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MEC Anton Bredell presents Western Cape of Local Government Annual Report 2021/22

Department of Local Government provides crucial support to municipalities.  

Anton Bredell, Western Cape Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning presented the Annual Report for the Department of Local Government (DLG) for 2021/22 in the Provincial Parliament today.

“The DLG performed exemplary during the year under review.  This is evident in the fact that most of the councils in the Western Cape are stable, with critical positions, such as Municipal Managers, filled with competent staff, and basic services being delivered to residents throughout the Province,” Bredell said.

Bredell said the DLG was instrumental in making government accessible to citizens with its Thusong Centres. “1.3 million people accessed government through Thusong Centres throughout the province during the past year. Given our large rural areas, this service has proven to be invaluable in our efforts to bring government closer to the people.”

Progress was also made with the Joint District and Metro Approach (JDMA) initiative, which provides a framework for different spheres of government to plan and work together in a collaborative manner. Projects successfully developed include:

  • High mast lighting installed in Grabouw, with a reduction in the crime rate by 15 % within the 3 months after installation, according to crime statistics from the South African Police Service.
  • In the Cape Winelands District Municipality, a new Thusong Satellite Centre was built and equipped, creating a hub for the youth to have a safe place to gather and develop skills within the De Doorns area. This was done with the financial support from private sector partners Santam and Sasria of R4.5million.
  • In the Overberg District Municipality, a network of safe houses and soup kitchens are being established to provide safe spaces for woman, children, and vulnerable people.
     

Bredell said that all indications point to continuous population growth in the Western Cape. “These new citizens will reside in municipalities, and it is the responsibility of local authorities to plan and invest in infrastructure to meet the demand for basic services to all its residents. If managed well and planned for, more people will result in more opportunities for economic development and job creation.”

Bredell said the local government elections from 2021 resulted in several coalition councils, and this presented new challenges in terms of municipal oversight and governance responsibilities. “It is crucial that councillors understand the difference between being an elected councillor, in contrast to an appointed official working in the administration of a municipality. When these roles are blurred, we encounter problems with accountability, financial management and weak service delivery,” Bredell said.

Bredell thanked the Disaster Risk Management unit for the work it did during the floods in KwaZulu Natal (KZN). “Thank you for your unselfish, brave, and professional conduct in KZN. It not only me saying this. MEC Hlomuka, the KZN MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs came to visit us personally earlier this year to thank the whole team.”

Source: Government of South Africa

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Western Cape Government adopts Inclusionary Housing Policy

A ground-breaking Inclusionary Housing Policy Framework, developed by the Western Cape Government, has been approved. This Policy Framework will help municipalities in the Western Cape to facilitate the inclusion of more affordable housing units in developments in our urban centres. This will be done in partnership with the private sector, creating more opportunities for people to live in better locations.

 Anton Bredell, Western Cape Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, said the provincial government is working hard to tackle the challenge of housing and spatial inequality. “We want more affordable and inclusionary housing in well-located areas within our municipalities. Lower income households and lower to middle income households, including many of our essential workers, need easier access to economic opportunities and social amenities in our towns and cities. This is the foundation upon which the province has based its innovative new policy.”

The Policy Framework explains what inclusionary housing is, how it can support spatial transformation, where it can be utilised in the province, what the processes to follow are, who is responsible for what, and what the various policy considerations are.

Bredell said: “The introduction of inclusionary housing is complex, and it involves several role-players and stakeholders with consequences which are difficult to predict. There are currently no tried and tested models of inclusionary housing in South Africa to learn from. However, for the Western Cape Government the need to transform our cities and towns is non-negotiable. We are determined to be bold, whilst recognising the risks and uncertainties. It is not only a question of spatial transformation but also of economic growth. While not the only mechanism to promote well located affordable housing, this Policy Framework is an important first step for inclusionary housing and will most certainly evolve over time. We will look to municipalities, developers, landowners, civil society, academia, and non-governmental organisations to contribute towards its improvement as we build a body of evidence,” Bredell said. The Policy can be downloaded at: https://tinyurl.com/WCInclusionaryHousing

Source: Government of South Africa

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Ramaphosa Says Number of Women Murdered in South Africa Up 50%

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, at a summit on gender-based violence in the country, said murders of women jumped by 50% this year and called for action to stop the trend. Experts say his government’s efforts are falling short.

“It is a story of a nation that is seemingly at war with itself … a nation that is at war with the women of this country and the children of this country,” Ramaphosa said this week as he addressed the summit.

National police reported 1,753 women were murdered in just the first half of this year.

M, whose name is being withheld for her safety, said she thought she’d become one of those statistics when her ex-boyfriend imprisoned her and her daughter in his apartment for months.

“I had to beg for my life,” she said. “And then I told him, ‘You know what, I’ll never ever annoy you with the thing of wanting to go home. You know what, you can do whatever you want to do with me. I’m all yours. Please, please spare me my life because I still have daughter to raise.’”

M had met her boyfriend online. She said at first, he was sweet, and the relationship was ordinary.

But once she had been staying with him for a prolonged period, he turned on her and became violent, subjecting her to physical and sexual abuse.

M said she later learned she wasn’t his only victim.

“I even discovered that he had murdered another girl,” she said, “He murdered his girlfriend, his previous girlfriend. There are other victims that he had. … So, I was not the second [survivor of abuse], I was not the third. Maybe he’s been doing that, and then I was the next victim. He was going to kill me also and then get another victim.”

M and her daughter are now safely staying at a women’s shelter.

They had managed to escape in July when her partner forgot his cellphone at home, giving her a rare opportunity to call the police.

As she waits for her case to make it to the courts, M said she wants other women like her to know there is help available.

Vanita Daniels, administrative director for the nonprofit Rise Up Against Gender-Based Violence, said there are droves of women seeking help.

“We are almost five times the international average for femicide — it’s horrendous, those numbers,” she said. “It’s a cause for great concern, especially when we are not, you know, a war-torn country. We’ve had survivors that had to leave their homes with absolutely nothing except the clothes on their backs. And so, they go into a shelter space, and they need everything.”

Despite it being four years since the inaugural presidential summit on gender-based violence, nonprofits supporting survivors say there are still shortfalls in funding and resources from government to meet those needs.

“We on the ground are asking the president what has gone wrong,” said Lisha Stevens, a social worker with Nisaa Institute for Women’s Development in Johannesburg.

“Where have they not assisted? Why are they not reaching a minimum target in gender-based violence deaths? Government needs to intervene, give us a budget, so that we can equip and empower these women.”

Both experts agree that in addition to supporting women fleeing violence, there need to be greater efforts to prevent it in the first place.

Daniels said that requires a societal overhaul in how men and women are treated and valued.

“One of the things that we are not tackling in this country effectively is issues around culture, issues around religion, issues around harmful patriarchal practice,” she said. “And so, one of the things that we do as an organization, we do behavioral change programs, and we work specifically with men because we believe in prevention.”

Women’s rights advocates say laws and policies have improved to protect survivors and that the next step is better enforcement.

Source: Voice of America

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South Africa: Do right by women and children, urges minister Zulu

JOHANNESBURG, Nov 3 (NNN-SANEWS) — Social Development Minister, Lindiwe Zulu, has challenged South Africa citizens to hold unresponsive officials accountable when dealing with the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF).

“We are here because we need to hold each other accountable. We need to pull our energies together and make sure that we do the right thing by the women of South Africa in ending GBVF,” Zulu said.

To solve the problem, principals need to go house to house, street to street and community to community to get to the root causes of GBVF, she said on the second day of the Presidential Summit on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide held in Midrand.

Highlighting some progress registered by the department in the implementation of the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (NSP on GBV), Zulu said through the services of the Gender-Based Violence Command Centre, the department continues to be accessible to victims of gender-based violence across the country.

She said throughout the COVID-19 lockdown period, the centre reached 184,462 clients, compared to the 2019/20 financial year, where 61,573 clients were reached.

“The Gender-Based Violence Command Centre continues to provide gender-based violence victims with holistic services, such as psychosocial counselling, on a 24/7 basis. Between April 2021 and March 2022, 70,353 people accessed these services,” Zulu said.

The department has also deployed a total of 100 GBVF ambassadors in hotspots to conduct education and awareness campaigns. These include the employment of 250 social workers focusing on GBVF.

Regarding funding for non-profit organisations, the Minister said through the inter-governmental MinMEC processes, the department has developed and approved the Sector Funding Policy, which puts in place mechanisms to facilitate planning, prioritisation, programme targeting and budgeting.

In addition, the department is currently developing the NPO Online Funding System, which complements the funding policy and addresses the delays in the processing of transfers to NPOs.

“The online funding system will automate our NPO-funding application processes. When fully implemented, the system will initially complement the manual application process. However, over time, it will become the preferred mode of applying for funds by NPOs,” the Minister said.

She said a total of 963 NPOs are registered as rendering victim empowerment services and are supported by 1,238 NPOs that are registered as providing family services.

Zulu said all the registered NPOs are accountable in terms of the NPO Act, and 60% of them are not compliant with the NPO Act, as they do not submit their annual reports, due to non-filing.

Meanwhile, 30 properties were identified across the country as suitable for GBV shelters, with the majority of them implemented by civil society organisations funded by the department.

A total of 146 organisations, including the National Institute Community Development and Management, Lifeline SA and the National Shelter Movement, are funded by the department at a cost of approximately R191 million.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

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South Africa: Police discover bodies of 19 drowned illegal miners

JOHANNESBURG, Nov 3 (NNN-ALLAFRICA) — Gauteng police have confirmed that bodies of 19 suspected zamazamas (illegal miners) have been discovered in Krugersdorp, a mining town west of Johannesburg.

Sources on the scene said that the men drowned while working in the mines and their bodies were retrieved from the water by other zamazamas — which means “those who try their luck” in Zulu — who informed the police about the incident.

The source said that when the authorities arrived at the scene, the bodies had already been removed from the mine.

Gauteng police spokesperson Brigadier Brenda Muridili said the Krugersdorp police are investigating the deaths of the zamazamas.

“The Police in Gauteng can confirm that on 2 November 2022 at about 15:00, members from SAPS Krugersdorp responded to a call following the discovery of 19 bodies of alleged illegal miners in one of the active mines in the area.”

Brigadier Muridili said preliminary investigations suggest that the deceased were moved to the place where they were discovered.

No foul play is suspected at this stage and post-mortems will determine the cause of death.

“All the necessary role players were summoned to the scene. An inquest docket has been registered for further investigation,” said Brigadier Muridili.

Zamazamas working in Krugersdorp have been making headlines recently.

In July, 20 zamazamas allegedly robbed and gang raped eight women who were part of a gospel music video shoot.

Police descended on the area and arrested several zamazamas, claiming that they were cleaning the area of illegal miners.

In September, the police ministry said it was encouraged by the great strides made in improving the safety and security of residents in Krugersdorp since the deployment of specialised SAPS units to the area, curbing illegal mining.

In October, rape charges against the 14 men arrested in connection with the gang rape were withdrawn in the Krugersdorp Magistrate’s Court when it was found that the DNA evidence taken from the suspects did not implicate them.

The withdrawal of the charges caused widespread national outrage, particularly at the incompetence with which the police handled the case.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

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Police: 21 Bodies Found at Mine in South Africa

South African police are investigating the discovery of at least 21 bodies suspected of being illegal miners and found near an active mine in the town of Krugersdorp, west of Johannesburg.

According to police, 19 bodies were discovered on Wednesday afternoon and two more were discovered on Thursday morning. Police said they suspect that the bodies were moved to the location where they were found, which is a privately-owned mine.

“We can confirm that this morning our search and rescue team went back to the scene and, as they were searching, they discovered two more bodies. They retrieved them from an open (mine) shaft,” police spokeswoman Brenda Muridili said Thursday.

The grim discovery is the latest in a series of incidents related to illegal mining in the Krugersdorp area. In July, eight female members of a film crew were raped and robbed at an abandoned mine in the area, where they were working on a music video shoot.

The incident sparked violent protests against illegal miners in surrounding communities.

Last week, rape and robbery charges against 14 men, who are also suspected of being illegal miners, were withdrawn after police couldn’t link them to the rapes through DNA evidence. The men were arrested during police raids on the abandoned mine where the rapes took place.

Illegal mining is rife in South Africa, with miners known locally as “zama zamas” searching for gold at the many disused and abandoned mines in and around the Johannesburg region. Krugersdorp is a mining town on the western edges of Johannesburg.

Illegal mining gangs are considered dangerous by the police, are usually armed and are known to fight violent turf battles with rival groups. The trade is believed to be dominated by immigrants who enter illegally from neighboring countries Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

The 14 men who had rape and robbery charges against them dropped are accused of being in South Africa illegally and have been charged with immigration offenses.

Source: Voice of America