Contents
of February 2003
EDITORIAL
Porcupines, muthi plants and
wetlands
UPFRONT
News
IDENTIFYING INVADERS
Scotch Thistle and Yellow Bells
REMNANTS OF NATURE IN URBAN AREAS
Elephants Foot in suburban
Gauteng
TREE OF THE ISSUE
Mark Mattson chooses Raphia
australis
INSPIRATION
Henning Rasmuss writes about
Jo'burg Art City
FEATURES
Dungbeetle Recycling's Phakamisa Park
A platform for contemporary crafts
Conservation of wetland
Faraday precinct - a cultural
confluence
Restoration and skills transfer
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EDITORIAL
Porcupines, muthi plants and wetlands
A message
which comes from a reputable source and has been doing the rounds of the email circuit is
of particular concern to Urban Green File – and needs to be mentioned in this issue
which includes a number of articles concerning the arts and crafts industry. It refers to
the increased use of porcupine quills in ‘ethnic’ crafts – lampshades,
jewellery and other accessories, and for decorative effect on packaging.
It takes
dozens of quills to make one lampshade and hundreds to make several and porcupines shed
only a few at a time, and that only periodically. In order to supply the vast numbers of
quills to satisfy this relatively new fad, porcupines are being hunted and trapped for
their quills. In order to stop this, the demand needs to cease. We ask readers of UGF not
to support traders at curio stores, craft and flea markets who are selling products making
use of porcupine quills for decorative effect. There is a trader selling box loads of
quills at the Rosebank market.
I recently
had the extraordinary experience of seeing two of these beautiful creatures in their
defensive stance with quills outstretched, at night on a farm road near Penhoek Pass in
the Eastern Cape. What a sighting! (The quill in the picture was photographed on that same
farm during an early morning walk – and was the only one that I saw on the farm.)
Leigh
Darroll has written about the Faraday precinct in south central Johannesburg in this
issue. Faraday is the site of the traditional muthi market which is located under the M2
motorway. She refers to the continual controversy which surrounds the harvesting of
medicinal plants from the veld as being too complex a subject to report on in her article
(page 22). It is a subject which needs a full scale investigative article (there are
numerous studies that can be referred to, including the one that helped to inform the
Faraday Precinct Plan) but one aspect of the subject, which has created a real dilemma for
growers of indigenous plants, I would like to mention here.
Skip-loads
of plant parts are carted away from the M2 motorway muthi market on a relatively regular
basis. Product that the traders have be unable to sell. What a temptation it is for
growers of indigenous plants to buy bulbs from the market! They know that they are
increasing the demand and yet they know that if they don’t purchase these, so many
precious Crinum, Scadoxus, Boophane and Ammocharis bulbs (some decades and even centuries
old) will be carted to garden refuse sites where they will be relegated to compost (or
left to rot on a landfill site). An awful catch-22 situation.
David
Lindley of the Mondi Wetlands Project (MWP) sent through a message on the eve of World
Wetlands Day (celebrated on the 2nd of February annually) this year, promoting the
incorporation of the wise or sustainable use of wetlands into integrated catchment
management. He said that SA’s new national Water Act was revolutionary because it
recognised the central role of ecosystems in water supply: requiring that the amount of
water needed to sustain its freshwater ecosystems is maintained as an environmental ‘reserve’.
“SA’s water policies are thus a step ahead of most other countries in
maintaining the natural ecosystems that underpin its water resources. The Ramsar
Convention argues that wetland ecosystems (a type of water resource) should be the
starting point of all integrated water management strategies,” says Lindley.
In terms of
the new Water Act, water resources have been divided into 19 Water Management Areas under
statutory Catchment Management Agencies and each of these is required to develop a
Catchment Management Strategy for the protection and use of its water resources. “The
Act’s definition of a water resource includes wetlands,” continues Lindley.
“The MWP believes that one of the most effective ways of protecting wetlands and
reaping their benefits is to enshrine the wise use of wetlands in integrated catchment
management.”
In its Wise
Use and Community Programmes, MWP is showing how wetlands and their surrounding catchments
can be enhanced through encouraging local communities to contribute to decision-
making. In
early December (at the time of the eclipse), I was invited to visit the mysterious Lake
Fundudzi in Limpopo Province with MWP. This inland lake is under threat and MWP is hoping
to work with the local Venda clan that has always been responsible for the Lake, the
People of the Pool, to save this freshwater system which includes wetlands and peatlands
from possible destruction, through a plan for its sustainable use. (UGF will report on
this in the near future.) The photographs show cattle grazing in the floodplain of the
lake and a tribal dance, led by drumming, being done by the People of the Pool – who
have a great reverence for and understanding of their lake.
World
Wetlands Day is celebrated on 2 February in recognition of the same day in 1971 when the
Ramsar Convention on Wetlands was born. South Africa is a founding member of the
Convention and this year a new Ramsar Wetland of International Importance has been
declared at Verloren Vallei Nature Reserve in Mpumalanga Province.
The theme of
World Wetlands Day this year, in recognition of the designation by the United Nations of
2003 as the International Year of Freshwater, is “No wetlands –
No water!”
The conservation of Grootvlei, a pan and wetland immediately adjacent to the N3 toll road
in Mpumalanga, is a success story in the making (see page 16) and is deserving of UGF’s
commendation.
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UPFRONT
Investigating sustainable travertine extraction, for artistic applications
The Council
for Geoscience (CGS) has identified poverty alleviation in the Eastern Cape as one of its
strategic focus areas. A project currently being investigated by the CGS is the
sustainable extraction of white Port St Johns travertine for artistic applications.
Travertine is a variety of freshwater limestone formed in spring deposits by chemical
processes similar to those operating in dripstone caves. The limestone of the Port St
Johns area has an attractive banded, creamy white appearance.
The Port St
Johns travertine polishes and works well. It is a small reserve of high quality, which
renders it ideal for small-scale extraction, on the cliffs above the Mzimvubu River. The
extraction of the travertine has previously been im¬paired by poor access to the deposit
which is very suitable for the production of sculpture blocks, material for the
traditional arts and crafts market, and for the manufacture of bathroom tiles and related
products.
The
processing would mostly be done on site by a cottage industry attached to the quarry. Very
little waste would be generated as any off-cuts could be used to produce small artefacts
such as beads. The environmental impact of the small industry would be minimal.
(Extract from GeoClips – CGS newsletter) Contact Matt du Toit. Tel: (012) 841 1115. Email:
mdutoit@geoscience.org.za Koos Reddering (041) 581 1164.
Email: jsvr@ecgeomaps.org.za
An
environmentally friendly car park
A new
college is being built at the Arden Campus in Manchester, northern England, comprising
science laboratories, other teaching facilities, a learning resource centre and a nursery.
Engineering services company Amec, known for its work in the field of infrastructure and
the oil and gas industry, has given priority to environmental, safety and community
issues. An environmentally friendly drainage system for the 470-space car park will be
installed. The system features a series of land drains that will hold and filter the
runoff from the car park (see article on toll road bird sanctuary on page 16).
Contaminants such as oil, petrol, rubber from tyres and dust from brakes will be broken
down by natural processes and the resulting clean water will then be allowed to soak away
naturally.
Website: www.amec.com
Parliamentary
hearings on asbestos
Parliament’s
Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs and Tourism held hearings on the matter of
asbestos at the end of January this year with input from various stakeholders on the
extent of the health, welfare and environmental pollution problems caused by asbestos
products. And to address some of the socio-economic issues resulting from deadly asbestos
related diseases. Asbestos is no longer mined in South Africa. The last mine was closed
down in February 2001.
Presentations
were heard, amongst others, from the Zimbabwean government and private sector
representatives (SA currently imports asbestos roofing products from Zimbabwe), SA’s
National DEAT and the Department of Health, Everite, Northern Cape’s Department of
Agriculture, Land Reform, Environment and Conser¬vation, NUMSA and NUM.
The hearings
were opened by Deputy Minister Rejoice Mabuda¬fhasi who highlighted the efforts already
made by the South African government to deal with the asbestos problem:
•
the ongoing
eradication of mine dumps (DME has started dealing with old dumps but the issue of
secondary pollution into neighbouring villages remains
unresolved);
•
the development of
occupational health and safety regulations on asbestos;
•
the development of
safety standards and the establishment of a single compensation office;
•
the formulation of a
Code of Best Practice for the maintenance, demolition and disposal of material containing asbestos;
•
asbestos is no longer
used in road construction; and
•
is gradually being
phased out in housing.
Mabudafhasi
said that reports from Limpopo Province and the Northern Cape indicated that children are
continually found playing on asbestos contaminated ground – and a final solution
needed to be sought for this problem.
DEAT’s
Director-General Dr Crispian Olver said the Department had launched a study with organised
labour and business, through NEDLAC, covering all the issues around the phasing out of
asbestos and that this study was in the process of finalisation and would be submitted to
cabinet in the near future.
Contact Phindile Makwakwa, Ministry for Environmental Affairs and Tourism. Tel: (012) 310
3401. Cell: 082 850 9559
Mogalakwena Craft
Art Development Foundation
In the
Limpopo Province between the Blue Mountains and the Limpopo River, a tribal community of
more than a million Pedi people is situated. The majority are women, children and retired
men. They are dependent upon either meagre state pensions or on contributions from family
members who work in cities and on farms. There are virtually no job opportunities in this
isolated and undeveloped area.
In 1994, a
development programme was launched to support the economic and social upliftment of the
community and to reduce pressures to urbanise. The programme comprises cookery classes,
craft skills courses and art workshops. Mogalakwena Craft Art Centre produces a variety of
beadwork, embroidered bed and table linen, hand-printed T-shirts, candles, wall hangings,
cement basins and bowls and kudu leather wine skins.
A visit to
the Mogalakwena River Lodge on the same site includes viewing these Pedi woman at work on
their candle making, and screen printing.
Contact Ingrid of the River Lodge. Tel/fax: (015) 575 1192. Email: mogalakwena@mweb.co.za
or Elbe Coetzee. Email: lbe21@iafrica.com
Zulu edition of
book: Winner of University of Natal prize
The Zulu
edition of the book ‘Bring Nature Back to your Garden’ entitled ‘Buyisela
Imvelo Engadini’ has just been launched, published by WESSA with the intention of
promoting environmentally friendly gardening. The English edition of this well known book
by Charles and Julia Botha recently won a University of Natal book prize for popularising
science. More than 10 000 copies have been sold and the book is on its third reprint. A
Western Edition, dealing with gardening in the western part of the country, was published
recently. The authors have donated all royalties from the English and Zulu editions to
WESSA which means that this income from books sold goes towards conservation.
The book
puts urban ecology into perspective in a way that is palatable to city gardeners and
describes how to transform a suburban garden into an oasis for birds, butterflies and
other small creatures through the use of indigenous vegetation and nature-friendly
techniques rather than pesticides. Different aspects of gardening are described, such as
how to plant and landscape in a natural way; why a favourite tree is dying; which birds
and butterflies can be attracted and how; the danger of invasive alien plants and imported
garden pests; container gardening and the garden pond; beneficial garden creatures and a
host of other useful details.
The ‘Who
to Contact for What’ chapter lists the contact numbers of organisations involved with
indigenous plants, insects, birds, fish, etc – with a list of indigenous plant
nurseries so that gardeners can obtain their requirements from reputable and knowledgeable
sources. The new Zulu book has a list of the Zulu names of a large number of indigenous
plants opposite their English equivalents.
The book is
not only useful to gardeners but to conservationists and anyone with an interest in the
natural sciences. The book launch held in mid-February at the Durban Botanic Gardens new
visitors centre was sponsored by Ingwe Collieries Ltd, who also provided the funding for
the translation and printing of ‘Buyisela Imvelo Engadini’.
Contact Sandra Dell of WESSA. Tel: (031) 201 3126. Fax: (031) 201 9525.
CITES: historic
victory for Mahogany
On 13
November last year, at the CITES convention, Nicaragua and Guatemala’s proposal to
list Bigleaf Mahogany on CITES Appendix II, was adopted (despite hard lobbying from Brazil
and Bolivia) by 68 votes for, 30 against and 14 abstentions. Because of the huge demand,
the value of the wood and poor legislation, Bigleaf Mahogany has been subject to
over-harvesting – much of it illicit – and illegal trade. Without better
protection, the species could have been commercially extinct within a short five years.
“Dr
Darron Collins, WWF Forestry Co-ordinator for Latin America, said: “Today is a
victory not only for Bigleaf Mahogany, but for tropical forests in general. The listing
was also vital in order to support range states’ efforts to implement effective and
sustainable management of the species.”
WWF believes
the listing of Bigleaf Mahogany on CITES Appendix II will provide both a regulatory
mechanism capable of fighting smuggling, ensure legal and sustainable trade and will offer
better guarantees to importers and consumers that the mahogany timber they purchase is not
from illegal sources. The biggest challenge is to make sure that the resources needed to
enforce the decision are available.
Contact MatthewDavis, WWF Species Programme. Email: mdavis@wwf.org.uk
-----
IDENTIFYING INVADERS
Scotch Thistle and Yellow Bells
UGF’s
readers have requested a regular column to help with the identification of invasive plant
species. Declared weeds and invaders listed in the amended regulation 15 (under three
different categories) of the Conservation of Agricultural Resources Act of 1983 (CARA)
will feature in this column.
Weeds and
invader plants are associated with the following: they impact negatively on natural
vegetation; they displace indigenous plants and animals; they consume more water than
indigenous plants and therefore lead to a loss of water in catchments; they increase the
severity of fire; they cause obstructions, erosion and increase flood damage; and they
compete with the agricultural environment.
When
controlling weeds and invader plants in areas where they are not allowed in terms of
regulation 15 of CARA, control methods should be used that are appropriate for the species
concerned, as well as for the ecosystem in which they occur.
Contacts:
National Department of Agriculture – Directorate: Land Use and Soil Management.
Email: declaredweedsandinvaders@nda.agric.za
Plant Protection Research Institute. Email: rietsn@plant2.agric.za Weedbuster Hotline: 0800 005 376
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REMNANTS OF NATURE IN URBAN AREAS
Elephants Foot in suburban Gauteng
Sculptress
Dina Prinsloo is a lover of succulent plants and she pointed Urban Green File to what, to
the best of her knowledge, is possibly the last colony of the climber Dioscorea sylvatica
in suburban Johannesburg. It is located in a rocky area with clusters of typical highveld
trees and shrubs adjacent to a tributary of the Jukskei in Randburg. The property is
scheduled for development. According to Dina, the original colony, which she has been
aware of since riding her horse in the area in the late ’50s, extends for 1-2 km
along, although set back from, the banks of the river. (See article on Dina’s
sculptural work, which has its origin in the making of containers for sculptural plants,
in UGF May/June 1997 issue.)
Vines or
climbers of the genus Dioscorea are characterised by large underground (or sometimes
exposed) fleshy tubers which allow them to survive the dry season. Our local Elephant’s
Foot, as Dina calls Dioscorea sylvatica growing in Gauteng, has a relatively smooth,
subterranean tuber and simple heart-shaped leaves. Usually the stem dies back in winter
but, according to Dina, it can be persistent and not die back completely each year. The
climber is deciduous and the leaves wither each winter. Dina has found that the plants are
inclined to grow facing the western sun, therefore choosing fairly intense heat.
In the early
’70s, Dina wrote an article on Dioscorea sylvatica which was published in, a then
very different, Veld & Flora (the journal (newsletter) was initially published by the
Wild Flowers Protection Section of the Botanical Society of South Africa) in March 1973.
The mission of the journal lay in the belief that “an increased knowledge of our
flora would promote an increased interest in our floral heritage and an increased desire
to preserve it”.
UGF
expresses the hope that the developers of this land will try to preserve the rocky
outcrops and tree clusters in which this unusual, medicinally valuable plant exists.
While on
site, Dina commented that she was surprised that there were numerous specimens of the
plant still in existence because of its value to traditional medicine. It is the large
tubers that are used and it seems likely that the tubers are uprooted in the process
– meaning that the harvesting is not sustainable. In her Veld & Flora article,
Dina says: “Dioscoreas have long been used in the medicinal remedies of the
indigenous people of southern and eastern Africa. It is interesting to note that Dioscorea
sylvatica, amongst others, has been found to contain diosgenin which is a suitable plant
precursor of cortisone.”
In Medicinal
Plants of South Africa, Van Wyk, Van Oudtshoorn and Gericke confirm that although none of
the South African species of Dioscorea has been used commercially, “...there are
several Central American, Indian and Chinese species of importance in the extraction of
steroidal saponins which are hydrolysed to diosgenin. The compound is used as a starting
material in steroid hormone semi-synthesis to produce cortisone and contraceptives.”
Dina
remembered amethysts being fairly prolific in the soil of this same site and commented
that it seemed appropriate that a stone believed to have healing powers should be found in
close proximity to a plant known also for its curative properties.
-----
TREE OF THE ISSUE
Mark Mattson chooses Raphia australis
The Kosi Palm
One of Mark Mattson’s reasons for choosing the Kosi Palm, a Maputaland
near-endemic which is sometimes also called the Giant Palm, is its sheer visual splendour.
Mark is a researcher at the Durban Botanic Gardens and he is fascinated by the palm’s
dramatic flowering habits. He says that apart from the palm’s readily observable form
and structure and some of its ecological connections, we know very little about this
plant, which is surprising considering that it very well known in KwaZulu-Natal – for
its connections with the Palmnut Vulture; it is the symbol of the Durban Natural Science
Museum; and it is, of course, so evocative of Kosi Bay. Mark com¬ments that it was not
until 1969 that it was classified as Raphia australis.
“One of the things that interests me about this
palm is its striking appearance. It is aesthetically very imposing, in particular when it
is flowering and fruiting – there can up to 8 000 fruits on an inflorescence. When
the inflorescence emerges, it can be raised up to 3m above the crown of the tree. The
original authors who described the palm calculated that a fruiting inflorescence could
weigh up to
1 000kg. Its
leaves are reputed to be the longest in the plant kingdom – 10 to 18m in length, and
the palm only reaches 10 to 15 m in height at maturity which is usually between 15 and 20
years,” elaborates Mark.
“It is
a monocarpic plant which means that it only flowers once at maturity, sets fruit and then
dies. After fertilisation has occurred, the fruit takes two years to ripen fully and the
palm gradually withers and dies during this period. The ornamental value of the
inflorescence therefore lasts for two years when the palm finally does flower. The fruit
comprises three layers and it is the bright orange layer that the Palmnut Vulture eats.”
Raphia
australis is a palm of the freshwater swamps with extremely restricted natural
distribution, mainly to a small area around the Kosi lake system and up into southern
Mozambique. It is listed as Data Deficient on the Red Data Lists for Mozambique and
KwaZulu-Natal. It is also a palaeoendemic, which means that it has ancient origins. Mark
says that it is believed to have had a wider distribution at one stage. He has observed
that the palm has been planted quite extensively along the KZN coast, southwards down past
Durban, and speculates that this horticultural extension of the palm’s habitat is
possibly related to the extension of the range of the Palmnut Vulture, which is now being
seen much further afield. The vulture not only feeds on the fruit but also nests in Raphia
australis.
“Strictly
speaking the palm is endangered but because it is being planted, its evolutionary fortune
is being reversed. One can ask interes¬ting questions about why plants employ monocarpy,”
says Mark. “It is such an extreme strategy. Generally it is believed that plants use
it to avoid predation – producing fruit in such large numbers means that some must
escape predation. To my knowledge, however, Raphia australis has no predators (the Palmnut
Vulture does not damage the seed – nor does it disperse the seed widely). My personal
theory is that previously large herbivores that are now extinct ate the fruit of this
ancient plant. Monocarpy therefore no longer serves its original purpose and this has not
favoured the distribution of the palm. If it was productive on a regular basis, its range
might well be larger.”
Mark spoke
to horticulturist Barry Lang of the Botanic Gardens and discovered that the palm can be
germinated from fresh seed. At the Gardens perlite has been used as the germinating medium
but sand and peat are equally effective, as long as the medium is kept damp, emulating the
freshwater swamp environment of the palm’s natural habitat. The palm tolerates
reasonably dry areas, once it is established. In the early stages, the plant should not be
transplanted too frequently because damage can be done to its long taproot. It requires
the filtered sun and protection from wind that would be characteristic of its natural
habitat. Young plants have thorny leaves.
Elsa Pooley’s
Trees of Natal says the palm grows quickly and easily from seed and this could explain why
there are many plantings along the coast. These could also have happened in the wake of
fears about the demise of the rare Palmnut Vulture. Its economic uses in Maputoland
include the infrequent use of the large leaves in the building of the roofs and walls of
huts, while the harvesting of the strong leaf mid-ribs for rafts is common in the Kosi Bay
area. These ferries are used for transport across the lakes.
Mark
maintains that the palm is an effective streambank stabiliser planted en masse. A solitary
specimen on a lawned area is visually very pleasing. The old leaves fall off and the
remnant leaf bases accumulate water and humus, and can be used in the garden to grow
epiphytes such as ferns and orchids. Egyptian fruit bats nest in the crowns of the palm.
Mark’s concluding comment is that “We have only five genera of palm in South
Africa and by planting Raphia australis, we already have 20% of our palm diversity
represented.”
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INSPIRATION
Henning
Rasmuss writes about Jo'burg Art City
Painting these walls red and more
It all
started one Saturday morning last August, when I noticed abseilers in red overalls hanging
precariously from red ropes on red walls, painting the town…well, red. Just like
that.
It continued
with what seemed like one of those press releases that come along from time to time: some
young brain, with a bright idea, wanting to change the face of the city. Big portrait, big
names, big deal…I must admit I had my doubts about the Art City project. Not because
I did not believe in the idea, but because Johannesburg has so consistently failed to get
things right for such a long time. But that was then, this is now. If you have not been to
Art City, you have missed the boat.
What started
with perhaps less fanfare than expected, and instead with more real work, has
fundamentally changed the way I look at my city. Before, it was the street-level, chaotic,
jumbled, colourful buzz of it all that held my attention. My eye scanned for detail and
revelled in juxtaposition. Now I see vistas again, canyons of streets leading my eye onto
focal points. I look for distant walls, I look above the pavement canopies, in search of
colour and signs of life.
For those
who do not have the privilege of being able to go to downtown Johannesburg, or who have
forgotten the heart of this place, let me explain. The Art City project is a
part-sponsored, part-commercial and advertising intervention in Johannesburg, which uses
large-scale billboard technology to showcase selected artworks in the public spaces of the
city. Part agitprop, part sublime, part collision, part design: the collection is growing.
There is hardly a viewpoint in the city where some part of the project cannot be seen.
We have been
down the path of monster billboards, from the ridiculous Newtown silo’s defacement to
the more sublime and pulsating Ponte beacon project. But Art City is one better. It is the
sheer diversity, the surprise, the sometimes clever positioning, and the sheer delight of
the beauty of the images, which far transcend the offerings of the mercenary billboarders
to this city.
Where
advertising is at best monumental and witty, and may elicit a wry smile, Art City gets
right under the skin. From charcoal sketched aloes to mosaic ‘mielies’, from
stark black-and-white portrait groups to colourful rural and urban scenes in vivid oils,
the city’s art has come back into our range of vision. Perhaps fittingly at a time
when the public art gallery in Joubert Park is near-empty and fighting for survival and
re-thinking its raison d’être – art has come home to roost on the streets.
And the city
which has suffered our neglect, our disregard, loss of love for its streets and its
history, is suddenly telling new stories, whispering to us, passing glances, taking
chances. The skyline has a new lustre, with the grand view from Braamfontein across the
canyon of railway lines punctured by an array of colourful surfaces. There is the dramatic
view, the naïve dance of children across a terracotta earth, pasted onto the fortress
walls of the Central Johannesburg Police Station. But it’s in the crevices, above the
backyards, on the side walls, across the blank vertical slices of silent walls between the
monotonous rows of windows, that this show really gets going. And it is in the fractured,
shattered reflections in old windows, probably blind by now due to vacancy, that the
beauty lies.
You have to
walk the canyons or, like we did, shoot the sights like a road movie from a getaway car.
The surprise is above you, in the rear view mirror, above, to the front, skew left, sharp
right: the city is a wonderfully tight gallery for these huge artworks. Faces, gestures,
textures, scenes from here and other places, force their way into my distorted view. Lost
is the clutter of the streets, the tomatoes on plastic platters, the traders and hustlers,
the shops with cascading displays of cheap imitation clothes: these are now the backdrop,
the mute canvas, and the city itself becomes the gallery, or rather the artwork.
Whoever
thought this up had real vision and, more importantly, the ability to deliver. What the
press release promised, has happened: but the reality is much more exciting. It is the
density of the city that makes this intervention really successful. The show is temporary,
and the next few weeks would appear to be your last chance to consume this spectacle and
be consumed by it. As the saying goes: you snooze, you lose. Get down to Art City and
change the way you look at Johannesburg!
Website: www.jhbartcity.org.za
-----
FEATURES
Dungbeetle Recycling's Phakamisa Park
Piet Lombard
of Dungbeetle Waste Management, one of the Multi-Waste Group of Companies, spoke to Carol
Knoll about the emphasis the company places on reclaiming and recycling. He has
established a multi-faceted ‘Art and Industrial Park’ named Phakamisa Park in
Wadeville. Phakamisa is the Zulu word for ‘lifting up’, and Lombard says his
main objective at Phakamisa Park is job creation.
Lombard was
initially employed on the marketing side of Multi-Waste and the company’s natural
evolution into the recycling field led to the establishment of Dungbeetle. The operation
was set up to manage waste streams on Multi-Waste customer premises with the emphasis on
reclaiming and recycling. Re-use contracts have been concluded with a number of high
profile customers. Phakamisa Park is Dungbeetle’s recycling and reuse initiative
which includes furniture making and the creation of metal art. It is located adjacent to a
vast area of low cost housing in Wadeville.
“We
realised we could not keep throwing things away and I was appointed to head-up this
project. We stayed in the Wadeville area because the workforce is right here and we are
geographically well situated – virtually on the highway and 22 km away from the
airport. There are numerous possibilities at Phakamisa Park and I hope to create as many
jobs as possible – and, hopefully, because we have stayed here, our success will
trigger other business developments in an area in which most people are unemployed,”
commented Lombard.
One of
Dungbeetle’s customers is African Products and a product which is removed from this
company’s premises to be stored for re-use at Phakamisa Park is a filter product
which is used in the process of manufacturing starch. This was originally considered to be
a waste product which went straight to landfill. Dungbeetle found that it could be used as
a supplement to animal feed and after the product was tested to ensure that it was fit for
animal consumption, Dungbeetle started selling it to farmers.
A main focus
at Phakamisa Park is the recycling of scrap metals and wood from old pallets. The company
is under contract to Telkom to remove all of its old cable drums free of charge. When
these become worn or are broken, they are not considered viable for re-use because their
bulkiness makes them too costly to transport. They were originally considered fit only for
landfill – but Dungbeetle strips down these drums which are made of pine and uses
them for the making of a range of so called Eco Furniture.
Dungbeetle
has empowered Edwin Khoza to head-up this subsidiary furniture company which has as its
target market game lodges and the ecotourism trade in general, because the product is
recycled and can therefore be said to be environmentally-friendly. The range includes
dining room tables and chairs, a lazy Susan, headboards, pedestals and coffee tables, and
extends to desks and boardroom tables. The mayor of Ekurhuleni Metro, Duma Nkosi, has an
Eco Furniture boardroom table in his office.
Dungbeetle
collects scrapmetal and has, in the past, sold this to scrap dealers or to foundries, but
in a recent development metal artists have been encouraged to come to Phakamisa Park and
are given first choice to select metal that they can use for their artwork, at no charge.
A small on-site studio accommodates two artists, at present, and when the artwork has been
created, Dungbeetle buys back the completed item and does the marketing of the product.
Painted metal art is the speciality at Phakamisa Park and Lombard has an export outlet for
the work. He estimates that he will need at least ten metalworkers to cope with the
overseas demand and will have to increase the size of his studio.
Many ‘waste’
products, largely plastic containers and paper packaging, from Multi-Waste’s
customers are sorted at source by Dungbeetle employees and transported to Phakamisa Park
where Dungbeetle Reclamation prepares and classifies the products. Stickers need to be
removed from the plastic items and the lids, which are usually a different grade of
plastic, are separated from the containers. The different grades of plastic are sold to a
number of plastics recyclers. Cardboard and paper are sorted into their respective grades
and resold to paper recyclers.
Lombard is
planning to build a safe destruction facility at Phakamisa Park which will prevent waste
products from beverage and food manufacturers from going to landfill, where there is a
danger that they will poison children who salvage materials from dumps. Lombard says that
certain of the fluids from biodegradables could be used to irrigate the compost that
Dungbeetle is planning to make on site. An environmental and health practitioner from the
Council will have to monitor the activities at this facility.
Another plan
for the near future is the establishment of a cement brick-making plant at the Park. This
will be called Dungbeetle Eco Bricks and will, according to Lombard’s reckoning, be
able to utilise about 800 tonnes of ash on a monthly basis. The ash, largely boiler ash
which would have gone to landfill, will be collected from the Wadeville/Alrode industrial
area and utilised to make the bricks which Lombard visualises will be used in the building
of low cost housing in the area.
Other than
waste reclamation and recycling, there is another as¬pect to Phakamisa Park and this is
the community involvement side. There is a Spaza Shop on the property called Viva Super
Save which is run by a separate company that hires the premises from Dungbeetle. Mickey’s
Hair Salon also rents premises, as does Multi Nation Dry Cleaners, while the Yellow Flag
Tavern and Liquor Store is scheduled to move onto the property at a future date. Lombard
is interested in establishing a crèche in a section of the Reclamation Centre with a
playground under the bluegums outside the Centre. A cash buy-back centre at the Park
allows the community to bring in recyclables that they collect in the area and the cash is
usually spent at the Spaza Shop, which is the only one in the immediate vicinity.
Accommodating the needs of the community has resulted in support for Dungbeetle’s
innovative enterprises.
-----
A platform for contemporary crafts
The
beautiful Things Exhibition at the Bus Factory in Newton
The
Beautiful Things Exhibition, which was launched at the craft and design centre in Newtown
at the end of 2002, presents an inspiring display of South Africa’s contemporary
creative crafts. It is the first component of a one-year pilot programme that is intended
to establish the centre – currently known as the Bus Factory – as a training
facility and a marketing platform for the country’s crafters and their work.
The craft
and design centre has been developed by a partnership that involves the National
Department of Arts and Culture (DAC), the Gauteng Department of Sports, Recreation, Arts
and Culture (SRAC), Blue IQ, and the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA).
Through Blue
IQ and SRAC, the Gauteng Provincial Government invested R9,5 million in the refurbishment
of this historical building – once the workshop for Johannesburg’s tram fleet.
The centre is seen as an important component in Blue IQ’s overall redevelopment of
New-town, which involves an investment of some R350 million in infrastructural development
and upgrading. With input from a number of other agencies, significant strides are being
made in re-establishing this precinct as the cultural capital of the country and home to a
concentrated cluster of creative industries and activities. The craft and design centre
will add another dimension to the tourist attractions of Newtown, while at the same time
boosting the profile of the crafters and their work – offering them access to a wider
market and so promoting job opportunities.
The
Beautiful Things Exhibition was originally staged at Ubuntu Village during the
Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development last year. Showcasing works from more
than 600 craft projects over a period of 22 days, the exhibition achieved sales of more
than R1,8 million – clearly demonstrating the demand that exists for the best of
handmade crafts and the enormous economic potential of this talent among South Africa’s
people.
The
exhibition was brought to the new craft and design centre by the national DAC. Speaking at
the opening, Deputy Minister of Arts & Culture, Bridget Mabandla, said: “I wish
to pay tribute to the men and women and young people all over South Africa who, through
their works of arts and crafts continue to keep our rich cultural heritage alive…This
centre aims to celebrate that and showcase it to the rest of the world …offering all
South African crafters a platform to give their work the exposure it deserves. Using the
Beautiful Things Exhibition as a catalyst, we will turn this centre into a beehive of
activity that will benefit not only Gauteng and Newtown, but also the whole of South
Africa.”
A series of
craft workshops and training programmes in product development, marketing and retailing
are being planned for the pilot project. At present the centre also houses a shop, where
the craftwork on display can be purchased directly or ordered for delivery, and a coffee
shop where visitors can enjoy the beautiful things around them. The centre is already
engaging with various government, civil society and private sector agencies that can play
a part in increasing awareness of it and contributing to its success. The activities of
the project will be monitored over the pilot period to ensure that it meets its objectives
– and to assess the feasibility of its operating as a national craft and design
centre that could serve as a model to be replicated in other parts of the country.
Initially
the JDA, which is the implementing agency for all Blue IQ’s projects in Newtown, will
be responsible for running the centre. Gauteng’s SRAC will have a presence there and
will work with the curator of the exhibition and other players to run training workshops
and other events.
-----
Conservation of wetland
A
bird sanctuary at Grootvlei on the N3 Toll Road
The in-depth
Scoping Study carried out to ascertain the impact of the widening of the N3 for the new
toll road highlighted concerns about the continued natural functioning of the wetland
system at Grootvlei Pan, between Heidelberg and Villiers in Mpumalanga. The end result has
been the implementation of a number of unusual mitigation measures and the establishment
of a bird sanctuary at the pan to be managed and maintained by N3 Toll Concession Ltd
(N3TC).
Carol Knoll
spoke to environmental consultant Alan Cave about this innovative project.
The
independent environmental consultants, Cave Klapwijk & Associates (CKA), responsible
for the Scoping Study of the N3 toll road widening project, recommended that the road be
moved further away from the Grootvlei Pan to ensure the integrity of the wetland’s
functioning. In the preliminary alignment designs, the road cut through the edge of the
pan with the embankment enfringing quite heavily on the pan. The engineers initially
agreed that it would be feasible to move the road slightly further west to preclude this
enfringement, and the National Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT)
wrote this recommendation into the Record of Decision (ROD).
Various
specialist studies in the Scoping Report reinforced the need to conserve the pan,
explaining its special characteristics. Maitland Seaman, who is a specialist in pans,
defined Grootvlei as an endorheic pan – a pan that has a defined catchment and has
only inflows and no outflows, meaning that it is a closed system in which nutrients and
other pollutants will accumulate. He pointed out that Grootvlei retained water over a
longer period than any other pan in the area – with a section of open water being in
constant evidence over the last three years. The pan has relatively steep sides and is
deeper than the other pans in the vicinity. The vegetation survey done by Mike Mentis
showed that although there were no rare and endangered plants on site, there were some
unusual species and Vahlia capensis (“insufficiently known”: Red Data Listing)
occurs in the littoral zone.
David Allen,
an ornithologist, Curator of Birds at the Durban Natural Science Museum, recorded a
diverse wetland bird population, including sightings of Flamingoes, Spurwinged Geese,
Spoonbills, African Marsh Harriers, Whitewinged Terns, Maccoa Ducks, Cape Shovellers and
Whitefronted Plovers. Cave has counted up to twelve Marsh Owls in one visit to the pan.
The
condition of the pan was assessed and it was found that the pan was being steadily
degraded by a number of factors. The farmer and owner of the land had extended his maize
fields into the littoral zone. The wetland had been used by the farm workers to graze
their cattle and had been overgrazed. Three mud dwellings on the periphery of the wetland
housed the families of farm workers and the children had been shooting birds with
catapults, while their dogs had been harassing the water fowl. Runoff from the existing N3
motorway had been channelled into the pan.
Samples were
taken to determine the lead content of the pan because of polluted runoff from the highway
and heavy lead concentrations, at values above what is considered safe for natural
systems, were discovered near the road, with very low concentrations at points in the
wetland furthest away from the highway. The road widening project needed to ensure that
this impact was reduced.
Sometime
after the ROD had been issued and as the detailed design progressed, the road engineers
came to the realisation that moving the road further west was not a practical option, as
this realign¬ment would position the road outside the existing road reserve. The
re-negotiation of the road reserve would cause serious delays for the project, additional
safety risks would be incurred during the road widening and there would be further
environmental damage, resulting from the need for a temporary road to deviate traffic
during construction. A decision was made to revert to the original alignment and this
meant DEAT had to take the unusual step of rescinding the relevant clause in the ROD to,
once again, accommodate the initial design.
Establishment of bird
sanctuary
At this point, mitigation measures to ensure minimal impact on the already
degraded pan had to be carefully devised. Cave and Philip du Plessis, the N3TC’s
technical and environmental manager, conceived the idea of attempting to upgrade the pan
to a fully functional natural system and creating a bird sanctuary for the recreational
use of bird watchers. A workshop was organised at which various specialists and other
I&APs supported the idea.
Because the
proposal was very much in keeping with the N3TC’s social and environmental goals in
their concession contract, Du Plessis, with the encouragement of his CEO, Tim Ivins, made
a decision to implement the idea with the funding that had been set aside for these
commitments.
The concept
is based on environmental offsets – the toll road has certainly interfered with some
wetlands, in an area which is known for its shallow pans, and the functioning of these may
even have been altered. To mitigate this impact, the company has agreed to upgrade certain
wetlands along the route of the road, as an offset, or in compensation, for those damaged.
A 30 year
lease on the property was obtained from the farmer and the management of the pan as a bird
sanctuary became the responsibility of the N3TC. Cave made the further suggestions of tree
planting, a bird hide and a thatched shelter for picnicking and these ideas were also
adopted. The hide and shelter have recently been completed and access to the sanctuary is
from the first south¬bound offramp after the De Hoek Toll Plaza, known as the Dasville
(Grootvlei) interchange. The construction of the hide and the walk¬way to the hide, along
with the shelter, was based on barrier-free design principles and done in consultation
with Eco-Access, specialists in accessible facilities for the natural environment. The
hide is designed for wheelchair access. Four perches for marsh owls are being erected in
the grassland.
At present,
several tall Eucalyptus trees serve as a focal point demarcating the facilities but these
will eventually be removed when the newly planted indigenous trees – Salix mucronata
(Transvaal Willow), Combretum erythrophyllum (River Bush-willow), Rhus lancea (Karee),
Acacia karroo (Sweet Thorn) and Acacia caffra (Common Hook-thorn) – have reached a
reasonable height.
Bad
management of the veld around the pan had caused an infestation of what is commonly known
as ‘Bankrotbos’ (Stoebe vulgaris), a wiry, greyish coloured, indigenous shrublet
which proliferates in overgrazed areas. To help control this invasion, N3TC brought in its
road maintenance team and they used unskilled, unemployed people from the local community
to help them chop back the plant. According to Cave, there is no herbicide registered for
Stoebe vulgaris and they were loth to use chemicals in close proximity to the pan. Cave
says that the grass will come back into the infested areas and shade out the bush,
preventing regrowth.
N3TC is
responsible for the management and maintenance of the physical attributes of the sanctuary
– cutting firebreaks, slashing grass, monitoring water quality and the provision of a
security guard on site – but not for the marketing of the site to bird watchers. Cave
has been negotiating with Aldo Berutti of BirdLife South Africa to make Groot¬vlei a
destination along a new birding route planned for the area, that will possibly include
other pans with diverse birdlife and the Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve. The route is at
planning stage but will probably be a day trip with a guide for rent. Bird¬Life is
involved in the training of guides. The possibility of incorporating Grootvlei in a
birding route is being investigated and promoted by Malcolm Drummond of Eco-Access who is
also a member of BirdLife SA.
Constructed filter
protects pan
Various measures, recommended by CKA, have been implemented to mitigate the
impact of the widened toll road on Grootvlei Pan. Adjacent to the pan, a concrete block
retaining wall limits the roadfill landtake into the pan. The plantable blocks are filled
with topsoil which will allow the natural vegetation to come back and cover the structure
with time. The road reserve fence has been eliminated, so that water fowl will not fly
into it, and replaced with a safety barrier on top of the retaining structure.
There was an
urgent need to ensure that pollutants, such as lead, oil, rubber from tyres and other
harmful substances, were filtered out of the stormwater runoff prior to its entering the
pan. Runoff from the northbound lane is filtered through the natural grassland, where the
pollutants attach to the vegetation and soil, but stormwater from the southbound lane
discharges directly into the pan through a series of culverts and a barrier filter was
clearly needed to prevent the ingress of pollutants.
Cave called
on the expertise of Dr Pieter van Eeden who has done extensive research on the effects of
road contaminants and their mitigation and he recommended the structure which has been put
into place between the road edge and the pan. This constructed filter comprises gabion
structures which are embedded in the ground. Between these structures and the road there
are layers of sand, a geotextile and a series of hay bales. The runoff passes through the
organic substance and deposits the contaminants it has collected from the road before
entering the pan. The gabions hold the hay in place. The hay will decay with time and have
to be replaced periodically.
The barrier
filter constructed on the periphery of the pan had to be fairly wide and deep to function
effectively because of its close proximity to the road. The water quality in the pan is
being tested on an ongoing basis to ensure that the filter is functioning correctly. The
design is adapted from one that has been used very effectively in the USA.
Project team
Client: N3 Toll Concession Ltd
Tim Ivins (CEO)
Philip du Plessis (technical and environmental manager)
Michael Knight (assistant technical and environmental manager)
Environmental consultants: Cave Klapwijk & Associates
Specialist studies: Maitland Seaman, Mike Mentis andDavid Allen
Constructed filter consultant: Pieter van Eeden
Barrier-free consultants: Eco-Access
Road engineers: Africon
Main contractor: N3 Dabulantaba/Joint Venture
Landscape contractor: Plant Parade
-----
Faraday precinct - a cultural confluence
Juxtaposing
urban industry and rural traditions
The Faraday
precinct in south central Johannesburg is a transitional space focused on a transport hub
– a meeting point of suburban railway lines and city bus and taxi routes. It
juxtaposes urban industry and rural traditions, sacred healing and secular commerce. The
built form of a redundant past is turning towards a different future. These thrusts of
diverse energies converging at Faraday define it as a special place in the city.
Leigh
Darroll spoke to Monica Albonico of Albonico & Sack Architects & Urban Designers
and Mphethi Morojele of MMA Architects, about the urban design plan for the precinct and
the first multi-facetted project which is currently being implemented. This first project
is one of a series intended to act as catalysts for further development in subsequent
phases of the plan to renew Faraday as a unique city gateway.
The Faraday
precinct is bordered by Anderson Street on the north, Von Wielligh/Rosetenville on the
east, Eloff on the west and Newton Street on the south. Anchored by Faraday Station –
one of the railway terminals on the lines that link Soweto and other south-western
townships to the city – the precinct has become a multi-modal transport interchange
with bus and taxi services extending connections into the central and near city zones.
Informal street trading has proliferated along the pedestrian routes linked to the
transport services, particularly along Eloff Street. Faraday is also distinguished as the
site of the traditional muthi market which has evolved organically, over the past 20
years, along Stephenson Street and linking routes under the M2 motorway. Formal business
in the vicinity is dominated by motor related retail outlets, workshops and service
centres amidst other trade, light industry and warehouses.
It is these
specifics of transport, traditional medicine and market trading that differentiate the
Faraday precinct within the city context and which the urban designers and architects have
sought to consolidate and celebrate in the proposed development plan. The intention is to
establish a platform for other economic opportunities and mixed use in an urban fabric of
higher density and broader inclusivity than is currently the case, with strengthened
lineal connections to other areas of the city.
City context
The Faraday precinct is one of a number of distinct zones identified in the
City Centre Development Framework that was prepared by GAPP Architects & Urban
Designers and approved by the City (then the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Council) in
mid-2000. As well as defining key regeneration areas, each to be developed on the lines of
its existing focus and function, the Development Framework sets out the broad goals and
parameters for the renewal of the inner city. The Precinct Plan for Faraday represents an
elaboration of the principles defined in the Development Framework, providing more
detailed urban design guidelines for development in this locality. (In turn, the Precinct
Plan informs site development and building plans as they are prepared for projects to be
implemented in the proposed phased programme.)
The
consolidation of the public transport system and of facilities around multi-modal
transport nodes, which will be linked to the planned Inner City Transit System, is core to
the Faraday Precinct Plan, as it is to the City Centre Development Framework. Faraday is
one of the four designated city gateways (together with the Metro Mall, Westgate, and Park
Central terminals) that are intended to frame the transport network in relation to
Johannesburg’s Park Station, and to meet the needs of transport operators and
com¬muters in a formal system rather than the presently fragmented one. The inner city
currently caters for over 800 000 daily
commuters.
As important
is a strategy that supports organised trading in the city, through the development of a
network of market types. These range from clustered markets at transport nodes, through
linear markets along connecting pedestrian routes, to neighbourhood markets serving
localised communities; examples can already be seen in Yeoville and Hillbrow.
The Faraday
Precinct Plan also draws on the South-East City Project, a 1995 study that was
commissioned by (then) Ampros to identify potential projects that could contribute to
reversing the already evident decline in the inner city. This study and the resultant
development framework provided a reference for the development of the ABSA campus (see UGF
Jan/Feb 2000) in the south-eastern CBD and the Johannesburg Housing Company’s
recently completed Elangeni on Albert Street.
A shifting paradigm
The inner city has undergone functional and structural changes over the last
decade – in property investment, demographics and land use patterns – seeing
rapid environmental degradation and presenting development opportunities with diminished
returns. Albonico sees it as essentially contested terrain – an environment fraught
with competing demands and a continuing tension between high expectations and limited
resources. The question is: Can the city deliver?
Located on
the industrial edge of the CBD, alongside the historical mining belt and associated miners’
and municipal hostels, Faraday forms part of the soft, malleable fabric of the city
fringe, which is most vulnerable to the impacts of these changes. At the same time, its
malleability makes it more adaptable to meet the needs of the city’s new inhabitants
– it can be moulded to accommodate an interface between the established and emerging
markets, to create the landscape of the new African city with its shifting economic and
social dynamics.
Albonico
suggests that the consortium of professionals, who came together to prepare this urban
design proposal for the Faraday precinct, won the tender put out by the Johannesburg
Development Agency (JDA) on the strength of their unorthodox and multi-dimensional
approach and their recognition of the need for flexibility in addressing a constantly
changing development paradigm. “I think JDA saw that we were at least asking the
right questions, even though we did not have all the answers.”
Consultation
with the communities living or working in the Faraday precinct and with key stakeholders
and special interest groups was crucial to the formulation of the initial framework and is
an ongoing challenge. The Interfaith Community Development Association (ICDA), a
non-governmental organisation, and Kagiso Special Places, a consultancy that deals with
urban strategies and local government support services, have been particularly involved in
discussions with the representative taxi associations, formal and informal business,
traditional healers and medicine traders and provincial and local government departments
across the spectrum of agriculture and environment, health, housing, trade and industry,
town planning and transport, among others.
Albonico and
Morojele make the point that there are no existing institutional structures that cater for
a multi-dimensional development of this nature and that this hampers design and
implementation. The separation of authority and lack of interaction between different
departments at local government level, and more so at provincial level, make it arduous to
implement projects that straddle such diverse uses. The ideal of an inclusive rather than
an exclusive city, accommodating mixed use and functioning on a 24/7 basis, needs to be
supported by an appropriate operational framework that is structured to encompass the
wide- ranging interests and opportunities that will drive urban renewal. It is suggested
that the structures used in City or Business Improvement Districts perhaps come closest to
managing a range of related considerations, although even they do not stretch across the
spectrum represented in the Faraday precinct.
Existing land use
An initial study of the context in which the Faraday precinct is located looked
at functional links as well as compatibility in land uses, accessibility, the built fabric
and current land use trends. A northern band of tall commercial buildings, 10 storeys and
higher, forms a distinct edge to the precinct along Anderson Street. South of this the
central stretch of the precinct is described as a soft area, undergoing changes in land
use and building occupancy. There is close to a 30% vacancy level in retail, commercial
and industrial buildings and an emerging trend of informal residential infill in underused
commercial space and empty warehouses. Closer to the M2, motor related trade and service
activities predominate alongside light industrial facilities. South of the motorway is a
depressed industrial zone. Across the precinct, vacant public land and some empty sites
where buildings have been demolished have been appropriated by the taxi industry and are
used as informal holding areas.
Continuing
commercial activities form the economic base of this sector of the city. Informal trade is
concentrated along Eloff Street and in the muthi market. These factors, together with
accessibility to the southern city and the M2 and the existing public transport system,
constitute the main assets of the precinct with regard to its regeneration and
development.
The Precinct Plan
Faraday functions as a threshold space offering access to various destinations –
either locally or in the broader city environment. The overall development concept
proposes an “interweaving of energies” as a way of generating a richer and more
diverse urban fabric. The intention is to recycle/regenerate/improve/redevelop, to create
a more inclusive and sustainable future for the precinct and the city.
“The
idea is to accommodate the – living, working, moving, meeting, healing – urban
community in a robust and enabling built environment,” says Albonico. “If we can
do this in developing the uniqueness of the Faraday precinct, we can bring meaning to the
notion of a world class African City – as envisaged in the City Centre Development
Framework.”
The
principal objectives are to:
•
Create a new focal
point or gate way into the city
•
Reinforce the role of
Eloff Street as an activity corridor
•
Activate the street
edges
•
Improve the
environment with landscaping, appropriate surfaces, street lighting and furniture
•
Encourage infill
development
•
Intensify, densify and
diversify land uses
•
Extend safe pedestrian
routes through the precinct
•
Create new spaces for
the celebration of public life.
Between the
corridor routes of Von Wielligh and Eloff Streets the precinct stretches some 450m east to
west and about 900m north to south. Within the framework of guidelines prepared for the
precinct as a whole, the urban design plan identifies a series of zones that are defined
in broad terms by use and scale. Within each zone a core project is envisaged, to act as a
catalyst for wider redevelopment. This approach is based on the idea that the city has to
reinvent itself in compact, manageable and sustainable leaps. The first of the projects
– described as the Special Facility – is currently under way and incorporates a
number of buildings and the public environment and amenities connecting them with the
station.
The Special Facility
Project
In line with the City Council’s and JDA’s requirement to take holding
and ranking taxis off the streets and traders off the pavements, one of the main
considerations in the design of the special facility has been to create appropriate formal
accommodation for the taxi operators, muthi traders and traditional healers.
“Even
now that we are on site the demands and dynamics keep shifting,” says Morojele.
“The number of taxi associations that we are working with has grown and more and more
traders are moving into the vicinity, adding their voices to the discussions around the
facilities that are needed, how they will be managed and so on.”
The site for
the special facility covers about 27 000m2, between Eloff Street and a new
southward extension of Salisbury Street – which will provide access to the new taxi
and bus ranks. It is bordered on the north by Wemmer Jubilee and on the south by
Stephenson Street and the raised motorway. The western section of this site, with the
Faraday Station in the south-western corner, is owned by Intersite (Metrorail’s
property management company) and its release for incorporation into the redevelopment site
has just been finalised. This will allow implementation to proceed on key design
components that will signal the station as one of the main city gateways and establish a
landscaped public square – just beyond the corner of Eloff Street and Wemmer Jubilee
– to function as a forecourt to the Faraday transport and trading facility.
The balance
of the site, which served formerly as a Putco bus depot, was mainly hard surfaced open
space with a number of workshops and compact, double storey facebrick buildings that
housed administrative offices and ablution and change-room facilities. These buildings are
being recycled for new use.
The old
Putco offices are being transformed into a precinct centre that will provide an
information office for commuters and visitors as well as management and administration
offices. The former change-room building is being reconfigured to serve as the traditional
healers’ consulting rooms. The steel-frame structures of two former workshops have
been dismantled and relocated on the site. Partially enclosed with newly built brick walls
and re-roofed with corrugated iron, they will house some of the muthi traders –
providing a range of stalls and spaces, from 2m2 to 50m2, to suit
different needs and levels of affordability.
New
buildings, which increase the density of trading opportunities on the site, are designed
to respond to observed needs and in ongoing consultation with the traders. They will
provide additional, flexible accommodation for the muthi market and, separately, stalls
for fruit and vegetable and other goods traders and potentially a craft market.
Morojele
explains that in the medicinal trade considerations such as seasonality need to be taken
into account; there may be a great influx of traders into the market when a particular
plant or certain bulbs or roots are harvested. Another variable is the Friday market,
which sees a greater number of traders take up space in the market just once a week. He
also makes the point that a medicinal market like this is an urban phenomenon. “In
rural areas there is no need for a facility like this, nor would one find a group of
healers clustered together as they are here. So there are considerations of privacy and
sanctity that we have sought to respect in the design of the buildings and in their
placement and relationships on the site.”
(The muthi
trade that parallels traditional healing practices re¬mains, essentially, veiled in
mystery. Its economic links to the rural hinterland of KwaZulu-Natal and the continuing
controversy surrounding the harvesting of medicinal plants from the veld are too complex
to record here, but it should be noted that such factors formed part of a separate study
that was commissioned to inform the Faraday Precinct Plan and the design of this special
facility.)
The new
buildings – low rise, robust and largely transparent sheds – are ordered to
frame a network of walkways and open squares, filtering pedestrian movement through the
market area to and from the taxi rank, which is being constructed along the southern edge
of the site, and the bus rank, which is adjacent to the railway station. The market halls
are designed simply as sheltered streets with trading spaces aligned to either side of
thoroughfares – representing the familiar, outdoor, informal trading stands. These
buildings are specifically not monumental, but are conceived rather to be resilient and
flexible as it is likely that, in use, the spaces will be adjusted to meet changing needs.
The taxi
rank is designed at a larger scale. Double volume, steel-framed structures, with boldly
curved corrugated iron roofs, shelter the ranking lanes ordered between pavement
platforms. The building straddles a broad walkway that will link the new market, through
the taxi rank, to the memory of the former trading area once huddled beneath the
underbelly of the motorway. The motorway itself stands as a massive portico along the
southern edge of the new facility.
An important
aspect of the project is the inclusion of artworks. JDA encourages the inclusion of public
artwork in its projects, to a value of no less than 1% of the construction budgets. This
opens opportunities for local artists and offers them a platform for their work. In the
Faraday transport and trading facility, the emphasis will be on functional art – in
bollards, signage, street furniture and hard landscaped surfaces. Curators have been
appointed to source a number of artists working in different media and all the works will
be required to respond to the spirit of the place and celebrate, in some way, the
qualities and characteristics that make Faraday unique.
This first
project lays the groundwork for subsequent phases of the urban design plan which will see
further diversity of use, economic opportunity and intensified activity along the
established transport corridors and an enhanced network of pedestrian routes connecting
the Faraday precinct to the CBD.
Professional team
Client: Johannesburg Development Agency, Metropolitan Trading Company
Programme & project managers: Quansult Management Services, Kagiso Special Places
Architects & urban designers: Albonico & Sack, Architects and Urban
Designers in association with MMA Architects
Quantity surveyors: Hamlyn Gebhardt
Structural, civil & traffic engineers: De Leuw Cather (North)
Electrical engineers: Karabo Engineering
Town planners: APS Plan Africa
Community facilitators: Interfaith Community Development Association
Fire consultants: EG Africa Construction Engineers
Contractors: Nare Construction
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Restoration and skills transfer
Emoyeni,
Parktown Ridge
Emoyeni,
meaning ‘in the wind’ in Zulu, belongs to the Gauteng Provincial Government. It
is a National Monument and features on the Parktown Heritage Trail. In 1997, Gauteng’s
Department of Public Works allocated funds for the repair and extension of what was then a
badly run down building and surrounds, with the objective of using it as a conference
‘bosberaad’ facility. Architect Abraham Thysse says that the budget did not
allow for a serious purist restoration of building and garden but all specifications were
approved by the then National Monuments Council (now the South African Heritage Resources
Agency).
The work
load was spread amongst seven different contractors, and the gardens were identified as a
skills transfer project with landscape architect Rodney Brown providing formal and
hands-on instruction on all aspects of garden construction and maintenance to a team of
emerging women contractors. The intention was to equip the team so that they could tender
on similar projects in the future. The team, EB Singo Construction, has recently been
reappointed to do the maintenance of the now completed gardens at Emoyeni.
Thysse
speaks about the building situated at 15 Jubilee Road in Parktown – designed by
architects Leck and Emley and built in 1905 – as being a fine example of
neo-classical architecture. Leck and Emly also designed the old Corner House in
Johannesburg and the Rand Club. Clive M Chipkin in his book Johannesburg Style calls the
building Late Victorian and Thysse feels that it reflects the Edwardian era, part of the
Late Victorian movement. The house was originally the residence of Henry C Hull, a member
of the Reform Committee and the first Minister of Finance of the Union of South Africa.
Additions to
the house, some highly insensitive, were made over the decades. In the 1970s, the house
was donated to the provincial government and served as the recreation club for the
Johannesburg General Hospital. It was during this period that the formal south garden was
converted into two tennis courts and paved to allow for off-street parking. One of the
misguided improvements was the application of copious coats of white gloss enamel paint to
natural timber panelling. Extra ablution facilities, including an ensemble of pipes and
vents, were added in inappropriate positions and garish green, glass fibre sun-screening
was introduced.
In the words
of the architect: the building is particularly notable from the exterior for its red brick
and white trimmings, and especially the arched northern gables which have been compared to
eyebrows. The building is cleverly placed on the edge of a precipice and is designed on a
north/south axial grid, with oddly split axes. The spectacular view to the north is
thereby optimised. The interior is particularly notable for its ornate timber panelling
and fine anaglyphic ceilings and columns, some of the latter constructed of marble. The
house essentially comprises lavish reception rooms on the ground floor, an elegant
stairway leading to an unusual, central, skylit lobby area and bedrooms above. On the west
side, the service wing is of less grandiose proportions.
Unlike many
other grand houses of the era, Emoyeni survived demolition during the building of the M1
motorway and the Johannesburg Hospital, and was subsequently declared a National Monument.
When the decision was made in 1997 to restore/renovate the facility so that it could serve
as an upgraded conference centre, the Monuments Council expressed the opinion that it was
preferable to construct an entirely new wing to the house to accommodate an industrial
kitchen, rather than do substantial alteration to the building. Thysse comments: “Our
intention has been to distinguish new work from existing in a non-competitive mode.”
The brief
from Province was to restore the existing buildings where possible and to add modern
facilities of a design sensitive to the existing structure. The extension of the facility
allowed for new guest, boardroom and kitchen facilities for the use of any Department or
Directorate within the provincial service. The intention was to use the facility for
formal meetings and seminars, as well as recreation. The project had to carry the sanction
of the National Monuments Council in all respects.
Garden interpretation
Emoyeni has two distinct gardens, to the south is a formal garden and to the
north on the steep, rocky slope of the Parktown Ridge is an informal garden. The north
garden was originally laid out in an organic Gertrude Jeckyll idiom. Elements of the
original layout were uncovered, as were vestiges of garden structures, as the undergrowth
was cleared away and this helped, as did an old photograph taken in the ’40s, in the
attempt to return the garden as closely to the original as possible – without a
singularly purist approach. Brown said the restoration work was done to retain the
structure and informality within the existing pathways and steps in the koppie, which had
to be stabilised so that they were functional once again. Most of the large Pines,
Eucalypts and Jacarandas were retained to capture the original ambience, along with
existing highveld shrubs and trees that had grown there naturally.
The informal
garden was in a serious state of disrepair at the start of the restoration contract,
overgrown by invasive aliens and it had been used as a refuse dump. Bricks, slurry, dead
plants, tins and bottles were removed from the site. The cliffside was covered in the
invasive Morning Glory creeper and other invaders in evidence were Bugweed, Lantana,
Mulberries and Syringas. When eradication work began, the roots of the Morning Glory were
disturbed and the leaves sprayed with an environmentally friendly herbicide. As the stems
dried up, it was relatively easy, although time consuming, to pull the plants out. Large
Agave americana had to be dug out roots and all, and Mulberries sawed back and taken out.
The Lantana persisted in coppicing after it was cut down and follow-up work had to be
done. Over five hundred cubic metres of garden and other refuse were removed from the
north garden.
Many of the
plants used for the restoration were donated by the plant brokerage, Plantwise. The
embankments were covered in hardy shrubs such as Buddleja saligna, Pavetta lanceolata,
Bauhinia galpinii, Mackaya bella and Tecomaria capensis. The basic irrigation system put
in to ensure the establishment of the plants will not continue to be used at later stages
because the area has been designed as a ‘waterless’ garden. Brown strove to keep
a domestic image – a closer relationship with the micro-landscape – in the
flower beds along the lawned terrace below the slope, utilising indigenous bulbs, annuals
and other colourful flowering plants.
The terraces
adjacent to the house overlooking the informal garden and the distant view of the
Magaliesberg were returned to lawn (they had been converted to terrazzo tile in the ’70s)
with an apron of slate tiles to enable wheelchair access. On the periphery of the narrow
terraces, the walls above the cliffside are still the original ones, made of stone from
the site, as are the ornamental urns.
On the south
side, the original property extended through to Jubilee Road with a driveway coming up
past the stables and turning in front of the residence. This area of converted stables
(used as a provincial horticultural depot) and swimming pool (still being utilised by the
General Hospital) has been cordoned off and was not included in the restoration: which
meant, as Brown points out, that a purist restoration would never have been possible.
Again Brown worked from one photograph, also taken in the ’40s, to help with an
interpretation of the formal garden.
The second
tennis court was demolished and a section of the drive¬way was restored to its original
position relative to the old driveway past the stables, in an attempt to recreate the old
proportions. The hedged lawns were reinstated and use was made of roses and hydrangeas and
the May bush – all those involved in the project were invited to donate a rose and at
the time the Avril Elizabeth rose, apricot coloured, had just been released by Ludwigs
– with money made from the sale of these roses being donated to the Avril Elizabeth
Home. This was considered an appropriate rose to donate to Emoyeni.
“Generally
the proportions of the old formal garden were reinstated – the height of the hedges and other rhythms. We used
plants that would have been popular at that time. The pergola was dilapidated but we saved
the columns that were in reasonable condition and rebuilt the pergola according to the
original design, lifting it slightly to accommodate changed levels in the garden. The
level change was necessary to accommodate more efficient drainage. The roof which was in
bad condition had to be reclad in steel. The new gazebo adjacent to the tennis court was
based on a design thought to be similar to the old tennis house, although there were no
plans of this structure,” explains Brown.
Skills transfer
The client identified the garden restoration as an appropriate skills
trans¬fer project and Brown, with the assistance of Jean Schutz and Leyden Ward of
Soroptimist Inter¬national (Johannesburg) who helped to facilitate the meetings through
their society’s contacts, introduced the project to community leaders in Dieploot
West, which was the underprivileged area identified for the sourcing of unemployed,
unskilled women for the implementation of the garden project.
The
community leaders chose appropriate women and Brown and Thysse set some clear parameters
– absolute commitment to the project was a necessity. It was made clear to them that
a real interest in the work was important because the education given them would serve to
establish them in a career in landscaping. Brown explained that it was a learning process
and that they would be remunerated for the work and trained simultaneously. A team of
eight was chosen and landscape technologist Billith Mosamela initially served as site
manager and assisted Brown in the training to gain the practical experience he required
for his technikon qualification.
Brown says
that the limited budget was very strictly controlled and that the trainees were taught the
need for re-use and recycling as environmentally and economically sound principles in
their formal lectures. Agapanthus and Wild Iris, already prevalent on site, were split up
and bagged for re-use – and cuttings were made and planted as part of their training.
The team was taught paving skills and existing paving that was in disrepair was taken home
and used in Diepsloot, as were some plants that were not required for the restoration.
They were taught the principles of water wise gardening and learnt that many indigenous
plants have low water requirements, and they put these principles into practice on site.
All the watering in the formal garden was done by hand, while the informal garden was
designed to be self-sustaining, after establishment.
The
extensive removal of invasive plants from the overgrown northern garden required in situ
training on eradication techniques, along with lectures on the harm that can be done by
such plants. The contractor or manager of the team, Elizabeth Singo, showed her keen
interest by clipping out an article on the invasive properties of the Syringa from the
Star newspaper. This was Singo’s first construction project as a main contractor, she
had worked on pipe laying as a sub-contractor in the past, and she also received basic
training in management, bookkeeping and administration. Brown conducted the formal
lectures in a room in the hospital, in his private time. The tools and overalls supplied
for the contract were given to each individual gardener to keep as her own, and great care
was taken to keep the equipment in good condition.
Soroptimist
International, a women’s service organisation, had been involved with the Adult
Education Centre at Diepsloot West and knew members of the community. Schutz says that
during the actual implementation phase of the gardens at Emoyeni, she merely acted as an
observer and reported back to the Soroptimists. She calls the project a long, tough job
but ultimately a wonderful success story. She has been impressed with the total dedication
the women have shown to the job, their very real interest and how much they have learnt.
“Elizabeth
has led by example, she has worked every step of the way alongside her team, felling trees
and moving rocks. Initially water had to be carried by hand into the north garden and
there was no lawn mower, so the grass had to be cut by hand. They found nests of bees and
the occasional snake and had, initially, to walk through undergrowth that was chest high.
One had to scramble down the rock face as the paths and steps were not visible. They
cleared away a mountain of broken glass. I would like to commend in the very highest terms
what has happened here,” Schutz concludes emphatically.
Professional Team
Client: Dept of Public Works, Gauteng
Architect and project manager: Abraham G Thysse
Departmental architect: Karel van Graan
Landscape architect: Rodney Brown
Quantity surveyors: Van Niekerk & Kellerman
Structural engineers: Von Geyso Consulting Engineers
Electrical engineers: Dept of Public Works, Gauteng
Mechanical engineers: Dept of Public Works, Gauteng
Contractors
Extensions: Zama Zama Construction
Guard house, walls and gazebos: Devon Construction
Equipping of kitchen: Vuka Catering Supplies
Lift installation: Hands On Lifts
Renovation of exterior: AJK Construction
Renovation of interior: GVK Siya Zama
Landscape contractor: E B Singo Construction |
