3
www.thevillagenews.co.za
29 January 2020
Water restrictions Schulphoek sale has relaxed to level 2 been concluded PHOTO: Dual Adventure Biking
T
he stage is set for the building of a Better Living Model housing project on the Schulphoek land after it was confirmed that the sale of the land has been concluded and it was registered in the name of the Overstrand Municipality in December.
From P 1 Several Hermanus residents have also questioned whether the municipal boreholes have influenced the water table of wellpoints in residential areas. A reader of The Village NEWS, Monica Hugo of Northcliff, said that although the municipality had stated that the new boreholes at the top of Duiker Street would not affect private wellpoints, it seemed as if this was not the case. “I have been a resident of Northcliff for more than 26 years and even during severe droughts wellpoints have never dried up, as is the case now. In the past, gardens used to stay lush and green during summer and even in times of drought. But now one can see gardens wilting because of a lack of water and wellpoints and boreholes are drying up,” said Hugo. Blignaut said that the borehole at the top of Duiker Street is not in use yet and therefore can have no influence on wellpoints or boreholes in the suburb. Here are the amended level 2 water restrictions for Hermanus: • The use of irrigation systems and hosepipes is allowed when watering gardens, but remember, only for one hour per day, once a week; • The day per week is determined in accordance with street numbers. For residents with even numbers, it is Wednesdays ONLY, and for those with uneven numbers, Tuesdays ONLY; • Please water gardens before 09:00 or after 17:00 on any of these days; • The washing of vehicles and hard surfaces with a hose pipe using municipal water is still not allowed. Vehicles may only be washed using a bucket; • Swimming pools may be filled with municipal water.
“Municipal boreholes extract water from deep within the Peninsula Aquifer, which is separated by three impermeable ground formations from the lower aquifer that is used by domestic boreholes and wellpoints. “Research done on the water levels of several boreholes over the past 20 years indicates that the lower aquifers are not connected to the Peninsula Aquifer in any way. Thus, the boreholes near Gateway will have no influence on domestic boreholes. The reverse is also true: extraction from the lower aquifers will have no impact on the aquifer from which the municipality extracts water,” said Blignaut. According to him, below average rainfall was recorded over the past five years in Hermanus, something that has never occurred before. This leads to the lower aquifers drying up sooner during the hotter summer season. “In addition, due to the protracted drought in the Western Cape and specifically in Hermanus, more private boreholes and wellpoints have been sunk, which has put more pressure than ever before on the lower aquifers. While private boreholes do not need to be licensed by the Department of Water and Sanitation, we urge users to remember that this water resource is finite and that it also needs to be used sparingly, especially during the dry season,” said Blignaut. Levels of the major dams supplying Cape Town, Winelands, West Coast and the Overberg:
• • • • • • •
De Bos: Theewaterskloof: Berg River: Wemmershoek: Steenbras Lower: Steenbras Upper: Voëlvlei:
50.7% 65.2% 86.2% 73.9% 79.1% 99,7% 74.1%
It was reported in September 2019 that a sale agreement was reached with the previous owners to buy back the controversial piece of land at a price of R31.7 million. The land was originally sold by the municipality to developers in 2010 for R23.2 million. According to municipal Director of Infrastructure and Planning, Stephen Müller, the municipality and the provincial government are busy setting a land availability agreement in place the terms of which the provincial Department of Human Settlements will erect a Better Living Model housing project. Talks on the creation of at least 7 500 housing opportunities have been ongoing since 2018 when a Stakeholder’s Forum was created by then Western Cape Premier Helen Zille.
land in Mount Pleasant that will allow for housing opportunities. How the rest of the budget will be spent, however, remains unclear. In September it was reported that the money needed to be spent by 31 March 2020, before the start of the new financial cycle. Queries for details on the allocation of the budget were referred to the municipality. Whether money from this budget was used to pay for the Schulphoek land is also unclear. “At this point we are not at liberty to disclose the detail without consulting the local authority. The department was not involved in the previous sale and the current price was determined according to processes that took into account all other relevant factors. Any further queries relating to the 2010 sale should be directed to the municipality,” Martin said in a statement.
In September last year it was reported that the Schulphoek development would be a catalytic provincial project. This means that in effect the municipality will be the custodian of the land, but the provincial government will manage the project. The bulk infrastructure will remain an asset of the municipality.
Masizole Mnqasela, convenor of the Stakeholders’ Forum and the Democratic Alliance’s Overstrand representative, said the project to build a Better Living Model housing development will go ahead as planned. “It was agreed by all members of the Stakeholders’ Forum in 2019 that the development would go ahead. The principle of the delivery plan stays in place. This means that we want to ensure that everyone has a roof over their heads or are at least the beneficiaries of a piece of land. But this must be done within the confines of the law.”
Also, a 10-member working group was established and has been meeting since April 2019 to engage on the design principles and to formulate a draft development framework. A draft implementation plan has been crafted and a decision has been taken to put this into practice on the southern point of the site, which is unoccupied and already has development rights.
On the question of how the land can be registered in the name of the municipality after it was widely reported that a local authority may not buy back land it has previously sold, Martin said the municipality bought back the land for human settlement development (housing) purposes and not for basic municipal services, and therefore it was allowed within the framework of the law.
The initial plan was to start with the development on 1 April, but according to Marcellino Martin, spokesperson for Tertius Simmers, Western Cape Minister for Human Settlements, the start of the project has been delayed.
Mnqasela said the provincial Department of Human Settlements would meet soon with representatives of the municipality to finalise the operational plan and to discuss the way forward for the establishment of a Social Compact for the Schulphoek area. Attempts to elect a Social Compact, consisting of members representing the Zwelihle community, were unsuccessful at the end of last year after the meeting had been disrupted.
“The department will, however, continue with the project pursuant to Section 26 of the Constitution, which mandates the state to take reasonable legislative and other measures within its available resources to achieve the progressive realisation of the right to adequate housing,” said Martin. He said an allocation of R109 million was made by the Human Settlements Department in its amendment budget in November 2019. Of this, R600 000 was earmarked for housing opportunities in Mount Pleasant. Müller said this money was received and is being used for the rezoning of several parcels of
According to Mnqasela it is estimated that around 2 000 shacks have been erected on the Schulphoek land. “This means that there are many newcomers to the area and although it is our intention to ensure the equitable distribution of housing opportunities, we have to follow the law governing these issues. For this to happen we need the community to become part of the governance process by supporting the creation of a Social Compact,” he said.
