Hands mural brightens school

WHAT was once a dreary, grey wall at Bertrams Junior School in Greater Ellis Park is now a vibrant, attractive mosaic mural, made of ordinary colourful marble tiles.


The mural, which depicts hands, was made by staff at the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) and finished by the 150 pupils at the school, under the supervision of the Spaza Gallery.

Measuring 9m2 in size, the mural was inspired by the Mandela Day initiative, driven by the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the 46664 Campaign and held on 18 July, Mandela's birthday. The school shares a birthday with the great statesman, Nelson Mandela.

Mandela Day was held to forever celebrate the sacrifices he made for peace and reconciliation in South Africa. It involved taking 67 minutes in the day to do something for the good of humanity and the planet, in recognition of the 67 years Mandela devoted to liberating South Africa.

The individual vivid artworks were joined together to form a panel, which was fixed on the school's wall.

The mosaic mural is one of many public artworks in the area developed by the JDA. It joins, among others, the cows in Transport Square and another mosaic, depicting a scene from the Battle of Ellis Park, sparked by the 1922 Miners' Strike. It is on the wall of the last house on Bertrams Road.

Perfect gift
Speaking at the unveiling of the mural on 3 November, the school's principal, Khanyi Twala, thanked the sponsors for the art. "The mosaic wall is a perfect and thoughtful gift," she said. "I hope the magic hands will inspire us and the next generation to come."

It was an essential vision that would bring change to the lives of many pupils.

Lael Bethlehem, the chief executive of the JDA, pledged to support the school in many ways. "It is very important for us as the JDA to invest in the community that resides in the area through facilities and skills development.

"We are equally honoured that our professional teams chose to partner with us in this respect," Bethlehem said.

The agency has worked on a number of recent developments in Greater Ellis Park towards the goal of establishing a sustainable, world-class sports precinct that will be a destination of choice for sport and recreation.

While working in the area, it committed its 2008/9 corporate social investment budget to Bertrams Junior School and Troyeville Primary School. It has contributed towards the schools through cash donations, professional fees, labour and materials.

Park
Ros Greeff, the member of the mayoral committee for development planning and urban management, gave the keynote address at the unveiling. She encouraged the learners to make use of Bertram's Park, a few blocks from the school.

"I hope this provides many outings for the pupils at the schools through the years."

The playground at the Bertrams school is not big enough, and many of the learners are unable to run freely at playtime.

Using the opportunity that the day presented, the Mandela Foundation and the Atterbury Property Developers' Foundation also donated books to the school's library.

Londeka Tshwala, a Grade 4 learner who participated in the project, described the mosaic as a wonderful piece of art. "It was an exciting project because we were shown how to make the hands using mosaics. If it was not for Spaza Gallery there would have been nothing on the wall."

Kanita Ebrahim, another learner, said she was delighted to have participated in the project. "I love the artwork; it is beautiful," she said.

Origins
Bertrams Junior School opened on 18 July 1918 and the first learners filled its classrooms a few days later. Initially a Jewish day school, in the 1960s it became a Portuguese school when Portuguese-speaking immigrants from the colonies of Mozambique and Angola, as well as people from Madeira and Portugal, settled in the neighbourhood.

Although Bertrams became a so-called grey area in the 1980s, with the suburb made up of both black and white residents, black children were not allowed to attend the school, which was reserved for white children. This was all changed in 1994, with the first democratic elections.

Today Bertrams Junior School has more than 200 learners, most of them coming from impoverished families living in Bertrams and the neighbouring suburb of Judith's Paarl.

Spaza Gallery is a non-profit organisation that provides a showcase for artists of all types from all over South Africa. Situated in the nearby suburb of Troyeville, it is a community gallery that runs mosaic workshops, has Sunday lunches, music sessions and shows.

Troyville School
After the unveiling of the mosaic at the Bertram’s school, the JDA team moved on to the Troyeville Primary School where a donation of books was made.

The JDA committed it’s 2008/9 Corporate Social Investment budget to the two schools.

Over the past year the JDA has assisted Troyeville Primary School, which was in desperate need of renovation and repairs.

Some R265 000 was spent on its refurbishment, including maintenance and repairs in the staff room, passage area, kitchen, reception, store room, as well as painting.

A number of JDA partners took part in assisting the school, with the Atterbury Property Developers’ Foundation donating R100 000 towards the project.

Article :by Rudo Mungoshi
Source:http://www.jda.co.za/2009/04nov_betramschool.stm

Fighting for the right to hang laundry in the sun

Have you ever?! There’s a ‘revolution’ brewing in America, and it’s all about winning the right just to hang up your washing to dry outside. Read more...



Carin Froehlich pegs her laundry to three clotheslines strung between trees outside her 18th-century farmhouse, knowing that her actions annoy local officials who have asked her to stop.


Froehlich is among the growing number of people across America fighting for the right to dry their laundry outside against a rising tide of housing associations who oppose the practice despite its energy-saving green appeal.
Although there are no formal laws in this southeast Pennsylvania town against drying laundry outside, a town official called Froehlich to ask her to stop drying clothes in the sun. And she received two anonymous notes from neighbours saying they did not want to see her underwear flapping about.
“They said it made the place look like trailer trash,” she said, in her yard across the street from a row of neat, suburban houses. “They said they didn’t want to look at my ’unmentionables.’”
Froehlich says she hangs her underwear inside.

The effervescent 54-year-old is one of a growing number of Americans demanding the right to dry laundry on clotheslines despite local rules and a culture that frowns on it.
Their interests are represented by Project Laundry List, a group that argues people can save money and reduce carbon emissions by not using their electric or gas dryers, according to the group’s executive director, Alexander Lee.
Widespread adoption of clotheslines could significantly reduce US energy consumption, argued Lee, who said dryer use accounts for about 6% of US residential electricity use.
Florida, Utah, Maine, Vermont, Colorado, and Hawaii have passed laws restricting the rights of local authorities to stop residents using clotheslines.
Another five states are considering similar measures, said Lee, 35, a former lawyer who quit to run the non-profit group.

‘RIGHT TO HANG’
His principal opponents are the housing associations such as condominiums and townhouse communities that are home to an estimated 60 million Americans, or about 20% of the population. About half of those organizations have ‘no hanging’ rules, Lee said, and enforce them with fines.
Carl Weiner, a lawyer for about 50 homeowners associations in suburban Philadelphia, said the no-hanging rules are usually included by the communities’ developers along with regulations such as a ban on sheds or commercial vehicles.
The no-hanging rules are an aesthetic issue, Weiner said.
“The consensus in most communities is that people don’t want to see everybody else’s laundry.”
He said opposition to clotheslines may ease as more people understand it can save energy and reduce greenhouse gases.
“There is more awareness of impact on the environment,” he said. “I would not be surprised to see people questioning these restrictions.”
For Froehlich, the “right to hang” is the embodiment of the American tradition of freedom.
“If my husband has a right to have guns in the house, I have a right to hang laundry,” said Froehlich, who is writing a book on the subject.
Besides, it saves money. Line-drying laundry for a family of five saves $83 a month in electric bills, she said.
Kevin Firth, who owns a two-bedroom condominium in a Dublin, Pennsylvania housing association, said he was fined $100 by the association for putting up a clothesline in a common area.
“It made me angry and upset,” said Firth, a 27-year-old carpenter.
“I like having the laundry drying in the sun. It’s something I have always done since I was a little kid.”

Reuters
Source:http://www.sowetan.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=1089365

Building Hijacking – A Residents Perspective Part 1

Building Hijacking – A Residents Perspective Part 1
By
Moses Ka Moyo

In the past couple of months and weeks ,in the Inner-city we have woken up to fancy and encouraging newspaper headlines, most recently was “Joburg declares war on the building hijackers” , but there has been little or no attempts by those in authority, civic society or in the media to explain in layman terms what Building Hijacking entails, there is so much confusion around this term “building Hijacking” In May 2005 the Former president of the republic Thabo Mbeki entered the fray with stern words for the Hijackers “Some of these criminals are even brazen in their criminal activities to the extent that they even resort to murder so as to hijack buildings in order to extort money from our people .”We are nearing the end of 2009 and the Hijackers are still continuing to make more money and making many in the inner-city homeless and destitute .Recently the Gauteng MEC for community safety Mr. Khabisi Mosonkuthu, was clear that the time for government to act was now and they could not continue leaving the responsibility to the City of Johannesburg only, they will pounce and fall upon the Hijackers like a ton of bricks .This Statement has induced new levels of hope and residents are confident that for a change the provincial Government is serious in dealing with this act of crime and not look aside and wish this scourge will die own its own .

It is my aim in this article to paint a picture, which will in future help both the concerned and affected to understand the scourge of Building Hijacking in the inner-city and what modus operands is use and the impact and extent it has had in the decay of the Inner-city .Many imagine building hijackers moving into a building carrying all sorts of heavy weaponry and etc, it has not only improved, it has become sophisticated and advanced.

Who is a Building Hijacker?
This really depends on which side of the fence you are sitting, a Hijacker is an individual, individuals or a company that will collect money from residents in a building or house and not pay for council services, maintain the building, honour payments for service providers (simplified). Many have said the motive is to make more money on the part of the Hijackers, but alas I beg to differ, there is more than meets the eye – it’s an organised network with a very strong potential of making the country ungovernable. Below is one the most commonly used forms of Building Hijacking in the Inner-city. They come in different forms, shapes and size; I intend to unpack more as we continue with this series of Building Hijacking – a Residents Perspective.


Building Managers to Administrators
This form of Hijacking is prevalent in sectional title schemes , where trustees on behalf of the body corporate appoint a managing agent to run the building on their behalf ,before the trustees realize the building owe the City and service providers a lot of money ,when they communicate with the agent they are told he is addressing the issues and will revert back to them ,the council and service providers will continue sending statements and letter of demands , at some point services like water or electric are cut off ,leaving the Managing agent cornered and the residents waterless or in the dark ,in most cases residents will club money together and negotiate with the Service provider directly (City Power or Joburg Water) services will be restored and the wait for the managing agent to come and address them will just have begun ,when they eventually get hold of the managing agent ,he would have been to the High court and been appointed as Administrator of the building ,in most court documents they will cite lack of payment from the residents as cause for the admin order application. Once the administration order has been granted by the High court ,this is the advanced stage of the hijacking of the building as the order grants him all powers of the Body Corporate ,in short he becomes something higher than God in the Building everyone is at his/her mercy.



Levies are increased, special levies introduced, when residents mobilize themselves ,they are interdicted and any gathering in the building without the Administrator is A Treasonous OFFENCE –punishable by an eviction order application to the High court, a Security Company is then appointed that will bully residents to submission. The administrator will then introduces a mysterious investor who will then buy everyone off the scheme (one by one through a court procedure ) by the time the mysterious investor has bought 50% of the units in the scheme it starts dawning on the entire scheme that something is not right, the Hijacking of the building is complete, when they approach lawyers (by the way very few of them understand the act ) they are advised its going to be costly to contest ,and owners are then forced to sign lease agreements on properties they had bought many are women who bought into these schemes through the government subsidy. If they do Contest in many instances they lose in court, not because they do not have a strong legal compelling argument, but because the lawyers hand gets “greased” from both sides and he will throw the case or not pitch up in court altogether . In many instances the Court appointed administrators are so brazen in their efforts to own the building that they even buy the units in their own names showing clearly that they do not intend to use the admin order to revive the Body Corporate as spelt out in the act .In reality they run down the Scheme (building), appoint themselves as administrators and then buy the building for themselves at little or no costs to themselves, in a real world there should be a conflict of interest check ,but our courts do not care and keep on renewing their administartion orders,recently i dealt with a building on nugget street that has been under administration for nine years and nothing has changed save for the administrators portfolio that has risen to 28 units in a 36 unit scheme.

In the next edition of Building Hijacking – a Resident Perspective, I will unpack another blatant form of Building hijacking that is commonly and regularly used to disempowering many of their flats in the Inner-city of Johannesburg.

“A better inner-city is possible “


NB: Moses Ka Moyo is the Chairperson of the Friends of the Inner-city Forum (Writes in his personal capacity, Views expressed are not necessarily of the Friends of the Inner-city Forum).
And maybe contacted on +27 76 681 0577 bayethe@gmail.com or moses@inner-city-forum.org

Building hope in the inner city

Building hope in the inner city
By Bongani Nkosi

LIVING in Hillbrow and other inner city areas does not have to be a raw deal, a strong belief that inspires Friends of the Inner City Forum.



Friends of the Inner City was established in 2006 with an aim of protecting the rights of owners of sectional title properties. The forum has evolved into an award-winning civil organisation, with the Halala Joburg Award for Caring Joburg under its belt. The awards are organised by the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA).

"Sectional title property forms the core of what the forum does," explains the chairperson, Moses ka Moyo.

It believes that sectional title owners should play a meaningful role in the revival of the "city of gold", and it encourages the owners to recognise their responsibilities towards the wellbeing of Joburg.

"We want to encourage people to participate in the City's vision," Moyo explains. "We want them to play a role in providing a clean and safe inner city."

Sectional title properties in the inner city are generally flats owned by the occupants, most of whom have lived in Johannesburg for many years. They bought their flats mostly in the 1990s, when the original owners were moving out to the suburbs.

Friends of the Inner City "encourages them to pay for council services", Moyo points out. It organises meetings with owners, tenants, managing agents and various stakeholders to discuss, among other issues, levy documents and payment of general services. "We try to put everything in layman's terms ... we want them to understand what the City intends to do."

Sectional title buildings are prone to "building hijackings", which usually involves managing agents using shoddy tactics to divert money meant to be paying council services. Moyo is at pains to explain that residents do pay for their services, but part of the problem is that they are not able to pay directly to the City.



Management
While the managing agents are appointed by building trustees, at most properties the rightful owners are unknown. "The biggest problem is that everyone is in dispute of these buildings. We don't know who owns them."

The forum recently saved residents of Worcester Court on Smit Street from eviction. The Johannesburg High Court ruled against a private company that the approximately 400 residents "do not need to be evicted".

"The residents [of Worcester Court] will now be able to pay for services directly to the City of Johannesburg," Moyo says. "About 400 people would have been left homeless."

Campaigns
Friends of the Inner City, which has about 3 000 volunteers, is steeped in community work. The organisation conducts sectional title training to help owners establish body corporates to take control of their buildings.

It's also a leading voice in clean-up campaigns in the inner city. One of its assumed ongoing cleaning projects is Lorna Court on the corner of Twist and Wolmarans streets. The building, facing a state-of-the-art Rea Vaya bus terminal, burnt down in May 2006.

An incident in which one person burned to death and a baby dramatically fell into the hands of passer-by Michael Ndlovu, it left scores of people homeless.

Moyo says the forum is working with flat owners to revive Lorna Court. The roof is the biggest component that needs repair, he states. "We've started to clean it up, with residents that used to stay there ... Once we do the roofing we'll be able to move forward."

The forum is also registering a co-operative that will involve inner city "residents who have not benefited from government housing subsidies". The co-op already has 357 Region F residents who would be beneficiaries, and it is looking for a vacant building to buy.

"Whichever building we get, we will be able to create jobs."

A newspaper, to be called the Inner City Gazette, is also in the pipeline. A free community newspaper, it will focus on telling the stories of people living in Region F.

Plans to launch a radio station, to be named Inner City FM, are also advancing. "The station would give people a platform to speak," Moyo explains. "Most of the problems are created by lack of information, and the station would bridge that gap."

Already a full agenda, its work does not end there. Friends of the Inner City is also working to set up a foundation to get more inner city youth enrolled at the University of the Witwatersrand.

The JDA recognised the forum with the award as it "facilitates community co-operation, bringing communities together and making the inner city a better place to live through gradual build up and restoration of trust, creating mutually sustainable relationships between agents, tenants and building owners".

Inner-City Imbokodo

Friends of the Inner-city Forum would like to Recognise and Salute the CEO of the Johannesburg Development Agency Lael Bethlehem during this years womens month .

For us in the Inner-City Lael represents the Generation of the 1956 Marchers ,she continues to march,touch and change lives of many women in our community ,Through Lael Bethlehem The phrase 'Strike a woman, strike a rock' has come to represent women's courage and strength.

Who Is Lael Bethlehem ?
Lael Bethlehem is the chief executive of the Johannesburg Development Agency. She has worked for the City since 2002, when she was appointed the head of economic development.

Before her move to the City, Bethlehem was a chief director of forestry in the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry for four years. She moved to the ministry after working as a researcher in the labour movement at the National Economic Labour and Development Institute (Naledi).
Here, Bethlehem helped the Plantation and Allied Workers’ Union to develop its forestry policy and undertook research in the areas of trade and industry.

She is currently a member of the International Institute for Environment and Development and the Trade and Industry Policy Secretariat.

Bethlehem completed a masters degree in arts at the University of the Witwatersrand in 1994.

The Business Women's Association of South Africa (BWA) nominated Bethlehem as a Finalist in the corporate category for Business Woman of the Year (2009).


Lael Bethlehem is a Inner-City Imbokodo ,"Wathint' abafazi, wathint' imbokodo uzokufa!" (when you strike the women, you strike a rock, you will be crushed)

Rea Vaya -City Of Johannesburg

Wednesday, 12 August 2009

Statement by the Executive Mayor of Johannesburg, Clr Amos Masondo, at the media briefing launch of Phase 1A of the Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system and the announcement of the Public Transport Summit, Metropolitan Centre, Mayoral Palour, Braamfontein – Johannesburg

Speaker of Council: Clr Nkele Ntingane
Chief Whip of Council: Clr Nonceba Molwele
MMC for Transportation: Rehana Moosajee
Members of the Mayoral Committee
Fellow Councillors
City Manager: Mr Mavela Dlamini
Managers and Officials of Council
The Media
Ladies and Gentlemen

Today, it is a mere three hundred and two (302) days before the first ball is kicked at the 2010 FIFA World Cup tournament.

We are all aware of the fact that Johannesburg is an important stakeholder in the four-week soccer spectacular. From the opening ceremony to mark the beginning of Africa's first World Cup to the blowing of the final whistle at Soccer City the names South Africa, Africa, Gauteng and Johannesburg will be repeated and heard across the globe.

One of the challenges that arise in relation to the World Cup is transport. The City of Johannesburg is required to and has a responsibility to ensure a safe, secure and affordable public transport system for residents and visitors to all the match venues. We will use the pressure that comes with the 2010 World Cup to build a world class transport system for all.

We need a public transport system that is fast, efficient, secure, affordable and environmentally-friendly. We need a world-class public transport system for a world-class African City! The BRT Rea Vaya, is part of this overall effort.

The 30th of August 2009 will indeed be a major milestone for the City of Johannesburg. This is the day that Phase 1A of Rea Vaya – the first BRT system in South Africa – will officially start operating.

Rea Vaya, one of the City of Johannesburg's 2010 legacy projects, truly represents a new chapter in the history of public transport.

The journey that led us to this day has been one of tireless commitment and determination by the City, our partners and the citizens and residents of Johannesburg.

In saying this, I wish to express our sincere gratitude and pay tribute to the following people:

President Jacob Zuma, who played a pivotal role in ensuring the initiation of a more inclusive process.

All the citizens who participated in the public consultation processes.

The affected communities along the Phase 1A route who became involved and attended meetings.

The taxi industry representatives who have travelled with us on the Rea Vaya journey. Those who travelled with us to Bogota, Perreira and other places to study successful BRT systems. All the committed partners including Putco and Metrobus.

Both the national and provincial governments, who have supported and provided us with the necessary resources.

The Johannesburg Development Agency, for the speedy delivery of innovative and world-class infrastructure.

The more than 3000 men and women, (construction workers) who worked tirelessly to complete the infrastructure.

The Johannesburg Roads Agency who assisted with electronic signs and traffic signals.

The City's Transportation Department and BRT project team, including Bob Stanway our retired BRT project manager, for their foresight, management and planning.

The MMC for Transport, Rehana Moosajee, and her colleagues in the BRT Mayoral Sub-Committee and the Section 79 for their supervision.

I can confidently say that, we are now ready to go, Rea Vaya! This coming weekend, two significant events will take place to kick off this new phase.

The first is the Public Transport Summit that will take place on Saturday, 15th of August 2009, at the Nasrec Expo Centre. The aim of the Summit is to share information, consider issues, discuss and deepen our understanding on Rea Vaya. We are expecting approximately 1 000 community leaders who will come with various experiences and insights to enrich the Summit.

The second big event is our Fun Day and official bus unveiling, which will take place on the 16th of August 2009. Communities along the route are invited to join us at Thokoza Park to find out more about Rea Vaya, to experience one of the brand-new Rea Vaya buses and simply to enjoy a day of great entertainment with some of the county's top musicians.

Furthermore, in preparation for the opening of Rea Vaya we are starting to close the dedicated lanes. Only the BRT buses will be allowed to use these lanes. We appeal to the public to co-operate with us in this regard. Let's get used to the reduction in road space and start using public transport! JMPD will be out in full force to enforce this new system.

I am happy to announce that on the 30th of August 2009, we will be celebrating the first day of BRT operation. The residents and citizens of Johannesburg are invited to share this historic moment by taking a ride on Rea Vaya free of charge!

When Rea Vaya starts operating it will be with a starter service that will gradually be built up to a full Phase 1A service over the next six months.

We have included more information on the starter service in the media packs.

We are introducing this starter service while we are finalising negotiations with the taxi industry to establish a Bus Operating Company that will ultimately own and manage Rea Vaya. An interim company Special Purpose of Vehicle (SPV) has been established to act on behalf of the affected taxi operators and to manage Rea Vaya until negotiations are finalised.

At the same time I am pleased to announce that the first negotiation session of Phase 1A taxi operators started on the 5th August 2009. Operators from nine out of the ten affected associations were present at the negotiations meeting. The door remains open for all those who wish to become part of this important process. In addition, I would like to take this opportunity to wish the negotiations well.

On the negotiations, it is also important to say the following: That in the City we have always known the fact that although a lot of work has been done, that the negotiations will in many ways signal a critical moment in the process. This is why we have spent significant amount of energy and time identifying a relevant mechanism and personnel to help manage this process. These negotiations are being chaired and facilitated by a very experienced team including Charles Nupen, Tefo Raditipole and Pete Harris. Our view is that the necessary preparations have been done and the negotiations have the best chance of succeeding.

I would also like to indicate that we are making good progress in recruiting new staff for the BRT business unit. By the 01st of September 2009, we will have in place a new BRT Project Manager as well as other senior staff members.

In conclusion, this project is very complex and holds a great promise to transform the transport industry. What we need more than ever before is a partnership that is committed to improve the quality of life of all our people.

Thank you

Residents welcome statement by MEC for community safety - Khabisi Mosunkutu

Residents welcome statement by MEC for community safety - Khabisi Mosunkutu

Residents in the Inner-city of Johannesburg are encouraged, Excited and welcome the Tough Talk and promise to act harshly towards building Hijackers in the Inner-city by the MEC for community safety Khabisi Mosunkutu and the provincial police commissioner Perumal Naidoo.

We welcome this announcement as it comes at the beginning of women’s month ,most people that feel the Wrath of the Building Hijackers in the inner-city are women , and we are convinced that this initiative led by the provincial government and the police will go a long way in making the inner-city a better place for our women and community at large. We also want to commend the Men in blue(SAPS ) for a commendable work done in doing the investigations .

We urge the MEC want to caution the Courts from continuing to grant Building Hijackers and Conspirators bail when they continue to leave a trail of homeless families . We further call on the Minister of Justice to take action against those senior officials and magistrate who continue to give bail to Building Hijackers. This country belongs to all of us, not only to those who have money.

Our Wish as a community is that the raids are moved forward and carried out immediately as not to give the Hijackers time to cook up documents or get a chance to run .

Issued by Friends of the Inner-city Forum
Contact:
Moses Ka Moyo
Chairperson – 076 681 0577