Category Archives: ANÉL LEWIS

Cape Times: Half a million without santitation in Cape Town

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http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20100301081722818C250646

Half a million have no loos
March 01 2010 at 11:01AM

By Anel Lewis
Metro Writer

More than 100 000 households, or half a million people, in Cape Town do not have access to basic sanitation.

According to a research report by international initiative Water Dialogues South Africa, about 37 percent of the 128 000 city households living in informal settlements have no access to any sanitation system.

While more than two thirds of these residents have been supplied with bucket sanitation options, including the black bucket and Porta-Pottis toilets, the report notes that the servicing of these toilets falls “far short” of required standards.

Karen Goldberg, who prepared the report, said the figure of 100 000 households with no sanitation at all was not reported in any of the city’s official reports.

The city’s reported sanitation backlog of 47 650 households only refers to households without any form of sanitation.

The 80 500 that reportedly have some form of sanitation have to rely on the bucket system, which is not considered a basic form of sanitation.

“It is clear from the research that the data available is not being properly interrogated. This is leading to misreporting which has significant implications for planning.”

The city has about 3,3 million people or 884 000 households and population growth is estimated to be 1,65 percent annually.

This includes an influx of about 48 000 people each year to the province.

The city has been under fire recently for its provision of basic services.

A furore erupted when the ANC Youth League complained about open toilets in Khayelitsha. The city said there was an agreement with residents that they would build the enclosures if the council provided the toilets.

The report criticised the city for “falling short” of its monitoring and regulation responsibilities.

Goldberg said the officials in charge of the contracts did not make sure that the service providers adhered to their contracts.

“The only regulation that currently appears to be occurring is through reporting mechanisms which is grossly insufficient and open to abuse.”

Goldberg said the city had an “ad hoc” approach to sanitation service provision and that planning for informal settlements was “haphazard”.

She said this was partly because of the city’s perception that informal settlements were temporary and not worthy of long-term investment or planning.

She said the city’s strategy was to provide emergency levels of service to all informal settlements, and to improve these services over time.

Goldberg’s report noted that only 2,6 percent or 64 staff of the city’s water and sanitation department worked in informal settlements.

anel.lewis@inl.co.za

Cape Times: Less than 2% on list will get a proper place to live – city

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And Lindiwe Sisulu recommended a ‘politics of patience’….

http://www.capetimes.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=5142336

18 years to overcome backlog
Less than 2% on list will get a proper place to live – city

August 28, 2009 Edition 2

ANÉL LEWIS

LESS than 2 percent of people on the city’s housing list will be assured of getting a housing opportunity because of delivery constraints, says the City of Cape Town.

And it would take the city 18 years to overcome its housing backlog if it could deliver 38 000 houses annually.

The city’s delivery rate is about 10 000 houses a year.

This means that many of the city’s 180 000 backyard dwellers living on the property of council rental stock are being forced to pay the tenants high rentals with no lease agreement or surety of residence.

ACDP councillor Vincent Bergh has recommended the city enter into lease agreements with these backyard dwellers “who are left at the mercy” of its tenants.

By doing nothing to stop the practice, the city council was “aiding and abetting” its tenants in charging “enormous” amounts of rent, he said.

In terms of the proposed lease agreement, only the city would be able to collect rent and evict backyard dwellers from council rental stock.

Bergh said the provision for lease agreements with backyard dwellers should be included in the city’s amended housing allocation policy. His recommendation for lease agreements was referred to the city’s housing portfolio committee for further discussion.

The city’s revised housing allocation policy determines the filling of vacancies in existing rental stock and selection of tenants for new housing developments. It has been revised after being referred back to the housing portfolio committee for further investigation, and now does not stipulate a 70/30 split between informal settlement and backyard dwellers in the selection of new beneficiaries.

Instead, tenants for new housing developments will be chosen on a “project-specific” split. Those who have been waiting the longest on the city’s housing list will be considered first, while those with an income of more than R7 000 will not qualify for council rental accommodation.

Priority will be given to applications in areas within a determined radius of the proposed new development and who have been on the waiting list the longest.

The policy is clear that councillors, sub-councils, non-government organisations, individuals and community organisations “shall play no role” in the procedures relating to the issuing of housing application or housing subsidy forms in the allocation of houses in new housing projects if they are not members of the specific project committee.

The ID has asked for more information about who will determine the project-specific split for housing allocation.

anel.lewis@inl.co.za

Cape Times: City considers building 6 000-unit towns 14 storeys high to ease housing problem

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http://www.capetimes.co.za/?fArticleId=5133773

City considers building 6 000-unit towns 14 storeys high to ease housing problem

August 21, 2009 Edition 2

ANÉL LEWIS

THE City of Cape Town will need to triple its housing delivery to about 38 000 “housing opportunities” annually to keep pace with the growing demand for shelter, and this means it needs to build upwards.

The lack of available land for housing means the city will have to consider creating high-density “integrated towns” with 6 000 housing units of up to 14 storeys.

They would be built in “towns”, and each would have necessary facilities such as schools.

The city council provided 10 000 housing opportunities this year, the city’s manager of land and forward planning, Basil Davidson, said.

Housing opportunities are defined as dwelling places or serviced sites.

But with the number of people demanding shelter increasing by in-migration of between 18 000 and 20 000 each year, the city will need to accelerate its delivery.

Davidson said national government allocations for housing needed to reflect the impact of people moving to the Western Cape from other provinces.

“We are grappling with the impact of migration and the delivery (of houses).”

The Division of Revenue Bill uses a formula based on poverty levels to allocate funding to the provinces. Davidson said that, while the Western Cape was not one of the poorer provinces, the large numbers of people migrating from other provinces meant that funding should be increased.

The city had a national government allocation of R663 million this year, which would increase to R900m in the next three years.

Davidson said the city’s revised housing plan would include long-term strategies to improve housing. The number of people waiting for houses increased from 117 000 in 2007 to 400 000 in 2009. The demand for shelter would increase by 18 000 to 20 000 each year, Davidson said.

City housing director Hans Smit said the city’s biggest challenge in dealing with the housing backlog was limited funding from the national government. With an allocation of R1 million, the city could provide 40 serviced erven at R25 000 an erf, 10 Breaking New Ground (the houses that have replaced RDP units) houses of 40m2 in size at a cost of R100 000 or eight community residential units or rental flats at a cost of R120 000.

The city was also being pressed to provide emergency housing opportunities because of natural factors, such as flooding. Davidson said the city was working on several land acquisitions for emergency housing, but would not name them for fear of land invasions.

“We need to deal with emergency needs of new arrivals and those who are on the (housing) list.” Some people had been waiting for a house since 1970.

The city would service Greenfields and then settle people on these serviced sites until the area was formally developed.

Smit said the city council would need 10 000 hectares of land to provide the housing opportunities required.

Densification options included multi-storey units in mini-towns, as were seen in Beijing. The city would avoid building 40-storey flats as seen in Hong Kong.

Smit said he was confident the Beijing model would work in South Africa and he wanted Cape Town to be the pilot site.

Davidson said city planners were looking at developing housing along transport routes to Atlantis and along the Klipheuwel/Malmesbury railway route. As district development plans curtailed development in these areas, the expansion of structured development along these routes still needed to be investigated.

anel.lewis@inl.co.za

Cape Times: Khayelitsha residents will protest ‘until Jesus comes’

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http://www.capetimes.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=5091356

Khayelitsha residents will protest ‘until Jesus comes’

July 21, 2009 Edition 1

ANÉL LEWIS

DISGRUNTLED residents of 15 informal settlements in Khayelitsha say they will protest “until Jesus comes” if the City of Cape Town does not respond to their demands to be relocated to sites with better living conditions.

And they have threatened to continue with service delivery protests.

Mthobeli Qona of informal housing lobby group Abahlali baseMjondolo said protesters would “make Khayelitsha and the city ungovernable” until the city council responded.

About 150 informal dwellers marched to the Civic Centre yesterday to hand over a memorandum of concerns to Mayor Dan Plato. Each community included its own list of demands.

A representative from Plato’s office accepted the memorandum on his behalf. He said Plato was at a workshop. Plato has been given 14 days to respond.

Abahlali chairman Mzonke Poni said the group was disappointed that Plato was absent, despite being informed of the march. “The action is very arrogant. We don’t recognise Plato as the mayor.”

The memorandum listed residents’ concerns about living conditions in informal settlements. They asked the city to look at the conditions and provide a plan to resolve particular needs.

The city was also asked to finalise a city-wide housing plan for those living in informal settlements.

“Furthermore, we would like the city and its anti-land invasion unit to adopt a different attitude.”

Residents of QA section demanded land, better cleaning and waste collection services and the provision of toilets in informal areas.

The VW settlement is 21 years old, but still does not have essential services, residents complained. Residents from the TT section said they did not want to be relocated.

“We want the city to recognise the number of years that we have been staying here at TT section and we demand that this area be upgraded.”

Residents from the QQ section accused the city of “fooling our people”. They asked to be relocated to Bardale Farm “as promised” by former mayor Helen Zille.

The evictees of Macassar Village said the city’s demolition of their shacks was illegal.

Residents from the UT section Egadini said in a separate memorandum that the houses in their area were so close together that firefighters could not do their job in a fire.

They asked for streets and the relocation of some residents to de-densify the area, as well as better sanitation and improved lighting.

anel.lewis@inl.co.za