Mother City News November 2019

Breaking the echo chamber in the city bowl and beyond

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OCTOBER 31 - NOVEMBER 25, 2019

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Page 3 Solly’s Folly land to be freed up

Page 4 Roxy Late Night Cafe: Make it a heritage site already

Page 7 Sewage spills plague city

The struggle for spatial justice Apartheid barriers remain in place despite 25 years of democracy

Unequal society... The cleanliness, glass and chrome of inner city developments are at odds with the shacks and lack of services experienced by the majority of Capetonians, yet the City is not using all the tools at their disposal to change this.

Steve Kretzmann There is a disconnect between what the City says and what it does when it comes to housing, development, and urban planning.

The lack of alignment is a source of frustration for civil society activists calling for social redress, and for developers, who have stated a desire to know what rules they need to abide by in the planning of their projects.

The Five-Year Integrated Development

Plan (IDP), adopted in August last year, advocates for a range of progressive development policies, spatial justice among them. The municipality has little option in this matter, as spatial justice is a constitutional imperative, and involves dismantling the apartheid barriers carved into the city’s geography by the previous regime. In order to do this, the City has to create binding legislation that works to provide citizens greater freedom to choose where they want to live rather than be

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constrained by an economic model that consigns them to the margins.

The City is even more specific in its Municipal Spatial Development Framework (MSDF), which is a spatial interpretation of the IDP. “The City is intent on building – in partnership with the private and public sector – a more inclusive, integrated and vibrant city that addresses the legacies of apartheid, rectifies existing imbalances in the distribution of different types of

residential development, and avoids the creation of new structural imbalances in the delivery of services. Key to achieving this spatial transformation is transit-oriented development (TOD) and the densification and diversification of land uses,” states the introduction to the MSDF executive summary.

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OCTOBER 31 - NOVEMBER 25 | 2019

From page 1

The struggle for spatial justice About to break ground... The site along Christiaan Barnard Street where the Harbour Arch will be built.

Yet since it was adopted in August last year, the City appears to have failed to uphold this intention. Either to “provide assistance to those who need it most”, to “contribute actively” to the development of its social capital, or to be “a caring City”, as most spectacularly illustrated by its recent efforts to evict at least old people from at least two council-owned houses.

Its failure to use its influence to dismantle apartheid spatial planning was most recently apparent when it ignored calls to ensure affordable housing was included in a new R14bn development on the Foreshore.

Glittering landmark The Harbour Arch, to be built by Amdec on Christiaan Barnard Street, is a 24-storey mixed use residential development on part of the old Culemborg site which is targeting about 2,000 residential units in its six towers.

Following four objections by urban planning which focused on design specifications such as building height and parking bays, and two objections by housing activist group Ndifuna Ukwazi calling for the inclusion of an affordable housing component as a means to ensure the development fulfills spatial justice obligations, the Municipal Planning Tribunal met on 24 October to hear the objections and make recommendations.

But the call for affordable housing inclusion was largely ignored, says attorney at the Ndifuna Ukwazi law centre, Jonty Cogger.

Following the MPT’s approval of the Harbour Arch development, Ndifuna Ukwazi stated the MPT “failed to address important questions of spatial justice and access particularly concerning how a development like this will perpetuate the exclusion of Cape Town’s residents - Black and Coloured people”.

This, states Ndifuna Ukwazi, was a missed opportunity “to secure a portion of truly affordable housing units in this landmark development”.

MPT chair Dave Daniels told GroundUp news agency that imposing an affordable housing condition on the development would be “extremely difficult”.

“To impose conditions that would halt a project that would bring R14 billion into the city, I just think would be irrational,” Daniels told GroundUp. Amdec spokesperson Nicole Chamberlin said the company would be building 1,000 affordable housing units in Ottery, and expected a rezoning application to be

approved by council next year, where after development would commence. The Harbour Arch development is expected to break ground this month.

Asked what income range the Ottery affordable housing development would accommodate, Chamberlin stated: “Amdec will create good quality housing at reasonable prices.”

Court action Following two years of campaigning for spatial justice in Cape Town, Ndifuna Ukwazi have approached the Western Cape High Court, “as a last resort”, according to Cogger.

An initial affidavit was filed at the High Court on 6 September, requesting the City be ordered to review and set aside approval of the Vogue development at 7 Buitengracht Street, which is a 37-story mixed use development by FWJK developers. Cogger says in order for the City to adhere to the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (SPLUMA) of 2013, an affordable housing component needs to be included in plans.

Cogger said the City was consistently saying they needed policy in order to exercise their powers to compel developers to include affordable housing in their projects, thus, “we are asking the court to declare the City and Municipal Planning Tribunal is empowered to include affordable housing”.

If the court rules in Ndifuna Ukwazi’s favour, the City would no longer be able to claim there is no means to enforce affordable housing is included in private developments.

However, if the court rules the City is not empowered to enforce an affordable housing component, Ndifuna Ukwazi would then challenge the City’s zoning scheme and the Municipal Planning bylaw on the grounds that it is unconstitutional as it doesn’t give effect to SPLUMA. “The national law is very clear: spatial justice is a principal that must be applied,” says Cogger.

He said once that is ironed out, the City would have to implement spatial justice in development planning, which “would sort out the systematic uncertainty we have”.

Ndifuna Ukwazi’s final affidavit, following receipt of the City’s response, was filed on 29 October.

FWJK’s CEO, David Williams-Jones was reported in the trade publication Construction World, as saying in September that certainty on what was required would enable them to calculate their cost contributions.

Flashy city... An artists impression of the completed Harbour Arch development, as depicted in the Amdec brochure.

“At the moment, we are shooting in the dark and are held ransom with spurious objections,” Williams-Jones was reported as saying.

Council housing stock being sold off Ensuring affordable housing is included in new development is one mechanism the City is failing to use to further spatial justice, the other is the provision of council housing, particularly in well-situated suburbs.

The recent eviction of 80-year-old Kenneth Blaine, who has been living in a council-owned house in Woodstock since 1976, and an elderly woman Salt River who, according to Reclaim the City (RTC) activists received a notice her lease will be terminated after she was unable to afford her rent being increased from R243 to R5,500 per month, gives the lie to the City’s mission statement that it is ‘a caring City’.

With the average household income (taken as the middle of the median range) in Cape Town at R4,775 according to the last census of 2011, against a single room in Woodstock being rented at R5,000 per month and the lowest priced two-bedroom apartment found on Property 24 priced at R7,400, the majority of Capetonians cannot afford to live near the CBD. Prices for suburbs such as Mowbray or Observatory are similar, if not more expensive due to the demand for student accommodation.

As a result of the lack of affordable housing, particularly in areas in which working class families lived for generations – such as Woodstock and Salt River - people are being evicted from their homes every day.

The City has threatened litigation against RTC if they do not stop assisting Blaine in resisting his eviction.

Statistics gathered from RTC volunteer court monitors show that over 19 days in they managed to monitor in August, 31 eviction cases were heard by the Cape Town Magistrates Court alone, resulting in 11 evictions and 16 postponements. Over 13 days monitored in September, nine eviction cases were heard, resulting in six evictions and three postponements. The Cape Town Magistrates Court’s jurisdiction includes suburbs such as Woodstock, Salt River, and Maitland. But these evictions are just the tip of the iceberg says Ndifuna Ukwazi co-director Jared Rossouw, as there are 12 other magistrates courts in the city, plus the High Court, before which eviction cases are heard.

Additionally, many evictions don’t even get to court, says Rossouw, as many people are

living with month-to month leases and no security of tenure.

RTC Woodstock chapter leader Deena Bosch said instead of selling off public land, the City should be using it to facilitate affordable housing in well-located areas.

The City’s Open Data Portal reveals the City has been disposing of its properties for at least ten years. A brief analysis of the data shows 25 city-owned residential properties have been auctioned or sold since January 2018, eight of them to businesses. This includes property in well-located areas such as Clifton (sold for R23m), Camps Bay (sold to business for R7.1m), Tamboerskloof, Fish Hoek, Somerset West, and Goodwood.

Thus the City is whittling away properties that could be provided at subsidised rentals in order to facilitate access to housing in well-located areas for civil servants such as nurses, teachers, and firefighters.

City of Cape Town spokesperson Luthando Tyhalibongo, answering questions in early October, said the sale of City-owned properties provided “real opportunities to the residents of our City to invest in their own property, or business venture.

However, the average sale or auction price for the 25 residential properties was R2,1m, with a third of them going to businesses.

This would require far more capital than generally available to a working class citizen.

Tyhalibongo stated the land identified for auction or tender was “considered surplus to the requirements of the City’s municipal service provision”.

“The underutilised properties confer no social or economic benefit should it remain undeveloped and all sectors of society should be able to access public land via a transparent disposal mechanism to give ordinary citizens and public benefit organisations the right to own property.”

Regarding the increase in rentals for tenants of council-owned houses, mayco member for economic opportunities and asset management, James Vos, in an interview with Refilwe Moloto on Cape Talk on 23 October, said before the amalgamation of seven municipalities to form the metropolitan municipality, each municipality had its own leases which were now being replaced with standard lease agreements. The amalgamation occurred in 2000.

Vos said the provisions of the new Municipal Asset Transfer Regulations meant the City was “now obliged to contract viable properties at market-related rentals”.

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OCTOBER 31 - NOVEMBER 25 | 2019

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Member of The Association of Independent Publishers | Editorial Tel.: 083 348 4936 , 021 424 2114 | Editorial Address: The Pinnacle, 6 Burg Street, Cape Town FROM PAGE 2 “My portfolio looks after the City’s assets, and in this case, there are about 275 properties, of which 50 now need to be reviewed where the rental is below R1,000.”

But he also said if the properties were moved to the human settlements department, market related rentals would not be a requirement.

“It doesn’t make sense to have rental stock in my portfolio as I need to apply the law in terms of my portfolio, so that’s what we need to fix,” said Vos. Failure to break apartheid barriers During the 2017/18 financial year, the City has deliver 969 Breaking New Ground houses (for households earning less than R3,500 per month). Houses built using the

provincial Urban Settlements Development Grant came to 851, with various GAP and open market top structures being 89.

The Peoples Housing Project, in which beneficiaries are involved in the decision making over the housing process and product, and make a contribution towards the building of their own home, delivered 1,857 top structures in the financial year, bringing the total to 3,766 houses delivered.

The figures for the 2018/19 financial year were: 1,350 Breaking New Ground houses, 1,067 Urban Settlement Development Grant houses, 253 GAP houses, and 1,249 Peoples Housing Project houses, bringing the total of built structures in the financial year to 3,919.

All the Breaking New Ground and provincial grant housing projects are situated far from the city centre and southern suburbs, in places such as Philippi, Atlantis,

Heideveld, and Delft. Information provided by the City did not indicate where the GAP housing and PHP housing was provided.

City mayco member for human settlements, Malusi Booi, said the housing economy is a complex sphere that needs to be approached with a focus on partnerships and innovation while dealing with great demand and historical legacies of injustice and inequality.

Booi said projects honouring the City’s spatial justice undertaking were the Salt River Market where, according to earlier statements by mayor Dan Plato, about 216 out of 723 residential units would be set aside for affordable housing development.

Booi noted the sale of vacant land in Pine Road and Dillon Lane, Woodstock, which has been proposed for development by a social housing company. This would create about

240 housing opportunities.

He said rezoning applications for the open land next to Fruit and Veg on Roeland Street, and a site in New Market Street were being facilitated. A feasibility analysis for the redevelopment of Woodstock Hospital, currently occupied by about 700 people who have been squeezed out of housing in Woodstock and other suburbs, was also being undertaken.

“There is also much work under way in other urban centres of Cape Town as there is a great demand for affordable housing in other well located urban areas too, not only in central Cape Town,” said Booi.

Cape Town has an overall housing backlog of about 400,000 units, according to numerous reports.

Solly’s Folly land to be freed up

Going nowhere... It appears the unfinshed Foreshore Freeway plan is being abandoned by the City, more than 40 years since city engineer Solly Morris came up with a ring road scheme. Photo: WCN

Steve Kretzmann City-owned land along lower Buitengracht Street which has been held by the province as road reserve for the unfinished Foreshore freeway, is in the process of being returned to the City’s property management portfolio.

The subcouncil consisting of city bowl wards – subcouncil 16 – this month approved a request to the Western Cape Provincial Government to amend the Road Scheme proclamation and release 11,225 square metres of City-owned land that has been underutilised for over 40 years.

The land between Walter Sisulu Avenue and Wale Street was to be used for the original 1970s Buitengracht Road Scheme

which would have seen the Foreshore freeway linking to parking garages in the city via an elevated viaduct.

But mayco member for spatial planning and development, Marian Nieuwoudt, is tight-lipped on whether this means the City has alternative plans for the unfinished Foreshore freeway referred to as Solly’s folly after the plan proposed by city engineer Solly Morris.

In response to questions from Mother City News, Nieuwoudt stated: “The City will communicate about the future of the Foreshore Freeway once a decision has been made.”

As to what the City would do with the land – much of which is used as parking lots at

present – she said no decision has yet been made, and the report to request the province to amend the road reserve still had to be served before council for approval before a formal request could be made to province.

“We cannot provide further information until such time as these processes have been concluded,” she stated.

The land forms part of sites housing activist organisation Ndifuna Ukwazi identified could potentially be used to provide affordable housing in the inner city.

In their publication City Leases: Cape Town’s Failure to Redistribute Land, Ndifuna Ukwazi identifies 13,700 square metres of city-owned land along lower Buitengracht Street, which could be developed to provide

between 719 and 1,079 affordable housing units in eight to 12 story mixed use, mixed income buildings. The organisation did not seem to be aware that most of the land they identified was being held in check by the provincial government.

DA Ward councillor of the city bowl’s ward 77, Brandon Golding, said it was likely nothing would happen with the land for “a few years”.

Golding said some of the properties had buildings on them, which likely predated the proclamation of the road reserve, but most of the land was parking lots and “a dog park”.

“Somebody realised we’ll never complete those elevated freeway plans,” he said.

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OCTOBER 31 - NOVEMBER 25 | 2019

Cafe culture

Roxy Late Night Cafe: Make it a heritage site Steve Kretzmann When Cape Town was a town that only thought it was a city and everyone drove Beetles and rusted City Golfs and even rustier panel vans and dived for kreef off Oudekraal rocks without a second thought, the Roxy Late Night Cafe was there. Even then it seemed to have always been there; the choice spot for burgers and beers after a movie at The Labia, and maybe a snog in one of the dim corners upstairs.

Now Cape Town is sort of like a city and everyone drives larny cars with no rust (at least north of the lentil curtain), and Roxy’s is still with us, 30 years later. That kind of longevity on these streets of bankruptcies and trust funds makes it worth being listed a national heritage site.

The original owner, Brian Weinronk, with his goofy smile and goofier glasses, was a crazy dayglo-polka dot kinda guy who also ran The Indaba in the Mother City in the ‘80s. Indaba was a rare multicultural rebel of a club the memory of which remains fondly held in the minds of those who experienced it, although the memory retention capacity of most of those minds was likely seriously eroded by the Indaba itself. Thus it mostly lives on as second hand tales passed down from elder brothers or cool uncles. Brian also created bloody awful 3D cityscape artworks in luminescent colours and hung them in Roxy’s where they leered at you from the walls.

The new owner, Marvin Haddon, chucked most of them (or stored them carefully in a garage in case Brian’s status as outsider artist ever becomes recognised) but has retained a few hidden away in corners at the landmark spot on 14 Wandel Street in Gardens.

Other than that, Haddon has managed to retain the derelict movie fandom feel of the

place while at the same time shining it up a little, but not too much. It is, thank the gods, still grungy. However, he did unfortunately renovate the bathroom at the top of the stairs, the steepness of which makes visiting Dutch tourists either homesick or relieved they’ve escaped the danger of breaking their neck on a daily basis back in Holland. It used to be an actual bathroom. One toilet, and a bath, in which lay a mannequin dressed in Docs. Couples used to enter two-by-two.

The bath is now gone, and there are cubicles.

Less of a queue for a wee, but also less of a private party.

Whether or not the food has improved, I cannot say. Back in Brian’s day (RIP) I was too poor to eat and young enough not to care. I’m a little less poor and a lot less young and can only comment on Marvin’s kitchen: I have no complaints.

The previous time I grabbed a bite there was about a month ago. I had commandeered one of only three available plug points in the joint and holed up in a corner with my laptop and a deadline.

I absent mindedly ordered a burger. It arrived, eventually, and it was a lot bigger than expected. Surrounded by deep fried potato wedges, it contained all the toppings. There was bacon in there, and pickles, and cheese, and tomato, and greens, and a dik beef patty dripping with juices, and I swear there was avo as well. It

Memory maker... Roxy Late Night Cafe has a new owner but the same vibe that has kept it a favourite beer and chow spot for decades.

was delicious and although I was full about halfway through, I couldn’t stop. I toppled off my chair as I licked my fingers and happily forked out the 105 bucks for it once I had rolled myself upright.

This time, again with the deadline, I ordered the Crunchy Chicken avo cos lettuce and jalapeno Gourmet Wrap after checking with the Adidas-clad waiter that it would leave me with some dignity intact.

Again, given the relaxed beer-dopping pool-playing after-movies vibe of the

place, I was pleasantly surprised by the food. The crumbed and fried chicken was tender, the lettuce crunchy, the jalapeno provided just the right amount of heat and the sauce (whatever it was) present but not overbearing. It came with ultra-thin strips of sweet potato chips to give a satisfying crunch in between bites of the wrap. Nine out of ten guys. Also, there’s normally some kind of happy hour going on in the afternoon and it was a 2-4-1 on Castles at the time.

Cold beer, warm wrap, funky-grungy vibes, happy me.

Chicken wrap and two beers came to R120 without the tip. Mother City News paid its own bill in full. Roxy’s is open from 9am to 2am and offers all-day breakfasts.

Wine

Groote Post: Country living done right Sade Allcock It is a well-known fact that a Capetonian’s favourite thing to do is eat. Our second favourite thing to do is drink, and quite frankly I can’t blame us. With a booming craft beer, gin and cider industry, and world class local wine, we truly are spoilt for choice in the Western Cape. Being a born and bred Capetonian myself, I couldn’t think of any better way to spend a Sunday than by combining my love for delicious food with my love for impeccable wine. As such, off I traipsed to the restaurant at Groote Post, Hilda’s Kitchen, to tuck into Chef Debbie’s country cuisine and taste a selection of their wine. Nestled in the hills outside Darling, this beautiful Cape Dutch cellar boasts farm hospitality at its finest. Throughout the course of my meal I sampled their Sauvignon Blanc, unwooded Chardonnay, Rosé and Shiraz. I love a good sauvignon blanc on a summer’s afternoon and Groote Post’s 2019 Sauvignon Blanc is undeniably an

easy drinking wine. It is well-balanced, being neither too fruity nor too acidic, and I even caught a whiff of something zesty on the nose. Sauvignon Blanc is a cultivar that is notoriously difficult to pair, but I don’t foresee that being an issue for this versatile wine. On the other hand, I have never been much of a Chardonnay drinker, but since my tasting at Warwick wine estate, I am a convert. Groote Post’s 2019 unwooded Chardonnay only served to reinforce my newfound love for this surprisingly delicate cultivar. Their Chardonnay is light, fresh and crisp while remaining smooth and well balanced. For an unwooded Chardonnay this wine has a surprisingly complex palate, and it stood out as my favourite from the tasting. You certainly won’t regret pairing it with one of Debbie’s camembert, basil and tomato tarts.

If it’s a dry rosé you’re after, Groote Post’s 2019 Pinot Noir Rosé delivers.

On the nose I found hints of crisp autumn apples, but don’t be deceived, this wine is slightly sweeter with notes

of raspberries and a linger of caramel on the palate. Lastly, the Groote Post 2017 Shiraz. As all adults like to tell you in your teen years, this one is going to be a real stunner when it hits maturity. Currently this is a light Shiraz, but a few years down the line and the body of this wine will be able to match the intensity of its nose, which has layers of currants, berries and spice.

Well-bodied, rich and complex, this wine will most certainly age well, if you have the patience. I recommend purchasing a bottle and forgetting it under your bed until 2022.

Cellar prices: Groote Post 2019 Sauvignon Blanc @ R98.00 Groote Post 2019 Chardonnay @ R105.00 Groote Post 2019 Pinot Noir Rosé @ R80.00 Groote Post 2017 Shiraz @ R150.00 Hilda’s Kitchen is open for lunch Wednesday through Sunday, booking essential.

Drink responsibly, and no drinking allowed if you are under 18-years-old.

OCTOBER 31 - NOVEMBER 25 | 2019

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Book Reviews

An Orchestra of Minorities,

by Chigozie Obiama Of all the voices in the world

Steve Kretzmann The cries of all the wounded, oppressed, downtrodden, the enslaved, the wrongfully imprisoned, are raised as if in an orchestra.

An orchestra of minorities. It is this identification with the powerless that pulses through the heart of Chigozie Obioma’s

magnificent novel.

Although it focuses on the odyssey of just one man, related by his chi, or guardian of his spirit, its depth and breadth is that of a symphony. The metaphors, allegories, and proverbs rise and fall throughout the narrative of Chinonso’s desire to win the approval of the family of the woman he

A House Divided by Crispian Olver Investigation into what has gone on in Cape Town government. Starting point is the absurd lack of planning around the water crisis but it quickly becomes an account of the civil war that went on between Aunty Pat and the DA and the consequent paralysis of govt. It’s well written and he interviewed a lot of people and nobody comes out looking good. The frustrating thing is that while he shows the links between politicians and property developers and how that appears to be a major reason behind the city’s refusal/inability to deliver affordable housing for the poor, he opens investigative doors without going all the way down them. There’s a lot more work to be done in terms of explaining the relationship between developers and politicians but perhaps that was just beyond the scope of what he could do with this book.

Still definitely worth reading for those interested in local govt and understanding some of the shit that has gone down in the city. - Mervyn

loves, and so return to marry her.

It is an Homeric struggle, but beneath the feet of the individual protaganist, roots sink into untold centuries of Africa. As deep into into its dark and red earth as its mythology reaches up to the celestial universe of the ancestors and the yet to be reborn.

The concept of an interlinked circle of life threads through the pages. It is at the beginning of every chapter as Chinonso’s chi addresses the deities who may choose to influence the fate of man*, acting as advocate for its host. But to what extent Chinonso’s story is representative of the injustice experienced by multitudes, punches to the gut just over halfway through the tale: “– All who have been chained and beaten, whose lands have been plundered, whose civilisations have been destroyed, who have been silenced, raped, shamed and killed.

With all these people, he’d come to share a common fate. They were the minorities of this world whose only recourse was to join this universal orchestra in which all there was to do was cry and wail. --” The Igbo mythology Obiama weaves is not only an inspired storytelling device to the point of being biblical, it roots it in the many, the enjoined, and the cyclical. There are many proverbs, spoken in the provenance of the wise, the philosophy of the patient: “– The fathers say that a man does not stand on burning coals barefoot because his feet are wet-One does not dance near the pit of venomous snakes because one’s obi is too small--” Curious is the inability to see the spirit world of Turkish Cyprus; the astral planes are almost deserted, the spirits congregated in buildings, as opposed to the richly imagined, populous and fecund worlds in Nigeria.

But this is not surprising. By coincidence,

a reading of The Discovery of Heaven by the late and acclaimed Dutch author Harry Mulisch, preceded Obiama’s An Orchestra of Minorities. Both are written with a celestial perspective.

Mulisch European of course. From a Judeo-Christian mythology. An hierarchical view wherein exists an entity, or agency, which dictates the human course. In Obiama’s novel, agency lies within people, there is a much closer relationship with the spirits. In Igbo mythology, it seems, man is responsible for his own suffering, punishment is what comes from his own doing. Budhism would call it karmic. It is the natural law of action and reaction . Yet, a man may choose one course to get where he desires, yet find himself at its opposite.

He may travel to a strange land to seek a degree in order to obtain the freedom to be with one he loves, and find himself in prison, wretched and utterly isolated.

So we sympathise with Chinonso. It could be anyone. There are circumstances not of our making. The future is a mist through which we try see clearly. But not everyone might be as stubborn, as prone to the violence of his emotions, as Chinonso.

He has his flaws, which is what spurs his tragedy, and his chi’s wondrous undertaking to plead his case in the court of the heavens.

An Orchestra of Minorities will envelope you in its layers, and leave you stunned. *The term ‘man’ refers to all genders An Orchestra of Minorities was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize this year, as was his debut novel, The Fishermen, in 2015.

Chigozie Obiama attended the Open Book Festival, Cape Town during September. You can find his novel at The Book Lounge on the corner of Roeland and Buitenkant Streets.

On Earth We’re Briefly Inland by Téa Obreht Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong Two stories, A lyrical exploration of the depravity, pain and beauty of being human.

A letter to a mother who cannot read. Delves into inter generational trauma informed by war, immigration and otherness.

Examines relationships, and the absence of relationships, within families and between lovers in a brutally honest yet tender way. So wellcrafted, thoughtful and poetic. – Georgia

Ordinary People by Diana Evans Tells the story of two 30 something couples in the UK. Both their relationships are taking strain/disintegrating and all four of the people are struggling with the should I stay or should I go question. It’s a little uneven in that the one couple gets significantly more airtime than the other, but its really well written. Felt a bit like Sally Rooney for the older generation? - Mervyn

with very different voices.

One is a story of Lurie/Misafir, an outlaw of Turkish/Arab decent who is recounting his life story to his camel. The tone here is very narrative, a grand epic tale of adventure and such. One is of Nora, a mother who is trying to keep her household going in a drought. Her husband and eldest boys have gone awol and there’s no water. Also, the town is on the verge of collapse. The voice here is more of a classic western, lots of good dialogue.

Quite a reductive summation, but honestly, the plot is great but also secondary. The real strength of the book is the richness of characters.

Téa wove an amazing story, which came together in a very unexpected way and surprised me with the ending.

– Carmen – Short book reviews by staff at the best indi bookstore in town, The Book Lounge, cnr Buitenkant and Roeland Streets.

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OCTOBER 31 - NOVEMBER 25 | 2019

About the Koeberg Public Safety Information Forum

Section 26(4) of the NNR Act states that “The holder of a nuclear installation license must establish a public safety information forum as prescribed in order to inform the persons living in the municipal area in respect of which an emergency plan has been established on nuclear safety and radiation safety matters.�

What is the Public Safety Information Forum (PSIF)?

The PSIF is a meeting which takes place four times a year. It is used as a platform for residents within the municipal boundary of Koeberg Nuclear Power Station to enquire about and receive nuclear safety related information from the facility.

Which topics are discussed?

The forum will address any topic that the members feel could impact their health, environment, and safety from a nuclear emergency preparedness point of view.

Who should attend?

All persons living within the municipal area around Koeberg, all affected and interested organisations or parties, and any other persons concerned about their health and safety from a nuclear and radiation safety point of view are welcome to attend the forum. Persons wishing to attend are requested to register as a member.

How do I register?

Kindly e-mail your details, i.e. full name, contact number, organisation (if applicable) or indicate whether you are a resident, to JoshuaD@eskom.co.za or contact tel. +27 21 550 4238.

When are the PSIF meetings held?

Dates for the meetings are published in the annual Koeberg Emergency Plan Calendar, which residents around the station would have received in January 2019. The last PSIF meeting for this year is on Thursday, 28 November 2019.

Who to talk to For more information, contact Lewis Phidza, Koeberg Stakeholder Management Manager, at tel. +27 21 550 5758 or send an email to PhidzaNL@eskom.co.za. Alternatively contact Debbie Joshua at tel. +27 21 550 4238 or send an email to JoshuaD@eskom.co.za.

Should you not have received a Koeberg Emergency Plan Calendar and are a resident in the 16km radius of the station (Urgent Protective Action Zone), please contact the Koeberg Stakeholder Management Department at tel. +27 21 550 5227.

OCTOBER 31 - NOVEMBER 25 | 2019

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Sewage spills plague city Steve Kretzmann In the south of the city, the Zandvlei estuary at Muizenberg has been closed for public use at least five times this year due to contamination from sewage spills.

In Dunoon to the north, sewage flowing through the streets is in places so deep that cars get stuck and have to be towed out, as reported by sister newspaper Iliso Labantu.

And in-between, according to the City water and sanitation department’s own reports, there are between 7,000 and 12,000 sewage spills a month. One of the more serious of these has been a recent spill into the municipal reserve at Flamingo Vlei on October 3.

City mayco member for water and waste, Xanthea Limberg, says the Zandvlei spills have been caused by the collapse of a sewage pipe, which “caused a surge of sewage and the pump station was not able to discharge into the gravity pipeline which resulted in sewage entering the stormwater system and ultimately into Zandvlei”.

Limberg said attempts to fix the pipeline have been frustrated by informal structures in Overcome Heights having been built over the pipe servitude, and people don’t want to relocate so repairs can take place.

The spill in Flamingo Vlei was due to mechanical failure of the pumps, and temporary mobile pumps have since been moved to the site. The pumps have been repaired and will be re-commissioned in the near future, says Limberg.

In numerous communications between

Axle-deep... A driver had to towed out of a pool of sewage on a Dunoon street recently.

Sewage running down the streets is a daily reality for people living in the township. Photo: Peter Luhanga/Iliso Labantu

Iliso Lobantu and the City, it has been communicated that sewage overflows in Dunoon are often caused by residents throwing a large variety of solid objects down the sewerage lines, causes blockages and backup flows.

However, aging infrastructure is also contributing to the average of 400 sewage

spills per day in the city, yet the water and sanitation department has significantly underspent its capital expenditure budget for the past two financial years.

Reports tabled to the City’s Water and Waste Portfolio Committee in September reveal only R1.5bn out of a water and sanitation department capital expenditure

budget of R2.3bn had been spent in the 2018-19 financial year ending June 30. That is only 64.5% of the budget.

In the previous financial year, only 55% of the capital expenditure budget was spent.

Additionally, only 10.1km of sewer mains were replaced in the 2018/19 financial year.

The target was 23.6km.

A day in the life of a municipal sewerage worker Peter Luhanga Hamilton Mkhize, 45, earns a living by cleaning Cape Town’s blocked municipal sewers, a job most people would prefer to avoid.

When residents see him in action in the midst of overflowing raw faeces, they spit on the ground. But, he says, he manages to keep his spirits up throughout the workday.

When GroundUp spoke to him on Wednesday his protective garments, rubber gloves and coat, were dripping raw sewage.

Excrement was stuck on his beanie and even on his face as he worked on a blocked main sewer in Dunoon’s Waxberry Street.

He removed the manhole cover and jumped inside to start removing foreign objects. Then he and his colleague used a high-pressure jet to remove build-up and obstructions in the sewer.

Because of the growing population in Dunoon and frequent sewage flooding, the street is a familiar sight for him.

Mkhize has been working for a City contractor, Quetzal Trading, for ten years, cleaning and unblocking sewers.

He says he has got used to the smell over the years. He has to do this work, he says, to feed his family. “For me, fixing blocked sewers, touching raw faeces is my bread and butter.

“When I started I had to fight off nausea and it was not easy to have a meal after work,” he says. “I could not eat for three days in a row.”

But now, Mkhize says, he is used to it.

He enjoys his meal soon after cleaning up after work. “I am used to this job now. It is my daily bread. Without this, I can’t do anything. I am proud of this job.”

Foreign objects... Hamilton Mkhize holds a rock retrieved from a sewer line in Dunoon.

He says any number of foreign objects, which create blockages that lead to sewage spills, are discovered in the pipes. Photo: Peter Luhanga/Iliso Labantu

He earns R3,200 fortnightly, more when he works overtime.

“We get provident fund benefits, medical aid and a food parcel at the end of the year which for me is good enough.”

His day starts at 7:20am and ends at 4:20pm and he can visit three sites within that time. Asked if he gets sick, he says the sewerage workers are inoculated.

When unblocking the sewers, he says, they find dead dogs, cats, sheep heads.

Sometimes they find a foetus. “We have

found a nine-months, fully developed baby.

It is very traumatising.”

“The community needs to be educated about the importance of sewer manholes.

They remove the cover and throw in foreign objects.” Overpopulation is also contributing to ongoing sewer problems in Dunoon, says Mkhize.

His colleague, Morris Ngadu, is a refugee.

He fled political violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2002. In the DRC he was an accountant, but in South

Africa he first got a job as a security guard and three years ago joined Mkhize. He supports his wife and two children.

“We use antiseptics. There is nothing to worry about. I clean my hands before eating,” he says.

Mkhize says his children know what he does but he isn’t sure if they understand.

“They have never seen me in action. If they were to see me in action with their friends … I don’t know if they would point to me to say ‘that is my father’.”

Breaking the echo chamber in the city bowl and beyond

FREE COPY

OCTOBER 31 - NOVEMBER 25, 2019

Halloween is great and all. Ghoulish. Topsy Turvy. Trick or Treat. Graveyards and cheap liquor. But it’s not a date so much as a time of year.

Before winter begins. Winter that the old and infirm may not survive. In this part of the world we should be checking our tickets around 31 May. Then again, snow and days of darkness are not real things here. We do death though. All year round thanks to government corruption, domestic murder, and police inefficiency. So celebrate being alive.

Theatre: Nov 4, 8pm. Play Things: Writing Wrongs at Alexander Bar. Play Things is where our talented and oftentimes desperate performers and artists reveal whatever they’ve been playing around with. Writing Wrongs, our last Play Things of the year, will showcase theatre sketches and play readings from some of Cape Town’s fast-rising performers at Alexander Bar on November 4 at 8pm. Only R50 if you book online through alexanderbar.co.za, or R70 at the door.

The Kwasha! Theatre company, which is made up of graduates of the acclaimed Market Theatre Laboratory, has burst onto the SA theatre scene in a confetti of accolades. Now the duo of Mahlatsi Mokgonyana and Billy Langa, who brought us Tswalo, bring their contemporary interpretation of Rhinoceros, a play by avant-garde and absurdist RomanianFrench playwright Eugène Ionesco, to the Magnet Theatre at the corner of St. Michaels and Lower Main Roads in Observatory.

The play depicts an imaginary epidemic of “rhinoceritis”, a disease that frightens all the inhabitants of a city, and is a metaphor for the rise of totalitarianism on the eve of the Second World War. Highly recommended, it plays on November 8 and 9 at 7pm, with an additional 10am performance on the 9th.

Book via webtickets, a steal at R60.

Music: Seriously dreamy deep groove electronica to goof you out at The Octopi and I on 100 Voortrekker Street, which appears to be a new spot. Arutani is playing there with a lush visual and aural feast on November 2. If Electronica’s your thing, you’re probably already on it.

Tickets from R120 early bird to R180 at the door. From 6pm to 2am.

Blue Crime are bringing their coven to Cape Town from Amsterdam and will be sharing a night of music with Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys and Andre Leo on Friday November 8 at The Raptor Room. Blue Crime, from what we’ve seen, might fit the bill for surreal punk.

They twist the metal out of whatever sound system they use. Don’t lend them your amp.

Their track Trigger is like Neil Young’s feedback gone woke. Lucy Kruger looks like she’s time travelled out of the Victorian era and sounds like she’d like to bite your neck. Andre Leo will have you presenting your jugular.

Tickets for this international once-off chance are only R60. Starts at 8pm, goes to 11pm.

Eet Kreet at The Jagger Lounge on 9 November. This one’s a throwback, and an education.

Anyone there who was there will be recognisable as being the maddest person in the room.

Eet Kreef was the name of the album by Johannes Kerkorrel end Die Gerefoormeerde Blues Band. Calling it a seminal influence on Mzansi culture would be an understatement. It was 1989, the name of the band and the album a crude joke thrown back against Afrikaaner kerk en krag kultuur. It was a middle finger raised by the youngsters who said ‘no more’ . It’ll be played by four younger musicians.

Tassies is the recommended drink. Or black label. And don’t forget the zol to suck at with former strangers in the wind on the pavement outside. You don’t have to go down the alley anymore. If you’re older than, let’s say, 35, bring a snot rag.

The Jagger Lounge is at 74 Shortmarket Street, gig starts at 6.30pm, tickets via webtickets cost R200.

Jak Tomas, with Mischa Live at The Jagger Lounge on 13 November.

He’s born and raised in Cape Town, wears a mustard parka jacket and a brown felt hat and a beard in his music vid. He is quite earnest and makes music that pleases him first. Hopefully we share his taste.

Having played since his first band as a teenager, and now 35, he’s accomplished. YouTube threw up Fractals after. Mischa Live believes in dreams, and pop, which is cool.

Starts from 6.30pm at 74 Shortmarket Street, don’t know how much it costs ‘cause webtickets started giving us some shit about logging in.

November 14, The Waiting Room, The Champion Trees with Liv Wright.

When they lay down a smart beat, like on ‘Glass’, there’s a raw young sound. You can dance to it. With it. You can dance with it. It’s like that. Bit of a carry away on the strings, but we always like something to get lost in. And then other songs get lost in something that sounds like a pity party.

Liv’s got this great sarcastic voice, singing ballades.

273 Long Street, R50 at the door. Liv starts a little after 9pm

30 November. Ha! Halala! Get lively. Move those feet. Grind those hips. Shake those shoulders. Selmor Mtukudzi is playing at Mercury Live. Here to shake us out of our Cape Town navel gazing and infuse some Zimbabwean heat. With her father Oliver ‘Tuku’ Mtukudzi’s roots, she and her sister Sandra flower along their own branch. She’s the now generation.

Tickets are R200 but if you’re keen for a shimmy, it’s worth it.

Who is that in the picture looking like an Edwardian Jack Parow got crossed with a poodle and Johnny Depp’s Cpt Sparrow? Fucking ridiculous. As is coughing up R1200 to go to an exclusive party. The Mirage Summer Party. The write up uses the word luxury, and luxurious in consecutive sentences. They also contain the word ‘yacht’, which takes on the mantle of a verb. It’s called ‘The Forever Summer experience’. It awaits, if you want to shell out to get on deck and sail to Clifton while Majozi and The Kiffness serenade you through the afternoon’s sunshine as you anchor off Clifton so everyone collecting shells can see you and think that you’re a dick. Go for it on November 24. Coca-Cola Peninsula Beverages is involved. As is Graham Beck. It’s everyone’s dream, apparently. Cola and sparkling wine and Smile FM and the V&A Waterfront. What’s the opposite of woke? Blind? If you want to tell them what a kak idea it is, you can email info@miragecatamaran.com or call 071 428 1126

Jols: Bikers have a bad rap but actually they’re just big kids. Didn’t you love scooting around when you were wee? Why did you stop? Go get a lus for two wheels, if you havent’already, and join the Wings MCC ‘Summer Slam’ day jol on November 23 from 3pm to midnight at Stan Abbot Park at 2 Oranje Street, Ruyterwacth, which is there by Epping. Comedian Eugene Matthews is going, so should you.

For all you cockroaches out there, Carnevol ft. Oh My Goth night should get you scuttling to Evol at 60 on Hope on November 1. Goes from 9pm to 4am (of course). Presales have sold out. It’s R80 at the door. Halloween, here we go.

Other: LOCATION TO BE CONFIRMED. Any excuse to take your kit off is a good one. This one is to celebrate all sorts shapes and sizes of bodies. Feel the freedom. The Real Catwalk is a ‘fashion show style flash mob’, and you’re invited to walk, limp, wobble, squirve and strut whatever flesh you perambulate through this world in. Be cheered on, and cheer on. Bust a button, wear your favourite outfit. 9 November from 12 to 3pm. Watch The Real Catwalk South Africa’s Facebook page to find out where it’ll be. Seapoint promenade sounds likely.

Surf culture was appropriated by the mainstream decades ago – like about four decades ago, and is now overpowered by corporate thieves who would suck the soul out of a 6-month old baby is there was cash to be made. Fortunately, there are those who are willing to risk the precarious game of walking the line between fleecing the fleecers and being turned into a sheep. But the guy behind the Wavescape Surf and Ocean Festival is a goat, and long may Steve Pike live.

The fest opening event screens a kief fliek about Tony Alva at Jack Black’s Taproom on Saturday 9 November from 6pm to 10.

The Taproom is at 10 Brigid Road, Diep River. It’s free.

There’s a klomp other films and events and whatnot happening during the fest which goes on until 9 December. Wavescape also contribute to a bunch of fantastic projects going on daily here on our shore. Check them out.

We buy vinyl. If you have inherited a crateful, or shifted to digital, we’ll exchange for cash. Call 083 348 4936. We’ll come to you.