Mother City News May 2020

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WARNING: May contain strong language

APRIL 29 - MAY 25, 2020

Breaking the echo chamber in the city bowl and beyond.

Page 2: Beaches at risk

Page 4: Moffie: The heart of our darkness

Covid-19 cases expected to increase as lockdown eases

Fears that pandemic focus means patients suffering other ailments are not getting the treatment they need.

Solace‌ An elder brother consoles his sister as they wait with hundreds of other children to receive a meal from a community based feeding scheme set up in Lavender Hill. This particular feeding scheme, organised by NPO Philisaa Abafazi Bethu and run by Lavender Hill Football Club director Mark Nicholson, provides the only meal many children receive in a day, following the closure of school feeding schemes under the national lockdown. Communities and non-profit organisations across the city, many of them organised under the Community Action Network, have come together to provide food for children and families facing starvation under lockdown regulations. Photo: Steve Kretzmann

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APRIL 29 - MAY 25, 2020

From page 1

Covid-19 cases expected to increase as lockdown eases WHAT TO DO BEFORE RETURNING TO WORK?

Steve Kretzmann Hospitals are gearing up for an expected increase in Covid-19 cases as the national lockdown begins to ease up over the coming months, with healthcare workers preparing for a very busy winter.

“Hospitals are trying their very best to put measures in place to deal with the expected increase in patient numbers,” says senior lecturer and infectious disease specialist in the Department of Internal Medicine at University of the Free State, Dr Dewald Steyn.

But there is concern that the focus and need to prepare for Covid-19 cases is at the expense of treatment of other patients suffering from chronic diseases, says senior lecturer emeritus at Stellenbosch University’s Department of Global Health, Dr Jo Barnes.

Barnes said there is also concern over an expected drop in vaccinations for diseases such as measles, as parents are reluctant to take their children to clinics or health service providers due to the perception they are overloaded with Covid-19 cases.

She said there was anecdotal evidence from doctors that they are seeing increasingly fewer patients coming for vaccinations or seeking treatment for symptoms such as chest pains that may be a precursor to a heart attack.

This was believed to be due to the difficulty of traveling to hospital via public transport during the lockdown, and the perception that hospitals are flooded with Covid-19 patients.

“But sooner or later, that dam wall (of people postponing treatment for chronic ailments) will break,” said Barnes.

This concern was underscored

by Tygerberg Hospital’s principal

Sustained self-monitoring for flu-like symptoms by the public and specifically by healthcare workers must be continued throughout the winter.

“Any potential COVID-19 related symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath, diarrhoea etc, should be acted upon as soon as possible. Screening and testing and the reintroduction of self-quarantine or isolation practices must be followed as needed,” says Dr Steyn.

According to Dr Steyn, persons in homes for the elderly or in frail care facilities should remain in self-isolation for as long as it is directed by government and experts. These measures – as far as practical – are even more important for persons over the age of 60, and people with underlying medical conditions.

High-risk persons should avoid contact with other people and keep working from their homes or isolated offices. Any employee presenting with respiratory symptoms or diarrhoea should first be screened and tested for COVID-19 before returning to the workplace.

communication officer Laticia Pienaar, who said in reply to questions that there was a “major de-escalation of (the) elective surgical list and out-patient services” as other hospital services were being affected by the pandemic.

Pienaar said in respect of Covid-19 measures, infection prevention and control practices have been enhanced with increased training and procurement of protection of personal protective equipment. Capacity for dealing with an influx of Covid-19 cases was also being created by “de-escalating specific services and escalating the number of beds and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds”.

She said a large triage and testing centre

has been built outside the hospital to prevent exposing the hospital environment to Covid-19. Additionally, equipment needed for monitoring and treatment of increased numbers of patients suffering pneumonia has been redirected and newly procured.

Steyn said preliminary figures indicate the early implementation of the lockdown in South Africa had a positive impact in terms of limiting the spread of the virus, but the negative local and global economic impact that resulted from this pandemic “will still have far-reaching consequences in the future”.

He praised President Cyril Ramaphosa’s five-level ‘risk-adjusted strategy’ to slowly

ease the lockdown restrictions from 1 May, as “it would not have been wise to end the lockdown too fast or all at once” as doing so could lead to a resurgence of Covid-19 cases.

Too many cases too quickly could, at worst, force hospitals to close, “as has already been seen at two private hospitals in KZN”.

He said the virus “will still be around for a long time” and it was thus important to continue with preventative measures that have proven to work globally.

Of specific concern, said Barnes, was that studies she was looking at were indicating immunity to the novel coronavirus for those who had recovered from infection, might only last for about two years.

Beaches at risk Long awaited water quality report reveals extent of pollution Steve Kretzmann One of the beaches most loved by Capetonians for sunset picnics and cooling off on hot summer days – Beta Beach in Bakoven - is polluted often enough to fail the minimum water quality guidelines for swimming over the last two years.

It, along with a number of popular beaches such as Fish Hoek and Muizenberg, is one of 31 polluted sites along Cape Town’s 307km of coastline, as revealed by the long-awaited coastal water quality report released by the City on 20 March, shortly after the National State of Disaster due to Covid-19 was declared.

The report, titled Know Your Coast, reveals aggregated annual results from 2015 to 2019 for 90 testing sites. There has not been a publicly available report on coastal water quality since 2013 when the City stopped presenting the water quality results to subcouncils.

Coastal water quality was addressed in the 2018 State of the Environment Report but

Cape Town’s celebrated coast is not always as clean as it looks. A long-awaited coastal water quality report released by the City reveals concerning levels of pollution as a result of sewage and contaminated stormwater running into the ocean. Photo: Steve Kretzmann/WCN

only contained aggregated data from all the sites, and only up to 2016.

The Know Your Coast report contains annualised results from 2015 to 2019 at each of the 90 testing sites where the City collects samples every two weeks. Over a third of these sampling sites recorded ‘poor’ water quality during 2019, with 11 of them being chronically polluted, having been recorded as

‘poor’ every year since 2015. A further nine sites failed the minimum standards in four of the five years, including 2019. While results for the Atlantic coast are concerning, results for False Bay results are particularly poor.

Atlantic coast While the data presented shows Beta Beach has short-lived pollution spikes due

to contaminated stormwater flushed to the ocean following rain – it was at its worst in September 2019 – and tourist mecca Clifton achieved ‘excellent’ ratings in 2018 and 2019, there are three chronically polluted sites on the Atlantic coast which have been rated ‘poor’ for five consecutive years.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

APRIL 29 - MAY 25, 2020

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From page 2

Beaches at risk

The City’s long-awaited report on coastal water quality indicates that almost half of all monitoring sites in False Bay, which receives effluent from three waste water treatment works, as well as stormwater from the Cape Flats, fail minimum water quality standards.

Photo: Steve Kretzmann/WCN

These are Lagoon Beach in Milnerton, Saunders Rocks in Seapoint, and The Kom in Kommetjie.

All three of these are situated at a sewage pump station or, as is the case with Lagoon Beach, receive effluent from a sewage plant, officially known as a waste water treatment works (WWTW), which indicate infrastructure failures on the City’s part.

Camps Bay has only achieved a ‘fair’ rating for five years running, and is the site of a controversial marine outfall releasing about three million litres of sewage per day 1.4km off the beach at a depth of 23 metres. This sewage is untreated except for being pumped through a mesh to collect solids.

Three Anchor Bay is noted in the report as being rated ‘poor’ every year except 2016, when it was rated ‘fair’. The pollution here is caused by fats and oils being illegally poured down the stormwater system, which terminates at the bay. The report notes that an attempt to install an ultraviolet light disinfectant system in the stormwater pipes “failed within a few hours, as the high fat and oil content smothered the systems”.

It goes on to state it is “unlikely that poor water quality at Three Anchor Bay is the result of the Green Point marine outfall” which pushes about 30 million litres of sieved sewage into the ocean every day.

It does not deal with the cause of pollution at either Saunders Rocks or The Kom, but Saunders Rocks sits on a promontory almost exactly between the Greenpoint and Camps Bay marine outfalls.

The City, via water and waste mayco member Xanthea Limberg, has consistently denied that these outfalls pose a risk to human health or the environment, although scientists disagree.

Reasons for chronic pollution at The Kom are also not provided, although the report notes it is the site of a sewage pump station.

The report does note that the “discrete spikes in bacteria counts” at Simonstown’s Long Beach, which has also failed water quality

guidelines for five years running and is the site of a sewage pump station, are “are almost certainly linked to sewer pump station failure and overflow, and, possibly, effluent from the wastewater treatment works discharging under certain ocean conditions”. It can only be presumed the situation is similar at The Kom. It is known that Lagoon Beach is polluted due to effluent from the Potsdam sewage works discharged into the Diep River and flowing out at the mouth of the Milnerton Lagoon, as well as from polluted stormwater from surrounding industrial areas and informal settlements flowing into the Diep River.

In February this year the Western Cape Government warned the City to urgently present plans to deal with the unacceptable levels of pollution.

False Bay Almost half (45%) of the 49 testing sites in False Bay failed the minimum water quality guidelines in 2019.

The water quality at almost every site from Muizenberg to Strandfontein is rated ‘poor’, as well as the sites from Monwabisi to Gordon’s Bay. Most of these suffer from chronic pollution, failing the minimum guidelines every year since 2015.

The bay receives wastewater discharge from the Cape Flats WWTW at Strandfontein, the Zandvliet WWTW in Macassar, and the Gordon’s Bay WWTW, as well as heavily polluted stormwater from Cape Flats settlements lacking access to water and toilets.

The presence of pharmaceutical compounds and industrial chemicals found in fish brought in to Kalk Bay harbour has been linked to chronic pollution in the bay.

The predominantly clockwise water circulation leads to deposition of pollutants in the middle of the bay and in the northeastern corner at Gordon’s Bay, as well as in

sheltered embayments such as Simon’s Town, Fish Hoek and Muizenberg.

The 22 False Bay sites rated as ‘poor’ include Muizenberg station, where hundred of surfers paddle out almost every day, and Fish Hoek, which is a popular family beach due its calm waters.

Despite its popularity, Fish Hoek has been rated as ‘poor’ every year except for 2018, when it was rated as ‘excellent’, due to polluted stormwater flowing into the swimming zone from the Fish Hoek central business district.

Both Muizenberg and Fish Hoek beaches were awarded Blue Flag status this summer, and in previous years.

City promises greater transparency Among a raft of commitments to improve water quality, including management of the inland catchments and investigation of illegal discharge into stormwater systems, the City states it will make the coastal water quality report an annual publication and undertakes to “facilitate public access to information” by creating an online portal reflecting updated results every two weeks.

The City also commits to installing signage at “designated recreational nodes that are often impacted by poor water quality”.

Dr Kevin Winter at UCT’s Future Water Institute welcomed the City’s commitment to addressing water quality, and the report was “a good start”, but said ‘Beaches at Risk!’ would be a more apt title.

Winter said the City needs to be held accountable for this work each year. But he said although an overview of water quality was useful, it was “not nearly enough”.

He said while information from regular monitoring needed to made available on a website, such as what the City has done in the case of water demand and dam levels, to reveal chemical and microbiological data, physical water data, such as turbidity, can be monitored almost in real time.

“The lag in these investments over the last 10 years or more is one of the reasons for the rise in concern in contamination of our coastlines. Hopefully reports like these will improve the urgency to invest in upgrades and stir the commitment of the City Council and Mayco to see water quality as a vital component in the dealing with the health of the city.”

THE MEANING OF ‘POOR’ WATER QUALITY The City of Cape Town scientific services collects samples from the testing sites every fortnight and tests for the presence of intestinal enterococci and E.coli bacteria colonies. These organisms, particularly entercocci, as it survives longer in salt water, indicate the presence of other pathogens and exposure to heightened levels of these bacteria and other pathogens cause gastrointestinal illness and upper respiratory infections. They are measured in colony forming units (cfu) per 100ml. Percentiles of these counts are used to rate the water quality as ‘excellent’, ‘good’, ‘fair’, or ‘poor’.

The national guidelines for recreational use, such as bathing, swimming, and surfing, are: • Excellent: less than 100cfu enteroccoci per 100l at the 95th percentile and less than 250 E.coli per 100ml at the 95th percentile.

• Good: less than 200cfu enteroccoci per 100ml and less than 500cfu E.coli at the 95th percentile.

• Fair: less than 185cfu enteroccoci per 100ml at the 90th percentile and less than 500cfu E.coli per 100ml at the 90th percentile.

• Poor: More than 185cfu per 100ml for enteroccoci and more than 500 cfu per 100ml for E.coli, at the 90th percentile.

Percentile in this case means that of the 24 results over the year are arranged from lowest to highest, the result from number 23 (second highest) will be the 95th percentile, and result number 22 (third highest) will be the 90th percentile. The calculation is that 23 is 95% of the number of samples, which is 24, while 22 is 90% of 24.

Thus if the third highest sample (sample number 22) measured over 500cfu per 100ml for E.coli, the rating would be ‘poor’.

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APRIL 29 - MAY 25, 2020

Film review

Moffie: The heart of our darkness Men who have fought in wars don’t really talk about it. And when they do, things might turn violent quickly. It is best to move away, as it is a sign that some of the violence they’ve absorbed, had to participate in, and enact, is trying to escape.

Which is why it is critical for men (and it is generally men) to have a slow and secure release valve. Such as a psychologist’s office.

Of course this rarely happens, so we live among traumatised people who struggle to contain their demons, and find a variety of generally destructive ways to do so.

For thirteen years all white boys were ground through a malicious, intentionally cruel and brutal system designed to break them down and strip them of their voice in order to enable them to kill as a matter of survival. This is true of all young men who have been drafted into wars, just this one is close to home. Very close.

Moffie is a particular rendering of a time and place. The South African Infantry School, 1981, and the border, 1982. It gets it right.

The silence that exists between characters is its genius. The army shuts you up.

Shuts you in. To talk about how you feel is impossible. What matters can only be said in silence. There is a fair amount of monologu, spat in the form of abuse by Hilton Pelser’s psychopathic Sergeant Brand, overflowing with ‘fokken roofies’ and ‘etters’ and ‘puisiepoes’ but to say dialogue is minimal is an understatement. The familiarity of this inability to speak is where everything begins to teeter toward the edge of the world.

“Ek voel vokol” is the password to acceptance. Feeling nothing, or pretending to, is a solace and a weapon.

And so we see how these battered, brutalised boys, young men full of physicality and half-formed realisations, express what they feel, if they dare to do so at all, without

words, or under cover of bravado.

Communication becomes implicit. It is the length of silences; the leaning of heads; the terse enquiry: “you allright?”; the shy joining in half-singing the words of a song with your chommie as you clean rifle parts for inspection. Simply sitting next to someone holds meaning.

Director Oliver Hermanus achieves this through portraits and close ups and landscape and tableaux. It is grimy, dark, and beautiful. Actor Kei-Luke Brummer, who is our protagonist van der Swart – a soutpiel with an Afrikaans surname - is beautiful. And what happens around him, and to him and everyone else, is awful.

Wine

Wine industry suffering, but viewing glass as half-full Sade Allcock As the thirty-five days of hard lockdown draw to a close, we must face the grim reality that while tobacco will be available for public consumption from May 1, liquor stores will most likely not be opening their doors anytime soon. There is barely an industry untouched by the effects of coronavirus and the resulting lockdown, and the wine industry is no exception. Not only is no wine being sold locally, wine exports have also been shut down.

Eyewitness News reports that the South African wine industry is losing an estimated R200 million a week on exports alone.

Furthermore, we are currently the only wine producing country in the world that is not allowed to export, and local winemakers are rallying to be allowed to do so during the next stage of lockdown regulations. The SA wine industry is even going so far as to consider legal action against the government to allow them to export during this time, and therefore earn some modicum of an income.

When it comes to individual cellar strategies, Groote Post Winery says they are maintaining a strong social media presence

to keep brand reminders flowing through to their fans in order to secure their spot at the top of the shopping list when liquor stores reopen. Furthermore, they have been advocating purchasing wine through their online shopping portal (to be delivered once regulations allow, of course), as well as liaising with other retailers who also have online liquor options. From my investigations it would appear that many wineries are counting on an upsurge in purchases once the ban on alcohol is lifted to help negate the negative effects of the lockdown. Indeed, I gather that this is the sentiment across much of the hospitality industry. Shaun McLaughlin of restaurant Hilda’s Kitchen near Darling says he is optimistic business will return to the West Coast in due course as the increased space makes social distancing so much easier. With industries such as wine and hospitality at a standstill, as consumers we can do our bit by purchasing products and services in advance from the brands we love.

Were you eyeing a particularly nice Pinot Noir before lockdown? Why not purchase a case so that you can raise a toast to the resilience of your fellow South Africans when this is all over? Stay safe everyone and remember your basic hygiene practices.

To a certain generation of South African white men who watch this film, it will reach into rooms in the mind that were firmly shut.

Everyone who got conscripted into browns will be deeply affected, no matter how much they deny it or pretend not to be. The madness. The insanity. And for some - far too many – the horror. And yes, we are talking about The Heart of Darkness. It is all there, with very few shots fired.

It is a great film. The cinematography is brooding, although the aesthetic may be a little indulgent. It could have focused a bit less on Brummer and given us a better look at Stassen, or Sachs, his fellow troep. Played

by Matthew Vey who has a bit of a James

Phillips look about him, Sachs is an intriguing and complex character. There is dangerously close to too much focus on Brummer, as well as he stands up under scrutiny. But then it is based on an autobiography, by Andre Carl van der Merwe.

The strength of Moffie is that it is not about the SADF and the early ‘80s border war. That is merely the specific setting. And neither, in my reading, is it about being homosexual or coming to terms with it, but about the internal conflict of having to do things you don’t want to do, and not being able to do the things you do want to do.

That is something with which we are all familiar, this is just extreme circumstances.

APRIL 29 - MAY 25, 2020

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Book Reviews

It’s the end of the world and we know it If books are to be judged on their first sentence, Jeanette Winterson’s The Stone Gods wins all the prizes.

This new world weighs a yatto-gram.

At first I considered it a silly idea, the first-sentence judgement. Absurd to form an opinion on an entire novel from the first handful of words. But I can see its truth.

There is a catch, though. You can only judge the worth of the first sentence after you’ve read the book.

For that opening line, if it is brilliant, needs to hold tens of thousand of words in its palm.

And there is no way to know if it does that, unless you measure the pile. Only then, when you come back to the beginning, is it possible to see how it cups the ending.

Having read The Stone Gods, each one of those six words now carries the weight of a world. Together, they carry the power of a meteorite, inter-stellar travel, the possibility of the impossible, the germ of our own destruction.

I have a new theory: the success of the novel is its ability, having being read, to turn its first sentence into an intricate dance of poetry and philosophy.

There’s the fact we’re living through a pandemic. A virus is sweeping through the global human population, and we have no cure, no antidote, no vaccine. A novel virus come about, ultimately, through destruction of our own planet. Destruction that at times seems wanton; of habitats, of species, of entire ecosystems in order to feed a greed that cannot be sated. Greed destroying natural balances that would limit exposure and spread, would keep things in their lane.

But homo sapiens is not good at staying in the lane. The whole point of evolution is to get out of your lane. And we’re the most evolved, arguably.

The difficult thing is, there’s just too many of us. We are too many of one dominant

species. A planet full of apex predators.

Yes, if managed properly and on holistic principles, all eight billion of us and counting could be fed and watered and housed but we are also gregarious and congregate in cities that become metropolisis. This requires complex systems, and the more complex the system, the more precarious it becomes. A submicroscopic bundle of DNA is able to bring us to our knees.

Whatever your view on the politics of overpopulation, we’ve run out of world. We need a new one. Imagine we found one, one that weighs a yatto-gram.

There was no conscious intention to read a novel that in any way reflects the extraordinary situation our world is in (though it was no less extra-ordinary a year ago, we just weren’t personally affected). I had no desire to read Camus’s The Plague while enduring one. If anything, I was seeking literature to take me away from the incessant scroll of Covid-19 information. Yet if I had sought a novel through which to find perspective, I doubt there could be any better than The Stone Gods. It didn’t take many pages before the novel became a mirror in which I stared at humanity, but as if from the other side. The unflinching clarity of Winterson’s vision, the crisp sensuality of her writing, created the uncanny feeling of being the reflection, of looking through myself and seeing the cosmic dust of our cells, pulsating nearer and nearer to each other on their insatiable journey to form new life.

Published in 2007, there is nothing of plague or disease in it, except for that resulting from nuclear fallout, but one imagines it exists, just a spore release away, in Winterson’s world, or worlds.

Her novel is made up of three interconnected novellas: Planet Blue, Easter Island, and Post-3 War. A trilogy, although triptych is more apt.

Although each is complete in itself, they link and echo through characters and themes, each supporting the other to create a narrative circle.

To provide any further information about these three parts is to risk spoiling the work, except to say they link beginning to end, end to beginning; an ouroboros encircling a hundred million years and all the galaxies between them.

New book cultivates love for maths as school goes online Schools remain closed due to the Covid-19 lockdown and teaching is going online, resulting in many parents having to scratch their heads over their child’s curriculum.

Mathematics is usually perceived to be the most challenging subject, as matric results reveal every year, but a book by retired mathematics teacher trainer Shirley Shaw can help you and your child foster a love for the subject.

Designed for ages 4 to 12 and simply called The Maths Book, it is available online and designed with games and fascinating numerical insights that shifts maths from a chore to a fun activity which helps children master the basics of mathematics.

The book, which is published by London-based boutique printing press Grey Tiger Books, came about when Shaw’s daughter Tara Cranswick asked her to write down some of the number games they used to play, so she could play them with her son Rufus.

The games gave Cranswick such a solid foundation in mathematics

that, although she studied fine art at Rhodes University, she chose mathematics as an extra credit because she considered it a fun thing to do. Cranswick also went on to establish the first art company listed on the London Stock Exchange NEX Market, V-22.

Shaw, who spent much of her career teaching teachers on matric mathematics in the former Ciskei homeland, says the first rule for a parent wanting to help their child succeed in mathematics, is to never say they don’t like maths.

Counting on fingers is also discouraged, as the practice of mental arithmetic trains the brain to think in the abstract.

“There are children who come in at Grade 8 who have to add 7 + 8 on their fingers. They don’t know what they’re doing.

“Mental arithmetic is the most important thing of all. You need mental exercise.”

She compares the ability to practice

mental arithmetic as equivalent to having a car to get to your destination instead of having to run.

Not only has she spent her adult life teaching maths, she held the record for mathematics as a student at Rhodes university for decades. The maths examination paper was designed in such a way that if a student got every single answer right, they would have more marks than what the paper was set at, which is how she achieved higher than 100%.

She attributes her mathematical ability, and love for the subject, to her own mother who taught her at home for the first two years of her schooling, as they lived on a remote farm. Once she got to school, she was ahead of her peers so she was pushed up a year.

While The Maths Book was inspired by her grandchild, she originally developed the games for Tara and her siblings to get them thinking in double numbers and working sums in their head. Playing these games with her children and grandchildren also created a stronger bond between them, she says.

“My grandchildren say: ‘gran, whenever I do a maths exam I think of you’.”

The Maths Book has been made available online for teachers and parents at www.sumbandila.org/resources There is no charge to download it, but a donation via the site would be appreciated.

Short reviews supplied by staff of The Book Lounge, the best indi bookstore in Cape Town.

Koeberg Nuclear Power Station COVID-19 response Koeberg Nuclear Power Station, like any essential services, is minimally impacted by the COVID-19 lockdown. Although the plant is in operation, it is doing so with a reduced staff compliment on site as a result of some of the measures taken to minimise staff exposure to the COVID-19 virus. Below is a summary of Koeberg Nuclear Power Station’s emergency preparedness measures in place during the current COVID-19 lockdown.

Koeberg Unit 1 is operating safely and at full capacity, and will continue to operate as normal, providing the needed stability to the Western Cape electricity grid, reducing the load losses on the transmission lines, and providing low cost, carbon-free electricity into the national electricity grid.

Koeberg Unit 2 has been placed in what is called cold reserve, ready to feed into the national electricity grid, if required. This is possible because of the drop in demand for electricity due to the COVID-19 lockdown that has resulted in the temporary closure of many factories and businesses. This has allowed the station to perform some maintenance that would otherwise have been done in the upcoming scheduled refuelling outage. Note that the outage, which was due to commence in April 2020, has been postponed due to the international COVID-19 travel ban that would affect the human and equipment resources required for the outage to take place.

The Koeberg Nuclear Emergency Plan National legislation (NNR Act of 1999) requires Koeberg Nuclear Power Station to have an established emergency plan to protect the public in the unlikely event of a nuclear accident. The Act also requires that the effectiveness of the Integrated Koeberg Nuclear Emergency Plan be tested by the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) every two years.

In order to ensure that the Koeberg Emergency Response Organisation is prepared for any emergency at any time, the power station’s Emergency Management Group regularly tests the readiness of the various key role players, including local and national Disaster Management organisations. This is in addition to the aforementioned National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) Exercises. During these exercises Koeberg Nuclear Power Station – and any other organisation involved in a particular exercise - is required to demonstrate its emergency response capabilities.

The objectives of the Integrated Koeberg Nuclear Emergency Plan are: • To establish an organised emergency response capability for timely, co-ordinated action of intervening organisations in the unlikely event of a nuclear accident; and Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd Reg No 2002/015527/30

• To describe the capabilities, responsibilities, and authorities of intervening organisations.

Koeberg emergency preparedness The Eskom emergency response organisation remains on standby during the COVID-19 national lockdown, and is available around the clock to handle any emergency at Koeberg Nuclear Power Station. All aspects of the Integrated Koeberg Nuclear Emergency Plan (IKNEP) such as prevention, preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigations are regularly reviewed and tested – even now during the lockdown. We are working closely with our key stakeholders and role players in the IKNEP Plan - one of these key stakeholders being the City of Cape Town Disaster Risk Management Department; we have determined (and have been given the assurance by the City) that the Emergency Plan, in terms of preparedness and response, is robust, adequate and still valid to deal with any nuclear event at the station even under the current COVID 19 lockdown regulations.

In a nuclear emergency, the necessary actions to protect the members of the public, such as sheltering and evacuation, are considered essential and the affected members of the public will be allowed to take these actions under the COVID-19 regulations. Sheltering requires that people stay indoors to minimise the exposure to airborne radioactive material in a severe nuclear emergency. The national lockdown, instituted by government to curb the spread of COVID-19, supports sheltering because people are already required to stay at home/indoors for all but essential activities.

In the extremely unlikely event that evacuation is required, the primary means of evacuation will be personal vehicles, and public transport will be provided with the necessary safety measures implemented.

It is with confidence that we can thus confirm that the Koeberg Emergency Plan, is thorough and robust enough to deal with any nuclear event at the station - even under the current COVID-19 lockdown regulations.

Hiking and cycling in the Koeberg Nature Reserve, and access to the Koeberg Visitors Centre: Please note that hiking and cycling in the Koeberg Nature Reserve remains suspended, and the Koeberg Visitors Centre will only reopen once the lockdown is lifted; you may obtain official information about Koeberg Nuclear Power Station at www.eskom.co.za.

www. eskom.co.za

APRIL 29 - MAY 25, 2020

7

Forced removal of homeless enabled by controversial bylaw amendments Proposed changes to the ‘nuisance’ bylaw expands law enforcement powers Steve Kretzmann Bylaw amendments proposed by the City of Cape Town in the midst of the Covid-19 lockdown seek to allow search and seizure without a warrant, and effectively legalises forced removal and displacement of homeless people.

The draft amendments announced on 22 April, relate to Section 22 of the Streets, Public Places and the Prevention of Noise Nuisances Bylaw and gives broader powers to metropolitan law enforcement officers, or metro police.

The “minor amendments” the City refers to in their media release, include: •

•

•

•

•

A law enforcement officer being able to enter and inspect a premises or vehicle if there are “reasonable grounds” of suspicion, or an “allegation” a provision of the bylaw has been contravened.

A compliance notice may be issued which can place costs and onerous obligations on an indvidual on the strength of an allegation.

An officer can stop and search any vessel, vehicle or person without a warrant if there is prima facie evidence of a bylaw violation if the officer has “reasonable grounds” to believe a warrant may be issued.

Similarly, without a warrant, an officer may seize and impound any vessel, vehicle, or any item or equipment if there are “reasonable grounds” to believe they may be used in an offence in terms of the bylaw, and a person may be arrested without a warrant.

Of particular concern to lawyers advocating for the rights of homeless people, the proposed amendments would allow an officer to order a person to leave and remain out of an area where a contravention of the bylaw has taken place.

As it stands, the constitutionality of the nuisance bylaw, as it is colloquially referred to, has already been called into question by the Western Cape High Court in a ruling by Judge Lee Bozalek in September last year.

Bozalek’s ruling was in favour of seven homeless applicants, followed their urgent application to apply for an interdict to prevent the City from fining them and confiscating their property.

When the matters were further interrogated by the court in December, Acting Judge Martin reinstated Bozalek’s order against the City in respect of the nuisance bylaw, pending a review of the bylaw’s constitutionality.

Attorney Lucien Lewin, who plans to bring the review before the court, said the latest proposed changes to the by-law are “very concerning”.

“On a preliminary reading of it, it seems to me that it seeks to legalize the confiscation of personal property of the most vulnerable (being the homeless) and gives the City’s officials even wider powers to enforce what are already concerning provisions of the existing by-law,” said Lewin.

Attorney at Ndifuna Ukwazi Law Centre, Jonty Cogger, said many of the proposed amendments are “problematic and constitutionally suspect”.

Cogger said of particular concern for many homeless people living in wealthier suburbs, is the proposal that a law enforcement officer can instruct a person to leave and remain out of an area where a contravention of the bylaw commenced.

“This section effectively amounts to legalising forced removal and displacement of homeless people reminiscent of the enforcement of apartheid pass laws.”

He said the bylaw already contains a host of provisions used by the City of Cape Town to criminalise the activities of homeless people, such as making it an offence to sleep overnight or camp overnight or erect any

Covid-19: Minister puts a stop to lottery ticket sales Raymond Joseph for GroundUp The Lottery is not classified as an essential service and tickets may not be sold during the Covid-19 lockdown, Trade and Industry Minister Ebrahim Patel said during a media briefing on Saturday.

Despite the restriction on ticket sales, Ithuba went ahead with a massive R228million PowerBall and PowerBall Plus jackpot draw on Friday 24 April. It was the biggest Lottery jackpot since 2015 and the fourth biggest since the Lottery was launched in South Africa almost two decades ago.

Patel, who has oversight over the

Lottery, said he had told officials from his department to instruct the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) to issue a statement “clarifying that [the sale] of Lotto tickets is not permitted during this period”.

GroundUp reported on Friday that while all other in-person forms of gambling had been stopped because of the stringent lockdown regulations, the sale of Lottery tickets by retail outlets was continuing.

Patel was responding to a question about why the sale of Lottery tickets was still permitted.

A statement issued by NLC spokesman

Proposed changes to the ‘nuisance’ bylaw expands the power of City law enforcement officers to allow search, seizure, and arrest without a warrant. Photo: Ashraf Hendricks/GroundUp

shelter in public, as well as making it an offence to bath or wash in public.

“Although neutral on face value,” he said the proposed amendments would “have a disparate impact on the homeless” and gave law enforcement “total power to punish transgressions”.

“The removal of a homeless person from an area is especially unjust considering the historical use of pass laws to control access to white public places by black and coloured populations and the enforcement of racial discrimination in access to land and housing during the apartheid era.”

He said the timing of the bylaw was also “suspect”.

“Not only has the City published these amendments during a national lockdown but also on the eve of a constitutional challenge by a number of NGOs.” The ANC caucus in the City of Cape Town slammed the proposed amendments, calling it “a sleight of hand” and an attempt “to

bring back apartheid and to undermine our constitution”.

Public comment or opposition to the amendments can be submitted to the City until May 17 via email to lawenforcement@ capetown.gov.za, online at www.capetown. gov.za/haveyoursay, or in writing to Leon Wentzel, Law Enforcement Department, Omniforum Building, 94 Van Riebeeck Street, Kuilsriver 7580.

The City’s Public Participation Unit is obliged to assist people who cannot read or write, people living with disabilities and people from disadvantaged groups who are unable to submit written comments, to have their comments or input recorded and submitted to the City. Contact Anathi Dywili on 021 400 9825 or anathi.dywili@ capetown.gov.za.

The draft Streets, Public Places and the Prevention of Noise Nuisances By-law is available for viewing at www.capetown.gov. za/haveyoursay.

Ndivuho Mafela on 3 April, indicated that there was an exemption allowing the sale of Lottery tickets during the lockdown.

“As the regulator of the National Lottery, the NLC has taken note of the Presidential lockdown directive and as such, has activated an exemption clause on lottery play in South Africa,” Mafela said in the statement.

Specific questions about this exemption sent to Mafela, Ithuba spokesperson Busi Msize and DTI Trade and Industry spokesman Sidwell Medupe prior to the publication of Friday’s story were ignored by all three of them.

But Patel’s response during the media conference casts doubt on whether the NLC had applied for — or been granted — an exemption on Lottery ticket sales.

“The rules are absolutely clear…[they] are not an essential product,” Patel said in response to the question. “They are not in the regulations as an essential product and so Lotto tickets are not able to be sold …

They should not be sold at the moment.”

Patel said it had been brought to his

attention on Friday that there were “claims” that Lottery tickets were being sold. “I had asked my officials to make it very clear to the NLC that they needed to issue a statement clarifying that Lotto tickets are not permitted in this period,” Patel said.

In response to the Minister’s instruction, the NLC, on Saturday 25 April, issued a statement confirming that “the sale of lottery tickets at retailers is not classified as an essential good.”

The statement adds: “The sale of National Lottery tickets at retail terminals is prohibited during the national lockdown.”

It did not explain why the NLC had earlier claimed to have an “exemption” allowing Lottery ticket sales to continue.

Although the minister addressed the prohibition on the sale of lottery tickets in general, it is clear from the statement that the NLC plans to only halt sales at retail outlets and to allow online ticket sales.

For the past few weeks, both the NLC and Ithuba have actively promoted online ticket sales, via the Lottery’s own app and banking platforms. – GroundUp

Breaking the echo chamber in the city bowl and beyond

The only real difference between Lockdown stage 5 and stage 4 is that we’ll be able to buy tobacco. Which is a relief for smokers who have hung on to the habit, and is making non-smokers think of taking it up in order to feel like there’s some level of freedom after five weeks of being ordered to their rooms. Of course there’s a long way to go before theatres and cinemas and music venues open, but artists’ should be getting state salaries for still making work – or releasing it online - to help us endure our own company.

Music Pink Floyd were making music for a future dystopia when China was still slang for your mate.

Dark Side of the Moon is hailed as one of the greates albums of all time, but if you know your Floyd, you’ll probably have some other favourite. These crazy diamonds are also known for insane trippy live concerts. To a world in need of reminding that the Man has always been out to get you, they’re streaming previously unseen, rare, or archive concert footage on their Youtube channel every Friday. Go to YouTube and search for ‘offical pink floyd’ or type in youtube.com/user/OfficialPinkFloyd and subscribe. Lockdown Friday nights just got better.

Hope you cultivated that weed this summer.

Apparently Standard Bank, they who use our money to sponsor the Standard Bank Young Artists Awards, are live streaming home performances from jazz award winners. Whatever you think or don’t think about corporate branding, our jazz ous are world class. First up was the blow-your-socks-off in a sublime kinda way bassist Shane Cooper. It happens on Thursdays, so it’s like Jazz Thursdays now. Via Insta, it seems you have to follow @standardbankarts to get the buzz, and you can try #SBHomeStudio or #SBYoungArtist to find the channel.

Film If you want to brighten up your lockdown day, watch this award-winng short film, Loot, by South African director Greg Rom featuring fantastic local actors. Made about ten years ago, it is a very different take on the bank robber scenario: https://vimeo.com/49318034

Theatre Seen as you’re not buying that daily Cafe Latte anymore, use the money you’re saving to keep the Baxter Theatre alive. It is one of the most productive theatres in the country and because it’s affiliated to the university, it does not qualify for state funding, but only receives a third of its annual budget from the cash-strapped UCT. They have a #BaxterCoffeeAngels campaign going which involves donating just R30 a month so they can get back to enriching our lives once the pandemic recedes. Go to www.baxter.co.za and keep performing arts alive.

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APRIL 29 - MAY 25, 2020

Fleabag is one of a list of theatre works to view online published by Time Out London. There’s dance, musicals, ballets, and children’s shows. Check them out on www.timeout.com/london/ theatre/the-best-theatre-shows-to-stream-online-right-now We started watching Lippy, described as “a hallucinatory experimental theatre masterpiece”.

Given the very real hunger and possibility of starvation among poverty stricken families due to the lockdown, Lippy is particularly pertinent. Lippy is free to view although many of the other shows cost a few ronds, but consider it part of your normal ticket purchase budget.

Literature For something off the beaten track, there’s The Dewdrop, a simple site featuring poetry and short prose from some of the greats and many of the unheard-ofs. It’s got a sort of spiritual focus, so good for if you’re winding down, or winding up for your yoga or meditation sesh (because how else are you surviving lockdown?). Seriously, if you want a break from scrolling the news, thedewdrop.org, is a quieter corner of the internet. You can subscribe to their weekly newsletter if your inbox isn’t cluttered enough. You can also submit words you’ve strung together.

Other If Pink Floyd doesn’t blow your top (see under Music) you can join the OMG quiz Nights on Friday nights and stand a chance to win a case of beer. Before you get too excited, you can only claim your prize once the cat in the hat decides alcohol regulations are to be lifted. However, if you are still keen, the quiz theme for this Friday 1 May is Harry Potter. You can have max four players per team, at R25 per player (tickets on Quicket). It all happens on Zoom, of course. Go to OMG Quiz Nights on Facebook for deets.

If you’re a burner and feeling despondent about not being able to gather on the blasted shale of ‘Tankwa Town’ with a bunch of other substance-addled people and things that go blinketyblink, don’t worry, there’s a Homeburn happening May 2 and May 3. There’ll be a whole lot of livestreaming pulled onto one platform. Expect non-functional goggles strapped to top hats and feathers and vests. Go to home.afrikaburn.com if you’re interested. If you do participate, we suggest you roll around in your veggie patch to get appropriately dusty before you login or do whatever it is that you will be doing. You can always wear an orange onesie and call yourself Kenny. Good luck, have a ball.

Whacked If you have any beer left in your house you either own your own bottle store, have connections we’d really like to make friends with, or you have some sort of delayed gratification pathology.

In which case, this is likely to really turn you on: Beer Yoga. No really. It is what it says it is: yoga with beer. Which gives new meaning to ‘hold my beer...’ I understand tennis with beer.

Even soccer with beer, but this? Check it out on YouTube and if you dig it and, most crucially, have beer, you can do it via Zoom with the Mzansi School of Yogic Arts this Friday 1 May at beer time, 5.30. Search for it in Facebook events or follow Beerhouse @beerhousetygervalley

Some theatre makers have adopted the philosophy that theatre is live and that’s that.

They’re not trying to go virtual somehow, but rather prepping work for when theatres light up again. It’s a valid view. Others, however, and especially those who hustle in the stand-up comedy sphere, which is far more translatable to the digital medium, are hustling hard with the interwebs. Notable are Rob van Vuuren, Louw Venter, and Nik Rabinowitz. Well, on our timeline anyway. (Shit they’re all white guys – send us some black handles).

Rob and Louw have re-glued their Twakkie and Corné snors and resurrected The Most Amazing Show. It’s come a long way since they first threw a raw chicken at each other at the Independent Armchair Theatre. They’ll help get you out of any lockdown blues. Hook into them on Insta, @louw_venter ‘cause Twakkie’s interwebs don’t always work so well.

Also, @nikrabinowitz provides daily pep talks from his toilet. He’s like your uncle in the lavatory business. They don’t charge for entertaining us, but it would be nice to scan their BUSQR code and give your share. BUSQR has turned out to be the collection plate in the church of the arts and latter day saints. Pay your tithe, your lockdown would be miserable without them. Or more miserable.

We aren’t able to watch plays in New York and London, but now neither can New Yorkers or Londoners. They’re also having to do withouth the live and make do with streaming and virtual whatnot. Which means, hey, if you got wifi, you’re totally global. Make good use of it while it lasts and watch Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag from the Soho Theatre. This acclaimed onewoman show has been described as ‘rip-roaring’, ‘comic’, and not what it at first seems. You get 48 hours of access to it for about R90 (£4). Your money also goes to Covid charities.

The Baxter Theatre hopes to welcome crowds of theatre goers again, but without ticket sales, faces a serious funding shortfall. Go to their website baxter.co.za and keep the hardest working theatre in South Africa alive by participating in #BaxterCoffeeAngels and donating just R30 a month. Photo: Mark Wessels.