People are getting the idea that hemp can be used for purposes other than smoking, but the process of understanding this is very slow."

Simon Mavimbela, 21, and Justice Dlamini, 26, have lived all their lives in Hhohho, in the north of the country, the main area for cultivating cannabis, where many people risk growing the illegal plant rather than other cash crops like maize or peanuts.

While both young men insisted that they did not grow cannabis themselves, they admitted that friends and members of their families had grown the plant for generations.

"People here will get around R80 [about US$11] for a 10kg bag of maize when they sell it at the market, but they will get R3,000 [about $405] for a 10kg bag of cannabis if they can sell it to someone who is going to take it outside of Swaziland," Dlamini explained.

"A person can grow 30 10kg bags in a year up in the hills here, and they use the money to buy cows, furniture, send their children to school. We are in a good situation because our fathers grew dagga, so we could afford to go to school, have clothes and other benefits."

According to Dlamini, the only difference between growing cannabis and any other crop is that they have to avoid detection by the police by locating the plantations in inaccessible areas.

"If they are lucky, people from South Africa come and give them the money to start up, and then come back and buy the cannabis after it has been harvested. They then take the stuff through holes in the boarder fence into South Africa. You have to be very careful, though, because the police are always around - people do all their crop-work early in the mornings, so that the police will not see what they are up to."

In 2005 the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimated that the global illegal trade in cannabis was worth $142bn and listed Swaziland as one of the major producers in southern and eastern Africa. IRIN NEWS

SWAZILAND: Fighting a losing battle against cannabis growers

2006-10-30T22:34:00.000+02:00

(IRIN) - You can smell the plant's sweet, peppery scent as it wafts through the Swazi bush in the mid-morning heat long before you see it.

After a 5km trek through the rugged terrain and tangled foliage that covers much of the country's northern Hhohho region, the unit of 30 police officers finally scrambled into a clearing.

Standing over six feet tall, row upon row of what they were looking for stretched out before them: hundreds of cannabis plants, also known as 'dagga' in this region, with the tools of the trade - shovels, plastic sheets and watering cans - scattered around its fringes; the growers were nowhere to be seen.

While it appeared to be a large find, the head of Swaziland's anti-drug unit, Supt Albert Mkhatshwa, who accompanied the search-and-destroy operation, maintained that such plantations were nothing out of the ordinary.

"This is just dagga being grown by some of the villagers close by. We will spray it with weed killer and the plants will be dead in a day or so, but if we come back in a month's time it is likely more will be growing in the same spot.

"The people know we don't have the necessary resources to cover the whole area, so they will take a chance that we will not come back soon. People have been growing herbal cannabis for a long time in Swaziland, long before it was illegal," he said.

Swaziland's climate and soil are conducive to growing the plant, and the people have known and used it for hundreds of years. However, over the last decade the combination of international demand and extreme poverty - about 70 percent of the country's one million people live on US$2 or less a day - has led to widespread cultivation.

The crop is grown in such large quantities that the United Nations Drug Control Programme has listed the country, which covers only 17,363sq.km, as one of the main cannabis-growing areas in southern Africa. The latest Interpol statistics estimate that east and southern Africa supplied 9 percent of the global $142 billion cannabis trade in 2004, with the region's major producers being identified as Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Swaziland and Tanzania.

'Swazi Gold' cannabis is internationally known for its potency - users experience a mild hallucinogenic affect when they ingest or smoke it - and consequently it is a highly sought after commodity in neighbouring South Africa as well as Europe.

An almost insatiable worldwide demand for the substance has attracted international crime syndicates to the country to fund and organise the large-scale production of dagga by locals.

According to South Africa's Institute for Security Studies (ISS), a regional think-tank, the financial proceeds are then used to fund other illegal activities.

"Of the cannabis that is harvested, the best quality is earmarked for compression into one- or two-kilogram blocks that are smuggled via South Africa and Mozambique to Europe and the UK [United Kingdom]," said a recent ISS report on Swaziland's cannabis trade.

"Nigerian criminal networks have moved into the dominant position in the Swazi cannabis trade during the past few years, and the proceeds of their sales in Europe are used to pay for cocaine purchased in South America, which is then smuggled to South Africa and elsewhere."

After consulting police experts in Swaziland and the European Union (EU), the ISS revealed that growers at the point of sale in Swaziland received between $45 and $52 per kilogram, depending on quality. However, once the narcotic has reached the EU's streets its retail value is about 140 times that amount, with high-quality Swazi Gold fetching as much as US$7,600 a kilogram in the UK.

So far, the limited success of the Swazi police in controlling the illegal trade has coincided with locating the plants before they were harvested. Once compressed and packaged, consignments are taken into neighbouring countries using back roads, or simply through holes cut in the border fence, which are "notoriously difficult to monitor," said Supt Mkhatshwa.

The successes in the field were largely due to assistance given by the South African and United States governments, both of which provided specialised equipment, such as helicopters and off-road vehicles, to help the anti-drug units locate plantations grown in areas not easily accessible by road.

South Africa recently withdrew its assistance, leaving the Swazi police to tackle the problem with the meagre resources at their disposal.

South African Police spokesperson Ronan Naidoo said the South African government had assisted the Swazi police with aerial surveys and crop spraying aircraft in the past, but co-operation on operations was no longer in place because of escalating costs. "There have been many joint operations, but they have to involve a joint covering of the expenses involved for them to continue," he told IRIN.

Swaziland, ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Sahara's last absolute monarch, saw its economy contract from 2.1 percent growth, last year to 1.8 percent this year, while the population increased by 2.9 percent, the central bank said in a report to the government this month.

Consequently, Supt Mkhatshwa now dispatches his anti-drug units into dense bush and mountainous areas on foot, with nothing more than a container of weed killer on their backs and a spray gun in their hands.

"I send men into the bush to survey the areas for the dagga plantations and once they find a sizable crop a larger group goes back and sprays the area. We are doing this every two weeks, but it is not having much impact.

"A couple of years ago the South Africans did aerial surveys for us over the inaccessible regions, and when they found plantations they either sprayed them from the air or flew us in to spray them. This co-operation enabled us to rid ourselves of large amounts of dagga growing in areas that take a full day to get to by foot," he said.

The latest statistics compiled by the Swazi anti-drug unit show that in the first seven months of this year 2,407kg of compressed cannabis was seized, and a further 356.5ha of cannabis plantations were destroyed.

"If we were able to do real surveys we would be able to destroy lots more than we have done. It is so difficult to reach the plantations in the mountainous areas. Often times they are so large that we are not able to carry enough chemicals to spray all the plants. Unless we get help, this [problem] will become extremely difficult to control," he said.

IRIN NEWS

Stranded and stoned:

2006-10-27T16:33:00.000+03:00

Tens of thousands of Capetonians were left stranded, buses were stoned and at least three commuters injured as protests by taxi drivers entered a second day on Friday.

There was widespread stoning of Golden Arrow buses as residents of Khayelitsha, Crossroads and Nyanga queued for hours - often in vain - for alternative transport into the city, Bellville and east towards Somerset West.

A large police contingent descended on the suburbs and arterial routes shortly before dawn, but the stoning continued. Cape Argus

Habitat Research

2006-10-24T09:47:00.000+03:00

“Research makes no difference to the human habitat environment unless it is translated into policy, practice, promotion and products,”

70 Actionable Ideas - World Urban Forum

Fishhoek blaze leaves 300 families homeless

2006-10-19T08:55:00.000+03:00

More than 300 families were left homeless on Thursday after fires ravaged an informal settlement in Fishhoek, Cape Town local disaster management said.

Spokesperso Craig Pillay said fire-fighters responded to a reported fire at Masiphulele township at about 2am.

"The fire department responded in 10 minutes and managed to put blazes under control."

No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire was unknown.

"We have contacted NGOs to assist the victims. The Red Cross would provide blankets and the Salvation Army would provide warm meals," Pillay said.

He said the city council would provide shelter to the affected families. - Sapa

AfriCAN HOUSEIT - Cape Town's - Shack Towns

2006-10-17T10:27:00.000+03:00

Google Earth view of Cape Town's informal settlements

View the web based option from here: Google Maps Shacks

Open this Placemark

If you have Google Earth installed.

Download Google Earth free here: http://earth.google.com/

(Please note this program is not suited for older computers)

Cape fires kill, leave hundreds homeless

2006-10-16T07:45:00.000+03:00

A three-year-old girl died and more than 130 people were left homeless after fires ravaged two informal settlements in the Western Cape on Saturday and Sunday, the SABC reported.

On Saturday, the child was killed and more than 60 people were left homeless after 15 shacks were destroyed in Wallacedene, near Kraaifontein.

On Sunday, the SABC reported that a second fire had surged through Joe Slovo Park, near Milnerton, leaving more than 70 residents of 29 dwellings homeless but unhurt.

Cape Town disaster management spokesperson Wilfred Solomon said that the cause of the fires was not known.

He said they were providing the necessary relief, accommodation, blankets and food as well as building materials to both communities. - Sapa

Fire leaves scores homeless in Khayelitsha

2006-09-18T09:03:00.000+03:00

About 75 people have been left homeless after a fire razed their shacks in Khayelitsha on the Cape Flats early this morning.

A spokesperson for Fire and Rescue says more than 28 shacks were destroyed. No deaths or injuries have been reported. The cause of the fire is being investigated. SABC

New links to Cannabis brick demonstrations

2006-09-11T19:35:00.000+03:00

Please see the links on the left to MMM 2003 -2005: A new page will open for each link.

Details for cannabrick construction can be found here on Houseit or at InternAfrica

Boy dabbling with dagga, sentenced to gang rape

2006-09-09T14:14:00.000+03:00

A FEW days later, Wimpie, a white boy who was dabbling with dagga, is put in our cell. I don’t know how old he really is, perhaps 16 or more, but he looks no older than 14, with skinny arms and short, spiky-crowned, brown hair.

The 28 gang give him a chocolate bar in the morning and it’s obvious what his eating of it preludes. Still, it is strange how even the minds of paedophilic rapists seem to demand some sort of mechanism by which they can excuse their crimes. They’ve given him a chocolate bar and they are going to enjoy having him repay the kindness.

It isn’t meant for Wimpie to be spending the evening in a cell full of libido-possessed 28s, but the warders took care of that. They know what to do to keep the prisoners happy.

The night it happens, I am in a cell with 80 men. What I am about to witness will make ridiculous the notion that someone can be safer in a crowd.

Three-quarters of the men do not want to be part of this, or they are excluded. The other 20, they know one another, and begin the sick game with the boy. He is cocky and tells them to leave him alone.

“What are you doing?”

He tries to fight, and so they hit him. His resistance stops abruptly when one grabs the back of his head and smashes his face into the steel bars ...

The boy has been in prison for weeks now, but this is his first moment of true captivity.

The 20 take it in turns to rape him. It goes on for more than eight hours, almost the whole night. The boy does everything he can, in his pathetic, limited range of action, to try to deter them, but he is ignored. He screams, he cries, he begs, he tries to bargain, he prays.

He is ignored ... Bück dich (Bend Over)

It is in the morning, though, that I am forced to see what life has coughed up before me. What’s left of Wimpie is lying in a corridor between the bunks, just in front of my bed. He is still naked, shivering in a pool of his own blood where they have discarded him. I will literally have to step over the small body to go and eat my breakfast. I am about to do just that, too, when I look him in the eyes.

All of the racist hate and hardness of my heart seems cheap. Is it important where a victim is born, where he went to school, whether or not his ethnicity gave him advantages denied others, or whether or not he is white or black?

In suffering, we are all the same.

How can I step over this cosmically battered body, and sit down to breakfast? How can anyone?

Right there, in that dismal space, with other men’s clothing strewn about on rusting beds, beside bars with psoriatic, peeling paint, I am alone with this boy’s pain.

I no longer know how I can continue to live. I have no more answers, and I am tired of all the old questions too.

The Gayton McKenzie Story Sunday times : Redemption

Toddlers burn to death in Cape fire

2006-08-28T13:53:00.000+03:00

Two toddlers, aged one and three, have been burnt to death in one of the fires that had devastated various parts of Cape Town this weekend. Full Story...

Babylonian legacy - A Hard day in the home of spin

2006-08-22T13:26:00.000+03:00

In 2004 our esteemed premier launched a social works program that was to provide jobs and reticulation for development.

Funds for this project, were diverted to housing the victims of the Joe Slovo 3rd large fire.

Housing was put on hold for housing…

Then the N2 gateway happened, bad plans, project outsourced to a non-local organization, and two keys delivered.

3 years, since the last public works spin by the Premier – housing has done nothing but deliver temporary shelter at the same cost as it would have cost to resolve the situation.

Then clearly there was something in it for someone in the N2 Gateway development…

It would appear we are back at square one three years later…

I’m sure I’ve read this before…

Good times roll on in building industry

Seattle hempfest

2006-08-18T10:51:00.000+03:00

The oozing abscess of Cape society – picking on the homeless

2006-08-18T10:18:00.000+03:00

Three 19-year-olds accused of murdering a man in the Tygerberg area said in the Bellville regional court on Thursday that they "kicked and punched him because he was homeless".

Klaas Thomas, a homeless man from Ridgeworth, died of his injuries in Tygerberg Hospital on April 19, 2004... Cape Times

Flood-damge bill continues to rise

2006-08-16T11:30:00.000+03:00

While figures for the flood damage to the Southern Cape are four times higher than those given initially, Premier Ebrahim Rasool has reiterated that the region will not be declared a disaster area.

Speaking on Tuesday during a legislative assembly debate, Rasool said that, while initial estimates had hovered around R80-million, the latest figure was R353-million.

The Southern Cape was ravaged by floods when it was struck by a cut-off low pressure system with heavy rains and gale-force winds.

Rasool said the Eden district and parts of the Klein Karoo had "borne the brunt" of the floods. The Overberg and Winelands had also received considerable damage.

The damage to private property came to about R150m, roads and bridges R51m and rail damage was about R25m. Agriculture had suffered about R40m in losses - a figure that was growing. IOL

PE residents say they are neglected after floods

2006-08-15T07:36:00.000+03:00

Residents in the low lying area of Chatty in Port Elizabeth say they still have not received any help from the municipality almost after two weeks since the devastating floods destroyed many parts of the city.

A metro spokesperson says that they are dealing with the situation area by area.
But they confirmed that they have not yet visited Chatty despite it being one of the hardest hit.

Residents say they are desperate for any kind of help. The only aid has come from the Red Cross and local business.

Meetings have been held to find alternative land for those who have been displaced. A report tabled by a metro special council meeting estimates flood damage in the metro to be as much as R120 million. - SABC

Cape power outages cost businesses R1 billion

2006-08-15T07:34:00.000+03:00

Business in Cape Town says the recent electricity crisis in the Western Cape has cost them about R1 billion. This emerged at a function where Alec Erwin, the public enterprises minister, Thulani Gcabashe, the Eskom CEO, and Ebrahim Rasool, the premier, thanked business and consumers for their support during the electricity recovery process. - SABC

Mother dies in Oudtshoorn shack fire

2006-08-14T20:19:00.000+03:00

A woman died and her daughter was injured when their shack caught fire on an Oudtshoorn farm on Sunday, Western Cape police said. The woman, 31, was sleeping in the shack with her husband and two children when the fire started about 1am, said Captain Malcolm Pojie on Monday.

“The husband woke up and discovered that the shack was on fire and took the children out.

“When he returned to save his wife the fire had already covered the shack and he could not get in,” said Pojie.

Their 10-year-old daughter sustained severe burn wounds on her arms, hands and legs.

The cause of the fire was not known. – Sapa.

City's housing crisis "almost insurmountable" - Mayor

2006-08-14T10:42:00.000+03:00

At last from Helen's lips to Gods Ear ... the truth is spoke:

Mayor Helen Zille warned recently of large-scale land invasions if the housing backlog was not addressed, saying the city's housing crisis was "almost insurmountable".

However those of you who read this blog with regularity will know that by building an EcoHome from the industrial cannabis South Africa has so much of.

These Green Building carry the highest available LEED rating, and they lessen the city foot print in development and delivering Homes - by building your own

Cannabrick Home

SA floods - more to come?

2006-08-10T20:38:00.000+03:00

According to the South African Weather Service, more cold weather is expected in the Southern and Eastern Cape in the next few days, which raises concerns in the South African Red Cross Society about the safety of communities left vulnerable after last week's torrential rain.

The downpours and flooding were experienced in the Southern and Eastern Cape from 31 July to 3 August 2006. During this time, at least five people died, one a four-year-old child and 14 were declared missing. 50 communities were left stranded and more than 1000 people were forced to evacuate their informal settlement homes to escape the rising flood waters.

The predictions of further bad weather, although indicating that the rain will be much less severe than last week, still raises concerns at The South African Red Cross Society for the vulnerable communities still trying to rebuild their lives after last week's floods. Reuters

Shack Floodlands

2006-08-04T08:31:00.000+03:00

Saving lives: Professional and volunteer rescue services worked together to rescue dozens of people across flooded Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage. Photo: Steve Lawrence, The Star.

Toddler killed in shack fire

2006-08-01T09:56:00.000+03:00

A two-year-old girl burnt to death on Thursday after her mother left her locked in a shack with a paraffin stove on, emergency management services said.

Spokesperson Malcolm Midgley said the girl's mother had visited neighbours at 8am. When she returned, her shack was engulfed in fire.

"When firefighters got to the scene, the shack had already collapsed and the baby was dead," he said.

It was not yet clear whether the mother would be charged.

Midgley said the Alexandra toddler's death was the third fire-related death in two days, all in shack fires.

On Wednesday, two children were burnt to death in separate incidents in Johannesburg.

A boy, 8, was burnt to death while sleeping with his parents in a shack in Lombardy East and a two-year-old toddler was killed when a shack caught fire in Ivory Park. - Sapa

Black Congo Cannabis Can Help

2006-07-30T11:00:00.000+03:00

I've heard of the wonder of the Congo Cannabis, it's resilience to mold and rot.

The beauty of a plant and a people so pure in a country of so much wealth human, natural and mineral, the potential without clothing to do all that is necessary to make a point.

"I can't harm you"

There are many pictures - DEPICTING - the injustice, and a clear - peacefull - demonstration by young and old. None that speak like this.

I am Naked - you are armed.

My thoughts and hopes and prayers are with the Congo at this time - the Heart of Africa!

Big Up Sunday Times!

it appears South African 'peace keepers' are NOT HELPING the situation:

SA peacekeepers ‘an embarrassment’

Shocking figures were released during a workshop organised by the SANDF’s operational law directorate in Tshwane this week. More than half of the military violations — committed between 2002 and this year — involved absence without leave, disobeying lawful commands and drunkenness. A further 230 serious criminal cases, including assault, indecent assault, theft, rape and murder, were tried in the military courts in Burundi, the DRC and South Africa.

"It brings shame and dishonour to the efforts of the military in making a contribution in war-torn countries. There is a direct link between alcohol abuse and the crimes committed"

"Democracy has been subverted and this will lead to chaos,"

2006-07-24T09:49:00.000+03:00

South Africans give far too much power to the office of the president without any checks and balances to ensure that these powers are not abused.

This observation was made by Sipho Seepe, a political analyst and head of Henley Management College, during a workshop in Durban at the weekend to debate the "prerogative" powers conferred by the constitution on the president and the premiers of the provinces.

Addressing the workshop, organised by the Democratic Professionals Association of Southern Africa, Seepe said the "crisis" had begun in 1997 when the ANC gave the power to its president to appoint premiers, directors-general of departments and the mayors of major municipalities won by the party.

"Dictators will kill for these powers. I warned long ago about the dangers of the centralisation of powers which removes checks and balances," Seepe said.

Forty families left homeless

2006-07-23T18:11:00.000+03:00

Forty families were left homeless when their shacks were razed by fire on Saturday morning, Durban police said.

Inspector Rani John said the fire was sparked by a candle in one of the shacks at Quarry road informal settlement outside Durban.

"Forty shacks were burnt down at 2am on Saturday but no one was injured."

"The local councillor was contacted and together with other locals managed to supply food, clothing and temporary shelter to the affected people," she said. - Sapa

Woodstock squatters defy city council

2006-07-20T15:19:00.000+03:00

Squatters legally evicted from a Woodstock, Cape Town, premises the city council leased to the unregistered Al Noor orphanage, have moved onto an adjacent sports field in Mountain Road.

The five families, including 16 children, now live in tents donated to them by the community and hang their rain-drenched blankets and clothing on the surrounding fence.

One little girl, who stays in a tent with her parents and sister, was given a birthday cake on Wednesday by a couple from the neighbourhood. Cape Times

An innocent man died because an abscess in society has burst open

2006-07-19T10:57:00.000+03:00

Farmers blamed for Loots' death;

Rawsonville - A new body for farm workers has put the blame for the death of rugby player Riaan Loots squarely on the way farmers in the Rawsonville area treat their employees.

Before Ben Zimri, 26, of Ceres and Wayne Matthee, 19, of Paarl, were released on Tuesday, they were ordered to appear in the magistrate's court again on September 8.

They have been charged with murder after the death of 24-year-old Loots.

Loots, the star flyhalf of the Rawsonville Rugby Club, died after a match between Delicious of Ceres and Rawsonville on June 23, during which he was hit in the throat in a stiff-arm tackle and then apparently kicked in the head.

Henry Gouws, chairperson of a new co-ordinating body for farmworkers which was founded on Tuesday at Stellenbosch, said an innocent man had died because an abscess in society had burst open.

Human-rights violations

"Farmers must ask themselves honestly: 'What was my contribution to the death of young Riaan? How do I treat my people and the people around me?' "

Gouws, who is also spokesperson for the Amwa farmworkers' union, said most of the complaints from farmworkers came from this area, and they were mainly about human rights violations.

He referred to a series of incidents, including one in which a farm manager from the area allegedly assaulted a woman farm worker.

When she wanted to lay a charge against him, he apparently threatened to evict her from the farm.

He claims the same manager also assaulted a young boy so severely that the child had to spend a day in hospital.

"The people go to the rugby field burning with frustration," he said.

"An abscess burst open and an innocent man had to pay the price for the deeds of others."

Farm evictions criticised

Die Burger

Sucksess - "The homeless are sick and tired of excuses"

2006-07-19T10:35:00.000+03:00

The obstacles of this project - national Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu.

As a steady stream of luxury cars passed the crowd bound for the formal celebrations, the cries of “Sisulu is lying” and “Down with the ANC” grew louder.

Many of the hopeful residents had taken a day off work to receive their houses.

Cape Times

afriCaNN

2006-07-16T10:41:00.000+03:00

CNN today announced its broadest ever focus on Africa with the official launch of ‘Eye on Africa’ in Johannesburg, a dedicated week-long initiative that spotlights the current developments and potential for hope taking place across the African continent.

The week of July 16-22, 2006 promises to provide the global viewer with a comprehensive view on the emerging Africa and the potential for hope on this vast continent.

Majority of poor people live on R20 a day

2006-07-14T12:06:00.000+03:00

While some people spend more than R20 a day on breakfast alone, people in half of South Africa's households live on R20 or less a day.

This is according to a study by Eighty20, based on official statistics published by Statistics SA in Pretoria.

The study, reported in Business Report on Thursday, found that people in 5.2-million households were living on less than R20 each a day.

'It's painful to see them'

It also showed that 1.3-million households in rural areas and 990 000 urban households were unable to meet daily food needs. Pretoria News

HOUSEIT AFRICAN!

2006-07-14T00:06:00.000+03:00

All Housing MECs are expected to be present when Sisulu launches phase two of the N2 Gateway project in Langa next week.

Against the backdrop of a fraud and corruption case being played out where previous MECs developed without thinking...

The Rurality of Cape Urbanism

2006-07-13T23:49:00.000+03:00

The danger posed by stray animals to motorists is to feature in community meetings law enforcement agencies are to hold to make the N2's "hell run" safer.

"This is part of an overall plan to secure the freeway. We will have three mini imbizos with the residents of Delft, Wesbank and Khayelitsha to talk to them about safety on the N2. We want people also to be sensitised about the danger of stray animals," community safety spokesperson Makhaya Mani said.

His comments followed two incidents. On Monday, a Durbanville advocate struck a stray horse on a road parallel to the N2.

Janene Rheeder, the prosecutor in the murder case of designer Richard Bloom and his friend Brett Goldin, was treated for whiplash and other injuries.

On Tuesday a Metro police patrol vehicle was stoned. Cape Times

Calculating Housing Soccer...

2006-07-13T07:17:00.000+03:00

The Total: R21 Billion will be sponsored by private enterprise.

If the private sector could mobalise the same amount of money for housing -

South Africa could RESOLVE the housing backlog in the Western Cape 3xOver!

When we...

Build from an appropriate affordable
proven green construction technology

South Africa - Is the 3rd largest producer of Industrial Cannabis in the World!

We have the crop to resolve the housing backlog!

Mamma says look - a solution

Govt struggling to cope with housing demand - Minister Lindiwe Sisulu Business Day, South Africa - Oct 14, 2005

Sisulu appealed to the private sector and construction companies to help the government solve the housing crisis.

Rapid urbanisation 'a serious problem'

...Sisulu could not say how much of the government's housing money is lost to corruption...

She rejected the idea of turning dagga plants into bricks as a cheaper alternative to building materials.

"It's a very cooling method of building a house, (sic Energy Effecient) but not what we advocate." -- SAPA

Read M&G article

& re the world’s happiest country

“A place which is not a consumer-driven society. Life here is about community and family and goodwill to other people. It’s a place where you don’t worry too much.”

The Happy Planet Index, compiled by the British think-tank New Economics Foundation.

The index combines life satisfaction, life expectancy and environmental footprint — the amount of land required to sustain the population and absorb its energy consumption.

Lower down the list…

156. South Africa.
167 Botswana
171 Lesotho

175 Democratic Republic of Congo

176 Burundi

177 Swaziland

178 Zimbabwe - Bottom of the list.

Poor quality housing for shack dwellers

2006-07-13T07:15:00.000+03:00

Thousands of shack and plastic structure dwellers of a squatter camp in Limpopo are looking forward to moving into their new RDP homes. However, most of the houses are incomplete, while some are of poor quality. - SABC

------------------------------------------------------

Residents of KwaNonqaba township in Mossel Bay, who received Reconstruction and Development (RDP) houses 10 years ago, are today living in homes which are cracking and leaking, thanks to the legacy of poor workmanship and fly-by-night contractors during the first years of providing houses for the poor after 1994.

For years, the responsibility of who should fix the ramshackle houses has been passed backwards and forwards between the Mossel Bay Municipality and the provincial department of housing. - SABC

Police Stoned!

2006-07-12T20:44:00.000+03:00

Faceless attackers have stoned a police patrol vehicle on the N2 Cape Town bound despite safety measures having been stepped up on the notorious "hell run". Full Story...

Three killed in Joburg shack fire

2006-07-12T09:12:00.000+03:00

Three people, including an eight-year-old boy and his parents, have been killed in a shack fire in Lombardy East, north of Johannesburg.

Malcolm Midgely, the Johannesburg emergency services spokesperson, says the fire started at two this morning at an informal settlement, but firefighters were notified too late. When they arrived at the scene, the shack was completely destroyed and the family had been killed.

Meanwhile, Cofimvaba police in the Eastern Cape are investigating a case of culpable homicide after eight people burnt to death in a shack fire at Nququ Forest Sawmill. - SABC

Eight burn to death in shack fire, police inquire

2006-07-12T09:09:00.000+03:00

Cofimvaba police in the Eastern Cape are investigating a case of culpable homicide after eight people burnt to death in a shack fire at Nququ Forest Sawmill.

Zamikhaya Qinisile, a police spokesperson, says four adults and four children were burnt beyond recognition. One man survived the tragedy.

Meanwhile, yesterday Southern Cape police have opened an inquest docket following the death of a 38-year-old man after his shack was gutted by fire at Qolweni informal settlement at Plettenberg Bay.

Malcolm Pojie, a police spokesperson, says the cause of the fire is not known at this stage. He has ruled out any possibility of foul play. Pojie says the incident took place early Sunday morning. The man only identified as Mxhakayi was the only victim of the fire. - SABC

Police eviction notices may lead to suicides, officer warns

2006-07-11T12:12:00.000+03:00

One of 150-odd policemen served with eviction notices by Western Cape police management has warned that "this is the type of thing that pushes police to commit suicide".

The inspector is one of at least 50 police officers who have been given until the end of the month to vacate their police residences in Park Court flats, Kenilworth.

The inspector, who declined to be named for fear of reprisals, said he would not be surprised if the punitive action by the police's top management resulted in displaced policemen "picking up a gun" as a away out.

Speaking on behalf of colleagues, who were afraid to talk to the media for fear of being fired, the inspector said: "We must fight crime for them (police management) but they do nothing for us. We are not animals." Cape Times

Three killed in shack fire

2006-07-09T20:40:00.000+03:00

Three people were killed in a shack fire at an informal settlement in Gugulethu, the Western Cape, on Sunday morning, police Captain Randall Stoffels said.

A 60-year-old woman and her two grandsons, aged five and nine, inside the shack perished.

A 16-year-old boy sustained superficial burn wounds to the face and has been taken to hospital.

Stoffels said he was not certain whether the 16-year-old was the boys' cousin or brother.

The four have been identified as Mandaba, Npokozo, Solile and Xolani Peter.

No foul play was suspected and the cause of the fire was not yet known. - Sapa

Fabu-LAS Fuel Levy

2006-07-06T10:00:00.000+03:00

As a member of the public HouseIT would like to take part in the public participation process with regard to the new fuel levy. Naturally according to the PAIA (public Access to information act) you have to request information from the information officer.
Information Officer: Transport and Public Works Mr Thami W Manyathi;
who is also the Department Head. Tel:(021) 483 5520/2826

In two days of trying to find out who what where:
05/07/2006: (021) 483 5520 Magdalene promised Jackie would get back to me when she got out of the meeting – This did not happen.
06/07/2006 Sheriniquie pa to Thami W Manyathi told me to call Treasury:
(021) 483-4709 Who told me to phone 483-5887 483-8683 There I spoke to Shirley Robinson’s secretary Gadija who said Anthony Phillips is working on the fuel levy she would leave the message for him to contact me regarding the time and place for the public participation process…

Orphanage puts Cape families on the street

2006-07-05T09:45:00.000+03:00

The City of Cape Town is to investigate the eviction of six families, including 16 children, from a sought-after property in Upper Woodstock that is leased by a controversial unregistered orphanage. Full Story...

Finance Minister imposes levy without a public plan for transport

2006-07-05T09:39:00.000+03:00

Finance Minister Trevor Manuel has given his approval for a provincial fuel levy that will see Western Cape motorists paying between 10c and 50c per litre of petrol in addition to the existing national fuel levy. Full Story....

Now HouseIT - fully support an improved transportation system. This is very much key to a productive habitat - we all know getting around Cape Town's bad road system, and priority users (like Thabo Mbeki) who Zoom through the traffic as if they own the only road to town...

HOWEVER!

This is not the century to impose levies without a public plan that covers things like?

How much money will this levy raise?
How will it be put to use?
What transport infrastructure will be upgraded?
When?
Are those plans made?
Can we see them?
When will we be able to review the financial records?

etc... What am I paying extra for?

The proposal will go through a process of public consultation before it can be implemented. IAfrica

Click Here for Government Contact list:
Press Ctrl+F and search for Transport and Public Works

A Joint, Initiative, accelerated shared growth, & economic development

2006-07-03T10:48:00.000+03:00

The South African government is engaged in a major drive to sell its two latest horrifying acronyms - Asgisa and Jipsa - to donor countries.

These two sound like terrible diseases but they are not, of course - at least not literally. They stand, respectively, for the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa and the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition.

Part of that misgiving relates to black economic empowerment. Some governments are a bit unhappy about South Africa tapping donors to finance skills training when skilled whites are available who have been put out of work by BEE. Full acyromonny

Asigsa & Jipsa yourself by building your own home!

An African WAC would be good

2006-06-25T10:58:00.000+03:00

UN Water for Asian Cities

HouseIT Built from Ma!

2006-06-25T09:04:00.000+03:00

Ma - Cannabis in Chinese.

WuHu ! - I look forward to visiting, as well as the limestone pinnacles on the Yangzi, and Dongtan, and and Nanjing.... WuHu!!! I am excited about this trip already!!!!

The Fourth Session of the World Urban Forum in 2008 will be hosted by the Ministry of Construction of China and the City of Nanjing.

HouseIT & InternAfrica will be there...

China NEVER stopped growing MA!

Dongtan Eco-city, Shanghai, China

2006-06-23T15:04:00.000+03:00

British design consultancy Arup has announced that it has been tapped by the Chinese government to lead the construction of an "eco-city" expansion to Shanghai. Dongtan, the expanded development near Shanghai's airport, will eventually cover about 8,800 hectares -- roughly the size of Manhattan island. Shanghai claims that the Dongtan project will be "the world's first genuinely eco-friendly city," using recycled water, cogeneration and biomass for energy, and striving to be as carbon-neutral as possible.

The first phase, a 630 hectare development including a mix of transport facilities, schools, housing and high-tech industrial spaces, will begin construction late next year, and is expected to be completed by 2010.

So what does it mean to be a "genuinely eco-friendly city?" Arup gives this overview:

Priority projects include the process of capturing and purifying water in the landscape to support life in the city. Community waste management recycling will generate clean energy from organic waste, reducing landfills that damage the environment. Combined heat and power systems will provide the technology to source clean and reliable energy. Dongtan will be a model ecological city, and its buildings will help to reduce energy use, making efficient use of energy sources and generating energy from renewable sources.

World Changing

Oh my National Security - SHIT! It's a ticking time bomb

2006-06-21T15:50:00.000+03:00

South Africa's underfunded, badly managed sewage works in many towns are "ticking timebombs" that could lead to outbreaks of waterborne diseases, while drinking water in many rural towns fails to meet government health standards.

These were some of the startling submissions made to parliament's water affairs portfolio committee on Tuesday on the first of two days of public hearings on water quality.

Full story - Shit hitting the fan

From seed to Cannabrick

2006-06-21T14:22:00.000+03:00

Google Cannabrick ... Clusty Cannabrick

Groups slam 'bylaw out of the Dark Ages' - More victimless criminals

2006-06-20T16:04:00.000+03:00

Human rights and social welfare organisations have criticised the Cape Town city council's newly adopted prevention of nuisances bylaw, saying it will criminalise the poor and the homeless. Full Story...