AGM Chair Report

WELCOME TO ALL.

Firstly, a big thank you to Maree Brink and the Bay Hotel who are always most generous with their hospitality –and special thanks here to the Bay’s coordinator, Grant and his team, for all of the arrangements.

To Mary & Brian Lloyd, who look after the membership table, my sincere thanks for your tireless efforts.

I’d like to extend a special welcome to our guest speakers tonight:

Dr Jo Barnes, Rogeria Viana and Tommy van Zyl

Also, a warm welcome to one of our Councillors, Marga Haywood. Our other Cllr, Jacques Weber has sent his apologies and cannot make it tonight due to bereavement in his family. It would have been informative to have Jacques here tonight but circumstances have dictated otherwise.
Marga, if she arrives, will give a short address on matters pertaining to CB. As always, this is also an opportunity for you to address her on issues that are of concern to you, the ratepayers of Camps Bay.

APOLOGIES

Brenda Getz, Paddy Walker, Chair CBOA, Tony & Pru Hare, Ann Caras, Trudi Groenewald

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Since our last meeting a few months back, I must report that, sadly, 2 of our members have passed away. Arthur Shephard, whose endeavours and dedication to all matters Camps Bay – but particularly the Little Glen project – will be greatly missed for his wonderful personality and tireless efforts on behalf of this community. The CBRRA has proposed that the Little Glen be renamed in his honour and the process is underway with the City. The last that we heard from the City was that a petition would also be required over and above the CBRRA motivation. Alma Horn is dealing with this matter and will inform the community as she receives info from the City.
An extremely well-attended celebration of Arthur’s life was held at this venue a couple of months ago.

Sadly, I must also inform you that Gavin McArthur, born, raised and until recently, a long time resident of CB and member of the CBRRA passed away last week after a long fight with illness. Gavin was very supportive of CBRRA and used to arrange for our printing requirements – especially the street posters when we still used them. Hamba Kahle old friend and our sincere condolences to his sister, Ann Caras, who has also served the CBRRA Manco tirelessly over the years.

On a happier note, albeit a bittersweet one, I must report that John Powell, after over 30 years of dedicated service to this community through the CBRRA has decided to retire. It would be impossible to even begin to describe the incredible effort that John has put into the preservation and progress of this community. Most of the hard work was unsung and often unnoticed but that didn’t deter John from pursuing the cause.
I will place a more detailed CV of John’s achievements on the blog shortly but we wish John and his wife Kay a long and happy retirement and remain in their debt forever. To make sure that he doesn’t slow down in his retirement, John has recently undergone a hip replacement operation and I’m happy to report that all is going well and John should be beetling around soon.

The minutes of the previous public meeting were posted on the blog and I would like to ask if there are any notes or objections from the floor?


TONIGHT, FROM THE CHAIR:

We have 2 of the most serious matters in CBRRA history to report on tonight, viz:
The proposed Clifton Development and the quality of the seawater in Camps Bay, with particular reference to the latest application by the City to continue with its marine outfall systems, which are basically in Hout Bay, CB and Mouille Point. These 2 matters, particularly in terms of bulk services, are intertwined.

So, we have a busy meeting tonight and I would also like to touch on the recent ruling out of the WC High Court in the bowling club/prep school matter.

It is also our AGM, so we will be asking for nominations from the floor for people to serve on Manco. All volunteers are welcome and a working knowledge of planning and the legal requirements thereto will be an added bonus. So please make yourselves available when we call for nominations.

(SLIDE OF MANCO MEMBERS)

The Manco thus is made up of the following members:

Chris Willemse (Chair) - Ward Committee (74) and Planning
Richard Bendel (Vice Chair) - Membership and Finance
Brenda Herbert - Planning and Events and CPF
Johan van Papendorp – Planning & Environmental
Gus Millner - Membership
Alma Horn - Membership and PR
Helet Merkling - Clifton
Byron Herbert - Beach and Events
Neil Gardner - Planning
Eban Tucker – Local affairs

Please can you indicate your willingness to stand for Manco election.

We would also like to ascertain how the community reacts to our advertising:
Surface mail
E-mail

THE SEAWATER QUALITY IN CAMPS BAY

The City was recently required by the DEA, in terms of the Integrated Coastal Management Act, to obtain a permit to discharge raw sewage through its various marine outfall stations along the Atlantic seaboard.
Of course, this has been occurring for years now despite the protests from academics in this field and environmentalists.
However, the public participation process that this requires has focused the community’s attention on this matter and I’m delighted to welcome Dr Jo Barnes to address this issue and alert you to the dangers and reality of sewage being pumped into the bay of Camps Bay.

Dr Jo Barnes is an epidemiologist and senior lecturer in Community Health at the Stellenbosch University Faculty of Health Sciences. Dr Barnes, who is, amongst others, a recipient of the Order of the Disa of the Western Cape Province, and an associate of the SU Water Institute.

Dr Barnes, I thank you for giving of your valuable time to address us tonight.

CLEANING OF CAMPS BAY BEACH - METHODS & BENEFITS - Rogeria Viana –  MD of Beach Clean Services South Africa

INTRODUCTION TO AFRIFORUM  - Tommy Van Zyl Chairman – Afriforum Western Cape

THE PROPOSED CLIFTON DEVELOPMENT

I’m sure that many here tonight are keen to be updated on the proposed Clifton development.
I want to preface my remarks, and those of other CBRRA Manco members, with the following:
The CBRRA is not a political organization. It is a civic-based association, which deals with local and City matters on behalf of the community constituency, which gives it its mandate.
However, having said that, the CBRRA has to deal with the City on a daily basis – both the political representatives and parties, and the officials – and it is therefore our duty to report back to you as to how these interactions are or have proceeded.
And whereas we have very good relations with the City on a number of fronts, when it comes to property, land usage and planning decisions, we are finding it extremely difficult to deal with the DA-led administration of the City. We are finding that the commitment to transparency and due process appears to be merely lip service and a box-ticking exercise. Whilst Mayor de Lille and her deputy Ian Neilson tell all and sundry that all processes are above board, we are discovering a clever network of manipulation that is intended to serve the DA and their friends in the development industry – all at the expense of the citizens of CT. Now this is clearly a bold statement, so allow me to give a few examples:
An application was made recently for a large restaurant in Noordhoek. This application was opposed by the local ratepayers and recommended for refusal by both the officials and the political committee (the SPELUM committee). So it should have ended there. But no, disregarding the entire specialist input and concerns of the community, Mayor de Lille simply authorised the project using her executive power. This is how the system now works! The attempted development of the Philippi Horticultural Area is another example.
The mayor’s attempted manipulation of the Bowling Club/ Prep School matter had to be overturned by a High Court judge. We’ll deal with the merits of the case shortly, but it has to be unacceptable that a high court judge finds that the Mayor and her mayoral committee take decisions that are unconstitutional, unreasonable and basically ill-considered – whilst ignoring due process. Obviously, one’s reactions to politicians are ultimately decided at the voting booth but we have to deal with what is there and it is important that we make it clear to this administration that we will not tolerate their obfuscations that are all intended to deprive the citizens of CT of their rightful amenities – whether it is the Princess Vlei debacle (where the City had to back down in the face of public outrage) or the City’s land grab at the bowling club or this latest high rolling attempt to turn a protected piece of scarce public open space land into a playground for the rich.

The City presented its plan at our last meeting and the residents voted unanimously to reject the proposal. Since then, there have been separate local meetings with the CBRRA, the Glen CC, the High School, the CPF, Clifton Tennis etc.
And every time the plan changes, and becomes a larger proposal…
In print and on air, Deputy Mayor Neilson has informed the citizens of Cape Town that the City is listening to the community and, in fact, implementing the recommendations. This is highly surprising, as these comments were made before either the CBRRA or the CBOA had responded to any proposal. For public participation, read “the City will now tell you what and how it’s going to happen”.

I will try to explain what is happening and what the concerns are with this project:

Firstly, as you probably all know, the City intends selling off the piece of land from the ridge in Clifton to Glen Beach for private development – about 7,5ha. The initial reasons given were that the buildings were dilapidated and that the residents needed additional garaging.
To unpack this, let me confirm that the major building on the land is the Glen CC and that it is in exceptional condition – with major money annually spent by that club on on-going maintenance. As to the parking garages used by Clifton residents, they are in a terrible state of disrepair – but the City owns these structures and is responsible for the maintenance!
And, the CBOA has been requesting their upgrade for over 10 years – all  to no avail. More importantly, the CBOA have confirmed that they have not requested additional garages, just the repairs to the existing. There has certainly not been any request the existing 60 garages to be upgraded to an almost 800 parking bay garage. To put this in perspective, the Gardens Centre, which is a massive centre, has 600 parking bays.

Secondly, the public participation process is simply a sham. No matter what input is made, the proposal just grows and grows. The City is conducting a box ticking exercise and the lack of transparency is disgraceful, in our opinion.

Thirdly, the City is extremely vague on how it proposes to sell off the land. It can do it 2 ways, both with problems.
On the one hand, it can simply sell the land as is, encumbered with its current zoning and restrictions. That’s easy enough but obviously the land will realize a fraction of its real value. Also, the City will then be judge and jury over the re-zoning process from which it stands to make millions of Rands in terms of rates etc. This is also a process that could lead to wholescale corruption.
On the other hand, the City could go through all due processes and have the land zoned and entitled to the proposed development. The problem that the City faces with this option is that the legal processes might reject the proposal in the first instance – remembering that this is an independently conducted, professional, public process. So the City is not very keen on that option and keeps repeating that the EIA, TIA, Heritage studies and all the other processes “will be done in due course”. It is almost incredible that the City did not start this whole process with those assessments. In fact, without the findings of these studies, asking for a public participation process is flawed in the first place. How do you make sensible suggestions when you are not in possession of all of the facts! It is like saying that you must give your opinion on a proposal and then being given a blank page!
It is imperative that the City embarks upon all necessary investigations and assessments and then proceed with the public participation process.
Not only is the only sensible and legitimate approach, if the this process does result in the land being sold for development, the City can realize about R850m more for the land, which is not bad for a couple of million rand spent on the process!
But do remember, once the land is sold off, it’s not ours anymore and anything can happen on the land. A further implication is that once sold, the private developer can, if unsuccessful with the rezoning application, simply let the land go to rack and ruin. This will then be ideal for squatters to move in, which puts pressure back on the ratepayers to agree to anything that the developer requests. This is, of course, an old strategy.

Lastly, and also very importantly, how will the City manage the development phase of this proposal if it does indeed go ahead?
How will they compel the new owner of a piece of land - that they sold –
to follow the envisaged proposal? The City cannot even keep to its current Zoning scheme regulations and routinely gives departures from the Scheme despite the protests of neighbours and civics. Every bungalow on Clifton, Glen Beach and Bakoven has a unique Maximum Development Envelope (MDE) registered over it – by the City. And every month applications are approved by the City to amend these MDE’s. In fact, a group of owners in Bakoven have launched a High Court challenge against one such decision in Beta Rd, Bakoven, which has resulted in our councilors in the local Good Hope Sub council being at loggerheads with each other. Read the latest Mail and Guardian to find out more about this.

In any event, it would be practically impossible to control every building on the land, so once the land is sold, whatever the developer wants to do, will in all likelihood happen. And that’s not good for the environment.
At the last chaotic meeting that the City attempted to hold at the High School (without proper notice being given in terms of the law), a very prominent developer stood up and said of the architectural plans for this proposal: “It all looks very good but it will never be developed this way” – in other words, the developer will change things to suit financial viability and the City will wring its hands and tell us that it is private land now and due process must follow; which is its way of telling us that it will approve whatever the developer wants regardless of public input, as happens at every Subcouncil meeting, Spelum meeting and Mayoral meeting on a monthly basis.
Can one really expect this leopard to change its spots ???
There is a further aspect of this proposal that needs to be aired in terms of the entire city and its many groupings. The City has strongly defended itself against the allegation that Maidens’ Cove will no longer be accessible to the many previously discriminated against citizens of this city and for which it has such a strong heritage and meaning.
So, and I simply put this to you, about 34 bungalows costing about R40m each are going to be built on the perimeter of a picnic and braai area that offers free access to the public. Really, how long do you think that will last?

So what do we do about this?
The CBRRA and the CBOA are strategizing a meaningful opposition to this proposal. We are joined by many other groupings and civics across the City.
The CBRRA has opened a bank account, which is dedicated to this opposition and any necessary litigation that may follow. The account allows for donations to be tax deductible and the details will go onto the BlogSpot. Just Google campsbayratepayers and you’ll get there.
If we want to preserve our precious resources of public space and amenity, we have to get involved. We’re up against big money developers and a political party that is largely sponsored by that industry.
But we have right on our side and the united voice of the people always triumphs in the end! But a certain amount of money is required to achieve this.
And our objective: To ensure that the land remains in the hands of its citizens, ratepayers and tourists to enjoy as it was intended – an unspoilt recreational and sporting area. We have also had offers from various professional architectural teams that see this area as a formal park – in line with the beautiful Green Point Park on the Common. Now that is a worthwhile vision and one of which we should all get behind.


The website is SOSClifton.org.

The Camps Bay Prep School expansion onto the bowling club land has been discussed extensively over the past few years and raised at our previous public meetings. There has been quite a lot of activity in this matter recently, mainly the judgment that came out of the WC High Court a few weeks back.
Basically, the City had approved a decision by the Mayor to summarily cancel the Club’s lease and allow the school to use the land for sporting purposes (note, not educational purposes, as this would require a re-zoning). The Club applied to the court to have this decision reviewed and set aside. The court found in the favour of the Club, with you, the ratepayers, picking up the tab for the costs incurred by the City.
The judge ruled that the City had acted in an unconstitutional and ultra vires (beyond its own powers) manner, ignored due process and basically messed up on many fronts. This is disgraceful – poor decision-making is one thing but being unable to act within the law is another.
And it boils down to one issue again. The City want the land to sell off for development, so what better way than to give it to the school for a restricted, non-renewable period and then sell off the land (rezoned by others away from public space) to a developer. We will ultimately lose all our space – the bowling club, tennis courts and soccer fields – if we do not stand up to the rapacious development policies of this City.

This issue, as the CBRRA has been saying for years now, must be resolved by a workable agreement between the school and the sporting club. This agreement must have the support of the community and should then be taken to the City as a sensible, sustainable and proper solution to which the City will have to give a secure lease that is renewable and of sufficient term to be reasonable.
The CBRRA will continue to facilitate this process with the relevant parties.

CLLRS’ REPORT-BACK

Marga Haywood

CAMPS BAY DRIVE UPDATE

Richard Bendel

FINANCE

Richard Bendel

MATTERS ARISING.

CLOSE


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Don't turn Clifton heritage site into just another wealthy white suburb: Albie Sachs

Don't turn Clifton heritage site into just another wealthy white suburb: Albie Sachs

Albie Sachs | 09 September, 2015 11:59

Maidens Cove, between Clifton and Camps Bay, was the only place on the Atlantic coastline where people of colour could braai in the 1970s. The city put a fence around it.
Image by: CLIFTONPICS.CO.ZA

I have an interest in this Clifton development. It's not just that I have a bungalow here.

When I came back from exile in 1990 and arrived at the airport I was asked where I wanted to go. If I went to my mother I would have gone to Gardens, which is a white area of Cape Town. If I went to Dullah and Farieda Omar I'd have headed for Rylands on the Cape Flats. If I went to Bulelani Ngcuka, I'd be going to Guguletu.

I felt that by making that choice, I would be making a decision about who I was and which city I wanted to go to. I couldn't bear to go to white South Africa - I didn't want to be a rebel in white Cape Town.

So I spent my first few visits with Dullah and Farieda. And then, slowly, I began to feel free to return to Clifton, where I had grown up.

Clifton was always something of an alternative area. It had a special quality. My mother used to say: "Tidy up, Uncle Moses is coming." She was the typist for Moses Kotane. My brother and I would pack away our toys in the bungalow basement.

Uncle Moses stayed in a flat in Clifton with Eddie Roux, the biologist and activist. Brian and Sonia Bunting had a house here and they had parties every New Year. For a day and a night people from the Flats and the townships would come to dance away the hours with defiant, multiracial joy.

It's not a surprise that David and Susan Rabkin had a little underground unit in a flat. Not only did the waves cover the sound of the duplicator, it was a less hostile area.

Len Lee-Warden, publisher of the New Age newspaper and a Treason Trialist, was arrested there. Then there were the Sestigers - the rebel Afrikaans writers who used to gather on 2nd Beach. Uys Krige, Jack Cope and Ingrid Jonker were the centre of that.

[Len Lee-Warden's story can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNPsnruC4mY]

Liberals like Gerald Gordon and Randolph Vigne were raided by the security police. And there were many gay people living here who felt less likely to be punished for expressing their sexuality.

Then Maiden's Cove, a tiny toehold to the only spot on the Atlantic coastline where people of colour could come. Not only for Christmas and New Year but throughout the year, to let their kids swim and to braai. The city put a fence around it, which is still evident. And Jews who couldn't go to Kelvin Grove were also allowed to patronise a club in what was seen as the "gat kant" of the city. But it was beautiful because it was not built up. Nature ruled, OK?

Shortly after my return from exile I was asked to speak at an architectural conference in Durban on healing our cities. Helen Zille helped me prepare my speech. We highlighted the importance of knitting together what apartheid had put asunder, emphasising the need for more public parks and recreational spaces for the majority.

Has Helen now considered this precious provincial heritage site as a perfect example of what we had in mind? And why do we hear only about getting ready for developers, and not from the city planners themselves? Why is the cart put before the horse? Why a dubious council decision to sell to private developers with no published land use, environmental, traffic or sewage reports? Why are normal procedures bypassed, everything rushed through under direct mayoral control, sidestepping normal forms of planning and zoning approval?

Why no advertisements on the radio, as required by law? Why have the real stakeholders - the people of poorer areas of Cape Town - not been engaged to get their views?

What was advertised basically as a project to upgrade the garages, has been transformed into the sale of this precious scenic reserve with unique flora and small animals. I will not comment on the lawfulness of the procedures followed - the matter might well go to court. But I have no doubt that if the voices of the people of Cape Town are properly canvassed and listened to, the overwhelming majority would say no to this development. It would make a few developers very rich, very quickly, and destroy a scenic and recreational environment of special meaning to the less well-off.

It is a source of joy today to see Clifton and Camps Bay through summer thronging with people from all over the peninsula. And it should be this theme that should be uppermost in the minds of the councillors who represent all the people of Cape Town, not just those of us fortunate to live nearby. We do not need to extend the apartheid divide by developing another wealthy, essentially white, suburb.

This is a truly golden opportunity to facilitate a recreational and scenic park of value to the whole of Cape Town. Maiden's Cove should be opened up and expanded into a spectacularly beautiful and accessible zone for Capetonians and tourists alike, part of the unique Cape Town experience.

The Urban Park on Green Point Common is an example of what could be done. Safe, attractive, open to everyone and used by everyone, with walkways, sports opportunities, restaurants and respect for nature.

Good can come out of bad. Let the discussion lead to a true upgrading of the area. The spatial and emotional wounds of apartheid are still with us. Let us heal rather than congeal. A scenic park beckons.

-Albie Sachs is a retired judge of the Constitutional Court. The next public meeting about the plan will be held at Cape Town Civic Centre at 10am on September 19

SOS Clifton Fund account

The SOS Clifton fundraising initiative's bank account is:

First National Bank
Money Market Account
CBRRA Fundraising
Branch code 201511
Acc No 62550213400

AGM 2015 - Reminder

A reminder that our AGM takes place tonight at 18h30 at The Rotunda, The Bay Hotel, Camps Bay. We are looking forward to see all residents there! Many pressing issues, including the Clifton redevelopment proposal, will be discussed.

GCTCA Annual Chairmans report 2015

GREATER CAPE TOWN CIVIC ALLIANCE

ANNUAL REPORT AND ADDRESS OF THE CHAIRMAN TO THE AGM OF THE GCTCA ON 15 AUGUST 2015 AT GRASSY PARK

Ladies and gentlemen

At the outset I wish to pay homage to one of our Executive Committee members John Gray, who passed away.  We remember him as a tireless fighter, grappling with disrespectful developments in the De Waterkant and Bo Kaap.   He embodied the spirit of community activism and he will be sorely missed. I invite you all to stand for a moment in respect of this worthy civic activist.

There are so many issues gripping our minds right now and it is virtually impossible to cover it all in a report of this nature.

We live in interesting times.  Unemployment increased by 60% over the last 21 years.  Statistics show that 54% of the population live below the poverty line. The cost of raising a wage is increasing with increases in transportation and petrol cost. We face threats to our food security. Safety of our citizens has become problematic and corruption is increasing in all spheres of our society, in private as well as public institutions.

It is in this environment that an organisation such as GCTCA operates and its work is affected by all these factors. 

The diminishing public participation space and the whittling away of real democracy remains a concern. We are concerned and would encourage citizens to start looking at alternative, peaceful ways of ensuring your vote means something.

Sometimes there is some dim light at the end of the tunnel to be observed and we wish to congratulate the Princess Vlei Forum on its achievements in saving the Vlei but also in engaging the City now in the appropriate development of the area. We look forward to seeing that space turned into a happy place.

The ominous head of the monster of inappropriate development seems to be coming out of the ground so often that one needs to be in full time employment to engage with unbridled and reckless development.  This report will touch on some of those issues.

Limited time does not allow us to focus on all your issues but we wish to encourage you to continue and wherever the GCTCA collective can be of assistance, please do call on us.

RATES AND MUNICPAL CHARGES

Municipal rates remains a continuing concern, especially when it appears that it is now regarded as a means of ripping the poor ratepayer to cover the spiralling cost of a bloated bureaucracy. 

The current increases are way above the inflation rate and obviously has the effect of making the citizen poorer. It is very rare for salaries to increase by 10% or more, yet the citizen workers of Cape Town have to face a municipal increase in rates, water and sanitation of over 11%.  The CPI at March 2015 was estimated at 4% and the increases in all categories of municipal charges are well over double the reflected inflation rate. We believe this shows scant regard for the affordability of ratepayers.  The GCTCA believes that the increase in municipal costs to the ratepayer should be pegged at no more than the inflation rate, which is now below 6%.  We recommend that the City seriously consider how it allocates its funds.  The use of consultants at exhorbitant fees should be curtailed; the so-called specialised staff in the office of the Mayor could be limited to only functions that are vital for the administration of the City and not for political power control.  Perhaps the City of Cape Town should consider if it really needs over 200 councillors at huge costs to the ratepayers.

THE BY-LAW ON MUNICPAL PLANNING

The Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act, 2013 (Act16 of 2013) (SPLUMA) came into effect on 1 July 2015.

LUPO (Ordinance 15 of 1985), which gave communities the right to object to developments if it was felt not to be desirable or in the best interest of a particular community, will be repealed.

It would appear that the voice of the ratepayer is being silenced by the new municipal bylaw on planning (MBL).  Regulation will allow developments to be approved without consultation with the ratepayers and community. A closer study of the MBL reveal quite wide ranging powers given to the City to exclude public participation, e.g the City can decide whom it feels would be appropriate to consult. This means it could bypass the local ratepayer and civic organisations thus denying organised community structures a voice.

UNBRIDLED AND SOMEWHAT RECKLESS DEVELOPMENT

Development of infrastructure and the built environment can be a wonderfully prosperous enterprise if undertaken in the best interest of the whole of society and not only to enrich a few.  Over the last few years we have seen a plethora of unwise and inappropriate developments, encroaching on nature reserves, taking away public open spaces – all in the name of generating more rates income for the City.  We question whether the money imperative should be the only driving force for development in the City of Cape Town.  The battle to save farmland and good agricultural space in Durbanville, such as Uitkamp continues to be a stark reminder that if we are not more vigilant, this beautiful City of ours will be turned into a concrete jungle.

We salute the Durbanville Community Forum and George Sieraha, our deputy Chairman for their valiant struggle against big money power. 

The GCTCA has been at pains to explain that tourists come to Cape Town to see the beauty of nature and if this kind of unbridled, unwise development theory continues to be put into practice, Cape Town will lose its attraction to tourists.

CLIFTON DEVELOPMENT

The GCTCA is keeping a close watch on developments regarding the proposals to take away some more public open space for a major commercial development at Camps Bay.  Concerns include the prospect of more congestion in an already congested area, the minimising of spaces where the community can enjoy recreation, and of course the deficient public participation processes around this matter.

The following quote from representations made by the Camps Bay Ratepayers Association says so much about the concerns of the people.

“Although this is part of the Mayor’s strategic development initiative,

it is not in the public interest that political motivation for “better utilization”

of City-owned land, with its narrow financial benefits for political agendas,

be placed before reasoned town planning, environmental and public

amenity considerations”.

Information available to us indicate that much of the area affected by the development has been a declared a heritage site for 70 years and it appears as if this will be changed without public participation to suit the needs of developers.  The Mail and Guardian article of 10 July 2015 is recommended reading for more understanding of the issue.

LOAD SHEDDING

Unfortunately, power outages have become a reality in our lives.  The demand on our energy resources is rising every day for a number of reasons, some of it being bad management and others related to the increase in users of electricity.  No doubt, this is having a negative impact on the economy and therefore denying us all that promised better life.  You would have read many of the representations on behalf of the GCTCA in the media.  More about this and other issues taken up by the GCTCA will be found on our website www.gctca.org.za.   There is a shortage of LP Gas, yet government policy allows exports to our neighbouring countries.  The GCTCA has been applying its mind to this issue for some time and today one of our executive committee members, Mr David Lipschitz will be presenting a talk on the energy crises.  We could all be saved a lot of anxiety and our economy could be energised if only the authorities would listen and take heed of sound advice.  But more on that form our speaker later.

THE CAPE TOWN STADIUM

It has always been the position of the GCTCA that the building of the Cape Town Stadium in Green Point was a bad decision.  The local ratepayers raised concerns, which were ignored or just explained away. Good information about experiences of other countries were ignored and at the behest of the ultimate usurper, we bowed down at the altar of civic management madness and political correctness. 

The latest fiasco with the Cape Town Soccer Cup 2015, proved the point that this was an ill-advised development.  Voices have gone up for the demolition of this white elephant, which is costing the ratepayers of Cape Town over R60m a year to maintain. The GCTCA supports that view and we wish common sense would prevail. The feeble efforts to turn this monstrosity into something useful has been singularly disastrous and the time has come for the City to make take the plunge and do what is right by the ratepayers.

TAKING THE PLUNGE – SEWERAGE IN THE OCEAN

We expressed concern about the negative impact of the sewerage outfall into the ocean along our beautiful coast.   Media reports have indicated, “some 786 million litres of polluted water was being discharged into the sea daily”.  This is shocking and the City, now having been shown the folly of its ways, is in the process of applying for permits to keep on doing what environmentalists consider being an outrage.  Human beings have suffered the effects of this pollution as well as marine life.

The GCTCA engaged the national government on this matter.   We believe the City of Cape Town is taking an arrogant stance on this matter as Len Swimmer, our first Deputy chairman said:

“ with the Mayoral Committee Member for Utility Services,

 Cllr Ernest Sonnenberg, displaying a self-satisfied attitude believing

 that the City could not be doing anything wrong.

On 25 June 2015 Sonnenberg said that the City intends continuing

to use their outfalls for the next 20 years and that there is no land

available to do anything else – there is no intention whatsoever

to even consider proper treatment plants for sewage”.

 The GCTCA again, makes a call on the City to consider more efficient and environmentally safe ways of dealing with sewerage.  We urge the City to explore alternative technologies.

DENSIFICATION

We live in an inefficient and unequal city.  Poorer workers live far from their places of employment and the distribution of income is also not equal. 

The GCTCA invested some energy in the question of densification. We seem to be at odds with the City about its densification policies. 

Urban sprawl, and the need to encroach on sensitive land could be obviated if more attention is given to development of higher density housing closer to transport routes. Our position is that densification should take place next to railway routes, taxi routes and bus transport routes and not in already overcrowded sub-economic housing estates.  The obvious advantage in our model is the saving in travelling time and travelling cost to get to work as well as the reduction of congestion on our roads. 

LIQUOR OUTLETS AND ALCOHOL ABUSE.

The GCTCA made various representations and alerted communities to the developments regarding liquor policy.  Alcohol abuse has been a scourge in the majority of our communities.   A recent report by government indicates that  “Statistics on the liquor industry relating to manufacturers and distributors showed that there were 35 distributors in 2003 and currently there were over 2 000 licensees. The total recorded alcohol per capita consumption in liters of pure alcohol for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries showed South Africa had the second highest consumption at 27.1 litres alcohol per capita. South Africa had one of the riskiest drinking patterns in the world and ranked in the top five. South Africans drink, on average, 53% more than the rest of Africa. Alcohol was the third leading cause of premature death and disability in South Africa. Tangible financial costs of harmful alcohol use alone were equivalent to 1.6% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). South Africa was also a global leader in terms of alcohol related harms, with 10 times the global average for male homicides and twice the global average for road injury deaths.

While the national Government is adhering to the WHO recommendations to restrict the easy access to liquor, especially in vulnerable communities, the Western Cape Government seems hell-bent to oppose the restriction that liquor premises to be located at least 500 meters away from schools, places of worship, recreation facilities, and rehabilitation centres, residential areas and public institutions.

The GCTCA will keep up the fight to eradictae shebeening in residentail areas.

THANKS AND APPRECIATION

I acknowledge the support of members of the Executive Committee, who attended our monthly meetings regularly.  Thank you for taking up issues in the interest of our communities.

We thank LOFOB for making its facilities available for our meetings.

We thank the media for taking on our issues and giving us voice.

It is my wish that the new committee would continue the good work started and especially show a brave face under the circumstances where community activism is under attack. 

SAY SOMETHING AND DO SOMETHING!

PHILIP BAM

CHAIRMAN

15 August 2015.

Bowling Club/CBPS and CBRRA

From: Chris Willemse 

Subject: Re: Bowling Cub

Date: 03 September 2015 at 7:37:14 PM SAST

To: Adrian Funkey 

Cc: ...

Hi Adrian

I think that you have missed the point here. The CBRRA has a civic responsibility to inform the community of pertinent matters affecting it.

The CBRRA Manco is not a reactionary group of "nimby's" but a diverse committee of mainly professional people and others who are successful in thier fields. This committee is in constant contact with other civic groupings (from the entire metropolitan area of CT) and professional practitioners who deal with local government. As such, the CBRRA Manco has built up an incredible and diverse institutional knowledge bank.

It is against this background that you must judge the CBRRA and its comments on the City. Although the report you refer to was specific to the CBBC/CBPS matter, the problems that ALL civic groupings (from Camps Bay to Lotus River and Constantia to Mitchells Plain) are struggling with in CT were again prevalent in this matter: The City is effectively run, insofar as property, land rights and development planning is concerned, as a private DA fiefdom - to be used as a cash cow to benefit the development industry, which in turn sponsors the DA party coffers. This is simply a cold, hard fact.

In the CBBC/CBPS matter, the Mayor, through her Mayco committee and caucus whip, forced the DA councillors to vote for a decision that was clearly ultra vires, in that she was attempting to change a prior decision which rendered it functus officio. The City legal advisors and planners use this legal doctrine on a daily basis to ward off attacks against flawed decsions which the City routinely make and therefore are very familiar with this legal principle. There were many other aspects of the City's decision that rendered it fatally flawed but this is contained in the judgement and it is totally unacceptable that the City wastes taxpayers money on such patent illegalities. So it is not really a case of a fair fight with a result with which we all live, as you suggest. This is a case of a City abusing its power to reach a conclusion that doesn't favour the school or the community - and certainly not the bowling club - but rather accelerates its true intention, which is to rezone the land to educational/business and then have no problem in disposing of the land for financial gain at the end of the school's non-renewable lease. Sandy and Michele were alert to this at the time of the City insisting on a non-renewable lease and I'm surprised that the school seems to have taken a more narrow view recently, if that is indeed the case.

I'm afraid that it is the policy of the DA (on its own version, if you listen to its senior members - although, predictably, never contained in the manifesto's before elections) to use any asset to boost the City's coffers and land is a great asset when your major backers are developers. Sadly, most of this is spent on a bloated salary bill so really doesn't assist with service delivery. It would be naive to expect that the soccer club, tennis courts etc are not next in line for expropriation. The CBRRA sees, and opposes, many development proposals that will simply destroy the very special fabric of Camps Bay - which can never be regained, once gone. The proposed Clifton development is a case in point, where the Mayor is riding roughshod over due process to achieve an outcome that will benefit a few rich developers and DA party funds - with incredible and irreparable damage to our environment and amenities. 

Therefore the CBRRA has a major role to play in ensuring that short term political agendas do not destroy our heritage.

The CBRRA remains, as stated, committed to the shared option but is not in the position to be prescriptive. It will continue to encourage both parties to be realistic and flexible, as this is, in its opinion, the only way in which the City can be persuaded to see reason and offer a sustainable lease that allows both the CBBC and the CBPS to effectively exist and move forward. Insofar as the meeting with Minister Schafer is concerned, the embarrasment was more that it was her office that called the meeting based on the 2012 proposal, which was in   the WCED's papers before the Court. This left everyone puzzled.

Personally, I will continue to strive for the goals of the CBRRA and as long as I'm its chair, will do so on as equitable basis as possible.

Given the important nature of this correspondence, I've taken the liberty of a wider distribution than your original e-mail.

Cheers

Chris 

On 02 Sep 2015, at 10:49 AM, Adrian Funkey wrote:

Hi Chris 

I hope you are well.

I have just seen the CBRA newsletter and was rather disappointed at the criticism of the City. I also think your comments on the pursuit of a shared solution do not accurately portray the true state of affairs. I believe it is essential as an association for the benefit of the rate payers living and working in Camps Bay that any comment by your organisation should be balanced and fair to all parties. You and I both know that there was a seriously embarrassing changing of the goal posts by the Bowling Club with the removal of Ken who managed to achieve what was not possible for many years before, namely to establish cordial fair and good faith relations with the school and a concerted bid to achieve a shared option. He presented plans in your presence which reflected this approach. The only problem areas were the one green and the issue around liquor which we both agree were manageable. 

I was seriously hoping that you as a representative of the Camps Bay rate paying community of which I am one, would have been more balanced in your newsletter given the events over the past year and these great strides we made with Ken. 

Criticising the City is also in my view counter productive. You and I both know that the PAJA is a very difficult obligation to fulfil and that sometimes with the best intentions mistakes get made. The City has a responsibility to balance the needs of the whole community and therefore should not in my view have been criticised in this way. On objective decision was made I believe fairly that Education is a constitutional priority for a country such as ours and while I would not wish to down play the importance of sports and recreation, a society such as ours does not have the luxury of unlimited resources. Choices have to be made and sometimes hard choices. 

The City lost their case. It was a fair hearing. No complaining. The judge awarded costs. Fair game to everyone. It is in my view wholly unnecessary to add fuel to the fire through this criticism by the Camps Bay Rate Payers Association. 

I want to find out from you Chris, having been directly involved in the negotiations with Ken, that you will going forward play a truly impartial and fair role. You of all people have the benefit of seeing the big picture and have a potentially hugely constructive role to play to achieve a good outcome for all concerned. 

The newsletter was not in my view a good way of going about this. 

On another important matter I wanted to find out whether you have responded to the Heritage Impact Assessment yet. 

Yours sincerely 

Adrian

Read the judgement ‹‹here››

Judgement on CBBC lease cancellation set aside

The WC High Court ruled in favour of the Camps Bay Bowling Club and has set aside the City's decision to cancel the existing lease, with costs - which, of course, will be paid by the ratepayers of Cape Town. It would appear as if the DA-led City are out of touch with reality and the law and are prepared to jackboot their agenda through the system, without any regard for the citizens of Cape Town and due process, and rely on compliant councillors who clearly are too timid or afraid to speak truth to power. That the Bowling Club had to risk the cost of an expensive court case to defend itself against a malevolent City administration, is shocking and unacceptable and we will be calling on our Ward Councillors to explain how such a situation could arise. We trust that a reasoned, fair and equitable shared solution can now be reached between the Bowling Club and the CB Prep School and the CBRRA will do all that is possible to facilitate this.

You can read the Judgement ‹‹here››