Contents
of June 2007
COMMENT
Blurred boundaries
LETTERS
Beneficial community greening initiatives
UPFRONT
News and events
CITY
VISIT
Maseru: the city without a plan
ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING AND DESIGN
Maselspoort returns to the village
ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING
AND DESIGN
EIAs: having the desired impact?
WASTE AND POLLUTION MANAGEMENT
How healthcare waste is
handled
PLANNING PERSONALITY
Becky Himlin on NGOs
BATTLE OF THE ’BURBS
Pietermaritzburg: Northdale v Mountain Rise
INSPIRATION
Low-income innovation
INSULT
Informal rental: no place on policy
agenda
TREE OF THE ISSUE
Celtis Africana
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COMMENT
Blurred boundaries
As
with so many other things in our post-modern society, the distinction between urban and
rural has become anything but clear.
Classification
and categorisation have traditionally been the first steps in solving problems in this
scientific era. But the classic approach of ‘survey and solution’ does not
always create liveable and viable settlement development. It has become increasingly
difficult, and sometimes even impossible, to classify areas into seemingly easy categories
such as ‘urban’ and ‘rural’. Through improved telecommunication and
other technologies, rural dwellers now have easier access to traditionally urban services.
An urban area in Africa can also differ significantly from an urban area in Australia, for
example. This edition’s cover story is about a project in the Free State that
embraces ‘new ruralism’. It’s quite evident that the needs of rural
dwellers are not that different to the needs of their urban counterparts. However the
National Spatial Development Perspective (NSDP) acknowledges the fact that, although
people’s needs are similar, we only have limited resources. Economic growth is a
prerequisite for the achievement of other policy objectives – among these, poverty
alleviation is key. The NSDP therefore proposes that government spend on fixed investment,
beyond the constitutional obligation to provide basic services to all citizens (such as
water, electricity, and health and educational facilities), should be focused on
localities of economic growth and/or economic potential in order to attract private-sector
investment. In many cases, this might mean that investment will be focused on our
metropolitan areas that have shown ability to provide returns on investment. The NSDP
argues further that efforts to address past and existing social inequalities should focus
on people not places.
In
localities where there are high levels of poverty and development potential, this could
include fixed capital investment beyond basic services to exploit the potential of those
localities. Where there is low development potential, government spend, beyond basic
services, should focus on providing social transfers, human resource development and
labour market intelligence. Our approach to development should therefore not rest on our
ability to define and classify but rather on people’s needs first within the context
of economic viability.
This will be
far more challenging than catering for traditional urban or rural settlement but it holds
potential to achieve ever-elusive sustainable settlement development.
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LETTERS
Trees for town planning
–
Margaret Roberts, South African herb fundi
About a decade ago, I was involved in a fascinating project with Sasol to create a ‘green
lung’ around the actual production facility using trees to filter the air. I did
enormous research on this and found the most valuable tree is the Ginko biloba.
Being so
involved with plants, I am therefore naturally interested to know whether or not this
fantastic project ever took off – and reading your article on Sasolburg was
fascinating. Plans involved herb gardens, water gardens with natural water cleaning
plants, fields of lavender and food gardens with a supporting restaurant, a tree and plant
nursery, and a children’s kite-flying park. The architect moved to the Cape and I
never was able to find out if the threads of a fabulous dream had been shelved and
forgotten or implemented in another area. It would make for fascinating reading in a
magazine like this one, and for town planners to learn from this very before-its-time
project – if it ever happened. In our increasingly polluted future, such places
should exist.
My own
dedicated environmental greening work includes not only the natural healing trees and
plants but the growing of food gardens in disadvantaged areas, neglected sites and waste
ground rehabilitation, mainly by planting useful trees and medicinal plants that will
clean the air, nurture and revitalise depleted soil, and used for building health and
awareness.
Margaret
Roberts has kindly invited the Urban Green File team to visit her herbal centre to view
some of her team’s innovative work.
Environmental
access
–
Julie Filmer, executive director, Eco-Access
I was very excited to read about the greening of the 2010 World Cup in your fortnightly
e-mail bulletin.
Eco-Access
works to make the environment accessible to people with disabilities. We work mainly with
children, bringing disabled and non-disabled children together in the natural environment
for them to overcome their fears of each other, and to learn about our magnificent natural
heritage. We do a lot of greening in certain schools for learners with disabilities. One
of our goals is to develop them into world-class, accessible, environment-friendly schools
for 2010. Imagine visitors to South Africa visiting a school for physically-disabled
children in Katlehong where children are growing their own vegetables in accessible,
elevated tyre and barrel gardens.
I just
thought that I should let you know where we are going with our Green Schools project and
we would like to invite your readers to become involved in it.
Please note
that letters have been edited in the interests of clarity and brevity.
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UPFRONT
African urbanism
Bridge City,
comprising 685 000 m² of retail, commercial, light industrial and residential space, is
intended to form the future civic heart of the wider Inanda/Ntuzuma/KwaMashu area. The
project is a public-private partnership and the site has been converted from a general
industrial township to a special, mixed-use zone.
Brian Ive of
Moreland explained: “This is a unique concept in South Africa – a new town in a
strategic location close to an existing township.” Ive calls the development ‘African
urbanism’. The idea is to use relatively high densities to create a vibrant colourful
mix with lots of open spaces.
Beautifying
’burbs
A trend in Jo’burg is for property developers or estate agents to go into partnership
with either City Parks or residents’ associations to beautify road islands and
maintain sidewalks.
This is
commendable in that more attention is given to streetscapes and this will ultimately
impact on issues like safety and security, a sense of place and property values. However
the responsibility still remains with authorities and care should be taken to ensure that
these initiatives are sustainable.
Contaminated
land: law changes
Due to be
tabled in Parliament in July, the new National Environmental Waste Management Bill might
have far-reaching implications for land owners, especially in terms of provisions for
‘contaminated land’.
Although
environmental legislation already imposes a duty of care and remediation of environmental
damage on anyone who ‘has caused or may cause significant pollution or degradation’,
this cannot be applied retrospectively, Glendyr Nel of Shepstone and Wylie Attorneys told
Urban Green File.
However, in
terms of the new legislation, land used for specified highrisk activities or merely
suspected to be contaminated, may be identified as ‘investigation areas‘. This
is now definitely retrospective in effect.
An owner of
an investigation area is obliged to conduct a site assessment to determine the presence
and level of contamination. If the assessment confirms contamination, the land concerned
will be declared a ’remediation site‘ and placed on a contaminated land
register. Being declared a remediation site means that transfer cannot take place without
the permission of the relevant minister or MEC.
Free state
waterfront
The
Dihlabeng Municipality has given the green light for the development of a R1-billion
waterfront in the eastern Free State town of Bethlehem.
The first
phase will comprise the construction of a 40 000 m² shopping centre on the 47 ha site.
The second phase of the development will include luxury residential accommodation, a
retirement village, sectional-title residences and a three- to four-star hotel.
The final
design style is expected to complement the surrounding area and will possibly include
sandstone elements to reflect the distinctive local architecture.
Big plans for
Jozi CBD
The face of
Johannesburg might change drastically over the next few years. In the Inner City
Regeneration Charter, presented for discussion during the Johannesburg Inner City Summit
in May, the municipality has evolved several instruments that will be established to make
Johannesburg ‘a world class city’. The plan includes upgrading public spaces;
improving arts, culture and heritage; support for further economic and social development;
and improvement of transportation. In effect, this will mean that another 100 buildings
will be renovated, new public parks will be created and connected with existing parks, a
new waste removal programme will be launched, and new and more street furniture will be
introduced.
The city
also aims to create residential property space for at least 50 000 (ultimately 75 000) new
inhabitants of the CBD, a member of council told Urban Green File.
Air quality
monitoring
The first government towned air quality-monitoring network for the Vaal Triangle has been
launched. Six air quality monitoring stations have been installed at various
municipalities with a view to providing scientific airquality data in the Vaal airshed,
which will be used as a basis for informed air quality-management decisions in terms of
priority areas (‘hot spots’). The stations will also assist verification of the
accuracy of data received from the industry’s own monitoring stations.
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CITY VISIT
The city without a plan
Maseru has been
developing without conventional planning. Is a city without a plan, a city without a
future?
Driving into
the capital city of the land-locked kingdom of Lesotho, there’s no doubt that this
settlement is urban in nature. An African city, by all accounts, with noisy traffic and
informal activities, the city is surprisingly clean of litter and the infrastructure seems
well-developed and maintained.
Even signage
is clear and it is easy for a visitor to find her way.
The main
road is called Kingsway and runs from the South African border through the town centre and
ends at the traffic circle where the main north and south roads into Lesotho head off. The
city is easily navigable with a lot of the activity centred along Kingsway. Most of the
modern government and other buildings were built after the 1998 riots more or less
completely destroyed the CBD.
The riots
that took place in September 1998 caused damage of an enormous scale and changed the face
of the CBD. Almost all Maseru branches of South African chain stores had been attacked and
looted and most of them set alight. Ackermans, Beares, CNA, Edgars, Ellerines, Fairways,
OK Bazaars (at the time the biggest supermarket in Maseru), Pep, Sales House and Smart
Centre were all reduced to smouldering ruins. Particularly hard hit was the Chinese
community. According to newspaper reports, their buildings were systematically targeted
and destroyed so that, for 3 km or 4 km out of Maseru on the main south road, it seemed as
many as half the premises had been burnt – some spraypainted with offensive slogans.
According to
an article by Ansell and Van Blerk, the pre-independence Maseru of 1966 had only about 15
000 inhabitants. By 2002, the population had risen to as many as 350 000. The average
annual growth rate from 1990 to 2001 was 5,1% – exceeding the sub-Saharan average of
4,7% and growth was estimated in 2004 to be around 7% a year. Compared to South African
towns in the vicinity, Maseru is smaller than the Free State capital of Bloemfontein but
bigger than nearby Bethlehem.
Mixed use
Densely-populated slums and squatter settlements are almost non-existent in
Maseru. Residential areas have a mix of housing types. A popular way to provide housing is
in the form of ‘row’ or ‘line’ houses called malaene: long,
rectangular buildings of concrete blocks or sometimes baked brick. Tenants may rent and
occupy one or more units. The lines are of varying quality but most are robust structures
and some have electricity, and a few an internal water supply.
Some of the
upmarket residential areas of Maseru have inherited names such as White City and New
Europa. But do not expect to see replicas of sterile western suburbs. Not all neighbours
are living in face brick houses. According to wellknown Maseru historian, David Ambrose,
across most of peri-urban Maseru substantial houses of considerable luxury are mingled
with malaene and small cement block houses.
Industry in
Maseru is predominantly based in the area surrounding the station, north-west of the CBD
and in Ha Tsetsane, south-west of the city. Light industry and service industry are
predominant in the busy station industrial area while Ha Tsetsane is home to Maseru’s
big textile factories. Here you will find less buzz, except for street vendors preparing
food on the sidewalks. Maseru is a major exporter of textiles and clothing.
Environmental concerns
Although Maseru is relatively clean in terms of litter, the environmental
heritage of this city with its natural beauty does not seem to be a priority. Take the
very popular and impressive Lesotho Sun built on one of Maseru’s ridges with no
regard for it towering over the city.
The
much-criticised ‘blue river’ of effluent from factories making stonewashed jeans
in Ha Tsetsane was reported to have, after government intervention, finally dried up but
residents are not convinced that industrial pollution is something of the past.
For waste
disposal, the Maseru City Council uses a site at Tsosane, 5 km east of the city centre,
where a wide dolerite dyke, quarried in the past for road building material, has left a
large trench where waste can be conveniently disposed. This is far from an ideal site: it
is close to a built-up area, the dump frequently catches fire and there is the hazard of
rain water filtering through the many different discarded materials forming a toxic
solution, which feeds into the Maqalika Reservoir (Maseru’s water supply).
But the
Tsosane site was used long before the Maseru City Council came into being and the council
has long been aware of its problems. Reportedly plans are advanced to create a new waste
disposal site for Maseru at Tsoeneng, about 40 km from Maseru.
Unplanned growth
According to Mantai Phaila, director: planning and development at Maseru City
Council, the city has actually grown without proper planning. Beyond the 3 km radius from
the CBD that fell within the jurisdiction of district council planning controls, growth
progressed as incomers (and urban speculators) acquired fields from local chiefs. Despite
efforts to restrict the practice, illegal payments to chiefs have often secured claims to
freehold and, according to Ambrose, by 1980 peri-urban Maseru already accommodated 80% of
the city’s population.
Phaila told
Urban Green File that 1990 saw the drafting of the most recent Maseru development plan,
which was supposed to be reviewed every five years but somehow this did not happen for
about 17 years.
Although
Maseru City Council has existed since 1989, the present-day concept and practice of
decentralized local government is relatively new to the Kingdom of Lesotho, which held its
first ever local government elections on April 30 2005.
According to
AfroBarometer, local government in Lesotho has had a tortuous and complex history. Before
Moshoeshoe assumed power in the 1820s, all government was truly local in the sense that
every village was probably an entity on its own. Chiefs were probably nothing more than
family heads of villages – some with more power than others due to cattle ownership,
military might and personal charisma.
Decentralisation
difficulties
The chieftaincy now consists of the king, 22 principal or ward chiefs, and up
to 1 000 lesser chiefs of one sort or another.
Today’s
challenges with the chieftainship system go back to the so-called Laws of Lerotholi
written by the British at the turn of the 20th century as a way to integrate customary
practice with common law. The main responsibilities of a chief were to allocate farming
land, give permission to own livestock, control access to grazing land, restrict the
cutting of thatching grass and trees, assign locations for house sites, settle disputes
and welcome strangers.
According to
a study conducted by AfroBarometer, many of these duties remain today, often by default as
much as by statute, even though new laws and structures have been introduced to limit the
power of chiefs. However the new laws, such as the Land Act of 1979, are frequently
ignored and chiefs still exercise much of their old authority.
According to
Setsabi Setsabi of the Department of Geography at the National University of Lesotho, it
is not always a question of people disobeying laws on purpose. The formalisation of
land-holding through a lease system of 99 years is a long and tedious process. Setsabi has
personal experience in this regard. His application has taken 15 years as he has had to
deal with an extremely complex system of at least 13 pieces of legislation spread across
nine ministries. It is not surprising that people, more often than not, choose to ask a
chief for land and thereby bypass the system. According to Phaila, this issue and the
resulting patterns of land ownership make planning, at citywide level, very difficult.
Service
delivery is also complicated by this ‘illegal’ system of land allocation.
Lesotho has
a history of central government and services provided by powerful parastatals. Exact and
efficient working relationships between national and local entities still need to be
established in many instances.
Hope for the future
Maseru might not have a printable plan at the moment and the land ownership
problems are definitely an obstacle to overcome. But the city seems to be growing – a
lot of economic activity is evident, and new and modern buildings happily exist along more
traditional African structures. With an enormous influx of people into Maseru, it might
need a clearer vision of what it would like to be in 20 years’ time.
The
mechanisms for transformation have been put into place and Maseru has been selected to
become part of the UN Habitat sustainable cities programme. This entails a five-stage
programme with funding of about US$280 000. The funds will be spent on training
stakeholders tasked with planning the city. An environmental profile study is now under
way.
According to
newspaper reports, the Maseru City Council is determined to ‘restructure the
unplanned city’.
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ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING AND DESIGN
New ruralism for old resort
A
redevelopment on the banks of the Modder River, just outside Bloemfontein, will embrace
new concepts of urban and rural living.
The
redevelopment of Maselspoort is based on the concepts of ‘smart growth’ and
‘new urbanism’, advocated by urban designer and developer Dr Chris Mulder and
his team of architects and consultants at Chris Mulder Associates Inc (CMAI). These
concepts have been used in previous developments by CMAI, most notably Thesen Island in
Knysna.
A CMAI
article describes ’liveable neighbourhoods’ as custom-designed communities that
are the antithesis of conventional suburban sprawl of ad hoc, uncontrolled and
non-integrated development totally dependent on the motor car for survival.
“Liveable
neighbourhoods – in both a rural and urban setting – are self-contained estates,
hamlets or villages built to reduce dependency on cars, provide easy access to public and
commercial amenities, increase community interactivity, increase cost-effectiveness of
services, and provide a simplified but higher quality of lifestyle.”
This
approach, recognised globally, encourages urban designers and planners to integrate local
heritage and cultural elements into the character of the new built fabric. Such projects
focus on the development and sustenance of communities, incorporate a sense of place, and
encourage community pride and responsibility.
At
Maselspoort, as with other developments under way, Mulder is extending this concept to
incorporate new ruralism. This is essentially a vision to protect surrounding natural
environments while promoting the growth of local rural economies. “I believe that
people are besotted with the urban edge,” said Mulder. “My question is ‘What
about the rural people?’ More than half the country lives in rural areas so, if all
the development happens within the urban edge, what’s going to happen to rural
communities?
People will
either flock to towns because that’s where the jobs are or we will need to develop
rural nodes and have a rural edge as well to protect the natural landscapes. Even in prime
agricultural environments we need to identify small rural nodes to keep the local
communities alive and boost rural economies without necessarily sacrificing prime
agricultural land. It is important to identify opportunities for expansion in existing
nodes and preserve natural resources. The projects we are working on at the moment
incorporate this new ruralism, which is either agriculture-based or resort-based, with
scenic attributes that can be developed and where natural attributes can be protected.”
Maselspoort
revitalisation
Maselspoort was established in 1933 and evolved into one of the most popular
resorts in the country over subsequent decades. During the ’90s, the complex became
slightly neglected and dilapidated until it was taken over by Fritz and Reg Krohn.
The two
brothers from Bloemfontein bought the resort with a vision to restore it to its former
glory. However, for the resort to remain relevant and meet modern demands, it needed a new
vision and a major revamp. Enter CMAI.
Innovative concept
“The starting point in our design was to create a living environment that
belongs entirely to its residents,” said Mulder. “In this regard, we are
following the trend that is gaining ground in Europe and North America.
The old
saying that ‘there is nothing new under the sun’ also applies here because what
we are doing in a modern context is to create a village as it would have existed in the
days before motor cars when residents formed communities in the true sense of the word.”
Reg Krohn
explained that the existing concept had become outdated. “It was essential to find a
new vision for Maselspoort – one that would preserve the best aspects of the past
but, at the same time, manifest modern considerations. “
In terms of
the type of development planned, Mulder noted that the site, at 85 ha, is too small for an
agriculture-based community but the heart of the development will remain resort-based
because of its historical value. “The development is much more compact than a
conventional, vehicle-oriented suburb with smaller, tastefully-designed houses following a
variety of house types. There will be plenty of open gardens and, hopefully, some orchards
and vegetable gardens to promote this community type of lifestyle.”
The existing
Maselspoort resort and conference facilities will be retained, together with day-visitor
recreational facilities. The redevelopment will provide for more than 400 new houses and 8
000 m² of mixed-use, low-rise commercial and trading space. As the property straddles the
Modder River, an equestrian facility will be established on the banks opposite the resort.
Mulder explained that all houses would be built on stands of 300 m² to 900 m² as larger
stands don’t work in terms of the village concept and are not in keeping with market
demands. The surrounding area is not particularly well-suited to agriculture so the
intention is to develop one of the neighbouring properties as a golf course at a later
stage, Krohn added.
“For
most of December and January, and over Easter, the resort is full and, over week-ends, we
have around 20 to 30 overnight visitors,” said Krohn. “So we shall keep the
resort component to meet this need and for the 2010 Soccer World Cup visitors. Part of our
plan is to put up a 50-room complex next to the river and, of the 400 houses, 10 have been
designated as guest houses. In addition, several rental pool houses will still be
available for overnight accommodation. We shall have a community of around 2 000 people
living on site so the new commercial activities will respond to these residents’
needs.
Eventually
we would also like to put up a school to service the surrounding local community, which is
very poor.”
The end
result will be a rural resort development existing in harmony with its environment and
offering every modern convenience in a landscaped setting of gardens, pedestrian-friendly
streets and riparian relaxation.
Designed for humans
Existing
Some of the existing structures are going to be accommodated in the new
development while others will have to make place for new structures.
Proposed
Detail design in the proposed development will result in a more sustainable residential
community.
5 environmental
considerations
1 ‘Dark sky’ preservation
One of the unique challenges that the design team had to face was the proximity
of Boyden Observatory, owned by the University of the Free State. Established in 1927, it
is one of three large optical observatories in Africa. Initially the observatory was
unhappy about the proposed development but an extensive consultation process resulted in a
solution that suited all parties.
“At
first the people at the observatory weren’t keen on the development because they were
concerned about increased light pollution,” said Krohn. “After discussions, they
realised that there would be 30% less light pollution because we are implementing a ‘dark
sky’ policy and removing or replacing all existing fixtures, which cause light
pollution.
The
observatory will also be fenced into the development so it will be secure and accessible
to residents and visitors.”
2 Established vegetation
According to the baseline study conducted on the site’s vegetation, although a small
portion of natural veld excluded from past development has remained relatively
undisturbed, alien species like blue gums, pines, conifers and palm trees can be found
along the roads and in the picnic areas of the existing resort. Prickly pear species have
also begun to invade the surrounding koppies.
This is
partly because, when the neighbouring Maselspoort water works began in 1903, existing
indigenous trees from the site across the river were used to power the plant. These have
generally been replaced over time by trees that are not indigenous. However, as no
protected plants occur at the proposed site, it has been decided to retain existing stands
of exotic trees.
3 Nearby water
Potable water for the development will be sourced from the adjacent Maselspoort water
works that supplies the bulk of Bloemfontein’s water. An additional reservoir will be
built to provide sufficient pressure and 48-hour emergency storage while water from
boreholes will be used for irrigation purposes. A new gravity sewer system will be
constructed to deal with waste while greywater from new-technology package treatment
plants will be re-used for irrigation.
The
treatment plants and sewer pump stations will be located underground to ensure a low noise
level, visibility and odour.
An open
stormwater canal system will be used to navigate rain water to the Modder River and the
easy-to-clean canals will be stone-finished. The system will also serve as a water feature
with circulating water.
4 Socio- improvement
The proposed development falls within the Mangaung Local Municipality where around 60% of
the population is economically active. Of this figure, 59,9% is employed and 40,1% is
unemployed. Poverty is high and 58% of those employed earn less than R1 600/month.
The new
Maselspoort project is expected to provide significant employment opportunities for the
surrounding local communities. “The proposed development will also serve as a
valuable growth point in the area and will provide substantial new employment
opportunities during construction and thereafter,” said Mulder.
During the
construction phase, projections indicate that approximately 9 000 jobs will be created
while, during the operational phase, the sustained impact of development is expected to
provide around 1 000 jobs.
5 Heritage priorities
In terms of
the National Heritage Resources Act and the Environmental Conservation Act, a heritage
impact assessment was carried out to evaluate the existing site. Several structures were
identified as being older than 60 years. Only three of them have historical and
architectural significance, and will be conserved: the water works, the old manager’s
house and the restaurant.
“Maselspoort
forms part of the Bloemfontein water purification scheme,” Mulder explained. “The
water works includes two existing sandstone buildings in the middle of the development.
Although these are utility buildings, the architecture is quite beautiful. We are speaking
to the council about incorporating these or doing a public-private partnership joint
venture project.”
The existing
manager’s house is completely derelict, Krohn pointed out. “We will restore it
and use it as a sales office.
Another
existing house next to the reception has already been renovated as a guest house.”
The
aesthetic origins of the new components of the development are derived from the urban,
rural and farmland environs of the Bloemfontein area. Maselspoort will essentially have a
village square at its heart with a country retail component and gathering spaces for
communal and public activities.
The
architecture will be a modern version of Free State platteland architecture.
In
accordance with the principles of new urbanism, houses will have narrow street frontages
and a long, narrow structure facing north. Different house types will have different
treatments and ambience depending on their location – river, hill, park and town
houses. As a rule, most houses will be double-storey with verandas because there is
limited coverage of 40%.
Backyard
lanes will be used for services (water and electric meters, and garbage collection) and
parking, so that front streets will be mostly vehicle-free and pedestrian-friendly.
Design integrity
Krohn is excited about future prospects for Maselspoort, and has been suitably
impressed by the dedication and skills of the design team. “Chris’s idea is very
different from our original concept. He helped us to really see the dream.”
It is
important for them, as planners, designers, decision-makers and developers, to blend our
creative, technical and management skills with a professional ethic that shapes a
sustainable future for people and the environment, Mulder said. “I guess it all boils
down to how we, in South Africa, can create opportunities for social upliftment and
nurture economic growth without undermining the natural resource base and environmental
integrity.”
The concepts
of new urbanism and new ruralism, as envisioned at Maselspoort, are positive, particularly
the ideal of trying to reinstate the notion of community in a modern world where
individual achievement and self-gratification tend to triumph.
These ideas
are also admirable in the desire to protect cultural and environmental resources while
uplifting surrounding communities.
It will be
interesting to see whether or not developments of this nature, tried and tested over years
to come, will indeed deliver on their potential.
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ENVIRONMENTAL
PLANNING AND DESIGN
EIAs: having the desired impact?
Nearly
a year down the line with new environmental impact assessment regulations, Urban Green
File spoke to some industry role players about improvements and issues of concern.
In July
2006, new environmental impact assessment (EIA) regulations in terms of the National
Environment Management Act (NEMA) were published to replace the 1997 regulations in terms
of the Environment Conservation Act (ECA).
As the EIA
process has often been criticized for delaying and, in some cases hampering, development,
JP Louw, then spokesperson for the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT),
said the regulations were revised to be ’quicker, simpler and better‘.
At the
launch of the regulations, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Marthinus van
Schalkwyk, said one of the most important features was the introduction of compulsory time
frames for authorities. Louw explained that, under the new regulations, authorities are
obliged to deliver within 14 days for purely administrative actions, with 45 days for
review and decision-making on minor reports and between 60 to 105 days for review and
decision-making on more complex reports.
Proposed
amendments to these regulations were published in May 2007 and the commenting period ended
early in June. These amendments focus on correcting technical and legal errors, revisiting
‘thresholds’ for activities as well as definitions and time frames for appeal
procedures.
With the
NEMA regulations being implemented for almost a year now and in the process of minor
amendments, Urban Green File considered it an opportune time to find out how the
regulations are perceived and implemented by industry.
All the
people interviewed agreed that the set time frames were an improvement on earlier
regulations. Hein Pienaar, deputy director: environmental planning and impact assessment
at the Gauteng Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment (GDACE), admitted
that these time frames are tight and that the GDACE is making a real effort to meet them
but the department welcomed the clear guidance provided as it ensures ‘just
administration’, which is a priority for the GDACE.
But there is
more to an EIA than time frames. Interviewing a variety of role players in the industry, a
number of issues or points of concern were identified. This is, of course, not an
exhaustive list but attempts to hold a mirror to what we are doing or trying to do.
9 EIA concerns
1 The real role of participation
EIAs are notorious for extensive public participation procedures and the 2006
regulations did not downscale in this regard.
According to
Andrew Duthie of Oryx Environmental, it is important that we question the purpose of
public participation.
In many
cases, it seems that these processes are conducted in order to get a ‘stamp of
approval’ from interested and affected parties and, through that, it becomes a
political ball game. In this manner, public participation will only get more complicated.
Duthie asked whether or not such a detailed participation process is always warranted for
the newly-introduced ‘basic assessment’?
Catherine
Warburton of Imbewu, a firm of enviro-legal specialists, expressed concerns about other
kinds of participation and engagement. The regulations in terms of the ECA required a
‘plan of study’ in the initial stages of all assessments, which is now not
required in terms of the NEMA regulations for Basic Assessments and is ony prepared after
scoping in the scoping and EIA process.
Warburton
believes that this limitation of the use of the ‘plan of study’ actually takes
away an opportunity for environmental practitioners to engage with authorities upfront in
a proactive and useful way particularly with regard to process related issues. The
opportunity for project related guidance and input from government’s side now comes
quite far down the line in terms of work already done.
2 Process problems
On a practical level, the process of completing an EIA has been very tedious and
frustrating for many environmental practitioners.
And the July
2006 regulations have not really been tested as many of the existing EIAs in the system
have been submitted in terms of the ECA regulations.
According to
Pienaar, the process at GDACE is functional and in-house mechanisms have been set in place
to ensure that time frames will be met. During the 10 months that the department has been
working with the new regulations, approximately 50 templates for departmental and legal
responses have already been created.
Dr Alan
Brent of the CSIR is concerned about the EIA process fitting in with other concurrent
processes. According to Brent, the regulations do not take project life cycles or project
gate reviews, that are normal project management practices in many industries, into
consideration.
Brent’s
research has shown that problems exist in the execution of an EIA relative to the project
life-cycle management phases. One reason is that EIAs often start at too late a stage in
the project life cycle; very few EIAs commence in the pre-feasibility phases of projects.
EIA practitioners are also seldom involved in the project gate reviews.
Introducing
this will contribute to greater predictability and, hopefully, a more integrated and
holistic approach but we should probably ask the question: do the processes that we employ
ultimately empower better decision-making?
3 Not about conservation
Across the board, people seem to agree that EIAs are not about conservation in
the first place but about environmental management.
However most
practitioners still find authorities checklist-bound, applying regulations in a formulaic
manner as if it is only an administrative procedure. Greg Martindale of Oryx Environmental
highlighted the importance of context. Many of the EIA applications submitted by his
company are for urban developments in already urban areas. The environmental impact on
such an area would obviously differ from development in a greenfields area.
4 Quality
decision-making
Probably still the biggest concern is the quality of decision-making from government’s
side. Dr Gwen Theron of African EPA argued that quality decision-making is non-negotiable.
If we do not have competent, well-informed public officials, all is in vain. Duthie
supported the argument and said that more, different and updated legislation and
regulations will not necessarily improve the outcomes of our EIA process. The outcomes
will improve when officials understand the issues at play, and are flexible
decision-makers and interpreters of the EIA laws and regulations.
Pienaar said
that officials at GDACE had at least four training workshops on the new regulations for
staff. The GDACE and its counterpart environmental departments in other provinces should
play a leadership role in this regard as the EIA process requires an informed public,
professional environmental assessment practitioners and competent officials, Pienaar
stated emphatically. There are differences of opinion in terms of the capacities of the
various provinces but it seems that there are fewer concerns about Gauteng and the Western
Cape than the other seven provinces.
5 Different tools
Another aspect with more or less across the board agreement is that an EIA
process cannot solve strategic environmental or developmental problems. In terms of NEMA,
there are actually many other instruments to form part of the broader environmental
management process.
The
environmental management framework (EMF) is increasingly receiving the attention it
deserves as a tool to draw together the loose strings of environmental management in a
specific area. It is, however, a point of concern that authorities have allowed these
processes to lag so far behind the whole EIA process. EMFs should actually provide a
context for EIA processes to be conducted. Another apparently obvious interface is with
existing spatial development frameworks (SDFs).
This should
be the responsibility of all role players involved. According to Johan Goosen of African
EPA, it is important that developers are also sensitised about the concurrent nature of
various frameworks.
6 Doing away with
discretion?
One of the most obvious changes in the 2006 regulations was the requirement for
either a basic assessment or a full EIA.
According to
Pienaar, as it is no longer left to the discretion of officials but clearly stated in the
regulations, the situation has been improved for everybody.
Warburton is
concerned about the lists of activities used to decide whether or not a basic assessment
or a full EIA is required. These lists do not make provision for the actual location of
relevant activities. The ‘receiving’ environment is not really taken into
account.
For
instance, in some cases, the listed activities take place in an area where similar
activities have been taking place for ages. In many of these cases, it won’t have any
more adverse effects than its neighbours but a full EIA is required. And, in other cases,
an activity like a resort or a hotel can be approved through a basic assessment.
What if that
resort is located in a pristine wetland area? Chapter 5 of NEMA does allow for specific
regulations on the prohibition of certain activities in specific geographical areas.
However no such regulations have as yet been promulgated under NEMA.
Pienaar
argued that this concern is addressed through the implementation of thresholds. Although
he conceded that there are still issues, concerning thresholds, that need to be resolved,
the idea is that EIA requirements are not only based on an activity but also on the
potential impact and extent of that activity and the ability of the competent authority to
request appropriate studies to ensure effective management and mitigation of environmental
impacts.
7 Inconsistent
application
An aspect that would hopefully be addressed over time by DEAT is the fact that
each province has its own interpretation of the regulations. Practitioners working in
different provinces have difficulty determining the levels of detail required by the
various authorities. Large infrastructure implementation projects, such as pipelines, are
subject to different provincial authorities. This goes against the ideal of simple and
efficient environmental legislation.
8 Competent
practitioners
Although interviewees all agreed that there is huge variation in the quality
levels of EIA applications, they were not in agreement as to what is essentially lacking.
Warburton
and Theron believe that the level of scientific information incorporated into EIA
applications is not always sufficient to really support good decision-making.
Many ‘generalists’
are working in the field and Theron is concerned about a ‘broad brush’ approach.
However this
issue might, to a certain extent, be addressed by the workings of the Interim
Certification Board (ICB) for Environmental Assessment Practitioners of South Africa. A
broad consultative process on the establishment of a registration authority for
environmental assessment practitioners that would meet the legal requirements set out in
section 24H of NEMA was launched in 2006.
9 Definitions and
interpretations
Surprisingly the issue of the official definition of ‘environment’ came up.
According to Brent and Theron, South African legislation provides for a progressive and
inclusive definition of the environment. It is definitely not restricted to biodiversity
issues and includes social and economic aspects as well. Isn’t it time that people
are made aware of this definition so that this progressive aspect of our legislation might
become evident in day-to-day decision-making?
The future
It seems that, even if we have come a long way in terms of implementing
detailed regulations and drafting extensive reports, we are still far from the ideal of
environmental management. For this to become reality, government will have to take on all
of the roles it is supposed to play. It should be a leader, providing guidance and a
vision of environmentally-conscious development. It should also play a very hands-on role
through the decision-making of every official even if it is only the official that has to
make the call if an application will be accepted into the system. Agreeing with Andrew
Duthie, more rules and regulations are not going to result in better environmental
management. It might ensure minor changes to the system but what we need is competent
officials and decision-makers.
Some 10
years since our first EIAs, it is a concern that the same issues are still on the table.
Are we still dealing with the same complaints? It might be an indication of the complexity
of the issues we are dealing with here. Although a lot still needs to be done, small bites
of the elephant have at least been taken.
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WASTE AND POLLUTION MANAGEMENT
Health hazard: medical waste management
With health issues the
subject of public debate, it is surprising that management of waste from healthcare
facilities appears to have been largely neglected.
It’s a
‘big picture’ subject disguised as a ‘little picture’. Healthcare
waste is only a small proportion of the total waste stream at any level but one with
potentially huge implications for the environment as a whole and public health.
In July
2007, the South African government will debate a new Waste Bill, which will cover not only
general waste but also mention licensing of healthcare risk waste (HCRW). Parties involved
in the discussion of this Bill include provincial and national departments of health and
environmental affairs, municipalities, the waste management industry, civil society
groups, the public, and many groups with specific concerns.
In 2001,
environmental justice NGO, groundWork, published damning evidence in a report that showed
medical waste generated by public hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal was being poorly managed
– infectious waste was dumped at landfills, burned in the open or buried in pits
close to medical facilities and residential areas. Up to 45% of healthcare waste was
unaccounted-for.
The group’s
work also showed that the incinerator used to burn medical waste at Ixopo in KwaZulu-Natal
was unsafe and it was subsequently closed down.
The report
focused on two public hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal: Ngwelezana in Empangeni and Edendale in
Pietermaritzburg. Following the report, groundWork developed a training programme in
co-operation with KwaZulu-Natal Health to improve the management of HCRW at the two
hospitals. “We implemented meetings every three months for discussions with staff,”
said Llewellyn Leonard, author of the report and then waste campaign manager for
ground-Work. “We took a systems approach to waste management, moving away from end
solutions.”
Progress monitor
Five years down the line, it is opportune to investigate whether or not the
systems proposed by groundWork have actually been implemented and, even more important,
maintained.
Financial savings
Ngwelezana Hospital
With the debate of the Waste Bill approaching, there has been little followup to
groundWork’s report. On a visit to Ngwelezana Hospital in Empangeni, Urban Green File
found that healthcare risk waste continues to be well-managed. Fikele Zulu took up the
position of infection control manager from Jabu Nene who was doing the job when the
hospital’s waste management system was implemented in 2001.
Zulu said
there are several ways to measure the success of the new system – from the reduced
number of needle-stick incidents to cost reductions in waste collection and disposal.
“We are improving,” she said. “Before we worked with ground-Work, we
actually incinerated on the premises.” The incinerator has since been mothballed and
is now used as a storage area for the HCRW before collection by the contracted waste
management company, Compass Waste.
Segregation
of infected waste begins at the patients’ bedsides. When dressings are changed, the
trolley that carries the necessary supplies also carries separate containers for ‘sharps’,
infected and noninfected waste. Fluids have a separate container. Orderlies then transfer
the waste to the sluice room where it is stored temporarily. From there, it goes outside
to a walled holding area to await pickup by waste handlers.
Prior to the
HCRW management system at Ngwelezana Hospital, the waste handlers at the incinerator were
at highest risk. Needle sticks were simply part of the job for these workers and they paid
little attention to these incidents as they occurred daily. They were also in contact with
toxic fumes from the incinerator. But the incinerator staff opposed shutting down the
facility even though they were ill, according to Nene. “They did not realise it was
the incinerator that was making them ill,” she said. “They didn’t want to
lose their jobs.”
According to
Zulu’s records, the hospital has recorded only one needle stick in the past year
– a vast improvement even if it is still one too many, she said. Zulu credits
intensive training of staff and healthcare workers for the successes of the new system.
“We
want them to understand why they must separate correctly; they must know what the waste
is; and why we have different classifications of waste and the methods of handling each.
We also give them information on what will happen if they don’t handle it properly.
We even give them the figures of what it costs.”
Before
developing a system of managing the healthcare waste, hospital staff did not know how to
distinguish between infected and non-infected waste. This led them to conclude that most
of the waste was infected so it was sent for incineration.
In general,
however, only 10% of any hospital’s waste is infected. Knowing how to distinguish
helps reduce the amount of waste that undergoes special treatment and therefore reduces
the cost incurred.
The bottom
line is one that always attracts the attention of management and government, and for HCRW
management it is no different. In the first year following implementation of the waste
management system, Ngwelezana’s costs for waste management went from R55 000 per
month to R35 000 – a 36% reduction in one year. However, by 2004, the hospital’s
costs leapt back up because public medical clinics began bringing their unsegregated waste
to the hospital for disposal.
With
Ngwelezana Hospital managing its own waste in organised fashion, Zulu can now turn her
attention to the waste generated by clinics. She is working on implementing a system of
monitoring the costs absorbed by Ngwelezana Hospital for accepting waste from provincial
clinics. It is feasible to imagine that the infection control manager at any hospital
could be useful in assisting the provincial clinics in building a system of waste
segregation and collection, as well as training of staff and health care workers.
Slow progress
Edendale Hospital
A waste management system appears to be established at Edendale but many managers have
been changed or replaced so the management structure of the hospital has changed as well.
As a result, the waste management system has not changed since its establishment six years
ago, according to finance manager, Holly Baird, who is one of the few managers left
following management restructuring. “Unfortunately it’s gone backwards,”
she said.
A walk past
the waste storage area outside the hospital revealed that municipal waste was stored in
the same general area as healthcare waste and that it was transported in the same trolley
together with municipal waste from the hospital. Municipal waste was burned in the open.
Waste handlers were improperly attired for the job and waste was poorly contained –
rubber gloves were strewn on the ground inside and outside the fenced-off waste storage
area. However the segregation of healthcare waste was clearly evident and all boxes, bags
and bins were properly separated in the storage area.
Closely
involved in the establishment of HCRW management at the hospitals in 2001, groundWork
plans to re-establish its relationship with new management at Edendale to help improve the
system.
Leonard said
he hoped to renew ties with both hospitals in order to follow up on the NGO’s work
and to find a way forward.
Route to municipal
landfill
In KwaZulu-Natal, Compass Waste has been contracted to manage the waste at all
public hospitals. As a private-sector business, it could face hefty fines for pollution
infractions.
Following
the closure of the Ixopo incinerator, all healthcare waste in KwaZulu-Natal is treated by
non-burn method, specifically autoclaving.
Autoclaving
has been accepted internationally as the best alternative technology to incineration
because it offers a method of disposal that does not create air, water or noise pollution;
destroys all viruses and bacteria; and renders the final product sterile and
unrecognisable.
The process
of autoclaving begins by sterilising the waste.
Once the
autoclave has been sealed, the pressure inside the chamber is reduced to between 60
millibar and 160 millibar, and all air is removed from the container. This step ensures
thorough sterilisation of all material inside. Steam is then pumped in to take the
pressure back up to 4,34 bar and raise the temperature above 148°C. The steam is vented
through a condenser, which also removes any odour, and the liquid is safely discarded via
the municipal sewer. Following sterilisation, pressure is again reduced inside the
autoclave chamber to vacuum off any moisture.
Once removed
from the autoclave, the sterilised waste is transferred to an industrial shredder and then
loaded onto a skip and transported to a landfill where it can be deposited with general
waste.
The service
provided by Compass Waste includes the autoclave process, transport to and from the
treatment facilities, and supply of all healthcare waste containers to public hospitals in
KwaZulu-Natal. This can include colour-coded bags, sharps containers, buckets for liquid
waste and tissue, and fibre-board boxes for the bags or re-usable plastic bins that
replace the box and bag set.
Jurisdiction
is a major obstacle in the management of healthcare waste at all levels. Even at policy
level, jurisdiction is a major stumbling block. KwaZulu-Natal Health must not allow any
HCRW to enter municipal landfills. The municipalities can – and, on at least one
occasion with Ngwelezana, has followed through – levy a fine against any hospital
found dumping HCRW in its landfills.
The
municipalities are responsible for ensuring that no HCRW enters local landfills and can be
fined by the provincial Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs.
This
arrangement looks like various government departments policing one another – a system
that may or may not work depending on whether or not it can be determined that one
provincial government department must answer to another.
This kind of
jurisdictional complication was a topic of conversation during a meeting of the Health
Care Waste Interest Group (HCWIG) when a group of role players and stakeholders gathered
under the umbrella of the Institute of Waste Management of South Africa. Members of
HCWIG
include national and provincial departments of health as well as the Development Bank of
Southern Africa, the National Health Laboratory Service and industry representatives.
The group
primarily focuses on the situation in Gauteng although discussion also touches on
co-ordinating work with KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape as the other two provinces that
liaise with HCWIG on what is happening with regard to healthcare waste management.
The catalyst
for the topic of jurisdictional complication arose out of discussion about the proposed
Waste Bill. Members of HCWIG are greatly concerned that healthcare waste is barely
mentioned in the proposed legislation and, until the regulations for the waste bill are
added, there is little clarity on standards or on a clear line of responsibility.
“Legislation
on healthcare waste is not in place at national level,” said Janet Magner, chairman
of HCWIG. “We in Gauteng fall primarily under the Environmental Conservation Act with
the Gauteng regulations and the waste also has to be managed in terms of various other
Acts. There’s a whole plethora of Acts that presently govern healthcare waste and it
is anticipated that the management of healthcare waste will fall under one umbrella with
the Waste Bill that’s being written. What is lacking is framework legislation that
governs healthcare waste for all institutions – public, private or within industry in
all the provinces.”
At national
level, there is no interdepartmental communication and HCWIG’s attempt to create a
healthcare waste forum, that could bring the different provinces together to discuss
healthcare waste issues under a common umbrella, is mired in bureaucratic red tape.
Ramsook Loykisoonlal, representative of the South African Department of Health, pointed
out that there is presently no memorandum of understanding between the Department of
Environmental Affairs and Tourism and the Department of Health on the outputs from the
National Waste Management Strategy project that was run by DEAT. He told other interest
group members: “With regard to these we cannot go over their heads.
We have to
follow their lead.” A major concern is that the health departments will be
responsible for waste from source and the environmental affairs departments will be
responsible for waste at end point but no-one is responsible for regulating either or
both. Municipalities are somewhere between the two but they cannot even hold up their own
end.
Mike Marler,
representative of the Development Bank of Southern Africa in HCWIG, said the bank’s
clients are municipalities, which have budgets for waste management that are generally
less than one-third of what they should be.
Forward planning
In KwaZulu-Natal, public hospitals are the first point of contact with respect
to management of healthcare risk waste.
Public
clinics, especially in rural areas, simply do not have either the financial or skilled
resources to manage their healthcare waste effectively. KwaZulu-Natal Health manages the
clinics and the hospitals.
“We
want hospitals to act as the nucleus for best practice,” said Rico Euripidou,
groundWork’s research manager. For them to partner with small hospitals, or to help
train the trainers and act as partners for health clinics, is the way forward, he
believes.
Co-ordinating
the clinics and hospitals will be the logical next step once all of KwaZulu-Natal’s
public hospitals have reached an acceptable standard of practice in the management of
healthcare waste.
Assessing
the cost and health benefits to staff and healthcare workers in the clinical environment,
as well as individuals in the community, will keep the ball rolling. The proposed Waste
Bill may be useful in setting up the standard to be attained and in defining clear lines
of responsibility for provincial departments of health and environmental affairs, as well
as co-ordinating governing bodies like municipalities. Civil society groups, such as
groundwork, can help in establishing relationships between the various stakeholders.
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PLANNING PERSONALITY
Becky
Himlin on NGOs
An
NGO looking for a niche?
Heading an NGO in a
developing country takes commitment and energy, especially in a set-up where these
organizations are struggling for survival, Becky Himlin, executive director of PlanAct,
reveals.
Prior to
South Africa’s transition to democracy in 1994, the international community, in
solidarity with the disenfranchised people of South Africa, marshalled much of its support
through non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Donor
funding was plentiful at the time.
However,
after 1994, with a legitimate government in place, the international community changed
tack, preferring to channel its funding through the South African government. Many NGOs,
because of this shift in policy, were left with little or no funding, and, no longer able
to sustain their operations, closed their doors. Besides the preference to deal with a
legitimate government, some international donors had been frustrated by incidents of fraud
and financial mismanagement within sponsored NGOs as a consequence of poor governance
standards and practices. But, equally and in all fairness, many NGOs were and still are
professionally managed, delivering vital and needed services to their target communities.
Accessing international donor funds now, via the National Development Agency (NDA), is a
bureaucratic and inhibitive process. A number of value-adding yet cash-strapped NGOs,
unable to generate their own revenue streams while waiting for NDA funding, have folded as
a result.
PlanAct: a survivor
PlanAct came into being in 1985 to support and mobilise community processes
that enhance good governance at local level and improve people’s habitable
environments in ways that alleviate poverty.
As one of
the more effective and resilient NGOs, PlanAct has a proud track record.
However
PlanAct now focuses more on the organisational development of HIV/Aids support
organisations and local government capacity-building, specifically leadership development,
and the training and development of ward committees.
While this
work is important and very necessary, it is essentially peripheral to PlanAct’s
primary purpose. Herein lies Becky Himlin’s frustration.
PlanAct, one
of a number of affiliated NGOs under the now disbanded Urban Sector Network (USN)
umbrella, has been instrumental in the process of building houses for the poor in the past
but now struggles to continue its work as much as many other NGOs.
NGOs: innovators of
change?
At its 21st anniversary celebration in 2006, PlanAct hosted a conference with
the theme ‘NGOs as innovators and agents of change: a history by development
practitioners’.
Kumi Naidoo,
secretary-general of Civicus, was a keynote speaker and highlighted three salient points:
1. NGOs are historically associated with significant intellectual capacity
2. There are many new people who have entered the NGO sector – making decisions in an
experiential vacuum.
3. The role of NGOs in public life is skewed towards delivery – much at the expense
of critical engagement with the state.
Naidoo
argued that the outputs of the vast majority of NGOs takes place at delivery level and
governments of the world are quite comfortable with this role for the sector as NGOs
represent ‘cheap labour’.
Agreeing
with Naidoo, a commentator on the Southern African NGO Network (SANGONeT) website said
NGOs now face challenges, such as the erosion of intellectual capacity, interference by a
state on moulding NGOs into service providers, dwindling institutional memory, poor
leadership, an undersupplied skills pool and donor-driven agendas.
PlanAct
faces similar challenges but one of its potential strengths might be the depth of
knowledge held by the many people who were once associated with PlanAct and still support
the NGO.
To benefit ordinary
people
Rebecca Himlin graduated with a degree in urban studies and planning from the
University of Maryland’s School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.
Coming from
a research background, she is now full-time in the NGO field. Working in this sector,
which is neither private- nor public-sector, the boundaries are not always clear. In this
‘zone’ there is movement and change, and you have to be willing to shift these
boundaries in order to better serve the mission of the organisation.
Himlin, as
executive director of PlanAct, focuses on working the bottom line and delivering tangible
results.
Her
inimitable style, coupled with a never-ending source of energy, is her capacity to
envision the future and then translate it into present-day bricks and mortar, on the
ground, in a way that benefits ordinary people.
Given her strong personality, focus and determination, distraction from PlanAct’s
primary purpose is, to say the least, a little ‘out’ of Himlin’s character.
But there is more to this conundrum than meets the eye.
PlanAct is a
well-oiled, result-driven organisation.
It has had
to be in order to survive the years and retain its donor funding. One of PlanAct’s
latest involvements was a housing project in Vosloorus, south-east of Johannesburg.
Approximately 650 Peoples Housing Process (PHP) houses were built with local community
participation.
The PHP goes
some way in addressing unemployment and the country’s skills development needs. The
PHP is intended to enable the poorest members of society to build or organise the
construction of their homes themselves. The principles behind the PHP policy are ‘a
people-driven process’, ‘partnerships’, ‘skills transfer’ and
‘community empowerment’.
Nevertheless,
and whatever the reality or speculation, these problems have slowed delivery to the point
where very little is happening as far as PHP projects are concerned.
With the
disbandment of the urban sector network (USN), a networked group of affiliated NGOs, which
included PlanAct, formed to specifically address PHP projects, the outlook for the PHP is
gloomy.
However,
building on past successes and in keeping with Himlin’s refusal to give up, PlanAct
remains committed to the PHP.
What is PlanAct?
PlanAct was established in 1985 as a voluntary association of professionals who
came together to assist community organisations to advocate for alternative development
plans to those of the apartheid regime, and then to facilitate a civic and trade union
voice in policy development processes during the transition to democracy.
In 1994,
PlanAct was formally registered as a Section 21 company. It remained rooted in
disadvantaged communities and was heavily involved in policy development as the democratic
government became established but also extended its work into local government
capacity-building. - Source: PlanAct
The PlanAct way
Approached at the time by the Vosloorus community, PlanAct was asked to provide
assistance in building houses under the PHP. Mapping out its strategy with the
understanding that the core elements of the PHP, based on the needs and aspirations of the
community, were to be implemented to their full extent and preserved, PlanAct committed to
support the habitable environment agenda and the right to adequate housing. In its
approach and implementation of the principles under this agenda, PlanAct achieved:
A people-led process.
A representative community structure, elected democratically, was established
to drive the PHP as the engine and to ensure beneficiary participation. Committee members
were trained and developed to give them capacity to effectively meet the organisational,
administrative and management requirements of a PHP project. As part of this process,
women were given equal opportunities.
Capacity building of subsidy beneficiaries
Beneficiaries were trained in relevant aspects of the PHP as applicable to them. They were
also given practical, hands-on training in house construction quality-assurance techniques
to ensure that they were satisfied with the final product. In the end, of the
beneficiaries surveyed, 64% were satisfied with the materials used and 68% were satisfied
with the construction.
Job creation and skills
development
Job creation and skills development across the spectrum of material suppliers,
contractors, construction workers, many of them community members, and beneficiaries
enabled the community to participate in the economic benefits of the PHP project, which
produced 650 houses, each 36 m² in size, with a bill of materials and labour cost of R16
000 per house. Approximately 150 jobs were created during the project.
Partnerships
Partnerships were established between the Gauteng Department of Housing, the Ekurhuleni
Metropolitan Council and the Vosloorus community with PlanAct facilitating the process.
This created the much-needed synthesis to ensure the success of the project. But it was
Plan-Act’s role in organising, capacity-building and leading the community that was
key to the overall project success.
Work towards the
integrated development of a community
PlanAct’s integrated development approach of stepping beyond simple housing provision
to establish services, economic opportunities and social welfare, realised not just a
sustainable community for residents of Vosloorus but also made provision for the future.
Successful completion
Specific problems experienced during the Vosloorus PHP project included
discrimination against female contractors and labourers, financial limitations of
locallyestablished material suppliers and emerging contractors, and the eagerness of
contractors to build as many houses as possible to make as much money as possible.
This led to
quality control and technical support problems. Other issues included the need for the
Gauteng Department of Housing to assume a more active role, stricter financial control
mechanisms of accountability and a more flexible set of subsidy qualification criteria to
accommodate a cut-off threshold greater than R1 500 per month (a person earning R1 600 per
month does not qualify for a subsidy but dearly needs to participate).
However the
benefits of the PHP were substantially greater. Besides the provision of much-needed
housing, job creation and skills development, community participation engendered tenure
security, a sense of belonging, pride and self-worth, and personal as well as community
satisfaction, and the realisation of a real, tangible future.
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BATTLE OF THE ’BURBS
Pietermaritzburg:
Northdale v Mountain Rise
Cultural
contribution
Two former Indian group
areas in Pietermaritzburg contribute, at neighbourhood level, to the rich cultural
diversity of the city.
“In the
absence of an indigenous urban tradition, South African cities were established by white
settlers who regarded the cities as their cultural domain.”
Whether or
not one agrees with Anthony Lemon’s statement in his 1991 book, Homes Apart, is not
the issue.
What is
relevant is to ask whether or not we have an urban tradition? If so, how did it come
about? Whose tradition is it? And how does it manifest in the South African city of 2007?
In an
attempt to address the last question, in this edition, battle of the ’burbs features
two former Indian group areas in Pietermaritzburg: Northdale and Mountain Rise.
It is a
concern that our cities are still viewed and analysed in terms of race but it is reality
and there are examples countrywide where racial integration has taken place – in most
cases, in the natural way cities do accommodate change in their own time. But the legacy
of apartheid’s Group Areas Act is still very much part of our cities so it is a good
idea to often look at the state of these former group areas and the positive and negative
aspects of this heritage.
Capital city
Pietermaritzburg has been a capital city since the beginning: first as the
short-lived Voortrekker Republic of Natalia then the British colony of Natal. Under
apartheid rule, it became the capital city of the province of Natal and is now the seat of
government of the KwaZulu-Natal provincial legislature.
With its
capital status confirmed, and as a result of the countrywide property boom, the city has
experienced unprecedented growth over the past few years.
The
Voortrekker and British presence is evident in the city’s many historical buildings
while the Eastern influence, provided by descendants of Indian labourers who came to Natal
in the 1860s to work on the sugar estates, can be seen in the Hindu temples, Muslim
mosques and colourful traditions.
Racial segregation
Pietermaritzburg is a thoroughly South African city, which is segregated along
racial lines.
The first
government measures to residentially segregate Indians in Pietermaritzburg is said to go
back as far as 1898 when clauses were inserted into conditions of sale of ‘townlands’.
Forced
removals in terms of the Group Areas Act had, as in many other South African cities, the
biggest impact on the Indian population. In Pietermaritzburg, 76% of people moved in terms
of the Act were of Indian origin. This gave rise to the establishment of the two suburbs
under discussion.
Mountain
Rise became home to shop owners and business people from the upper Church Street business
precinct where many lived above or behind business premises. Northdale became home to,
among others, residents of the now extinct suburb of Pentrich (where approximately 2 500
Indians lived in a racially-mixed neighbourhood) and the Edendale Valley.
Land use
Mountain Rise 7/10
* Large stands
* Residential
The upmarket
suburb of Mountain Rise lies within a horseshoe-shaped zone of industrial land near the
city centre. Located between Chota Motala Road and Ohrtmann Road to the west, it borders
on the Willowton industrial area.
Mountain
Rise was originally occupied by white residents (hence the architectural styles and the
remnants of recreational facilities, such as derelict bowling greens that are located
within the grounds of the Eddles Club) forced to either sell their properties to the
Community Development Board or have them expropriated and to relocate to a designated
‘White Group Area’.
In spite of
its proximity to the city’s most prominent industrial area, Mountain Rise is an
upmarket residential area with modern religious and educational facilities serving its
well-established community.
Plots are
large and the suburb is similar to most middle- to upper-income suburbs of South African
cities.
Its close
proximity to the city centre and the Northway Mall, the popular regional Midlands
Mall and
even the Chota Motala strip, affords residents a wide variety of retail opportunities.
The suburb
is largely residential with a few schools, including a school for the blind, and religious
facilities.
Northdale 7/10
* Mixed use
* Former housing estates
Northdale is
a large sprawling suburb comprising several areas, including Lotusville, Rosedale and
Belfort East. It is located immediately east of Otto’s Bluff Road and served by the
Northway Mall and the shopping area along Chota Motala Road (formerly Old Greytown Road).
Large parts
of Northdale were originally part of a council housing estate. The box-like houses are
still dotted throughout the sprawling suburb. Many of them have been converted and
extended while others have been demolished to make space for more elaborate houses. The
result is a hotchpotch of housing types, catering for the lower to middle-income housing
market.
The retail
strip along Chota Motala Road is a very lively shopping area, serving the broader
community, including Raisethorpe and Mountain Rise. As with many decentralized business
nodes, peak trading times coincide with peak traffic hour when ‘nineto-fivers’
working in other parts of the city return home.
Accessibility
Northdale 5/10
* Topography
* Single entrance
Located in
one of Maritzburg’s sprawling valleys, movement in Northdale is impeded by steep
gradients. Upgrading and maintenance of roads and stormwater is difficult and costly.
According to
Mark Puttick, town planning practitioner in Pietermaritzburg, access to the suburb is very
restricted with basically only Chota Motala Road available to anyone who wants to reach
Northdale.
Various
proposals are on the table at council level to address this and other problems.
One of the
proposals is the establishment of a public transport corridor, which will run from
Georgetown in the south of the city through the CBD to Northdale and Raisethorpe in the
north.
Mountain Rise 7/10
* Close to N3
* Industrial traffic
Located
closer to the CBD with entry from more than one side, Mountain Rise enjoys easy access to
the N3 and the town centre.
The
Willowton industrial area generates heavy traffic – often bottlenecks.
Sense of community
Northdale 7/10
* Cultural and religious landmarks
* Community-oriented services
Although
Northdale is a sprawling suburb, it is definitely divided into smaller precincts with a
strong sense of community. Despite the negative occurrences of forced removals, irreverent
inhabitants succeeded in creating a suburb with a distinct identity that reflects the
values and beliefs of its people. Places of worship and community halls are found
throughout Northdale – evidence of a vibrant community.
Mountain Rise 5/10
* Places of worship
* Security gates
Mountain
Rise does not have the same sense of community as Northdale.
Being a
middle- to high-income residential area, there is not a lot of daytime activity in the
area. In typical South African style, fences and security gates are the order of the day.
As in
Northdale, places of worship are found throughout the suburb. This is an indication of the
importance of religious and cultural activity to the people residing in the area.
Environment
Northdale 6/10
* Litter
* Flooding problems
As the
suburb is so big, environmental conditions within Northdale vary. Areas within valleys
have experienced some flooding, and it’s difficult to provide and maintain services.
Open spaces
are largely undeveloped and even road reserves are often vast tracts of open land with
potential for development. Litter is strewn almost everywhere. The soil in the area is
fertile and many households have beautiful, established gardens.
Mountain Rise 5/10
* Industrial pollution
* Underdeveloped open spaces
Due to its
proximity to the Willowton industrial area, Mountain Rise is subjected to high levels of
noise and atmospheric pollution. Not much can really be done about this as it is the
political influence on planning of the past that led to undesirable and often incompatible
land use. Open space in the suburb is largely underdeveloped probably because residents
usually have their own gardens.
Development potential
Northdale 6/10
* Housing expansions
* Urban decay
At first
glance, it might seem that there is not much potential for development in Northdale.
However, on closer inspection, small changes to houses and gardens are actually changing
the face of the suburb. The old housing estates of yesteryear had enough site space to
enable renovation and expansion of existing structures.
Mountain Rise 5/10
* High land value
* Enclosed area
Paradoxically,
land values are, on average, higher in this ecologically unattractive suburb than many
other suburbs of Pietermaritzburg. It is therefore attractive to investors. However,
future development is severely hampered by a lack of available land. Three sides of the
suburb border Willowton.
Conclusion
Northdale: 31/50
Mountain Rise: 29/50
Residents have taken cultural ownership of these areas. Some might argue that
the apartheid structure is perpetuated but it is appropriate to acknowledge the cultural
identities of suburbs such as Northdale and Mountain Rise. In the words of Brian Bassett,
planner at Msunduzi Local Municipality: “Pietermaritzburg’s townscape is more,
much more than merely the sum of these parts”.
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INSPIRATION
Low-income innovation
For
a long time, the design of low-cost housing in South Africa has been criticized but
innovative ideas are coming to the fore.
Architects
Savage + Dodd and ASA have been working on the Alexandra Renewal Project (ARP) to
implement more sustainable housing developments in the high-density area close to Sandton
in Johannesburg.
According to
Colin Savage of Savage + Dodd Architects, Alexandra has run into tremendous problems with
massive densification that has happened over the past 20 years. In older areas, the urban
fabric is extremely compact. Initially these areas were predominantly standalone houses
but have since been consumed by the organic growth of informal structures.
The ARP is
responsible for the integrated upliftment of Alexandra and has begun by tackling housing
in vulnerable areas like the edges of rivers, flood plains and adjacent to main roads that
need to be widened. The idea was to learn from people’s existing facilities.
Today a
shack, rented for R200 to R300 per month on average, will get you a room with access to
water within reasonable distance, a communal toilet, refuse collection, and some form of
community-based security – mostly informal surveillance created by the proximity of
neighbours.
The design
also incorporates play equipment, sandpits, and a day care centre that can take up to 90
children and double as multifunctional space for community meetings and celebrations. The
main street through the site will be bordered by trees and it will be largely pedestrian
with a variation of outdoor spaces.
The
sustainability of services has also been taken into consideration and solar water heaters
have been included. “It’s been an innovative process to get right, and expensive
to install, but it means that the running costs are negligible,” commented Savage.
“And we are harvesting rainwater to be stored in tanks for use in communal gardens.
We looked at photovoltaic lighting in public common areas, such as bathrooms and
passageways, but the technology is not yet advanced enough in South Africa and would have
been very expensive. We also had to put in stormwater attenuation ponds, which all new
residential developments are now obliged to do. These hold stormwater for a couple of
hours before slowly releasing it back into the system.”
It is
inspirational that low-cost housing is increasingly the motive for more innovative design
and even incorporates sustainable living elements, such as recycling, solar heating and
the like.
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INSULT
No place on the policy agenda
Informal
rental – as a way of increasing our housing stock – is still largely ignored at
policy level.
South
African housing policy is mainly based on the promotion of subsidised homeownership for
the poor and still seeks to eradicate informal housing, including backyard shacks. But,
according to a study conducted by Judy Sutherland at the University of Pretoria, there is
a growing realisation, on the part of housing strategists, that there is significant
demand for rental because government’s home-ownership policy is not meeting the
demands of the majority of urban poor. However the role of informal rental, in the form of
backyard shacks, is fighting for any recognition on South Africa’s policy agenda.
According to
David Gardner, consultant to the National Urban Reconstruction and Housing Agency
(NURCHA), informal rental is the provision of accommodation or space and access to service
by a landlord to a tenant on an existing property occupied by or controlled by the
landlord in exchange for an agreed rental. Statistics collected in 1999 indicated that
approximately two thirds of these informal rental households reside in urban areas. The
settlements that have between 60% and 80% prevalence of informal rental tend to be near
areas of employment and are therefore, in terms of location, suitable for tenants, Gardner
said.
The
difficulty in intervening or participating lies in the dual nature of this sector, giving
access to services and centrality in a strangely secure although informal arrangement, and
combining the main advantages of a formal or semi-formal type of accommodation without
imposing the rigid constraints of a formal market on the tenants and the landlord.
Any future
engagement with the informal rental sector must therefore consider the delicate balance
between product delivered, income groups served and affordability.
But,
according to Mark Napier of the CSIR, the impulse is to try and eradicate this sort of
housing because it is unsafe and unhealthy although it is a way of increasing our housing
stock and, by regulating it, the quality of housing stock can also be improved.
Agencies
such as NURCHA have been trying to get the issue of informal rental on the urban agenda
for a long time but it is still at the back of the line in gaining recognition on a higher
level. Can we afford to keep ignoring this robust and dynamic part of the housing sector
that caters for the particular needs, including suitable location, of urban workers?
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TREE OF THE ISSUE
Celtis
africana
Stinkwood: versatile and reliable
Franya
Botha, a Pretoria-based landscape designer, acknowledges a familiar and very reliable
indigenous tree, Celtis africana.
The Celtis
africana, commonly known as the ‘white stinkwood‘, is probably one of the most
versatile indigenous trees to use within the city greening process. This tree is
indigenous to the north-eastern, eastern and southern parts of South Africa. It has
therefore adapted climatically to the extreme heat of the north as well as the frost of
the highveld. In a large metropolitan area such as Tshwane, where big differences in local
climatic conditions are found across the city, the stinkwood is one of the few trees that
can tolerate the extreme south, and the tropical Celtis africana is therefore grow in
municipal nurseries.
The white
stinkwood is an excellent tree to use in a parking area. With sufficient water, it grows
to 12 m high with a round crown that creates adequate shade.
The root system is relatively non-aggressive and a fast grower.
The white
stinkwood can also be used to create a ‘natural forest’ look within the city.
With an
attractive white bark, the trees can be planted quite close together. An example can be
found in Midrand’s Midstream Estate where forests of white stinkwood occur naturally.
The seeds of
the white stinkwood are eaten by many bird species. Wildlife can thus be reintroduced into
the urban setting by planting a tree like the stinkwood to attract birds.
The white
stinkwood can also be used as a container plant. It is very popular as a bonsai and adapts
well to pruning. This makes it ideal for planting in containers for roof gardens as it
will be contained to the size of the container it is planted in. |
