Call for Urgent Business Environment Survey for Tshwane City Council

MEDIA RELEASE BY COUNCILLOR ADRIANA RANDALL: DA TSHWANE CAUCUS, 22 AUGUST 2008

The present flight of skills experienced at the Tshwane City Council threatens to paralyze effective service delivery in Pretoria.
It is of utmost importance to establish the reasons why the working environment at the council appears not to be conducive for motivated and productive working performances.

The Democratic Alliance calls on the City Council to commission an independent working environment survey to ascertain the morale, or lack thereof, of employees and to establish what factors are contributing to the spate of resignations experienced at present.

“Human resources are the council’s most precious asset. Without the human factor, no system, even if supported by the most advanced technology, can be of any use. Retaining skilled and loyal employees is a non- negotiable.” said Councillor Adriana Randall.

Racism, nepotism, poor management in general, the manner in which the Alternative Service Structure (ASD) is implemented and inadequate travelling allowances, to mention a few, are cited as possible reasons for widespread negativity among personnel.

In the light of the present exodus at the Council it is clear that time is not on our side. We need to get to bottom of this as soon as possible. An appeal is consequently made to Council to commission a survey without delay.

The DA questions the ANC-lead Council’s commitment to the “Batho Pele’ principles, which are supposed to inspire employer and employee alike. Without the political will and commitment noble ideas remain elusive dreams.

On the one hand, it is only fair to all employees to ensure positive working conditions which will benefit their performance and output. On the other, residents and tax payers of the city deserve no less than effective service delivery.

Councillor Adriana Randall (083 263 8667)

MEDIA VERKLARING DEUR RAADSLID ADRIANA RANDALL: DA TSHWANE KOUKUS, 22 AUGUSTUS 2008

Oproep om ‘n dringende besigheid omgewingsopname by die Tshwane stadsraad

Die huidige uittog van kundigheid by die Tshwane stadsraad dreig om effektiewe dienslewering in Pretoria lam te lê. Dit is uiters noodsaaklik om vas te stel waarom die werksomgewing by die raad nie bevorderlik blyk te wees vir gemotiveerde en produktiewe werksprestasie nie.

Die Demokratiese Alliansie doen ‘n oproep op die stadsraad om ‘n onafhanklike werksomgewing opname uit te voer om die moraal, of gebrek daaraan, onder werknemers te bepaal en vas te stel wat aanleiding gee tot die huidige vlaag van bedankings by die stadsraad.

“Menslike hulpbronne is die raad se belangrikste bate. Sonder die menslike faktor kan geen sisteem, selfs al word dit ondersteun deur gevorderde tegnologie, van enige nut wees nie. Die behoud van kundige en lojale werknemers is ononderhandelbaar.” het raadslid Adriana Randall gesê.

Rassisme, nepotisme, swak bestuur in die algemeen, die wyse hoe die Alternatiewe Dienste Struktuur (ADS) geimplimenteer word en ontoereikende reistoelaes, om net enkele voorbeelde te noem, word as moontlike redes aangedui vir die wydverspreide negatiwiteit onder die personeel.

Teen die agtergrond van die huidige eksodus by die stadsraad is dit duidelik dat tyd nie aan ons kant is nie. Ons moet so gou moontlik by die kern van die probleem uitkom. ‘n Oproep word dus op die raad gemaak om ‘n onafhanklike opname sonder verwyl uit te voer.

Die DA bevraagteken die ANC beheerde raad se verbintenis tot die ‘Batho Pele’ beginsels, wat veronderstel is om beide werkgewer en werknemer te inspireer. Sonder die politieke wil bly edel idees ‘n mens ontwyk.

Enersyds is dit regverdig teenoor werknemers om positiewe werkstoestande te verseker wat hul prestasie en uitsette ondersteun. Andersyds is die inwoners en belastingbetalers van die stad geregtig op effektiewe dienslewering.
Raadslid Adriana Randall ( 083 263 8667)

DA Calls for Frensic Audit After Top Official’s Resignation

Press release: Ward Councillor Clive Napier, DA Spokesperson: City Planning, Development and Regional Services, Tshwane. 15 August 2008

The Democratic Alliance (DA) notes the resignation of Mr Tommy Harrington, Chief Building Inspector from the Tshwane municipality after more than twenty years service. The DA is not surprised by the reasons given by Mr Harrington for his resignation, including allegations of persons appointed to positions who are not fully qualified, pervasive nepotism and the reservation of posts in the municipality for friends, the accepting of bribes as ‘thank you’s’ , and having to function in an unhealthy work environment, and many other irregularities.
The DA has for some years been making representations in council concerning the general mismanagement and administrative failures of the City Planning and Development and Regional Services department of the municipality, which is a key department and a core interface between the municipality and residents.
The DA has repeatedly focused on and pointed out many additional failures of the Department including the slow pace in approving building plans and rezoning applications, the tardiness in conducting inspections and in prosecuting illegal land users and violators of building regulations.
The DA recognizes the importance of City Planning as an important facilitator in the development of the Tshwane municipal area and an important contributor to a well planned capital city of excellence. In view of the allegations made by Mr Harrington, the DA calls upon the Executive Mayor to urgently issue an instruction to have the a formal forensic audit conducted of the entire City Planning Department, to identify all corrupt practices and irregularities, and bring those to justice who might be involved.
The DA is firmly of the view that certain operations of the Building Control and Development Control sections of the Department should be privatized with a view to addressing the rapid collapse of services rendered by this Department as a result of the factors mentioned above, and the brain drain, of which Mr Harrington is just one example.
Councillor C J Napier - 082 827 5578

Mediaverklaring: Wyksraadslid Clive Napier, DA woorvoerder: Stadsbeplanning, Ontwikkeling en Streeksdienste, Tshwane. 15 Augustus 2008

Oproep vir Forensiese Oudit na Top Amptenaar se Bedanking

Die Demokratiese Alliansie (DA) neem kennis van die bedanking van mnr Tommy Harrington, Hoof Bou-inspekteur van die Tshwane munisipaliteit na meer as twintig jaar se diens. Die DA is nie verras met die redes vir mnr Harrington se bedanking nie, insluitende bewerings van persone wat in posisies aangestel is wie nie ten volle gekwalifiseerd is nie, omvattende nepotisme en die reservering van poste in die munisipaliteit vir vriende, omkopery in die vorm van ‘dankies’, en om in ‘n ongesonde werksomgewing te funksioneer, en baie ander ongerymdhede.

Die DA het vir etlike jare aanbiedings aan die raad gemaak rakende die wanbestuur en administratiewe mislukkings deur die Stadsbeplanning-en- Ontwikkeling en Streeksdienste Department van die munisipaliteit, wat ‘n sleutel departement en ‘n kern skakeling tussen die munisipaliteit en die inwoners is.

Die DA het herhaaldelik op baie ander mislukkings van die departement gefokus en uitgewys, insluitende die stadige pas om bou-planne en hersonerings aansoeke goed te keur. Die traagheid om inspeksies uit te voer en die vervolging van onwettige grond gebruikers en verbreking van bou regulasies.

Die DA erken die belangrikheid van Stadsbeplanning as ‘n belangrike fassiliterings meganisme in die ontwikkeling van die Tshwane munisipale gebied en ‘n entiteit wat ‘n belangrike bydrae maak met die vestiging van ‘n goed beplande hoofstad van uitnemendheid. In die lig van die bewerings wat gemaak word deur mnr Harrington, doen die DA ‘n beroep op die Uitvoerende burgemeester om dringend ‘n instruksie uit te reik om ‘n formele forensiese oudit in die Stadsbeplannings department as geheel uit te voer, om alle korrupte praktyke en ongerymdhede te identifiseer, en om diesulkes wat hierby betrokke mag wees , tot verantwoording te roep.

Die DA voel sterk daaroor dat sekere operasies van die Bou beheer en Ontwikkelingskontrole seksies van die Departement geprivatiseer moet word om die vinnige ineenstorting van die dienste gelewer deur die departement, as gevolg van die redes hierbo genoem, en die brein kwyn, waarvan mnr Haarington net een voorbeeld is, aan te spreek.

Raadslid Clive Napier – 082 827 5578

DA Tshwane Caucus Has a New Leader!

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has pleasure in announcing the new leadership to lead the Tshwane DA Caucus.

The DA would like to congratulate the following persons for being elected to leadership positions in the Tshwane DA Caucus:

- Kate Prinsloo as Leader;

- Justus De Goede as Chairperson;

- Dana Wannenburg as Vice-chairperson;

- Natasha Michael as Chief Whip; and

- Derek Flemming as Deputy Chief Whip

The DA has full confidence in this team who will lead the Official Opposition in Pretoria with zest and dedication

Kate Prinsloo issued the following statement outlining her vision for the caucus.

The DA in the Tshwane Metro Council faces unique challenges and opportunities in the run-up to the 2011 Local Government elections when it is our intention to take over the government of the city. To this end the DA sees itself not so much as the official opposition but more as a government in waiting. Recent by-election results in the city has shown a marked decrease in support for the ruling party and increasing support for the DA. This trend is being supported by national opinion polls.

If all opposition supporters come out in force to vote in 2009 and 2011 and we continue to see the ANC support dwindling we can take over the city. The combined opposition vote in the Tshwane local government election polls was 42,76 . A coalition government, led by the DA, is the obvious solution to our city's problems. Under the leadership of Helen Zille great strides have been made towards making coalition governments work. Already the working relationship between the DA, the Freedom Front and the ACDP in council has improved immeasurably and it is my intention to further consolidate this working relationship.

There is a great depth of skills in the DA Caucus. We have two qualified and experienced CA's who represent the party in the financial portfolio. This as opposed to the ANC and even council where there are no CA's at all. We have lawyers, engineers, trade unionists, demographers, activists and very experienced politicians in our caucus. What distinguishes us from the ANC is that we see ourselves as potential managers of the city and not as incumbents to the gravy train. It is my responsibility and the responsibility of each member of my caucus to show how we could govern this city better.

The DA is appalled at the performance of the Mayor, who seems to be emulating Mbeki by the amount of international swanning about she does instead of dealing with problems, often of her own making, on her own front step. It is time for her to step down and I will, as leader of the caucus, do everything within my power to make this happen sooner rather than later.

The internal dissent within the ANC is palpable and is further debilitating an already dismal performance. I am concerned that when we take over this local government in 2011 it will be completely bankrupt, financially, morally and operationally. The flight of skills from council as a result of the poorly conceived and badly managed Alternative Delivery System has now reached epidemic proportions. We need to assure officials and citizens that we are not necessarily in a never ending downward spiral. That change is possible and that change will come soon.

It is not my first time as caucus leader. In 1994, during the transitional phase of the present phase I was the only member of the then DP in Council. I was therefore leader, chief whip and bottle-brusher for a while. The caucus now boasts 47 DA councillors and it is a privilege and a challenge to lead such a big team.

I joined the then Progressive Party in 1974 and have been continually involved in politics ever since, through the dark days of apartheid, Nationalist Party rule and the halcyon days of the achievement of our constitutional democracy. I have also, unfortunately, seen the systematic erosion of everything we fought for over the last few years. I have spent a term in the Gauteng Legislature as DA Spokesperson for Social Welfare and Population Development and also for Education. Local government however remains my passion. It is at this level that we still have a semblance of direct representation and where we can truly make a difference to peoples lives.

I have studied law, history and politics, am an Advocate of the High Court and have a particular interest in family law. I have lived in Pretoria (not Tshwane) all my life. I have three sons and two beautiful grandchildren.

Councillor Kate Prinsloo (083 458 5324)

Tshwane Council Meeting 31 July - Corporate Services

DA rejects proposed municipal travel policy

Media release: Councillor Justus de Goede, DA, Tshwane. 31 July 2008

A proposal by the Mayoral Committee of the Tshwane Metro Municipality, tabled at the Council meeting of 31 July, was flatly rejected by the Democratic Alliance.

The agenda item outlined a proposed new travel and subsistence policy for the city’s public representatives and officials. Councillor Justus de Goede of the DA described the proposed policy as “provocative and unacceptable, as it proposes inter alia that the Mayor, Speaker, Chief Whip and Municipal Manager qualify for first class international air travel.

“In the current economic climate, given the state of the city’s finances and the fact that only cabinet ministers and heads of government departments in exceptional circumstances may travel first class, this is a major lapse of judgement. In addition, the proposed policy makes allowance for the partners of full-time public representatives, which includes Mayoral Committee members, to take their partners with them overseas, also in first class. Again, this is not government policy.”

De Goede added that the DA had requested that the “insensitive” proposals be reconsidered ; the DA had registered its objection against the item.

Clr Justus de Goede
Cell : 083 733 2557

DA verwerp voorgestelde reisbeleid

Media verklaring: Raadslid Justus de Goede, DA , Tshwane, 31 Julie 2008

‘n Voorstel van die Burgemeesterskomitee van die Tshwane Metro Munisipaliteit, wat gedien het by die Raadsvergadering van 31 Julie en waarin ‘n nuwe reis- en verblybeleid vir die stad se openbare verteenwoordigers en amptenare voorgestel word, is summier van die hand gewys deur die Demokratiese Alliansie.

Die agenda item verduidelik ‘n voorgestelde nuwe reis- en verblyf beleid vir die stad se openbare verteenwoordigers en amptenare. Raadslid Justus de Goede het die voorgestelde beleid beskryf as “ uitlokkend en onaanvaarbaar, aangesien daar inter alia voorgestel word dat die Burgemeester, Speaker, Hoofsweep en Munisipale Bestuurder kwalifiseer vir eersteklas vliegtuigkaartjies vir buitelandse besoeke.

“In die heersende ekonomiese klimaat en in die lig van die stad se finansiële toestand, sowel as die feit dat slegs kabinetsministers en departementshoofde, in buitengewone gevalle, toegelaat word om eersteklas internasionaal te vlieg, is dit duidelik dat hierdie voorstelle gebaseer is op besondere swak oordeel. Wat meer is, word verder voorgestel dat voltydse openbare verteenwoordigers, wat lede van die Burgemeesterskomitee insluit, ook hul metgeselle mag saamneem op buitelandse besoeke, ook eersteklas. Dit is eenvoudig nie in lyn met regeringsbeleid nie”.

De Goede voeg by dat die DA versoek het dat hierdie “onsensitiewe” voorstelle heroorweeg word. Die Party het sy beswaar teen die item aangeteken.

Raadslid Justus de Goede
Sel 083 733 2557

PART II, ITEM 9
CORPORATE AND SHARED SERVICES DEPARTMENT: STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
FY2006/2007 INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE REVIEW: PERFORMANCE BONUS PHASE 1 CLOSURE REPORT
(PAGES 344-407 (358)


The first question that comes to mind when seeing this report is why it took council more than 12 months to come with said report! According to the legal binding employment contracts with officials and former officials, it clearly states that “Council should execute payment of a performance bonus 6 weeks after the assessment process has started”. This should therefore have been six weeks since end June 2007. This process only started in October 2007!

Can this lack of execution of audit function in the city not be seen as fruitless and wasteful expenditure when officials and unions take legal action against council for not honoring their side of the contracts? This could be reiterated by the fact that said officials and former officials did not receive any explanation as to the reason(s) for the delay or a timeframe for the conclusion of this issue!

The second issue that can be seen from this document, is that 11 of the 24 candidates are today no longer in the employment of the council! All 11 former officials received between 92% and 100% on their scores! As can be seen on page 348 under Category 1c, all except one is still with council! This is nearly half of senior officials in council! I am also aware of at least one of these candidates that received a score of more than 90% in this report, still in the employ of council that received an astonishing demotion to a position of no title! What does this say about the performance plans, score cards and performance agreements? We seriously need to look at it!

Well done to the City Manager and the Mayor! This must be the greatest example of how not to run a city! Either you have no use for officials that do the job well, or you do not want officials that know how to do the job! Either way, the little bit of expertise and experience that were still available to council and therefore to the benefit of the residents, are now lost to us. What or rather who are we left with?

The fact that the most resent Chief of Metro Police, Hlula Msimang received a score of 93% and the fact that his contract only expires in 2010 should state the obvious that with such a score and a contract, he could still try to make a success of the Metro Police and therefore the Safety Department. But no, the Municipal Manager and the Mayor decided we should rather terminate his contract with a probable big handshake to go with that, and re-employ the most controversial official this council ever had in his place!

It is time this council and the Mayor start to explain their decisions, because, believe it or not, this kind of behaviour does not make sense to anyone who believes in a fair, just and accountable governed city council!

Therefore the Democratic Alliance wishes to add a new recommendation, which reads as follows:

Add recommendation 10:

“ That a report be submitted to the next Council meeting containing copies of performance contracts of the City Manager and all Section 57 employees.”

COMPILED BY:
CLR KAREN MEYER
DA SPOKESPERSON: COMMUNITY SAFETY
TSHWANE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL
(MOBILE: 082 3737 662)

Tshwane Council Meeting 31 July - Community Safety

MOTION SUBMITTED BY CLR KAREN MEYER ON DRUG UNIT SUBMITTED TO COUNCIL FOR COUNCIL MEETING OF 31 JULY 2008

“Motion submitted in terms of Section 18 of the Rules and orders of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality for consideration by Council on 31 July 2008
Council recognises the great importance of the Tshwane Metro Police Drug Unit and the important role that they played in the Tshwane Municipal area. Council also notes with appreciation the work done by the five officials in this unit under difficult circumstances in attending to a huge and growing problem in our city. Council also takes note of the excellent record of achievement of this unit.
Council further takes note of the closing of this unit during this month and the fact that the ASD system never stated the closing down of this unit. Council recognises the fact that this unit closed down without prior consultation or notification.
Council realises the important role this unit has to play as a total of 8 127 drug cases for 2007/08 alone were made in the Pretoria area which is a total of 25% of Gauteng. Council realises that an increase of 85% in drug use in Gauteng were recorded in the last year which shows the great need for such a specialised unit.
Council realises that as a municipality we have an obligation to do all we can to alleviate the fast growing problem of drug use in our city.
Council therefore resolves to immediately reinstate the Tshwane Metro Police Drug Unit with immediate effect to its former state”.

REASONS FOR ABOVE MENTIONED MOTION:

1. Drugs are a social issue and cannot be addressed through enforcement only. It thus makes perfect sense to contain any aspect of drugs within the Social Crime Prevention component.

2. The Drug Unit has functioned within the Social Crime Prevention structure for about 5 years already. How can it now suddenly not be capacitated to handle such matters? This underlines the fact that Council seriously lacks sufficient planning.

3. The drug unit members were never consulted with and no negotiations ever took place. The Chief of Police (Msimang) and the members of the unit were in consultation on an ongoing basis and it was never the chief’s intention to incorporate this unit into Specialised Operations.

4. They were a specialised un-marked unit which is intelligence driven. Specialised Operations is a uniform operations unit which conduct general policing on an ad-hoc basis.

5. The minutes of the last Civilian Oversight Committee, chaired by the Speaker of the Council during June 2008, will show that it was confirmed by Deputy Cassie Coetzer, that the Drug Unit is to be placed on the Governance Section of the Department and will continue to function in its previous form and capacity.

6. It is true that the Drug Unit does not have sufficient resources, but: The Specialised Operations Canine & Equestrian Units have 32 posts but can only fill 18! The Specialised Operations Task Teams have 47 posts but can only fill 11! They do not have enough vehicles, offices or equipment to house the existing personnel. Are we going to close them down as well?

7. Official documentation will show that the said unit comprised of 5 specialised members who operated as a Unit have been split into two groups, comprising 2 members on one task team and 3 on another. This does not constitute a Unit but is clearly a disbanding and will result in a breakdown of capacity.

8. This is exactly what happened with SANAB and today there is not a single member left in the SAPS.

9. Gauteng’s total drug cases for 2007/08 stands on 12 348. This should show the importance and need for this unit.

10. The Unit, which is widely recognised for their contribution to the fight against drugs from local to international level, was the only recognised drug unit in the Country, with Cape Town in the process of establishing such a unit.

11.This move by the CTMM may negatively contribute to a major upsurge in drug and drug related crime and will not benefit the area in any way leading up to the 2010 World Cup.

12. 255 Arrest from this unit in one year by five members is a great achievement that should be recognised as one that can only be achieved by a full time unit.

13. Petitions which will be handed in today will show the commitment and need of the community to and for this unit.

COMPILED BY:
CLR KAREN MEYER
DA SPOKESPERSON ON COMMUNITY SAFETY
TSHWANE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL
(MOBILE: 082 3737 662)

Tshwane Council Meeting 31 July - Town Planning

Annexure A.1 : Item 2 – Transfer of funds within the capital programmes of Water and Sanitation and Roads and Storm Water

Mr Speaker

This item essentially informs Council that the tender process for the doubling of Simon Vermooten, which is already two years behind schedule and which will have important implications for mobility in the east of Pretoria, has failed. The first phase of the upgrading will therefore be delayed by a further year, until FY 2009/10 and the resultant cost to the city will increase exponentially. We argued at the time of the decision to proceed with Simon Vermooten that major beneficiaries such as the Ford Motor Company should contribute to the project, but these suggestions were not followed up and not a cent will be forthcoming from Ford for what is now likely to be a R 50m+ project, if it indeed happens.

Mr Speaker, we understand that contractors are in short supply and that the glut in government infrastructure projects has caused dramatic price increases, but this surely does not preclude ensuring that a successful tenderer is obliged to perform within the parameters of the bid framework. True, the unspent funds will be utilized in another capital programme -hopefully- but if this process of shifting budget allocations on whatever pretext continues, a number of important projects will simply fall by the wayside or be left to compete for other funding sources.
The traffic situation in the Willows/Equestria/Nelmapius/Silver Lakes area is already extremely frustrating and new developments along the N4 will soon make access from the east even more difficult.

Thank you

Councillor Justus de Goede
Spokesperson : Roads, Stormwater, Public Transport and Airports
Democratic Alliance
City of Tshwane Metro Municipal Council
Cell : 083 733 2557


RESPONSE TO ITEM 12, PP. 33-37, ANNEXURE A, SECOND REPORT ON RESOLUTIONS OF THE MAYORAL COMMITTEE, PRESENTED AT THE COUNCIL MEETING OF 31 JULY 2008

PROF DC BAKER - CLR WARD 46

Mr Speaker, this report deals with disaster management during the floods of January 2008. All those involved in alleviating the suffering of the least fortunate of our citizens are to be commended for their hard work, dedication and a job well done. I will not detract one iota from what they did during these floods. However, Mr Speaker, the report provides at best a glimpse at what is in store for us as the effects of global warning leads to more extreme weather conditions. Allow me to inform the house that I grew up in Grahamstown and on more than one occasion witnessed the Kowie river, which flows through the town, converted into a raging rampaging flood tearing all before it. I have also witnessed the effects of floods in Port Elizabeth, and elsewhere.
Mr Speaker, the Moreleta Spruit and its tributaries meander through significant portions of Ward 46. Most of the time we have a mere trickle of water. However, during December 2006, we witnessed a raging torrent which threatened at times to engulf some properties lying near the 1:50 year floodline. But this was small potatoes so to speak compared to some 30 years ago when the floods reached truly devastating proportions in Lynnwood Glen.
So what is the point of my telling you all this? Mr Speaker, our City has seen incredible, and dare I say, rampant ad hoc densification to the east. The ability of vegetated ground to absorb water and to release it slowly has been severely compromised by the hectares and hectares of hard paving resulting from these developments. Most of these developments, if any, do not have flood amelioration built into their designs whereby excess water arising from extremely heavy downpours would be held on the property by a set of “weirs” and slowly released downstream.
The net effect is that we have an increasing propensity for flash flooding. The awesome truth of the matter is that those who would be worst affected would be the poorest of the poor who, as in many communities all over the world, occupy the only unused land – the flood plains. Cape Town is an example of this. Flooding occurs every winter, so their misery is compounded by the cold.
Many of the properties which were built above the 1:50 year floodlines several years ago are in all likelihood well below the new 1:50 year floodlines calculated to take into account the more rapid runoff after rain. Mr Speaker, it is integral to good planning for disaster relief during floods that the City should recalculate the 1:50 and 1:100 floodlines, taking into account the new developments. I would dare to suggest that the new building codes should make it illegal to build below the 1:100 year floodlines as indicated by the redrawn maps. Failure to do so could raise the spectre of public liability on the part of the City.
Mr Speaker we have a potential disaster in waiting. I know from personal experience that one can shelter from a tornado, and that one can with very hard work put out bush fires. However of the three elements, air, fire and water, water is the most intractable to deal with, as the USA discovered again recently. Our Disaster Management Center should update its plans for coping with this threat of nature. Preparedness on their part can and must protect citizens of all walks of life who live in or near low lying areas. The City’s budget must be such that the Center will be able to respond immediately. We are fortunate that we have dedicated men and women, as witnessed by the recent Kruger Park fire, who will put their lives on the line for others. We MUST afford them every opportunity to do so effectively and safely. The bad news is that we will get such exceptional floods, and what is more we cannot at this stage predict when this will happen.
I thank you Mr Speaker.

NATIONAL BUILDING REGULATIONS AND TOWN PLANNING SCHEME CONTRAVENTIONS

CLLR B.J WANNENBURG

The illegal businesses in Ward 50, especially along Zambezi Drive (K Route) and Braam Pretorius is of great concern to the local residents. The perception of the residents is that the Tshwane Metro is doing nothing about the situation in spite of their own by-laws that prohibit it.
Numerous discussions have been held with various officials and MEC’s without any success during the past 3years. A petition was also sent to the Speaker more than 2 years ago in this regard.

The Ward Committee recommends that the legislation or application regarding illegal businesses should be amended. Illegal businesses should be closed down after a notice has been served upon them and they appeared before the magistrate.

At present they pay an admission of guilt and are then allowed to apply for rezoning. While this takes place, which is usually for months, they continue with their illegal dealings. This is in a part violation of an established legal principle that when attaining a goal in one way is forbidden to a party, he/she should not be allowed to reach it in another.

Alternatively, the question arises: why does the city of Tshwane not follow the civil route to get interdicts in the civil courts / magistrates courts against the convicted business owners? We realize that it costs money to obtain these interdicts, but is it not more important that justice is seen to being done?

The magistrate is bound in terms of the High Court decisions to rule that the applicants activities are illegal, that he/she should immediately cease operations and restores the premises as they were before the offence was committed.

Mr. Speaker, would you kindly investigate this matter and help us solve this problem, which is causing great problems for the residents in our ward. They feel that their existing rights are being violated and that the City council is leaving them in the bush. According to the original town development conditions, the properties along Zambezi Drive (between Lavender and Aldo Road) where there are no service roads do not have access to Zambezi Drive. The question arises: how are the allowed to access Zambezi Drive?

During the fist quarter of 2007 we had a meeting with Adv. Mark Christian of the Municipal Courts and he informed us the he and Mr. Isak Beukes (his immediate head) had agreed and obtained permission to obtain interdicts in the Magistrates Court against those illegal businesses who had paid their admission of guilt fines. In other words, they admitted their wrong doings. This would be much cheaper for the Tshwane Metro than having to go to the High Court. They then handed over this matter to various lawyers in June / July 2007 to obtain interdicts against these illegal businesses that had already pad admission of guilt fines. Adv. Mark Christian has since left the service of the Tshwane Metro and his position has been filled by a lady. She apparently does not agree with the process and to date no interdicts have been served on these illegal businesses that paid admission of guilt.

The matter was discussed with Mr. Isak Beukes, during 2007 because nothing had been done and to date nothing has still been done.

I have been fighting the application of Erf 528 (VVV Motors) and Erf 522 (Trevor Beck) for about 2 years now. And both these matters are still dragging on.

Another example is Erf 270 and Erf 271, Zambezi Ave: In March 2008 a petition was submitted to the petitions committee. I received a letter stating that the matter will be referred to the heads of departments to report on the matter. The head of the legal and secretarial services was as follows:

“The recommendations are supported since it transpires from the comments submitted the SEO: City Planning and the Ward Councillor that the CoT responded appropriately to the needs of the local community involved and instituted the necessary actions to address the grievances of the petitioners and to rectify the situation as required by Section 6(2)(a) of the Municipal Systems Act, 32 of 2000”

The outcome of this meeting was that another meeting is to be held and feedback be given to me. At this point I am not aware of any such meeting been held. After the petition, this application should have been denied.

The only logical conclusion that can be reached is either that the officials are highly incompetent or that the politicians are preventing them from doing their duty.

Not withstanding all our endeavours the Tshwane Metro continues to ignore the pleas of the residents of ward 50.

Cllr. Ben Wannenburg
Ward 50
Tel: 012 546 0410

Tshwane Council Meeting 31 July - Energy Efficiency

RESPONSE TO ITEM 8, PP. 21-23, ANNEXURE A, SECOND REPORT ON RESOLUTIONS OF THE MAYORAL COMMITTEE, PRESENTED AT THE COUNCIL MEETING OF 31 JULY 2008

PROF DC BAKER - CLR WARD 46

Mr Speaker, this is an important report dealing as it does with sustainable energy efficiency, renewable energy and demand side management. The pity is that it is long overdue.
Some months ago our esteemed colleague Councillor Vickey Bosch challenged us to think outside the box with regards to renewable energy. Unfortunately our options are somewhat limited. The nuclear option is still a long way off, wind energy in the City is a non-starter essentially because of its very mild weather. Councillor Clive Napier and I have already made a motion to the effect that solar water heating should be used in all new housing developments, and that is about the sum total of renewable energy. Oh yes, hydropower – that is truly a long way off – in the Congo to be exact. While we have the technology, as adequately illustrated by the Cahora Bassa scheme, the political difficulties in implementing such a scheme are legion.
We are left thus with refurbishing our power stations in the City, or implementing demand side management as a matter of urgency. Mr Speaker, Sir, there was a time when ESKOM would gladly have made significant financial contributions for us to do the latter. Now it too pleads poverty along with the rest of our hard pressed fellow South Africans.
But let’s look at demand side management. During the recent load or rather people shedding exercise, and I did say people, we were all massively inconvenienced - No Freudian slip – that is exactly what happens – you shed people. People are unable to get to work, or get back home. Because many are hourly paid, they are unable to put food on the table. Those in taxis and motor vehicles spent many fruitless hours sitting in the City’s instant parking lots as the streets became. In short the impact on productivity is massive.
Some time back IST, a company based in our fair City, did a comprehensive study of demand side management (31 May 2006). It found that every 100 000 hot water geysers consume some 63 Megawatts of energy on average. It is not unreasonable to expect that our City has in the vicinity of some 400 000 of these geysers with a consumption of around 250 Megawatts. During the recent rolling blackouts our City tried to shed 200 Megawatts at a time.
Mr Speaker, the way demand side management would work in this case is that power to geysers would be remotely turned off during peak demand periods, and turned on again during the early morning hours when the demand was low. In short, Sir, if we had efficient demand side management, we would not have to go into the unacceptable practice of people, sorry, load shedding.
Right now plainloads full of the appropriate equipment to implement such a scheme should be winging their way to the Republic. Many teams of budding BEE electrical contractors should be in training. But what is happening? We hear too little. Granted there will be an initial financial cost, which will be offset in long terms savings. Oh, but I forget, then there would less money for our senior officials and members of the ANC to live it up at the City’s expense.
Mr Speaker, the time to implement demand side management was yesterday. Tomorrow is already too late.

Tshwane Council Meeting 31 July - Social Development

REPORT ON THE POVERTY REDUCTION AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE

SPEECH BY COUNCILLOR RITA AUCAMP

I’d like to quote from the City of Tshwane Integrated Poverty Reduction and Community Development strategy:

Strategic Objective 1: To provide quality basic services and develop infrastructure. (Emphasis on the quality basic services).

Strategic Objective 3: To fight poverty, build clean, healthy, safe and sustainable communities.;

And also sir, very ironic, the slogan for this poverty reduction strategy:

Fighting poverty and developing communities: working together towards making Tshwane a city that cares for all. Very Ironic is it not?

Approximately 1.2 billion people struggle to survive on less than a dollar a day world wide = R7,50 per day. Recent estimates of people living in poverty indicate that 18-20 million South Africans live in poverty, slightly more than 50 % of our population. Whilst the proportion of people living in poverty is decreasing, the number of poor people is increasing.

Tshwane has a population of approximately 2,5 million people representing 22,5 % of the Gauteng population. The population of Tshwane grew at an average annual rate of 2.1 %. The inequality and contrast between the rich and poor is rising at an alarming rate with the poor concentrated in the northern region.

Along with the rest of South Africa, Tshwane suffers a crisis of unemployment. Recent statistics by STATS SA showed that Tshwane poverty levels are:

People with no income=172 000, People with an income of R1 to R4,800 =
41 600

These are the 11.7% of the Tshwane population living in poverty. People that our city have a responsibility towards. People like those who were residents of the Kruger- and Shubartpark flats. People whom our mayor made from poor to homeless in less than 24 hours. The same mayor who said and I quote from her keynote address at the poverty alleviation conference: “The city aims to give the poor hope and much more effective ways working them out of poverty.” Ironic that that same mayor only a few months later, after turning a blind eye to the circumstances under which the residents of Kruger and Shubartpark lived, evicted the poor to whom we were suppose to give hope.

Sir,

The Poverty Alleviation Programme in the City can be summarised as follows:

· Free basic services for the poor;
· Registration of the indigent
· Provision of housing to benefit the poor (what a joke)
· Grants-in-Aid to NGO’s and vulnerable groups
· Bursaries for poor children
· Creation of jobs
· Registration of unemployed youth graduates
· And also evicting residents who placed their lot in the city’s hands

This is not enough. Databases and registrations are not feeding a hungry toddler. It is not keeping a grandmother or street child warm in the cold winter nights.
Speaker, we as the city can not promise the residents help through shelter, food and blankets and on the other hand evict them into the cold without any
refuge.

Our mayor is concerned according to her keynote address at this conference about the disparities between the rich and the poor. How did you sleep last week Madam Mayor? Very cosy and warm, I presume, in your Waterkloof home while the residents of Krugerpark and Shubartpark were traumatised by fellow residents‘ untimely death and being evicted into the cold!

The city can host as many poverty workshops and conferences as we wish, but we should stick to our promises and implement workable, feasible strategies to alleviate these huge problems.

To conclude, the Democratic Alliance wishes to express there utmost disgust with the way in which the Mayor and officials handled the Kruger- and Shubartpark issues.

Maybe the ANC and especially the Mayor and her MMC’s should workshop more on how to deliver effective services and uphold their promises made to residents of our city.

RITA AUCAMP
(083)629 0315