17 December 2012

The World Design Capital is to be hosted by Cape Town in 2014, with the theme “Live Design, Transform Lives”. The previous events and the current one in Helsinki have shown that the notion of ‘design’ as a tool can be interpreted widely. It encompasses the creative way of conceiving objects, places and spaces, as well as processes.

The City’s vision is for us to work together to transform our city into one of the most inclusive, sustainable, liveable and productive on the African continent. For this to happen, the activities of WDC 2014 should have meaning to ordinary people and designs must be relevant to the needs of society. It thus begs the question, what are the key challenges we face, and how do we use design as a transformative medium to achieve our objective?

The WDC platform offers a wonderful opportunity for our communities to build partnerships with NGO’s, academia, professionals, business, designers, and government to promote, nurture and transform the conceptual people’s plan for Princess Vlei into a design for a high quality multi-purpose district urban park. This idea has already been mooted in the now approved Cape Town Spatial Development Framework, as well as the District Spatial Plan. The efforts of the Princess Vlei Forum  to-date have served to highlight the cultural value of the landscape, bridge historic divides, build partnerships, reconnect people with the meaning and spirit of place, and rebuild social and economic inclusion.

But how do we harness the problem-solving powers of our designers, and the creativity and resourcefulness of our communities, to create innovative solutions that will improve the quality of lives through design? This is our challenge, and we invite you to participate in the discourse of how we can best celebrate overcoming our own problems in the face of adversity. You might have the energy, an innovative idea, information, inspiration, a dream, or resources that can be shared to invent practical design solutions to on-the-ground problems in a collaborative way.

We encourage you to join hands with the PVF and to visit our website as well as that of the WDC 2014 – get involved, help inspire the youth, help build a legacy, make our area safe, celebrate our diversity, experiment, and be creative.

Press Release 5 October 2012

The Princess Vlei Forum would like to respond to MEC Anton Bredell’s statement (quoted by Peter Luhanga in the West Cape News, 30/09/12) that the City “made a mistake” when it approved the shopping mall development on Princess Vlei in 2002 .
    We would firstly like to hail this acknowledgement as a victory for democracy. We are confident that it is only the unflagging determination by concerned citizens to protect this valuable heritage has persuaded the Minister to acknowledge this error of judgement. We trust that this is the first step in reversing the decision to support the mall development bid.

    However, we do have a number of queries and concerns:

1. MEC Bredell vigorously defended his decision to overturn the recommendation by SPELUM that the rezoning of the property not be extended. This effectively reactivated the development bid, which had been scuppered by SPELUM’s decision. If he felt it was a mistake, why did he do this? If his thinking has shifted, what has caused him to change his mind?
2. With reference to the following comment quoted in the article: “Bredell indicated the only way out for the City now was to either swap the land at Princess Vlei, which it still owned, with the company Insight Developers, or buy them out.”

• What legal and/or financial obligations does the City have to developer, considering that the land has yet to be sold, needs to go through a public participation before being sold, and needs to be sold on the open market? We have been trying without success to obtain clarity on this point.
• The development bid was made by Insight Property Developers(Cape), which was deregistered on 16 July 2010. It appears that the dealings are now with Insight Property Developers (Palmyra Rd), which has a different tax number and registration number. Since the original development agreement was made with a company that no longer exists, why should the City have any obligations to it, or to Insight Developers (Palmyra Rd) which is an entirely separate company?
• Thirdly, any contract made with the company was done subject to the company meeting various conditions, including a favourable EIA report. Evidence uncovered by PVF member Kelvin Cochrane now suggests that this report may have been fraudulently obtained, as board members on the company doing the EIA (Tshukudu Environmental Services) were also on the board of the development bid company. Why would any contract made on this basis be legally binding?
• Finally, if this contract is binding, why did the City enter into a binding contract on an unsolicited bid to sell publicly owned land? This does not sound like good local government practice. Surely if the City wished to develop the land, it should have put the tender out to public bidding.

    Cochrane has uncovered two major irregularities with the development bid process: Firstly, that members of the supposedly independent company doing the environmental impact assessment were serving on the board of the development bid company (Insight Development Cape). Secondly, as pointed out above, the company that made the unsolicited bid no longer exists. A different company appears to have improperly taken over the bid. MEC Bredell and the City have consistently asserted that proper procedures were followed with this development bid. We are confused as to how these irregularities were not identified by the relevant authorities from the beginning of the process, particularly in relation to such a contentious bid. (see our Press Release  dated 21 September)
    We would like to note that members of the City Council have consistently expressed unhappiness with this development bid, as demonstrated by SPELUM’s refusal to extend the rezoning. SPELUM made this call after reviewing the bid in the light of evidence brought by concerned residents, which highlighted the rich cultural, historical and environmental value of Princess Vlei.
    SPELUM’s response was an instance of local government doing its job: ie. taking into account the views of the public and making a decision for the greater good. It is most regrettable that this decision was then overturned by MEC Bredell. We hope that the recent decision by Mayor De Lille to limit the powers of SPELUM it is not an indication that the local government will be less transparent, responsive and accountable on planning decisions in the future.
    We believe that the gains made by the campaign to save Princess Vlei, and the irregularities uncovered by Cochrane, demonstrate the need for and power of a vigorous civil society to monitor the decisions of our public officials, ensure that they are responsive to the needs of our citizens, and ensure that they are fully transparent and accountable as they so often claim to be.
    We eagerly await a full and thorough investigation of these irregularities and trust that the City Council will be more transparent and accountable in its dealing of this matter than has been the case up to now.
    The Princess Vlei Forum, and the rehabilitation project Dressing the Princess, have enjoyed a collaborative relationship with relevant branches of Local Government, in particular in the Biodiversity Management Branch and Parks and Forestry. We are confident that the development bid will be defeated, and look forward to continuing this partnership to develop Princess Vlei in a culturally and environmentally appropriate and sensitive manner.

Press statement: 21 September 2012

The Princess Vlei Forum would like to express our concern around the alleged irregularities and possible corruption in the development bid for Princess Vlei.
  After extensive research on the relevant documents, Forum member  Kelvin Cochrane has revealed that:

• The acceptance of the bid by Insight Property Developers (Cape)was premised on an independent Environmental Impact Assessment

• The Environmental Impact Assessment was undertaken by Tshukudo Environmental Services between 2002 and 2004. Amongst the members on the board of Tshukudu were Alfred Peter Loebenberg, Peter Anthony Stiles and Dudley Janeke.
• On 5 July 2002, Janeke signed an oath stating that his company had no connection with or interest in Insight Property.
• However, it has emerged that at this time, Stiles and Loebenberg had been board members of Insight Property Developers
• Tshukudu was subsequently liquidated in 2005. Insight Property Developers was listed as one of the creditors.

Cochrane has details of further irregularities. This information has been given to the NPA to investigate with a view to charges laid.

On Tuesday, Cochrane met with Councillor Jeremiah Thuynsma, Chairperson of Subcouncil 9 and a member of SPELUM. Thuynsma who has undertaken to lodge the claim with the Public Protector.

In relation to these irregularities, we would like to note:

1. We call on the Municipal and Provincial authorities to investigate these irregularities thoroughly, and take the necessary action should any evidence of corruption, fraud or dishonesty be revealed. Given our local government’s strong stand on corruption, we trust that they will not award a development bid that is compromised by any suggestion of dishonesty.
2. These irregularities have been revealed through the efforts of a private citizen. This highlights the value of committed and zealous civic action and citizenry in safeguarding our natural treasures and in unearthing corruption.
3. This case highlights again the importance of a local and provincial government that is responsive, transparent and accountable. We have found it difficult obtaining clarity from MEC Bredell and Mayor Patricia de Lille on the status of the development bid, on the processes that still need to be followed and the conditions that still need to be met. We appeal again for greater transparency on this matter. We would also like to take this opportunity to highlight again the need for more meaningful public participation in critical planning decisions.
4. We know that there are members of the City Council who have been opposed to the development bid from the start, and that the City Councils spatial planning, environment and land use management committee (Spelum) effectively terminated this bid by declining to extend the rezoning of the land. This decision was later overturned by MEC Anton Bredell
5. The SPELUM committee took this decision after consultation with the community and reconsidering the compelling case against commercial development of the site on social, environmental and cultural heritage grounds.
6. We have worked closely with the City Council in efforts to rehabilitate the site, and look forward to an ongoing partnership of collaboration in developing the site in a way that safeguards and honours the cultural and environmental value.
7. The Princess Vlei experience has demonstrated the power of civic action in empowering communities to reflect on the value of their public assets, and to assert their right to grow and protect these assets for the enjoyment of present and future generations.
8. We believe that this case holds lessons for all Capetonians, and encourage our fellow citizens to be vigilant and zealous in safeguarding all our natural and cultural heritage sites.

Bridget Pitt, Cape Times, August 31 2012.

WE LIVE in a divided city. A city riven by history, by class, colour, culture, language, creed. Those who have and those who don’t. Those who are allowed to dwell in the natural paradise of our landscapes, and those forced to live in polluted, ugly wastelands.
  The council house dwellers, the shack dwellers, the new-comers, the old timers, the larnies in their mansions on the hill. The cracks that divide us run deep, mirrored by the lines that snake across our city: railway lines, highways, rivers, mountains − the constructed and natural boundaries which the apartheid government deployed so successfully in that pernicious social experiment called the ‘Group Areas Act.’
  Our social and cultural divisions are mirrored too by the isolation that poor city planning has imposed on the natural systems that underpin and sustain our city’s environment health. Forests are fragmented and die, fynbos struggles in small patches, cut off from pollinators, the waterways are polluted, diverted, clogged, damned, canalised, forced underground, drained, and built over.
  Nothing thrives in isolation. Ecosystems and social systems depend on communication, on a free flow and exchange of resources and ideas, on collaboration. And on a profound recognition that we depend on each other: we are all in this city together − if some go down, we all go down. We can put up walls and electric fences to keep out the undesirable humans (and animals) who threaten our lifestyles, but in the end if our city does not function as a healthy socio-ecosystem, no fence will be high enough to keep out the desperation and chaos that ensues.
It is hard to overcome these barriers. Our city is scarred by years of politically manipulated or short-sighted planning driven a mean and self-centred vision, and by discriminatory neglect. But every now and then an opportunity comes. A chance is offered to those in charge of our interests to show some grace and wisdom and display an ability to see the bigger picture and act in the interests of all; to nudge our city onto a path that offers our children greater hope and greater promise.
  The Princess Vlei story is one such opportunity. First, it is a water course: by its nature a highly valuable connector gathering the waters that flow from Cape Town’s southern mountains and the waters from our storm water drains, and feeing them into the great wetlands of Grassy Park, Zeekovlei, and the sewage works, before releasing the waters into the sea. In this it plays a valuable role in cleaning water, preventing flooding and offsetting storm damage.
Secondly, the Princess Vlei connects our ecosystems, providing a habitat for birds, insects, aquatic life − few remaining wild creatures and plants who share our cities and provide us with a priceless engagement with nature.
For many that would be enough to make it worth conserving. But it does so much more than that. It connects us to our heritage, plugging into that evocative story of the Khoi Princess, who lived in Prinseskasteel (now known as the Elephant Eye cave) and was raped, murdered or abducted by European sailors. The Princess has gone, but her legend lives on vividly in the memories of those who grew up around the vlei, passed down through generations.
Here is a connection to the first people of our nation and our city, the ones who bore the brunt of European colonialism, who were enslaved, dispossessed and hounded into virtual extinction. These people represent the closest connection we have to a common ancestor, and offer some small glimmer of understanding as to how those early humans lived before the great migrations into Europe, Asia and America.
  The Princess Vlei also connects us to our later history. After the waves of expropriation and forced removal in the sixties and seventies shattered so many homes and families, it became one of the few natural areas that black and coloured people could access. Thousands of residents have some memories linked to the vlei as a refuge from the bleak dormitory estates they were now forced to occupy. For Black Baptismal Churches it became a symbolic link to the waters of the ancestors.
  The Princess Vlei connects us to our present. Located on the fault line between wealthy, white Cape Town and the vast sprawl of the Cape Flats, it offers a meeting point for Capetonians from both sides of the divide to come and enjoy the tranquil beauty of the water nestled amongst the reeds. Church members still come from Phillipi and Khayelitsha to be baptised in its waters; while for local residents it offers a leafy respite from the mean streets of Lavender Hill and Lotus River. Children catch tadpoles in the shallows, adults fish, or paddle canoes across the lake.
And of course, the Princess Vlei connects us to our future – either to a future where socio-environmental needs are recognised and honoured; or one that is more divided, more fragmented, one step closer to self-destruction.
A glimpse of the future has been offered in the unprecedented campaign by the local community and others to save the vlei. Workers, environmentalists, school children, civic members, and faith groups have been volunteering to rehabilitate the Vlei’s vegetation degraded by years of institutional neglect. They have held several community events on and around the vlei, from break dancing for local teenagers to a Woman’s Day tea party for the elderly. At these events, octogenarians have offered to lie down in front of bulldozers; school children have vowed to fight for the vlei. Capetonians have occasionally come out to fight unwanted development in grand, iconic spaces such as Table Mountain. But I cannot think of any instance when such passion has united such a diverse group over a relatively humble natural feature.
  The inspiration driving these endeavours is the “people’s plan”:  a vision of a socio-environmental development of the Vlei that celebrates the Khoisan heritage; inculcates in our children a love of and appreciation for nature; provides a haven of serenity for communities wounded by poverty, overcrowding and crime; draws together the fragmented corners of our city by devising hiking trails from the Vlei, linking  the Elephant’s eye cave to Macasser dunes and Khayelitsha; and provides income opportunities for locals through tourism and small, environmentally appropriate retail. And a vision that restores the Vlei to its natural glory and enables it to do its work of absorbing floodwater, offsetting the damaging consequences of climate change,  nurturing life, and purifying our water.
It does not seem to require much goodwill or imagination to leap at this opportunity to heal the fractures of our city and build a common and invested future. And yet, MEC Bredell, a man elected to serve our city, our people and our environment, has chosen to irrevocably destroy this asset by extending the rezoning of this property. In doing so, he overturns the decision made by the city council to scupper this ill-advised proposal, and gives the developers a chance win their bid to build a double volume shopping mall and taxi rank. Only the most cynical can claim that this mall will not overwhelm the natural space; choke the Vlei with building rubble; poison it in the coming years with toxic run-off;  and force out of business small local traders who currently bring jobs and much needed income into these communities.
  Oscar Wilde once said, “Nowadays, everyone knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.” How true this is of MEC Bredell. Whatever price the city has been offered for the Princess Vlei, it is too low. The value of a conserved vlei is priceless. Equally, the cost of the mall to our environment, to our struggle for a common citizenship and unity is incalculable.
  It may be useful to remind our provincial and local government that they are the stewards of our land, not the owners. Princess Vlei is not theirs to sell. The land belongs to us, to our past, our present, and our future. We as citizens need to hold our office bearers accountable, to ensure that they take proper care of our precious natural resources and assets, and do not squander them for inequitable profit or short-term gain. The Princess Vlei is our Princess. And she is not for sale.

© Bridget Pitt, Cape Times, August 31 2012.