Contents of February 2008

COMMENT
Towards greener living

UPFRONT
What’s new and happening?

GREEN BUILDINGS

CITY VISIT
Brakpan – caught in a time warp?

ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING & DESIGN
Freedom Park revisited

WASTE AND POLLUTION MANAGEMENT  
Hammarsdale: solution to industrial pollution?

PLANNING PERSONALITY
Ashraf Adam: governance and planning go hand in hand

BATTLE OF THE ’BURBS
Hartbeespoort Dam v Bronkhorstpruit Dam

INSPIRATION
Library uplifts Tembisa

INSULT
Tourism centre downgrades Mooi River

TREE OF THE ISSUE
Ficus cordata

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COMMENT

Turning point
Embracing greener living is no longer only an option and a lifestyle choice.

Everybody has had enough of quirky newspaper headlines about our energy crisis. In fear of making our already fatigued readers bored, I even considered not mentioning it in this editorial. But, just as we cannot get away from daily power cuts, we cannot get away from the fact that the current issue speaks directly to the core of the industry that we are working in.

It is easy to play the blaming game and say “We told you so” but, apart from the obvious concerns regarding governance in South Africa, the power crisis actually offers an opportunity to change not only mindsets but also behaviour. It is time to roll up our sleeves and get everybody on board and informed with what has been discussed for years in architecture, planning and environmental circles.

We are, therefore, extremely excited to launch a regular column on ‘green building’ in this edition. On page 7, you will find a fold-out timeline indicating how far we’ve come in incorporating green principles into our building practices. As we would like to create a platform for discussion on this very relevant issue, you are invited to submit editorial on ideas, projects and products.

Here’s to a 2008 of sustainable living. - Engela Meyer

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UPFRONT

Square facelift
South Africa’s second-oldest public square is receiving the largest multi-million-rand facelift in its 300-year existence. Greenmarket Square, in the heart of Cape Town’s CBD, turns 300 in March 2010, and the City of Cape Town has initiated a rejuvenation drive, which is attracting substantial private investment in the precinct.

Plans include the ‘pedestrianisation’ of the square, widening of the Shortmarket Street sidewalk, upgrading of the ablution block, construction of a concert stage, reconfiguration of the informal trading areas, and moves to link it to the 2010 FIFA World Cup ‘fan mile’. Heritage features, such as a slave memorial and original water pump, are also being considered.

Gated policy
At the end of November 2007, the City of Cape Town’s planning and environment portfolio committee adopted the gated development policy as official council policy, subject to a number of minor amendments and clarifications.

Councillor Owen Kinahan, chairperson of the multiportfolio steering committee that oversaw the project, says: “For the first time, Cape Town now has a uniform policy that provides clear guidelines to communities and developers wishing to explore the options to establish gated communities. The policy defines how such applications will be assessed, whether it is for greenfield developments or in existing areas complicated by the existing public-road network.

All of this is balanced by the principle of promoting and ensuring open, accessible and integrated communities that is enshrined in the policy”.

Rabat’s rebirth
Rabat, Morocco’s historic and cultural centre, is putting an ambitious plan in place to become a sought-after leisure and retail destination. The multi-billion-dollar Rabat Saphira project aims to transform Rabat’s eroding coastline into an area with high-value residential and commercial properties.

Saphira will essentially be a city within a city containing nine distinct districts.

The development will cater for tourists with a range of hotels and for the business community with extensive office space and a convention centre. The city will feature pedestrian walkways interlinking the districts, as well as tram links, bicycle lanes and a road network to join the various communities and link the new Rabat to the historic heart of old Rabat.

Acting as a sub-consultant to property developer Northpoint, Africon is responsible for the master planning of the area covering a strip of scenic coastline approximately 11 km long and 0,5 km wide. “The scope of the masterplanning process is comprehensive and includes urban and landscape design, and marine, traffic and infrastructure engineering,” says Ermis Marques, Africon's regional manager in the Middle East.

Golf upgrade
The upgraded golf course at the long-established Victoria Country Club in Pietermaritzburg had no easily available water resources so MBB Consulting Engineers was appointed to establish a reliable year-round supply of water for the irrigation scheme on the course. The water-supply solution combines and optimises a number of options.

Storage of about 22 000 m³ of water has been created on the course comprising four new dams.

Difficult ground conditions have resulted in the need to line the dams. The three on-course dams are lined with bitumen-impregnated geo-fabric (Dam Seal), which has proved extremely efficient while the off-course dam is lined with a bentonite-impregnated geo-fabric. It is reportedly the first time this sort of liner has been used for this type of dam construction in South Africa. In addition to its waterproofing function, this liner allows animal access and planting of waterline areas because of the 300 mm soil layer placed over the liner for protection.

Estuary management
In response to a ‘fish-kill’ incident in Durban Harbour, city manager Dr Michael Sutcliffe has proposed the notion of an integrated harbour-water quality management plan to sustainably manage this sensitive marine ecosystem.

Sutcliffe indicated that there are a number of potential factors leading to the fish-kill incident. These factors range from waste-management practices within the port and in the catchment that drains into the port; rains that could have contributed a greater organic load into this system and the fact that there could be industrial effluent discharges illegally connected into the stormwater system.

Regular monitoring will also provide a better understanding of how the complex harbour and land-use systems interact and effective means of intervention. All of this will be incorporated into an integrated estuary-management plan.

Theme park
Rustenburg is being viewed as one of South Africa’s fastest developing urban environments. This growth is primarily due to the platinum mining industry but also, lately, to the vibrant tourism industry. According to Paul Sebego, director of planning and human settlement for the Rustenburg Municipality, the city’s accommodation is booked to capacity on a weekly basis and the municipality receives numerous applications for new bed-and-breakfasts, lodges and hotels. A further indication of growth is reflected in the 465 approved building plans in the first quarter of 2007 while approximately 82 rezoning applications were approved in the past financial year.

Two future projects sure to enhance Rustenburg’s tourism industry are the proposed ‘mini airport’ and the Platinum Theme Park.

The proposed theme park will be in the same league as Gold Reef City with emphasis on the development and history of the region as the largest platinum producer in the world. The Rustenburg Municipality, in partnership with private-sector developers and the local economic directorate, will develop the theme park centrally, between the Rustenburg Golf Course and the Olympia Soccer Stadium, with opening of the first phase scheduled for the beginning of 2010.

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GREEN BUILDINGS

A pull-out poster supplement
Green building time line
Although ‘green building’ principles have been incorporated in construction for many years, specialised, ‘niche home builders’ began constructing resource-efficient, environmentally-sensitive buildings on a larger scale since the early 1970s. The phrase ‘green building’ was probably coined in the late 1980s or early 1990s and turned a movement into a quiet revolution.

The first edition of Urban Green File was launched in 1996, featuring green buildings in almost every edition. Since then the movement has taken off locally and globally. However issues like cost recovery still remain. It is, therefore, an opportune time to create a platform for sharing ideas on innovation, application of technologies and potential pitfalls.

Leading by example
Urban Green File is proud to announce the launch of a regular column on ‘green building’.

IT has been widely advocated that government structures should play a leading role in promoting the practice of ‘green building’. In the past decade, a number of public buildings have been designed in an environment-friendly manner.

One of these is Melbourne’s Council House 2 designed by Mick Pearce. Council House 2 has been designed to reflect the planet’s ecology – an immensely complex system of interrelated components. Just as it is impossible to assess the role of any part of this ecology without reference to the whole, Council House 2 comprises many parts that work together to heat, cool, power and water the building and thus create a harmonious environment.

The south façade comprises light-coloured ducts that draw in fresh air from the roof and distribute it down through the building. Staff is able to control the flow of this 100% fresh air to their workspaces by floor vents. Louvres made from recycled timber shade the west façade (pictured right). Energy from photovoltaic roof panels powers the louvres, which move according to the position of the sun. Together these features combine to create a controlled and healthy climate.

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CITY VISIT

Caught in a time warp
Brakpan CBD appears to be a relic of a bygone era. Can the town retain its character while revitalising itself?

The landscape of the East Rand of Gauteng is dotted with mining towns. What was the impact of the decline of the area’s mining activities on these towns? How are these towns coping with the changes and challenges?

A visitor to the Brakpan CBD is not only reminded of the former glory days of mining in South Africa but the town also brings back mid-20th century memories through four functioning roadhouses and numerous neglected Art Deco buildings.

The visitor will inevitably also note the lack of activity. Shopkeepers man the doorways of their enterprises, watching potential customers go by. There are not enough people to sustain the local economy. The few shoppers that do visit the area do not have sufficient disposable income to sustain retail in the CBD.

Adding insult to injury, economic decline was accompanied by the development of decentralised nodes in the form of regional shopping centres (with nearby Carnival City a prime example), leaving a large number of CBD buildings vacant. Changes in land use came with the urban decay that set in over the years. As businesses move out, there is no incentive for landowners in the CBD areas to reinvest or to upgrade the existing buildings and infrastructure – they have no guarantee that the available floor space will be taken up. For instance, there has been an influx of service industries, such as engineering works and car-related industries, into the eastern part of the main road, Voortrekker Street. Rental in the CBD is often cheaper than it is in formal industrial areas. And, slowly, land use not associated with an upmarket CBD has begun filtering through the whole area.

Looking back
“To meet the challenges head-on, one first has to revisit the origins of the town and understand the changing urban functions,” argues Visi Africa’s Jacques van der Merwe, who has assisted the municipality with town planning work.

Brakpan was originally a small settlement close to a brackish pan on a farm called Weltevreden. In 1888, a coal seam was discovered nearby and this led to the establishment of Brakpan Collieries. In 1890, a railway line was constructed from Germiston to Springs to transport coal to the Witwatersrand mines. Brakpan became one of the stations along the route. In 1905, the Brakpan Mines Company sunk its first two gold mining shafts. The village began to grow rapidly but remained a suburb of Benoni until 1912 when it was granted the status of a municipality and proclaimed a town.

The spirit of the first half of the 20th century is reflected in the architecture of the Brakpan CBD. Emphasising clean, uncluttered shapes and simplified lines to express the dynamism of the mechanical age, Art Deco came into vogue in the 1920s. The trend hit South Africa a decade later than it took off in the rest of the world. The depression after 1929 caused a slowdown but South Africa was buoyed by gold at that time and the Witwatersrand area experienced a boom.

In the neighbouring town of Springs, 34 Art Deco buildings attract widespread attention. However, there are many examples of the Art Deco style in Brakpan’s dilapidated CBD that generally go unnoticed.

It is obvious that occupants and owners do not understand the significance of the design as many of the charming patterns and lettering are hidden under layers of paint or behind steel plating Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality’s spatial structure is different from the five other metropolitan municipalities in South Africa in the sense that, historically, it did not develop around a single, dominant core area.

According to Ekurhuleni’s urban renewal strategy, the inherited legacy includes nine CBDs competing for economic activities and residential development instead of functionally supplementing each other.

One of the prevailing discourses in planning theory calls for the development of polycentric cities. This entails the development of a dense, well-connected network of nodes of specialised activity; each performing a specific function in a metropolitan area or region. This does not mean that general day-to-day activities must not be located in these nodes, as these will, of course, be there, but merely that they will not be the reason for their existence and their metropolitan-wide force of attraction.

Although attempts are being made to effect a functioning polycentric city in Ekurhuleni, there are still many land-use and spatial-development distortions. Areas are often planned in isolation, continuity of movement and connectivity between areas are sometimes difficult to accommodate, and the planning and development of office, business and industrial areas are still often based on the local context of each of the former towns and not on the most beneficial scenario for the broader functional region.

Urban form
Brakpan CBD has a typical grid layout. Prince George Street is the north-south route running parallel to the railway line with Voortrekker Street forming the east-west axis. The railway station, located on the western side of Voortrekker Street, has an impact on urban form, especially on movement patterns. The station serves as a transfer point with workers coming from Tsakane (south of Brakpan) by means of taxi and bus, and catching the train to reach their various places of employment scattered across Gauteng.

According to the Ekurhuleni urban renewal strategy of 2006, large-scale urban decay was observed in the area immediately surrounding the railway station and the taxi rank. Subsequently Arcus Gibb has been appointed to assist in the compilation of a development plan for the precinct.

Combating decay
The Brakpan CBD holds considerable public and private investment, and the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Spatial Development Framework promotes the protection and regeneration of the area to make optimal use of these resources.

A prominent characteristic of the CBDs in Ekurhuleni is the limited functional specialization of these areas. According to the urban renewal strategy, the different CBDs merely duplicate services and facilities provided by the others, and not one of the CBDs in Ekurhuleni shows any significant form of functional specialisation.

Although the Brakpan CBD experiences severe urban decay, it is not through a lack of planning by the municipality. Numerous urban-renewal and urban-regeneration projects have been launched over the past few years. However none of them seems to have solved the problem.

In order to justify its existence and be economically competitive in the long run, the CBD area should serve a function that most probably differs from its traditional CBD function.

Van der Merwe argues that, compared to surrounding towns, Brakpan already has a significant residential component in its CBD. It is a function that could be expanded. By increasing densities throughout, the CBD could turn into a sort of ‘urban village’.

Essential to this proposal will be the catalytic energy created by the railway station and the taxi facility. This sort of proposal will also require that residents’ options are increased and improved by looking at different housing typologies, as well as different ownership and rental models.

Not expecting more from planning and municipal intervention than actually achievable, urban renewal will not necessarily improve the economic well-being of Brakpan residents. Planning can, however, in an area where there are many pedestrians, improve comfort and accessibility through proper maintenance and smaller upgrades.

Lastly, architecture is not only an expression of the zeitgeist of an era; it is obviously part and parcel of what shapes our urban living experience. Upon closer investigation, the Art Deco elements found throughout the Brakpan CBD contribute to the ‘old world’ charm of the town. Many of the old buildings have ground-floor shops with porticos as interface with the upstairs flats. Activity on these porticos could enhance street quality that is often difficult to find. The ideal would be for a Brakpan of the future to retain its character and reflect its history while creating a more vibey and comfortable living space for residents and visitors.

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ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING & DESIGN

Experiential intervention
The experiential process encountered by the professional team and visitors to the site makes the responsive Freedom Park intervention unique.

Freedom Park, conceived from knowledge and remembrance, is intended to help heal this country’s broken past and reconcile diversity through the spirit of ‘nation building’.

It is located on a 52 ha site on Salvokop Hill at the entrance to Tshwane from Johannesburg. The project was informed by the Truth & Reconciliation Commission, and its vision is structured around four key ideas: reconciliation, nation building, freedom of people and humanity.

The making of the landscape and architecture seeks to recognise the spiritual origins of these ideas, and manifest them symbolically in physical form.

The design team, comprising the Office of Collaborative Architects (OCA), an office established for this project by the architectural firms GAPP Architects & Urban Designers, MMA and MRA, and Newtown Landscape Architects Bagale Green Inc Momo Landscape Architecture Joint Venture (NBGM), achieved this vision by adopting an inclusive, celebratory response to the site that allows the built and landscaped components to touch the earth lightly.

“In order to forge a new nation of undivided people, it is important to build memorials that respect nation building, where everyone is acknowledged in some way,” says Jeremy Rose of OCA. “Freedom Park acknowledges people who come from both sides of the political spectrum and the design needed to respond to this inclusive aspect.”

Urban Green File has been monitoring the progress of this significant project with an initial article in the June 2004 edition.

A June 2006 article dealt with the completion of Phase 1 and the design of the intermediate phase. The latter phase – including the construction of Sikhumbuto, Moshate, Uitspanplek and extensions to Isivivane – has since been completed.

A spiritual journey
The philosophy underpinning the design is Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS), which acknowledges indigenous culture and traditional African religious thought.

This idea is explored through the themes of ubuntu, creation and healing, and has informed the layout of the site as well as the selection of materials (plant, minerals, water and rocks).

The project’s components follow an experiential route up Salvokop Hill and the development has been phased. A visitor will first encounter //hapo (Phase 2 now in the design review process). This is the museum component that tells the story of South Africa, and it includes arrival and welcome spaces, healing gardens and the built structures of the museum grouped around a central courtyard.

From //hapo, a spiral path winds its way up the hill as a ritual approach past Isivivane to a pause area (Tiva Origin) then culminate at the Wall of Names. From here the journey continues to Sikhumbuto on the hilltop. Anton Comrie of NBGM says the idea of the spiral as a never-ending form is symbolic of a sequential experience – a journey.

Isivivane (Phase 1) is the symbolic final resting place of people who lost their lives in the struggle against apartheid. Erected on the eastern side of the hill to welcome the rising sun, Isivivane is demarcated by a sacred circle of large boulders – each from a different province – that represents the spiritual cleansing and healing of the nation.

Sikhumbuto (completed intermediate phase) is a memorial to all who fell during the various conflicts that gave birth to the democratic South Africa, including the pre-colonial wars, the border wars, the Anglo-Boer War, and the first and second world wars. Sikhumbuto comprises several components: the Wall of Names, Sanctuary, Reeds, Gallery of Leaders and Moshate (a ‘hospitality suite’ for dignitaries).

The Wall of Names is made of 140 000 sandstone blocks – each with a name on it – that can be located using touch-screen technology and a mapping device. At the end of the wall is the Sanctuary overlooking a flame that burns eternally. “The flame gives great gravitas to the wall as it burns for loss of life,” says Rose. “It sits in a pond and, at night, fills the Sanctuary with orange, dancing light.”

The Sanctuary is universal in its design and allows for people from different belief systems to pay homage and remember the fallen. It is placed in the landscape so that it becomes part of the body of the hill. Also on the hilltop is an exhibition space, the Gallery of Leaders, to acknowledge South African leaders and other countries’ contributions to the struggle that helped forge the nation.

Other places along the spiral path include Uitspanplek (relaxation area) and Tiva (deep lake), which forms part of Phase 2.

The museum portion, //hapo (meaning ‘dream’) was created to tell the story of South Africa. “Here storytelling is the central mode of projecting ideas,” notes Rose.

“This indigenous way of communicating, of transferring knowledge in the oral tradition, became the prime idea to drive the museum’s exhibition concept. It makes //hapo different from other museums and particular to South Africa. We visited traditional healers and saw a garden with boulders and plants that have different healing properties. We decided to treat the hill as a healing garden; a place of national healing.

It is being filled with plants associated with healing of the psychological kind, and the museum is conceived as a series of boulders in the landscape. It’s an extremely contemporary building that has its birth in an ancient idea. It has multiple points of entry into the different exhibition areas, which gives a great sense of freedom.”

The museum ‘boulder’ structures are grouped around a central courtyard or IKS Garden. According to the landscape proposal for Phase 2, this is “the literal and spiritual heart of //hapo. It is a space where indigenous knowledge is expressed though basic landscape elements: rock, water and fire (light)”. This courtyard space links the various entrances to //hapo with each other, and is a place where small groups can gather and participate in storytelling.

The museum’s proposed healing gardens are located off the Welcome Space, which is immediately to the east of //hapo and at the beginning of the spiral path. The gardens are sacred spaces and will be partially enclosed to allow for an intimate and quiet experience. Natural elements such as plants, rocks, minerals and crystals (healing stones) are the primary landscape elements, and their choice will be guided by indigenous knowledge.

Environmental response
The Freedom Park site on Salvokop is situated between the president’s window in the Union Buildings and the Voortrekker Monument. It establishes a viewing passage between these three evocative structures that symbolise the country’s past, present and future.

“The language of Freedom Park is that of nation building rather than that of victory so the architecture is not forceful but much more sympathetic to the landscape,” says Rose. “It has a special quality, reverent and dignified, and touches the ground in a light way. The way the buildings are tucked into the landscape, or the ‘reeds’ sit lightly on it, indicate a desire to not impose oneself on the landscape within the requirement of making something of substantial scale.”

Graham Young of NBGM notes: “The landscaping embraces the concept of a natural, symbolic garden with many different spaces and places. Through rehabilitation, the landscaping tries to heal the scars of the site and, symbolically, of history. Once the planting takes, Freedom Park will look as though it’s emerging out of the hill – this was the intention.”

Comrie adds: “The whole project revolves around indigenous knowledge systems that have not been acknowledged through contemporary knowledge-telling or records. The idea was to bring in plants that have traditional values – well being, medicinal and symbolic. We had to extract from this complex body of information. We chose a whole range of plants, and the final selection was carefully chosen and tested by traditional healers.”

Almost all the exotic trees have been removed from the site, and some invasive species, like Lantana, are being dealt with thorough management. Comrie explains that Salvokop had not functioned as a natural system for some time, and had been overrun by invasive species and bush encroachment.

As the top of the hill had been occupied by a radio mast, the idea was to do most of the new development in areas that had already been disturbed.

Rare species have been grown at an onsite nursery established specifically for the project. Comrie says: “We tried to establish a landscape that offers a much broader ecology than what the site had to offer. We liked the idea of bringing in other indigenous species to be used in a bold, dramatic way – a symbolic healing of the landscape through human expression.”

Young adds: “The site doesn’t feel like a memorial because the place is constantly changing and evolving, and I find that very exciting about this project. Here there is a dynamic visual, changing because of the movement through the site, never static; lighting conditions and dramatic seasonal colours and textural changing at different times of the day and the year”.

Meaningful metaphor
As a politically-charged and environmentally-sensitive project, Freedom Park comes with an inherent set of challenges – in terms of conceptual design and physical manifestation. And some significant additional challenges presented along the way.

One, in particular, was the appointment of a civils contractor to handle the building work. Used to infrastructure projects, the contractor simply did not have the skills to handle the detailing required by a project of this nature. Another issue was the location of the site on an environmentally-sensitive hilltop – this presented access challenges and constraints in terms of site establishment.

And, as far as the artistic aspects of the project were concerned, compromises had to be made to accommodate budget and manufacturing capabilities. Artist Marco Cianfanelli explains: “There were concerns about how The Reeds would be manifested – how they would rise, where they would point, the material they would be made of. These all resulted in changes right up to the last minute. Then we went to tender with a design, the tender was awarded, and the manufacturers came back and said they couldn’t make The Reeds as designed. So, instead of being fluted, they turned into stepped structures.

We had two weeks to try and make it work in terms of the design. We also hit budget from the beginning so there was no possibility of going back to rethink the scheme”.

Comrie says the project’s most important asset is its content, and its greatest weakness and strength was the collaboration between different parties. “The intermediate phase was quite difficult as the brief kept evolving as time went by.

This was an interesting learning curve for everyone involved.” Cianfanelli notes: “Working as an artist, as part of a large design team for a complex client, is a very exciting and challenging experience. The boundaries between art, architecture and landscape architecture become blurred. As part of a team, you have to be careful about asserting yourself but, at the same time, you have to assert yourself otherwise you end up with something anonymous or bland. It is as daunting as it is exciting because you have to take ownership to a certain degree and with that always comes responsibility.

I feel that Freedom Park has been significant as a process in terms of so many people working around the table.

You wouldn’t know that just by looking at the site and the buildings. Only the people involved would know that. So for me, it’s a metaphor of exactly what this country is trying to do – the difficulty, challenge, excitement and reward of trying to haggle out an understanding of what we all want. On that level it has been very rewarding”.

Rose comments: “What was special was this thing of collaboration. We had to work together to create a tremendous sense of calmness, and the architecture and landscape needed to create the feeling of a site of great value and reverence because this is the major heritage project of this country”.

Freedom Park is a project that seeks to communicate the importance of the past, present and future through memory, reverence, and nation building. In the quest to ”touch the earth lightly”, the design team has succeeded in creating a coherent and harmonious, yet quietly dramatic, presence in the landscape. This presence proves that inclusion and respect can be more potent than victory and ego in determining a monument of significant scale in a sensitive landscape.

Rising line
It was felt that a noticeable vertical element should form part of the site to mark the memorial from a distance.

Rose explains that the notion behind this vertical element derived from the African philosophy of creation with river reeds seen as a conduit to life. The idea of a rising line of reeds was embraced and this also gives a sense of progress.

The reeds are a transparent element encircling the top of the hill and the Wall of Names; drawing a line against the horizon while maintaining the visual outline of the hilltop.

The reeds are actually stainless steel ‘masts’ ranging in height from 1 m to 34 m. Cianfanelli says these sculptures had to consider the relationship to landscape, the project’s content and the visual manifestation of ‘monument’. “The reeds are perhaps the element of the project that most epitomises the opportunity and restrictions inherent in the blurring of art, architecture and landscape.”

Young says: “The reeds are the site’s main iconic component. A visual assessment was done on the project from an environmental perspective and it was determined that the ridgeline of Salvokop needed to remain intact. The reeds are an appropriate, transparent response because, during daytime, in certain lighting conditions, they even seem to disappear while, at night, they become quite dramatic”.

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WASTE AND POLLUTION MANAGEMENT

Towards cleaner production
Co-operation among different parties combined with due intervention set the Hammarsdale industrial township on the path towards sustainable business.

The Hammarsdale industrial node between Durban and Pietermaritzburg was created as an industrial decentralization hub in the 1970s – right between the towns of Hammarsdale and Mpumalanga.

The then Department of Co-operation & Development created the industrial hub to attract the textile industry in particular. The key objective was to provide cheap, labour intensive industry close to the former KwaZulu homeland but little regard was given to issues of environmental sustainability.

As time went by, the Hammarsdale wastewater-treatment works became overloaded with colour and salt, primarily from the many textile industries in the area. These factories all have dye baths.

Preparation of the yarn for dyeing as well as the actual dyeing and rinsing contaminate the water. A lot of dyes can be taken out by a conventional wastewater-treatment plant but some reactive dyes, especially of the colour red, cannot. Also associated with the dyeing process is salt-dosing.

Different types of salt are used that are usually very difficult to take out. Pollution was eventually passed on to the Sterkspruit River and even threatened to move downstream and contaminate the Shongweni Dam.

According to Chris Fennemore of eThekwini Municipality’s water and sanitation department, talks about the pollution problems in the Sterkspruit catchment, a subcatchment of the Umlaas River, began around 1998. At that point in time, Fennemore was working with Umgeni Water, bulk water-supplier in the area.

Uncertain ownership
One of the first obstacles in addressing the environmental issues was the ownership of the Hammarsdale wastewater-treatment works. Taking over ownership and operation of the Hammarsdale wastewater-treatment works in 1982 from the Department of Water Affairs & Forestry (DWAF), Umgeni Water optimised the purification process over the next 20 years by changing aeration and adding chemical dosing. But, in terms of the 1997 Water Services Act, eThekwini Municipality is actually the relevant water-services authority in the area and is, therefore, responsible for the wastewater-treatment function. Discussion on the ownership issue commenced but it was obvious that agreements would not be reached easily.

In the meantime, Umgeni Water obviously saw no need to invest more money in the treatment works so pollution problems were not addressed. “That was a ‘lose lose’ situation,” says Fennemore. “Nobody was taking responsibility and the environment was suffering.”

A few individuals from eThekwini and Umgeni sat around a table arguing that the environment could not wait for political decisions and some ”win-win” solution should be sought to address the issues.

“One of the first things we decided was to ring-fence the project so that Umgeni would not incur any extra costs,” says Fennemore.

“It was decided that whatever costs incurred would somehow be recovered.

We ‘upped’ the tariffs paid by industry over two to three years. This actually proved to us that industry is willing pay to get rid of its waste.”

One of the problems with the tariffs was that it was a flat tariff – no matter what quality the effluent was. For instance, effluent from a local Rainbow Chickens abattoir was taking up 75% of the organic load of the water-treatment works and it was still paying the same as another consumer downstream. Because of the abattoir’s high organic load, the wastewater-treatment works was actually at full capacity although it was only receiving about 30% of the volume it could potentially accommodate.

A further challenge was, therefore, not only to increase the tariff but to make it more equitable. There had to be an incentive for companies to reduce their effluent loads.

Waste minimisation
Already involved in the area since 1993, the Pollution Research Group (PRG) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, funded by the Water Research Commission, initiated a waste-minimisation club in 1999 to encourage industry to move towards cleaner production.

According to the PRG’s official website waste minimisation can be defined as the application of a systematic approach to reducing waste at source. In other words, preventing waste in the first place rather than installing expensive end-of pipe treatment systems to solve the problem. Waste minimisation is an activity that relates to all inputs and outputs from an industry, business, site or process.

Anything that goes into a process that does not come out as product is termed waste. This can be in the form of emissions to air, land and water, rejects, time and so on. Waste is not simply material excess to requirements but represents a loss in profits and can reflect as much as 1% to 4% of the turnover of the company.

In 2000, DANIDA added funding to undertake specific waste-minimisation projects in the area. This initiative also funded the compilation of a cleaner production guide for regulators. The combined projects resulted in reported savings of R10-million over three years from five industries.

The savings were mainly in energy (28%), effluent treatment costs (25%) and water (22%) respectively. Little or no effect was observed, however, on the quality of effluent that was delivered to the Hammarsdale wastewater-treatment works.

“The Hammarsdale works could only treat so much effluent so we had to look at improving the quality of the effluent entering the works,” Fennemore points out.

Bargaining chip
In the meantime, eThekwini Municipality was considering the implications of taking over the operation of the Hammarsdale works. Umgeni Water was operating just a few treatment works as it was focusing on expanding its role as a bulk-water services provider. eThekwini, however, has about 30 wastewater-treatment plants it owns and operates; providing economy of scale from a technical and operational point of view. Calculations indicate the wastewater could be treated at about half the price Umgeni Water was paying.

By now industry was accustomed to Umgeni’s higher tariff on waste loads.

The situation provided eThekwini with a valuable bargaining chip: it was willing to pass on the benefit of the reduction of tariffs as soon as industry complied with better standards.

Setting standards
“The next phase was to determine a reasonable standard of water quality,” says Fennemore. “What we wanted was to maintain a certain water quality in the river.”

In terms of legislation, the catchment management agency (CMA) for the area should set the river quality targets. In the absence of a CMA, DWAF is responsible for setting targets by default. The targets would be complex, encompassing river health, flow and water quality. In order to establish standards, a reserve determination should be completed. Unfortunately reserve determinations are extremely expensive and river catchments must be prioritised. DWAF indicated that the Sterkspruit/Umlaas River catchment reserve determination would not be undertaken for many years.

Again the role players involved decided not to let the slow-moving processes of government interfere with solving immediate problems. “We sat around the table and decided that, for the time being, colour is the biggest issue,” says Fennemore.

Monthly river and effluent data was available for 10 years from Umgeni Water.

Information on the electrical conductivity of the river upstream, effluent from the wastewater-treatment works and the river downstream, as well as the flow of the works was available. Using available data, the dilution available in the river was determined and the effect of dilution of colour was used to produce duration curves for different effluent-discharge qualities arising form the treatment works. Subsequently three samples were prepared and 30 relevant people were questioned about the acceptable intensity of colour in the river.

This addressed only the colour standard and did not take into account the excessive chemical oxygen demand (COD) load.

The abattoir in the area was subsequently targeted as the main contributor to organic load. By using suitable screening removal equipment and a dissolved air flotation (DAF) unit, it was agreed that the company could pre-treat and reduce its waste load by 50% and thus free more than 30% of the capacity of the works. This would provide capacity for sanitation upgrades in the town of Mpumalanga.

Tariff structure
The eThekwini Municipality bought the treatment works from Umgeni Water in July 2003 and devised a plan to start reducing the effluent discharge from the factories.

A new tariff rate was introduced: If a business implemented best available techniques (BAT) and improved efficiency, they would receive a 30% reduction in their tariff from the municipality.

If the company also complied with the new discharge standard, they would receive a 70% reduction on their old Umgeni Water tariff.

In addition the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority assisted with the setting up of a new five-year integrated pollution control permit. The permit application formed the basis for the development of an environmental management system. The targets for colour were then inserted into the permits. In January 2005 each industry was issued with a new five-year industrial effluent discharge permit, which explains the environmental standards and targets each is expected to meet.

Timing is everything
Working in favour of this initiative was the fact that co-operation, planning and research commenced before final political decisions were taken. The relevant proposals were on the table well in advance of the Hammarsdale works being transferred to eThekwini Municipality. “We phased the tariffs in over three years,” Fennemore points out. “To give industry time to get its house in order and they had a year’s warning before then so it was actually four years.”

Gelvenor Textiles was the first company in Hammarsdale to achieve the cleanerproduction and colour-standard target.

Since March 2006, the company has reportedly managed to save about R72 000/month. Others are also commissioning pre-treatment plants. Some companies are still reluctant but Fennemore is confident that they were given due warning before the colour standards will be enforced in July 2008.

Managing the functioning of industry within this catchment area is an ongoing process. Progress can already be seen in the improvement of the colour of the river water. A major concern is the difficult economic conditions the textile industry is experiencing but this could also be viewed as an opportunity for these companies to streamline their processes, cut costs and leave a smaller environmental footprint.

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PLANNING PERSONALITY

Ashraf Adam: governance and planning go hand in hand
A ‘private’ public servant
Ashraf Adam, president of the South African Planning Institute, believes better governance will ensure better planning.

Ashraf Adam, a partner in MCA (People Place Opportunity), is succinct about what he wants to achieve as a planner:

“My personal interest is in planning and governance. I am interested in how to make the country work better”. MCA has worked extensively with the Department of Provincial & Local Government (DPLG) on a variety of matters relating to Integrated Development Plans (IDPs). “We see ourselves as a public-sector interest and support company. We prefer it that way because we get to work on things that we believe in. Where we do work for the private sector, it is where we can do it without compromising our planning principles.”

A prominent project MCA has been involved in is the guidelines for golf courses, golf estates, polo fields and polo estates in the Western Cape. MCA has also been involved in work for Treasury, especially the development of the Neighbourhood Partnership Development Grant, which invests government funding in township nodes and uses this as a catalyst to redevelop the township. It can be viewed as a form of urban renewal and was mentioned by Minister Trevor Manual in his 2007 Budget Speech as one of the most innovative grants to have emerged from government. Spatial planning is another of Adam’s professional interests, specifically transportation.

MCA has completed a paper on how to deal with planning as part of the Green Process on the Review of the Powers and Functions of Provincial and Local Government.

Adam is honest in his assessment of the performance of municipalities: “I do not think that local government is doing very well for a range of reasons. Firstly, the legislation around planning in local government is in shambles. National government must bear primary responsibility for this, particularly the Department of Land Affairs. It is a huge problem”. He cites the Land Use Management Bill as an example of a piece of (proposed) legislation that does nothing to further the cause of planning. It is a regulatory mechanism that does not even deal with the fact that provinces hitherto played a very important role in planning regulation. No reference is made to the abolition of the provincial planning ordinances. And the bill does not build on the principles contained in the Development Facilitation Act. The latter deal with certain aspects, such as how planning could serve the country. If the different pieces of planning legislation and policy do not correlate with each other, it will be very difficult to maintain an integrated approach.

“Secondly, I think the expectations of municipalities in terms of planning through IDPs, and spatial planning as a subset of this, is unrealistic,” Adam emphasises. “To expect the most remote municipalities to function and deliver at the same level as metropolitan municipalities is unrealistic.”

These municipalities cannot attract skills and often experience a net outward migration of people. “I am glad government is moving away from the perception that all municipalities are created equal,” adds Adam. “The idea of asymmetry in expectations of municipalities is quite significant.”

Revisiting the devolution of powers will hopefully provide a more nuanced understanding of planning work tasked to municipalities.

“Thirdly, the way we fund municipalities needs to be revisited,” says Adam. “We need to determine what role a municipality plays and fund it accordingly. Some municipalities are never going to raise their own revenue.” It is particularly important to revisit the role of district municipalities as Adam believes some of these entities should, once again, take responsibility for looking after rural areas – similar to the old Regional Services Council functions. District municipalities will also be able to attract skills and should become centres for skills and knowledge that could serve a broader region.

Adam promotes the importance of spatial planning. “Planning is not having the impact on the restructuring of space as envisaged in the urban and rural frameworks drafted in the 1990s. You cannot only blame planning as it is profoundly a political game. Uninformed political decisions, for instance, determine the locality of low-cost housing and golf estates.”

Planning should be at the forefront of directing investment. According to Adam, the Municipal Systems Act and other government policy want planning to fulfil this role.

There are numerous reasons it is not happening. The first is the influence of often uninformed political decision-making. “A further problem has been that our economy has, to a large extent, been driven by real estate investment so real estate has been able to instruct the ‘where’ and the ‘how’ of development,” says Adam. Another challenge is that there is a very serious shortage of skills. There are many initiatives, such as the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA), trying to address the issue but it is probably going to be with us for a while as there is a worldwide shortage of skills not resolving fast enough. “But I am also concerned about the type of skills available in the market,” adds Adam. “A lot of people who do not have appropriate skills and experience are heading up major planning departments. Some academic departments have gone out of their way to engage with the public sector to determine the needs but it has not infiltrated all of the market yet.”

Spatial intervention
MCA’s work on the Neighbourhood Partnership Development Grant highlighted some issues surrounding urban renewal.

“What municipalities applied for was not always what the grant was intended for: to serve as a catalyst for investment,” says Adam.

“The understanding of urban renewal is varied. If you look at a South African township, what is there to renew? What is township renewal? It is about creating desirable places to live in and be in.

Townships are part of your urban system. I think the former coloured and Indian townships are underestimated in what they can provide in promoting social integration and the amount of housing they can actually provide. “

Adam argues further that planners and government have to move away from the idea that our CBDs are our main centres of employment.

“We have to accept the reality of multiple nodes. There is extensive cross-metropolitan movement. Local needs are still met locally but a variety of needs are met elsewhere.”

Growing organisation
Adam became president of the South African Planning Institute (SAPI) in 2006. “Five years ago, I did not want to join SAPI,” shares Adam. “Coming from a person who was politically active since the age of 14, it says something about the perception that used to exist about the organisation.” But things are changing. A number of people have been working very hard to build the institute. The organization now has a presence in the industry so much so that government consults with SAPI as a representative entity. “My role has been a relatively simple one,” says Adam. “I’ve decided to only serve one term. In the term, my main aim is to create an organisational base for SAPI. To ensure that there is an office with someone to handle enquiries, that there is a database and a website that is managed. We have a memorandum of understanding with the South African Institution of Civil Engineering to rent space and administrative support from it.”

Another exciting initiative by SAPI is an agreement with DPLG to deploy planners particularly to ”project consolidate” municipalities. “We’ve managed to raise R1-million – some will be used to roll out the mentorship programme,” says Adam.

A SAPI flagship is the Planning Africa 2008 conference to take place in April. The conference has really grown and, according to Adam, people and planners from all over the continent and the world will be participating. The conference promises to provide a networking platform where ideas can be shared and tested, and ultimately strides can be made towards, among others, “making the country work better”.

Ashraf Adam is the presiding president of the South African Planning Institute and a partner in Cape Town-based MCA (People Place Opportunity). The company celebrated its 10th anniversary in April 2007.

Adam completed a masters degree in town planning at the then University of Natal. He started off as a local area planner, dealing with rezonings and the like. He then moved into regional planning, doing structure plans and some sub-regional plans while working for the Western Cape Services Council. After a brief stint at Technikon SA, Adam joined Chittenden Nicks in Cape Town as an associate. In 1997, Adam and two partners, Matthew Cullinan and Cecil Madell formed MCA.

The company mostly takes on public-sector work. “We see ourselves as a public-sector interest and support company,” says Adam.

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BATTLE OF THE ’BURBS

Hartbeespoort Dam v Bronkhorstpruit Dam
Different dam developments
Located on opposite sides of the Gauteng metropolitan areas, Hartbeespoort Dam and Bronkhorstpruit Dam are competing for the same market segment.

Globally, the real estate market has been a driving force for the economy over the past few years. In South Africa, the higher end of the market, especially the development of residential estates attracted unparalleled interest from investors and home buyers. At Hartbeespoort Dam, the additional allure of tourism development increased investor interest.

Water has long been attractive for residential development with resorts mushrooming around dams, attractive seaside venues and even at river bends. In South Africa, specifically, many a small town located near a dam has considered the tourism potential of the water body and has aligned planning strategies to exploit these opportunities. Hartbeespoort Dam is a popular and established destination for weekend getaways.

But it has been challenged by other spots also catering for overstressed and overworked metropolitan residents. One of these spots is Bronkhorstspruit Dam, which is located towards the northeast of Gauteng.

The ‘battle of the ‘burbs’ in this edition of Urban Green File takes a look at the state and nature of development at Hartbeespoort Dam in North West Province and Bronkhorstspruit Dam located in Gauteng.

Land use
Hartbeespoort dam    8/10

*           Residential estates
*            Leisure activities

Hartbeespoort Dam is situated at the foot of the Magaliesberg on the edge of North West Province and feeds off the Hennops, Crocodile and Magalies rivers. The dam was constructed in 1925. The property shoreline, when full, is approximately 56 km. The area is known for its magnificent mountainous landscapes as well as the flat natural environments, which ideally host exclusive properties, including golf, country and so-called ‘ecopark’ estates.

In addition to the residential estates such as Westlake, Pecanwood and Ile d’Afrique, the Hartbeespoort area is also home to the more traditional neighbourhoods of Ifafi, Kosmos, Schoemansville and Melodie. Supporting social infrastructure, such as schools and churches, are also found there. Many people residing in the area commute to the metros of Johannesburg and Tshwane on a daily basis.

Hartbeespoort caters for a variety of water sports and leisure activities, including parasailing, windsurfing, water skiing and jet skiing, hang gliding and hot-air ballooning.

Bronkhorstspruit dam  7/10

*           Share-block housing
*            No supporting land uses

The Bronkhorstspruit Dam is located about 10 km southeast of the town of Bronkhorstspruit in Gauteng and is fed by, among others, the Honds River. Development around Bronkhorstspruit Dam has traditionally been on a share-block basis with weekend visitors setting up temporary homes. However, since the 1990s, this trend has begun to change. Township establishment commenced around 1998.

Among the first was the Bronkhorst Bay development and Kungwini Country Estate.

On request from existing residents, developers had to accommodate existing buildings as far as possible. More recent residential estates include Aqua Vista and Bonamanzi.

There are several camping sites along the shore – each one has limited toilet facilities and a braai area. The southern section of the dam is incorporated into the Bronkhorstpruit Nature Reserve. Apart from one or two pubs and small convenience stores, there are no retail facilities.

Enviroment
Hartbeespoort dam   5/10

*           Water pollution
*            Established vegetation

The main environmental problem at Hartbeespoort Dam is the water quality. The latter is affected by a covering of unsightly, thick, green slime, crusting and decomposing over the dam – also giving off an extremely unpleasant odour. Research by the Hartbeespoort Water Action Group reveals this problem has been there for many years but only came to light when more people moved into the area around the dam. The Department of Water Affairs & Forestry has given a public commitment to address the problem as a matter of urgency. However it is estimated that the remediation of the dam will take at least five to 10 years.

Bronkhorstspruit dam 8/10

*           Nature reserve
            Angling

While the Hartbeespoort Dam is more focused on leisure and water-sport activities, visitors to the Bronkhorstspruit Dam are often more interested in an experience close to nature. The southern portion of the dam is incorporated into the Bronkhorstpruit Nature Reserve, which is a haven for water fowl. More than 200 species have been recorded in the reserve. The surrounding grassland attracts a number of interesting grassland endemics.

The centrepiece of the reserve is the dam itself and surrounding reed beds. When the water level drops, some areas of exposed muddy shoreline provide good wading habitat.

The reserve is also very popular with anglers. Houses along the dam have a spectacular view of the Highveld.

Accessibility
Hartbeespoort dam  7/10

*           Close to metro areas
*            Road infrastructure

The number of residents working in Tshwane and Johannesburg is an indication of accessibility. However lack of public transport severely hampers traffic flow. Locally, road infrastructure is well-developed.

Improved signage could contribute to fewer traffic problems and a more user friendly set-up.

Bronkhorstspruit dam 7/10

*           Highways
*            Easy access to waterfront

There is a perception that Hartebeespoort Dam is far more accessible than Bronkhorstspruit Dam. But what is often forgotten is that the latter is easily accessible from the East Rand. A 40 minute-drive from Pretoria, it is easily accessible from the N4 and the R25.

Access to the dam for boats and tourists seems readily available. Not all of the road infrastructure has been developed and will need extensive upgrading in some parts should development take off in the near future.

Development potential
Hartbeespoort dam  7/10

*           Informal housing
*            Infrastructure challenges

Hartbeespoort Dam has seen tremendous growth over the past decade. Property was sold for record amounts. However some people argue that the area is becoming more and more congested, and is no longer the rural haven it used to be. Others argue that the water quality poses a major threat to future development potential.

There are many accounts of infrastructure development not keeping up with development.

Water pressure is reportedly poor in many of the more upmarket establishments.

But Madibeng Local Municipality is aware of these issues and is committed to working on them.

Bronkhorstspruit dam  8/10

*           Aggressive marketing
*            Infrastructure challenges

The development around the dam has been growing slowly but steadily. It has, however, not reached critical mass yet. But developers are aggressively marketing Bronkhorstspruit Dam as a destination and as a residential option.

Future development around the Bronkhorstspruit Dam is also dependent on the sustainable provision of service infrastructure. In this instance, the Kungwini Local Municipality has also committed to making its contribution.

Conclusion
Hartbeespoort dam...27/50
Bronkhorstspruit dam...30/50

The experience of visiting these two exquisite resort towns differs quite significantly. Hartebeespoort Dam has a vibey atmosphere with a lot of development and construction not restricted to residential use.

Bronkhorstspruit Dam is quiet and sleepy with only construction workers working on posh houses that will form part of new residential estates.

Some have argued that Bronkhorstspruit Dam will be the ‘new’ Hartbeespoort Dam. Should this be the case, we can just hope that lessons learned in the North West Province can be transferred to the development around the Gauteng dam.

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INSPIRATION

Community node
Civic buildings can be structuring elements in the urban environment.

Against the background of the Reconstruction & Development Programme (RDP) of 1994, South Africa has seen major investment in social and economic infrastructure.

Since 1994, national government, through local municipalities, has funded numerous regeneration and upliftment projects in previously-disadvantaged areas. At local level, one way of realizing the goals of the RDP was to create places for activities relating to health, trade, education and community upliftment.

Many urban and rural nodes received new multi-purpose community centres, clinics, libraries, and arts and craft centres.

In many cases, these centres serve a much broader role than the original intended purpose. They have become structuring elements in the urban environment as they serve as landmarks and nodes.

The Tembisa Community Library is an example. Tembisa is, historically, a poor, black township situated to the east of Johannesburg.

The library is located on Dan Nkabinde Drive, which is accessed from a major arterial, the M18. Approximately eight schools within a 2 km radius of the library site highlight its importance in terms of use and location.

“It was this fantastic, completely blank, easily accessible piece of land in Tembisa,” notes Kate Otten, project architect.

“It’s quite big but it was destined to include a number of elements such as a taxi rank, some little shops and a clinic.”

The idea was to create an urban design for the site that would involve open spaces and structures that connect into the existing fabric and create a building with a civil presence. The key component was formalising a natural movement path connecting the transport node – the taxi rank and bus stop – to the existing residential fabric. This path was defined by orientating the building at 45° to the site boundaries for maximum benefit, and control of light and warmth, within the library. This shift is also sympathetic to the fall of the contours and contradicts the rigid grid of the township, and thus reinforces the library as an important public building in the existing urban landscape.

In this instance, it is not only the locality of the centre that has contributed to urban restructuring, the design of the building also contributes in that a landmark was created. Library buildings, as centres of knowledge for communities, should be structures that people can be proud of, that encourage participation, and that further learning and skills development on all levels.

An in depth article on the architectural merits of this building appeared in the September 2007 edition of our sister magazine Architechnology.

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INSULT

Not ‘mooi’
Opportunities for local development are lost when infrastructure and buildings are not used optimally.

At the N3 Mooi Plaza off-ramp a different story is told of government investment in social and economic infrastructure.

The design of the Woza Woza tourism center had to be eye-catching to attract visitors from the thousands of people driving along the national road on their way to South Africa’s eastern coastline. But many motorists meet with disappointment.

Although the second and last stage of the development was budgeted for and completed as part of the 2005/2006 Integrated Development Plan of the Mooi Mpofana Municipality, the centre has not been used. The main building, with several outbuildings and a large plot, is locked up and inaccessible to the community and potential clients.

According to officials at the municipality, a tourism office opened in one of the outbuildings in December 2007. They cite logistical problems as the reason for not using the facility.

This is not the only community facility not used optimally.

Many examples are found throughout the country. Sometimes the project has not been completed with, for instance, electricity due to mismanagement and improper planning.

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TREE OF THE ISSUE

Ficus cordata
Semi-desertsurvivor
Although ideal for arid and semi-desert conditions, the Ficus cordata or the Namaqua Fig is not propagated widely. By Gavin Brand of CNdV Africa.

It’s challenging to find appropriate tree species for landscaping applications in and around towns in semi-desert landscapes that do not sustain any large indigenous trees.

Namaqualand is a barren, arid part of our country. Apart from geological features or the lone Kokerboom, one rarely sees any protrusions above the scrub covering the vast, undulating landscape. However, as one moves closer towards more rocky mountainous terrain, perennial streams or rocky outcrops, there is a very good chance that you will spot one of the only tree species with a defined canopy and trunk occurring naturally in the Namaqualand. The Namaqua Fig appears verdant and healthy where it anchors itself over and in-between cracks in large rocks in an otherwise semi-desert landscape. The tree sustains itself by feeding off surface rainwater during winter months. In summer, the contorted roots find water in every possible crevice of the rocky substrate.

There is a strong cultural connection between the Namaqua Fig and the early settlers who used the dead branches as fire wood and the smooth grey bark for tanning and dyeing animal hides. Distribution is wide, stretching from the northern parts of the Western Cape, the Northern Cape and up to Namibia. Perhaps the most famous specimen of this species can still be visited at the Heerenlogement (near Graafwater in the Western Cape) visited by naturalist and traveller François le Vaillant in 1783.

The tree has tremendous potential in the conventional landscape or urban setting because of its extremely low water requirements.

On average, the tree grows to about 8 m and is usually multi-stemmed with a canopy opening up slightly towards the top.

However trees up to 18 m tall have been recorded.

The tree is semi-deciduous with dark green leaves in summer. It bears fruit all year round on terminal branchlets and is approximately 5 mm to 7 mm in diameter; smooth or slightly hairy and yellowish-green in colour. Many bird species consume the seeds and thus ensure that they are spread to other rocky sites.

Bats and lizards also help disperse seeds. Propagation can happen vegetatively or from seed.

The tree has fairly conservative root growth (compared with other Ficus species) and a light upright canopy that provides dappled shade and deflects harsh rays from the scorching summer sun. This make it an ideal shade tree in dry and rocky conditions yet, like so many other useful indigenous trees, it is uncertain whether or not any growers propagate this tree on a commercial scale.