Mother City News October 2020

FREE COPY

WARNING: May contain strong language

28 OCTOBER TO 25 NOVEMBER, 2020

Breaking the echo chamber in the city bowl and beyond.

Sewage failure • Almost three million litres of drinking water lost per day due to industry being unable to use treated effluent.

• Green Scorpions order City to sort out the ongoing pollution of Milnerton Lagoon

Steve Kretzmann and Raymond Joseph

The municipality’s failure to maintain the Potsdam Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTW) in Milnerton cost us a billion litres of drinking water in 2019, as we were emerging from the worst

we like what we write

thecritter.co.za

drought in living history.

The fuel refinery in Milnerton relies on treated effluent from the Potsdam WWTW, but last year the water released was so polluted they could not run it

TO ADVERTISE YOUR BUSINESS IN MOTHER CITY NEWS

CALL 021 424 2114 or 061 438 3365

through their reverse osmosis treatment plant, and thus had to use tap water for their industrial processes.

More on Page 2

COVID-19

Online Resources & News Portal SAcoronavirus.co.za Emergency Hotline: 0800 029 999 | WhatsApp Support Line: 0600 123 456

2

Mother City News

28 OCTOBER TO 25 NOVEMBER, 2020

From Page 1

Sewage failure cost 1bn litres in drinking water This resulted in the refinery’s use of water from our dams skyrocketing to just over 1,5 billion litres last year, up from an average of just over 500 million litres for each of the previous two years.

The refinery, owned by Astron Energy (formerly Chevron), is among the top ten industrial water users in Cape Town according to water meter figures obtained from the City following a successful Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) early this year.

Using drinking water to distill fuel Responding to a series of questions, Astron Energy spokesperson Suzanne Pullinger said the plant usually obtains most of the water needed for its industrial processes from the Potsdam WWTW. Pullinger said the refinery can use up to 5,9 million litres of water per day when running at full capacity. This water is mostly for cooling distilled crude oil, and for steam generation to drive pumps and compressors. However, most of the water normally used in the industrial process is sourced from the Potsdam WWTW before being put through Astron’s own reverse osmosis plant, and much of it is also recycled.

The City’s figures, which Astron said aligns with their own, show the refinery used just over 769 million litres of tap water in 2015, dropping to a low of just over 484 million litres in 2017 as Cape Town went through one of its driest rainfall seasons on record.

There was a 44 million litre increase to 528 million litres in 2018, which was the year in which Day Zero was touted. This increase, said Pullinger, was because water flow from Potsdam WWTW decreased drastically due to households doing their part to save water, resulting in much less water running into the sewer system. Thus the refinery, which supplies all the fuel to the airport and 95% of the fuel in all the cars in Cape Town, had to supplement their needs with water supplied from Cape Town’s dam supply.

Then in 2019 their drinking water usage shot up threefold, to just under 1,508 billion litres, before the City’s dam supply had fully recovered. This was because the effluent from Potsdam was so polluted the refinery couldn’t run it through their reverse osmosis plant.

“There has been effluent water quality issues with the Potsdam supply which has meant switching to municipal water usage,” said Pullinger.

She could not comment on the quality of effluent from Potsdam at the moment, as a “prolonged maintenance shutdown” meant the reverse osmosis plant could not operate as the demand was too low.

Currently, they were “therefore reliant on municipal water to supply basic needs at a much reduced rate of around 12% of normal usage”.

Environmental disaster Other than for industrial, and possible agricultural use, the effluent from the

Potsdam WWTW is also released into the Diep River, which becomes the Milnerton Lagoon as it forms an estuary before flowing out to sea.

Failure to properly treat received sewage at Potsdam has led to such sever pollution of the river and lagoon that the Environmental Management Inspectorate – known as the Green Scorpions – has ordered the City to clean it up.

The Green Scorpions issued a directive to the City of Cape Town on 21 September, ordering it to remedy the state of the lagoon, which is filled with stagnant, polluted effluent. Failure to comply is a criminal offence. The directive was given six months after a pre-directive – essentially a warning – was issued by the Green Scorpions in March. Before that, on 12 February, the City received a letter from the Green Scorpions that a pre-directive was imminent if they didn’t take action and present a remediation plan.

This came after sustained complaints by civic bodies over the state of the water in the estuary, which often smelt of sewage, and the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) taking up the cause.

At a press conference in February, prior to the pre-directive and seven days after the Green Scorpions’s initial letter, incoming City director of water and sanitation, Michael Webster, said R11bn had been committed over ten years to upgrade the waste water treatment works, but the City recognised “there should have been investments earlier in regard to Diep River”.

The Potsdam disinfection system was in urgent need of repair, a “belt press” was needed to remove solids from the water, and retention ponds needed repair, said Webster.

In a statement released this week (27 October), OUTA senior legal project manager Andrea Korff, said they had sent a letter to the Green Scorpions on 24 August stating the City’s interventions as a result of the predirective were “only addressing failing systems and infrastructure that should in any event be working effectively”.

September “issued by the Provincial Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEADP), under section 28 of the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA)”.

Limberg said the City has lodged an appeal against the directive “and will continue to implement its action plan to improve water quality in the Diep Rivier and Milnerton Lagoon”.

DEADP MEC Anton Bredell’s spokesperson James-Brent Styan said Bredell, who will have to decide on the merits of the City’s appeal, “endeavors to consider” it within 60 days, “provided all the information and potential queries are resolved”.

Styan said the City lodged its appeal on 20 October.

Toxic sludge… Untreated or partially treated effluent from the Potsdam sewage works has led to chronic pollution of the Milnerton Lagoon, with trails of black water running out to sea at the mouth.

The entrance to the Potsdam Waste Water Treatment Works off Koeberg Road, opposite the Astron Energy oil refinery.

28 OCTOBER TO 25 NOVEMBER, 2020

Mother City News

3

Member of The Association of Independent Publishers | Editorial Tel.: 083 348 4936 ,

021 424 2114 | Email Address: westcapenews@gmail.com

Free water pass for industry as households penalised during drought

Every drop counts… While Capetonians were pulling out all the stops to save water during the drought, and getting heavily penalised if they didn’t big business was not held to account by City authorities. Photo: Steve Kretzmann

Steve Kretzmann and Raymond Joseph Cape Town’s top ten water users show how billions of litres of drinking water were being sucked up by companies as the city’s biggest dam, Theewaterskloof, edged toward an unusable 10 percent.

These ten companies were responsible for using 4,234 billion litres of water in 2017, and 3,595 billion litres of water in 2018, in the lead up to Day Zero, when the City warned that taps would run dry.

The data of the ten companies’ water billings was obtained from the City of Cape Town after a Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) application and a subsequent drawn-out battle for clarity on the information supplied.

The figures for the years 2015 to 2019 show that most of the companies did decrease their municipal drinking water consumption during the two most desperate years – 2017 and 2018 – as a response to City messaging.

But only Twinsaver, the makers of tissues and toilet paper - registered as Main Street Holdings 1310 - met the provincial directive to reduce consumption to 45% of predrought (2015) levels.

Peninsula Beverages, which holds the licence to manufacture Coca-Cola products in Cape Town, increased their 2017 water consumption above 2015 levels, despite City mayco member for Water and Waste, Xanthea Limberg saying she met with them February 2017, “warning them of the need to

take steps to reduce consumption”.

Peninsula Beverages’ water use increased to just under 639 million litres in 2017, up from 492 million litres in 2016, and exceeding the 527 million litres they used to produce sugar sweetened drinks before the drought in 2015.

It was only in early January 2018, according to Peninsula Beverages spokesperson Priscilla Urquhart, that boreholes were sunk in order to reduce reliance on municipal water, with water use licenses for the boreholes granted in May that year, once the threat of Day Zero had passed.

But in previous emailed responses to questions, Limberg stated: “Although we never took the drastic step of restricting water to any business, the steep rise in tariffs under level 6 meant that businesses were already making every effort to reduce where possible, and were penalised financially for overuse.”

However, industrial users only experienced a 104% increase in tariffs, from R27,77 to R57 per kilolitre - and they paid the same amount per kilolitre no matter how much they used.

Households, on the other hand, were subjected to punitive stepped tariffs, with a 556% increase at the lowest “step” of 0kl to 6kl, from R4.56 to R29.93 per kilolitre, and a 195% escalation in price, from R17,75 to R52,44 per kilolitre usage between 6kl and 10,5kl.

Households using more than 10,5kl per month were investigated and their flow

restricted with a water management device, which many had to pay for out of their own pockets.

The City was installing so many WMDs that their January 2018 budget adjustment called for an additional R10m to be used to prevent a backlog for the installation of new, customer-funded water meter devices.

Besides Peninsula Beverages, two companies which reduced their water consumption least during the critical 2017 and 2018 years,were Astral Operations, and County Fair Foods. Both them are poultry producers - County Fair is a subsidiary of Astral - and have started edging back to predrought levels.

Neither company responded to questions sent more than a week prior to publication, despite County Fair providing an email read receipt.

Responding to why their supplied meter

readings only began in 2017, Eskom said it was due to the City issuing a new water meter following a consolidation of two properties at the Koeberg nuclear plant.

Eskom had an 11% reduction from 2015 water use in 2016, with 2017 seeing a 26% reduction from 2015, and a 30% reduction in 2018, according to a response from the parastatal’s media desk.

Usage had increased again in 2019 due to their temporary groundwater desalination plant being decommissioned due to the unreliable quantity and quality of groundwater, coupled with “a shutdown of one of the units on 2 May 2019 due to a condenser tube leak”, Eskom said. In addition “the failure of a temperature controller to appropriately control cooling of one of the sumps” led to an increase in water usage at the plant.

Mother City News

4

28 OCTOBER TO 25 NOVEMBER, 2020

Food review

Drive-by pizza pickup hits the sweet spot Sadé Allcock Picture this: a friend of a friend tells me one night over a couple of beers about this place in Rosebank called Pizza Shed. They rave about it. I am dubious. I’m pretty fussy about my pizza. In fact, I’m so fussy that I’ve resorted to making my own pizzas, dough and all (it helps that I’ve got a broken oven that consistently runs hot). Nevertheless, I thank my friend for their suggestion and pretty much forget about it. That is until I’m at home one Friday evening and I don’t feel like making a hassle out of dinner. I’m considering the options. I could order in any food I want, but I really want pizza. Sadly, I’ve tried all the places in a 10km radius and wasn’t very fond of any of them. I vaguely recall a conversation with a friend a couple weeks back that mentioned a good pizza place that wasn’t a trek. I hit my friend up for the name, track down the place on Instagram and find the number for orders.

Now I’m messaging an unknown number on WhatsApp, hoping and praying that it’s the right one and that I haven’t just asked some Tannie in Mowbray for a margarita with pepperoni. Luckily for me it is the right one and they respond by saying my order will be ready for collection in 15 minutes and sending through their location. I think “God that’s quick. I’d better change into something other than my sloth onesie”. So, there I am 10 minutes later, having upgraded to jeans and a jumper, navigating through the suburbs at 8pm on a Friday night, on the hunt for a decent pizza. I turn off Liesbeek Parkway and drive down past the Alma Café, taking a right into a cul-de-sac. According to Google Maps I’ve arrived. Now I’m sitting alone in

This is not a photo of a Pizza Shed pizza, but a generic stock photo. Photographs of the actual pizza reviewed were unfortunately not taken, you’ll have to see for yourself.

my car in a dark alleyway in an unknown location. I start to panic just a little. What if I got the wrong address? There’s nothing to signify that there’s a pizza restaurant operating anywhere nearby. But no, here comes a delivery guy on his bike so it must be the right place. Five minutes later the garage door behind me slides open and out comes a guy with – thank god – a pizza box and a card machine. I exchange pleasantries, make my payment and hightail it home. Eventually I am safely ensconced in my house with a glass of wine in hand, Netflix on the telly and my

pizza in front of me. I take the first bite. It is bloody delicious. A gorgeous chewy base with a doughy crust. There is fior di latte and basil. There is a good tomato sauce. There is tons of pepperoni. I am simultaneously torn between wanting to inhale the whole thing and never wanting it to end. Such was my experience with Pizza Shed. I have returned many times and I have honestly never had a less than praiseworthy pizza. Will it always be as magical as when I had just discovered a hidden gem and taken the first bite of my meal? No, for me nothing compares to that

initial feeling. But does it come pretty damn close? Absolutely. I also love how no fuss it is. There is no ‘come inside’ or ‘sit down’. You either order via Mr Delivery or Uber Eats or you collect at the door. They are open six days a week (they decided to open on a Sunday due to the sheer demand – closed Mondays) and their prices are very reasonable as far as pizzas with good quality ingredients go these days – their most expensive is R130. Guys, I don’t know what else to tell you, get on it.

Call them on 076 575 7013.

Wine

Constantia Uitsig: Gimme some passion Sadé Allcock With the onset of summer, it is once again the season for wine tasting. Not that you can’t go wine tasting in winter, its just as pleasant. Who wants to sip a cold glass of Chenin Blanc while its pouring and blustering outside? Not me. Thankfully that weather has passed us by, and I set out on a recent gloriously warm day to see what Constantia Uitsig has on offer. It is a beautiful estate and clearly a lot of thought has gone into curating it. There is a market section where you can find sushi and ice cream, two restaurants and even a bike park. We settled down for a basic tasting of two whites, one red and a dessert wine. The first was their best-selling wine, the Sauvignon Blanc 2019. I loved this wine. I found aromas of asparagus and cut grass on the nose while on the palate I tasted crisp green pears. This wine is easy drinking with a good acidity that gives it structure.

I think it is safe to say that it is my current favourite Sav Blanc and I would definitely recommend purchasing a few bottles this holiday season. Next up was their Natura Vista 2018, which is a blend consisting of 70% semillion and 30% sauvignon blanc. I had already tasted this wine on a previous occasion, so I knew I was a fan. It did not let me down on the second tasting. It gave off aromas of waxy limes and vanilla. On the whole – absolutely delicious. The only red

wine of the tasting was the Constantia Red 2016. This is a Bordeaux Blend, with 47% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11% Cabernet Franc. It is aged in 60% first fill and 40% second fill French oak barrels for 15 months. There were aromas of cigar and blackcurrants while the palate was bursting with ripe tannins. This is a very enjoyable red, although not spectacular. Lastly was the dessert wine. I have never been a huge dessert wine fan as they are generally too sweet for me. However, Constantia Uitsig’s

Muscat was surprisingly passable. I thought this one would go very nicely with a vanilla pod ice cream. How convenient that there is an ice-cream place on the premises (their ice-cream is great, I sampled a few). I only have one gripe, and that is while the wine was excellent and the venue was pristine, I felt the passion was lacking. Where was the love of the grape? Where was the dedication to the process, from vine to bottle? Winemaking is a labour of love and without that passion it can sometimes feel a little hollow. With wines as

delicious as these I have no doubt it is there, yet to be revealed.

Constantia Uitsig Wine Tasting @ R60 pp Cellar Prices: Sauvignon Blanc 2019 @ R120 Natura Vista 2018 @ R135 Constantia Red 2016 @ R220 Muscat @ R110 Drinking alcohol if you’re under-18 is illegal.

Do not drive after drinking.

28 OCTOBER TO 25 NOVEMBER, 2020

Mother City News

5

Book review

Misanthropy, marriage, and exercise in a crowded world Steve Kretzmann If you feel an involuntary blush of irritation at a peleton of cyclists taking up half the lane, or clacking over self-congratulatory lattes as their bicycles comprising small fortunes take up the seating, if the thought of being crowded by other runners sweating and farting their way in lycra and flashy shoes along a fixed route while you take deep breaths and, like everyone else, hope your knee or ankle or hamstring is going to hold out has you wrinkling your nose in distaste, if a full swimming pool of splashing back and forth between lanes, a crowded lineup, a queue on a mountain path has you wincing in dismay, or if exercise is simply anathema, you’ll have a great deal of empathy for Serenata, the ageing antisocial character in Lionel Shriver’s latest novel, The Motion of the Body Through Space.

She’s not a particularly nice person, which makes her like most of us, but what sets her apart, and what drives the plot, is that she is particularly disdainful of people doing things in organised groups. In danger of putting words on Shriver’s page, there is no reason, to Serenata’s mind, to gather in groups except insofar it is necessary for survival.

If she doesn’t go so far as to call herself a misanthrope, her husband certainly does, and she doesn’t argue.

On a superficial level The Motion of the Body Through Space is about exercise and age, but beyond that it’s about mortality and marriage. There is also an inkling the character is Shriver. Not that Shriver’s husband decided to run a marathon after a lifetime of being elegantly slim and sedentary, but that Shriver, too, is in her early

The Book of Koli by M. R. Carey Pretty good sciencefantasy mash-up: postapocalypse wherein tech operates almost like magic.

Dramatic irony permeates the story in that a 21st Century reader understands aspects of the world -what is London, the internet, a drone, Tokyo, pop music - better than the narrator/protagonist, for whom these are quasi-mystical artifacts of a bygone age. The writing style does this thing where English has “evolved” to be slightly different, and while I found it gimmicky at first, one gets used to it. Representation is attempted but is rocky. We are explicitly told the main character is dark-skinned, but that never really impacts much of anything (you might even forget it after a while). There is a secondary character who is coded east-Asian and that gets messy (she is an AI based on a Japanese pop-star and lives inside a music player, so we have objectification of a cutesy

60s, has stated in at least one public lecture that she has knee trouble, and has been seen to exercise.

The novel, it seems, has been written from her vantage point. She has not, as she extolled in a lecture in Australia in 2016, stepped into someone else’s shoes and put on their hat. Her criticism of recent accusations that white novelists writing characters belonging to a minority or oppressed society who was largely denied the telling of their own story, is to commit the crime of cultural appropriation, received predictable kickback from woke town criers.

In her keynote speech at the Brisbane Writers Festival in 2016, Shriver argued that the very idea of being a writer was to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, and to take the cultural appropriation view to its endpoint, there is no allowance for fiction, only memoir. In the world in which no-one is allowed to tell any story but their own, Shriver said: “Someone like me only permits herself to write from the perspective of a straight white female born in North Carolina, closing on sixty, able-bodied but with bad knees, skint for years but finally able to buy the odd new shirt.

“And here’s the bugbear, here’s where we really can’t win. At the same time that we’re to write about only the few toys that landed in our playpen, we’re also upbraided for failing to portray in our fiction a population that is sufficiently various.

What Shriver had been receiving flak for at the time, was her novel The Mandibles, set in a near-future New York rendered a dystopia after a liberal socialist government is elected.

She came under fire for two characters specifically: a Mexican New York mayor, and an elderly black woman suffering from Asian woman who functions as a literal plot device). Surprisingly, two named characters are explicitly trans and that actually impacts events in the story, which I thought was neat.

Book 1 of 3, I might read what follows if I remember to look out for it.

dementia.

The intervening years have brought us The Motion of the Body Through Space and she seems to have perversely retreated into her own playpen. In a literary equivalent of passive resistance, she’s called her critics’ bluff and gone: ‘alright, if that’s what you want it, how’s this?’

In doing so she is not beyond lobbing a few balls at the political correctness watchdogs in what could be a game of cerebral fetch.

She takes aim through Serenata’s husband, a senior civil servant who endures the ignominy of a disciplinary hearing chaired largely by self-righteously politically correct interrogators because as an elderly cis-het white guy, he momentarily lost his temper after being goaded by his new, young, black, possibly queer female boss. Driven by cracking dialogue, it is an hilariously cynical passage that reveals Shriver’s wicked sense

of humour. A sense of humour which is often sadly lacking among her detractors.

She’s the most delightful conservative I’m happy to have on the bookshelf. And that’s because she’s clever, witty, stirs the pot, and in this book is also a bit of a softie, which is endearing.

A masterful writer who imbues her sometimes deeply flawed characters with an interiority that demands empathy, Shriver’s The Motion of the Body Through Space is a witty excoriation of contemporary society and its worship of the self. It has also forever altered my view of marathons, or even fun runs.

does work with some kind of church, so the church, God and Jesus get mentioned every now and then, but it never gets preachy.

Good, quick read.

wholly relevant to his position that trauma is the number one health crisis (well - maybe not in 2020) that we are facing.

The Body Keeps the I’m Still Here by Austin Score by Bessel van der Kolk Channing Brown Memoir written by a black woman whose parents gave her a white man’s name so she would have more opportunities.

This is the story of her life and the racial incidents she’s experienced, and what she’s realised as a result. There’s a lot of good content; she talks about how white allies can still be racist and then get defensive when confronted as opposed to listening, she talks about how black people should get angry and how they shouldn’t have to do the emotional labour of educating white people about racism. She

A superbly well written accounting of trauma, and how it affects your brain and body, and how you respond to those physiological states (sometimes without even being aware of what is happening). It’s really full of information for practitioners as well as patients, and at the end he also goes over different treatments for trauma and how and why they work. My only complaint is that at the end, he only briefly discusses how you are more likely to experience trauma if you are part of a certain class or racial group, and I think this could have been explored further since it seems

The Motion of the Body Through Space is published by HarperCollins Publishers in the UK and distributed in South Africa by Jonathan Ball Publishers

The Abstainer

by Ian Mcguire Written by the author of The North Water, which I loved, this mostly takes place amongst the Irish revolts in Manchester in the 1860s - but is ultimately not really about that. An Irish policeman has been hired to investigate the Irish rebels, but they in turn have brought in an American soldier to get rid of spies. The book is the story of their struggle against one another, and the many demons they carry from their past. It’s Gangs of New York meets Retribution Road with a bit of Cormac McCarthy thrown in. I enjoyed it very much, but found the ending a bit of a curve ball.

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

6

Mother City News

28 OCTOBER TO 25 NOVEMBER, 2020

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 2020. The PSIF meeting date for this year is: • Thursday, 26 November 2020.

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 4238.

Koeberg PSIF

Public Safety Information Forum

This is a platform for residents within the municipal boundary of Koeberg Nuclear Power Station to receive and ask for nuclear safety related information from the facility.

All residents, interested parties and organisations are cordially invited to attend the Koeberg Public Safety Information Forum (PSIF).

The details for the Forum are as follows: Agenda items • Koeberg Nuclear Power Station quarterly feedback • Amendment to the Coastal Waters Discharge Permit (CWDP) • National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) feedback of Deputy Chair appointment Date : Thursday, 26 November 2020 Venue : Koeberg Power Station Visitors Centre Time : 19:00 Should you be attending the PSIF, please note that positive proof of identification will be required in order to access the venue. Please show your valid passport, South African driver’s licence, or South African identity (ID) document/card when requested to do so. Please note that visitors may be subject to compulsory alcohol testing. For more information, kindly contact Debbie Joshua at tel. +27 21 550 4238 or via email at JoshuaD@eskom.co.za or Lewis Phidza, Koeberg Stakeholder Management Manager, at tel. +27 21 550 5758 or via email at PhidzaNL@eskom.co.za.

Koeberg Nuclear Power Station R27 Off West Coast Road Melkbosstrand www.eskom.co.za

Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd Reg No 2002/015527/30

28 OCTOBER TO 25 NOVEMBER, 2020

Mother City News

7

Legal spat between provincial departments over River Club development

Steve Kretzmann In the latest battle over the planned megadevelopment at Observatory’s River Club, the Heritage Western Cape Appeal Tribunal is being taken to court by the Western Cape Department of Transport and Public Works, which seeks to have a ruling relating to heritage aspects of the River Club land overturned.

The 14,8ha of land comprising the River Club has been the site of a four-year battle between numerous civic bodies opposing a proposed R4.5bn development by the property owner, Liesbeek Leisure Properties Trust, who appears to be backed by departments in the Western Cape Government, and the City of Cape Town.

The opposition largely focuses on the heritage significance of the site at the confluence of the Liesbeek and Black Rivers which was the original site of colonial dispossession as the Dutch forced the Khoi off their traditional grazing lands, as well as the development being contrary to current city planning related to the Two Rivers Urban Park within which the River Club is situated.

The heritage significance of the land, voiced by several Khoi traditional leadership structures, led Heritage Western Cape (HWC) to place the site under provisional heritage protection after a Notice of Intent to Develop was filed in 2016.

The provisional protection order, which the National Heritage Resources Act entitles HWC to enact if they feel a site of heritage significance is under threat, can take effect for a maximum of two years to prevent any changes to the site while heritage significance is determined.

HWC put this provisional protection to effect on 20 April 2018. In the recent Notice of Motion submitted to the High Court on 12 October, Western Cape Department of Transport and Public Works (DTPW) head Jacqueline Gooch states her department, the Western Cape Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEA&DP), the City of Cape Town, and the

developer “lodged separate and independent appeals” against the provisional protection order.

Department vs department These appeals were heard by the Heritage Appeals Tribunal appointed by the MEC for Cultural Affairs and Sport, which is the provincial department that funds Heritage Western Cape (HWC), although HWC is the provincial arm of the SA Heritage Resources Agency.

After a process of hearings that lasted almost as long as the provisional protection itself, the Tribunal rejected the appeal in a ruling that was highly critical of the conduct of the provincial departments and the City of Cape Town.

It is largely this criticism delivered on 14 April this year - five days before the provisional protection lapsed – that Gooch wants the court to strike off the record.

The DTPW, in its papers signed by Gooch and filed with the court on 12 October, states it does not have a problem with the Tribunal’s rejection of the appeal. What it takes exception to is what it calls “erroneous findings”. Gooch states the Tribunal got its facts wrong and its statements were not “justified by the evidence which served before” them.

Gooch argues her department, the developer, the DEA&DP, and the City of Cape Town all independently came to the decision to lodge their own appeals against the HWC’s provisional protection of the River Club and thus takes exception to the Tribunal’s ruling that the City and the provincial departments acted in concert with the developer.

In its ruling of 14 April, which deals with a single coalesced appeal, the Tribunal stated the DTPW and the DEA&DP, as well as the City’s appeals, were rejected by the HWC appeals committee, after which all three government bodies chose to join the developer in their appeal to the Tribunal.

Gooch’s motion to the court highlights parts of the Tribunal’s ruling which criticises the spheres of government for “political posturing”, spending time on “fruitless and

wasteful contestations”, and “encouraging dissent” among their “subordinates or opponents” instead of putting their efforts toward obtaining a “better understanding of all the heritage issues in the area that are at stake”.

This, the Tribunal stated, was contrary to their Constitutional obligation toward cooperative governance.

The Tribunal stated: “Notable and alarming at the same time, is the concern that government officials who are meant to serve the people of this country and should be loyal and respectful towards each other, are perceived to form alliances with other tiers of government and developers, instead of aligning the scarce resources, with experience skills and expertise to cooperatively solve complicated heritage issues cooperatively, internally, and in good faith.”

The DTPW contests what it sees as the Tribunal’s statement of fact that the provincial departments and the City had a pre-arranged agreement to go ahead with the development, and joined with the developer in their appeal against the provisional protection order.

This has “grave implications for both the reputation and integrity of decision-makers who still have to make decisions on the proposed redevelopment of this property,” states Gooch in the court papers. She further argues the Tribunal’s statements are “sweeping” and “highly prejudicial” to the DTPW. The Tribunal impugned, “or at the very least cast serious doubt on the integrity of the officials of the Provincial Departments and the City,” argues Gooch.

If allowed to stand, the Tribunal’s ruling would “in all probability negatively impact” on findings that still need to be made by the DTPW, the DEA&DP, and the City in relation to this development, and others, and thus Gooch seeks the ruling to be set aside.

Aired in various No relief is sought from any of the respondents.

Province and City’s moves to push River Club development In the period between the Tribunal’s ruling of 14 April and the DTPW’s Notice of Motion filed 12 October, the DEA&DP and the City of Cape Town Municipal Planning Tribunal, have shown unwavering support for the River Club development despite sustained and substantial opposition from civil society organisations, including Khoi traditional leadership structures.

On 20 August, the DEA&DP granted Environmental Authorisation for the development, allowing Liesbeek Leisure Properties to proceed with rezoning applications and departures form the Local Spatial Development Framework.

The Environmental Authorisation was granted despite the Heritage Impact Assessment, which is part of the Environmental Impact Study required by the National Environmental Management Act and the National Heritage Resources Act, not being ratified by HWC. This prompted appeals by HWC and the City of Cape Town’s Environmental Management Department as part of 40 objections by civil society bodies.

Despite the ongoing appeal process against the Environmental Authorisation that is required for a rezoning application to be heard, the City’s Municipal Planning Tribunal on 18 September unanimously granted the developer’s rezoning application, changing the land from open space to general business, with buildings up to 11-storeys high and the infilling of a floodplain.

The rezoning decision by the Municipal Planning Tribunal is under appeal following substantive submissions by the Observatory Civic Association, the Goringhaicona Khoi Khoin Indigenous and Traditional Council, and the Two Rivers Urban Park Association.

HWC CEO Mxolisi Dlamuka, speaking just before going to print, said they were only served the papers eight days ago and were seeking legal guidance on whether to oppose the motion or comply.

Dlamuka said if they opposed it, they wanted to do so on the basis of legal facts and not simply for the sake of it.

Breaking the echo chamber in the city bowl and beyond

Theatres are open again (at Covid induced half capacity to ensure physical distancing even though our theatres are unfortunately normally only 50% full after opening night so it doesn’t make much difference). And while Good Ol’ Cyril has quashed rumours of a return to hard lockdown, just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not after you, so get out to see some live performance before NDZ gets a notion to start stamping her foot again.

Theatre The doors to our favourite big theatre in Cape Town has swung open and the truly incredible dancer Gregory Maqoma will be sharing the stage with our much-loved singer Zolani Mahola of Freshlyground fame from 3 to 7 November. The show’s title is unfortunately a rather limp-wristed Baxter Back on Stage with Gregory Maqoma and Zolani Mahole but it is the first time these two acclaimed artists play together so The Baxter can be forgiven for milking the collaboration. The write up is a bit confusing as it seems Maqoma is presenting a new work called No Humour, and Mahole similarly is debuting a new multimedia show called You Need To Say It, so whether they’ll actually be seen together at the same time is something you’ll have to find out. The catch is that the cheapest ticket is R350, going up to R500, but it is a fundraiser and likely you’ve been buying fewer take-away coffees and spending less on petrol.

Book via baxter.co.za. Shows are at 7pm.

FREE COPY

28 OCTOBER TO 25 NOVEMBER, 2020

Movies The Labia movie house is open and as always, has a great selection of indi and art films. Go support them. All Covid protocols are in place and there’s no way we want to lose a theatre with a name like that.

Everyone’s raving about My Octopus Teacher which is showing on Netflix. It has amazing, like really amazing footage of life in the kelp forests just a few strokes away from where the sea meets our shore, and captures octopus behaviour probably never before observed by scientists. The underwater footage and octopus behaviour is so incredible we’ll recommend watching it despite the self-absorbed drone of Craig Foster, the narrator who is privileged enough to spend every day swanning around in the ocean for a year or more.

As the elections in the USA, and the highly likely fallout therefrom approach, try getting hold of a copy of The Wire. It’s old by series standards but may inadvertently provide some insight into why that bright shiny nation across the Atlantic is crumbling into its own hubris. If not, it’ll remind you what good storytelling is.

Other If you’re an (ahem) AfrikaBurner, it seems Tankwa Town may be no more. Instead the team of priviliged trippers are looking toward Quaggafontein. If, unlike us, you want to find out more, you can participate in a Town Hall discussion at 7pm on 5 November. Seems you need to get on the AfrikaBurn Facebook page for this one. Get ready to start making flammable quaggas.

A play contending for the award of best title during a pandemic, Ways of Dying, based on the novel by the great South African novelist Zakes Mda, is then playing at The Baxter from 10 to 14 November. The novel really is great, and the script under the masterful hand of director Lara Foot is bound to match expectations. The cast and crew are from UCT’s Centre for Theatre, Dance and Performing Arts, so you’ll see who the next generation of shining stars are going to be. Also, don’t be fooled by the title, this work is filled with humour, of the macabre type. Tim Burton eat your heart out. Book via baxter.co.za, shows are at 7pm and full price tickets are R120.

The winning play from the annual Zabalaza Festival is being staged a The Baxter from 12 to 21 November in the Golden Arrow Studio. Called First Accused, it deals with violence against women and the failures of the South African justice system. Every man should see it. Book via baxter.co.za, shows are at 6.30pm and full price ticket is R60.

There’s dance and live music exploring the politics of mixed race ancestry in a show called Mulato Sujo?, at Theatre Arts in Observatory (cnr Milton and Wesley Streets) on 30 and 31 October and 1 November at 7.30pm. Bookings: theatrearts.co.za Also on 31 October at Theatre Arts is The Kid Who Did It For Nothing, which, by the way, does not mean there is not a ticket price, we just don’t know what it is because we’re too close to deadline to put out deets on the booking form to find out. It’s at 3pm and is a story told

by Maurice Podbrey about returning to South Africa in 1997 after 40 years overseas. It is accompanied with traditional Xhosa music played by virtuoso Nomakrestu Xakathugaga. Book via theatrearts.co.za Then from 11 to 14 November, Syndesi, a work that “explores the idea of relationship through and to space and the different ways of maintaining connection and cohesion”, which is kinda pandemic pertinent, play at Theatre Arts. Beyond that, we know nothing. Book and pay on theatrearts.co.za

Music Anthropology, a new album by Dank Neighbourhood, is being launched at The Spice Yard (100 Voortrekker Rd, Salt River) tonight, 29 October. Tickets cost R150 but you need to find their event on Facebook (search for Anthropology album launch) and then DM them for details. All very backdoor. We like it. There’ll be other artists, and DJs and whatnot.

Not quite sure whether to file under ‘music’ or ‘theatre’ or ‘other’ but the wonderful Soli Philander is gooing a Kaapzella Party. It’s online, so know need to try find your mask, and it’s like a jazz, salsa, kizomba demonstration. It’s on 31 October and 2 and 3 November starting at 8pm and you can win stuff. I dunno, but it does have Soli. You can get tickets on Quicket or phone 082 706 0369 or email agpromotionsevents@gmail.com if you want to satisfy your inner cat.

Staying with the weird and interesting, there’s a Vinyl Braai at the Spice Yard (100 Voortrekker Rd, remember) this Sunday 1 November from 3 to 8pm. Whatever they’re doing, we doubt they’re setting fire to records, well, not literally, but there may be meat. Please report back to us. Tickets range from R60 to R150. Search Vinyl Braai on Quicket.

Zolani Mahole and Gregory Maqoma

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.