Over the last few months, Relocation Africa has chosen the Honey Bun foundation for their #CSR project this year.
The Honeybun Foundation, a Cape Town-based NPO, aims at improving the lives of disadvantaged and vulnerable individuals.
Due to COVID-19, the Honey Bun Foundation has lost a few sponsors. We did the little that we could have as an SME to help them.
Head over to their Facebook group and see how you can help: https://lnkd.in/dAhQkUPA
Housing activists have taken the City of Cape Town’s housing backlog dilemma to President Cyril Ramaphosa, urging him to immediately release three large, well-located and vacant military sites in Cape Town for the development of low-income housing.
In an open letter penned by the Community Organisation Resource Centre (CORC), Development Action Group (DAG), Legal Resources Centre (LRC), and Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU) they have cited Ysterplaat, Wingfield and Youngsfield as having potential to combat Cape Town’s affordable housing crisis and alleviate the most harmful effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
NU Researcher Michael Clark said: “The rise in the number of land occupations in Cape Town and other cities, soon after the imposition of the national lockdown, is an example of the extent to which the need for land has reached a breaking-point.
“The state, at all levels, therefore has a legal, moral and public health obligation to expedite the release of well-located public land to enable the urgent development of affordable housing.”
Clark said they have outlined in their detailed submissions to the presidency, the National Coronavirus Command Council, Public Works and Infrastructure Minister, Human Settlements Minister and Defence and Military Veterans Minister.
The submissions detail how the identified land could be released and advocated for the sites to be incrementally developed through a “package of plans” that already exist in the housing programmes.
“We have included schematic plans for the development of each sites, along with careful analyses of the opportunities and constraints of each site, and proposed guiding principles and implementation imperatives that should underpin any development of the sites.
“In our detailed submission, we have therefore presented a compelling case for why these sites should be released and how to practically do so,” he said.
larke said in releasing the land, the national government can build up to 67 000 low-income houses in Cape Town.
DAG’s executive director Aditya Kumar said: “The three parcels are located within 10km of Cape Town city centre, very well-placed relative to all the amenities (such as schools, hospitals, economic centres etc) and comprise 670 hectares of prime land. ”
The Presidency’s spokesperson Tyrone Seale told the Cape Argus: “The Presidency has referred this matter to the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure who have indicated to the civil society formations that Minister De Lille will give attention to this matter.”
According to the Department of Public Works, Ysterplaat is allocated and utilized by the Department of Defence as an Air Force Base.
Youngsfield is currently utilized by the Department of Defence as the Military Base and Wingfield is currently utilized by as a Naval Base.
Last year, De Lille announced that the government has identified 20 land parcels in the Western Cape to be released for the purposes of human settlements.
De Lille said: “I will set up a meeting with all the concerned stakeholders next week to discuss their issues and I am committed to discussing the government’s land reform and redistribution programme with the groups. Thereafter I will engage them on a regular basis.”
For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email info@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.
The City of Cape Town has launched its first public electric vehicle (EV) charging station, situated in the parking area of the Bellville Civic Centre.
This is the first of two solar-powered EV charging stations that will be offered free-of-charge for the first two years to members of the public, the city said.
The sites were chosen because of their convenient, safe and visible locations and the chargers were donated by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO).
“Transport is the second biggest contributor to the carbon intensity of Cape Town’s economy. This is exacerbated by urban sprawl and the long distances freight has to travel over a country as large as South Africa.
“Increased congestion and inefficiencies not only increase the city’s transport-related greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), largely driving climate change, they worsen air quality and contribute to adverse health impacts on residents,” the city said.
How it works:
“The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the devastating economic impact that global crises can have and has shown that planning for climate resilience and reducing emissions is increasingly important,” said the city’s Phindile Maxiti.
“This kind of proactive response to climate change will also assist our city’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic as the green economy offers new opportunities for businesses and jobseekers.
“It also helps to ensure that the local economy can continue to trade competitively in a global world that is rapidly rejecting carbon-intensive goods and services.”
For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email info@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.
Levana Primary School in Lavender Hill is one of 1010 Western Cape schools that depend on government’s National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) feeding scheme. The school has 1090 learners. Only half of them attend at any one time because of rotational classes introduced due to Covid-19, but “those children must still eat”, says Shamiega Charity, Acting Principal at Levana Primary.
Before the pandemic, she says they were feeding 300 to 400 children. The numbers have doubled. Once the learners are fed, any remaining food is distributed to the community. At the start of the lockdown, the school would feed up to 800 children and people in the community. “We would run out of food,” she said. A grade 7 learner told GroundUp that she will sometimes take a loaf of bread home for her family.
Lavender Hill has “severe poverty”, gangsterism, unemployment and substance abuse, says Charity. Teenage pregnancies are “the norm once you leave primary school” and “because the parents are young, they don’t know how to be a parent”. Most learners live in crowded shacks, some located right next to the school’s bulletproof fence. Children need clothes and food to take home; teachers assist where they can, she says.
Levana Primary was established in 1977 and is a no-fee school. The feeding scheme started over 13 years ago with peanut butter and bread. Today, the school has two organic vegetable gardens growing lettuce, potatoes and spring onions. There is also a medicinal and fynbos garden. As an eco school, environmental issues and sustainability are taught as part of the syllabus.
The food is sponsored by a network of organisations and people, but it is largely dependent on the NSNP. “The program provides funding to the school to purchase the required cooking equipment and eating utensils, as well as for the monthly gas purchases for cooking. There are two food preparers funded by the NSNP, as well as three gardeners to assist with food production,” says Kerry Mauchline, spokesperson for education MEC Debbie Schäfer.
The NSNP provides dry food items to the school every second week and fresh produce such as fruit, vegetables and milk twice a week. Five days a week children are fed two meals a day. On Monday, it’s fish breyani, Tuesday, samp and beans, Wednesdays and Thursday, vegetables, and Friday, soup or breyani.
“For many of these children, a school meal might be the only one they have that day,” says Mauchline. The situation has got dramatically worse because of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the Western Cape, 473 174 learners are registered on the program, she says. Children can’t focus on learning if they are hungry, says Charity. She says one day she would like there to be a food dining hall where the children can sit together and eat around a table.
For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email info@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.