Hout and About
News
from Residents’ Association of
rahb@houtbay.org.za www.houtbay.org.za
January
2010
A New Year and a New Decade, we wish all our Members a very happy,
healthy, safe and prosperous 2010
AYOBA 2010!
A round of applause
for
We
received the following comment from a Longkloof Resident, “Well done – the
December newsletter carries some vital information for all of us
We
seemed to have an unprecedented number of visitors into Hout Bay over the
Festive Season with traffic backed up all the way up to Chapman’s Peak and
Suikerbossie. While this leaves
residents hot under the collar wondering how much traffic our roads can
sustain, we trust it brought good business to retailers and restaurants in the
Valley.
With
this in mind, the Residents Association was concerned to receive an open letter
from Chris Measey distancing himself personally and professionally from a World
Cup Promotion by Bay Bookings and the Consulate of Hout Bay (excerpt below).
“… whilst still away in the UK, I have
discovered that Andre Jacobs the Hout Bay Consulate General had become
romantically involved with Corinne and therefore my involvement in the whole
project, both in an advisory and financial capacity, have now been terminated.
I do
not know where the future lies for the co.za website or the setting up of the
proposed Hout Bay Fan Park, but from 1st November 2009 the www.baybookings.com
will no longer exist and the following marketing, publicity and incentives will
not be included in the now current www.baybookings.co.za website.”
The Association is DEEPLY concerned about the proposal
of a Fan Park in Hout Bay and we have referred the matter to Councillors, Marga
Hayward and Taki Amira from the City of Cape Town, who inform us that they have
no knowledge of any such Fan Park for Hout Bay.
Durbanville Developer
The
Association was pleased to hear that a developer in Durbanville who “accidentally
drove over a heritage house repeatedly at 04h00 in the morning” was charged
with rebuilding the structure. The ensuing designs were unacceptable and
eventually after much negotiation with the Durbanville Community Forum and
Durbanville Heritage Society, it was proposed that the developer donate a
portion of the building and property to the community and that the development
be named Heritage Square.
George
Sieraha of DCF wrote, “A resounding
victory for the community! I send this on as an example / precedent. Developers
guilty of these transgressions should pay heavily and rebuilding a structure,
forums must suggest alternatives like we did in Durbanville whereby the
community has the full benefit. Maybe we should push for a law that states that
if a developer demolishes a heritage site the value of the site or the value of
the rebuild whichever is the higher, should be donated to the community as
decided by the community in the form of a “structure” or monetary value for
charity?”
Event
By-law and Noise nuisance
Complaints have been received from several residents
regarding the noise nuisance created by the Just Jinja concert at Dunes
Restaurant and the Harbour Festival, both held in December. The RAHB continues
to pursue the matter with the relevant authorities to ascertain if the relevant
permits were in fact correctly applied for and issued by the City.
An Application for Exemption (Noise
Permit) can be obtained from the City of
· Noise source (e.g. live band, DJ, microphone, construction equipment etc);
· Existing and/or proposed measures in place or to be adopted to limit the noise at source;
· A site plan indicating surrounding premises, their uses and the position of the possible noise source with distances indicated from the source;
· If the event is in a residential area and will affect others (neighbours), all residents within 100 metres of the event location are to sign the application and indicate if the agree or disagree with the issuance of a Noise Permit for the specified event.
RAHB wishes to point out that Hout Bay is quite different to other areas because the noise affects places far removed from the noise source by reason of the amphitheatre topography of Hout Bay. However, the Regulations focus on the effect on close neighbours when the noise effects in Hout Bay often affect properties further away more, than they do the closely situated ones. (*see explanation last paragraph, below).
The application form also states that any person who contravenes or fails to comply with a provision of the regulations shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding R20 000.00 or imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years, or to both such fine and imprisonment.
Furthermore, any person who contravenes
the City of
It is clear that many have contravened the Environmental Conservation Act and its Regulations as well as the by-laws of the City of Cape Town in relation to noise nuisance. As such, they are guilty of offences for which there are penalties.
The City of Cape Town must fully
investigate the matter and take effective legal action against all
offenders. If this does not happen,
these people will undoubtedly continue to organise unlawful events in
In the meantime, an event company Wideopen Platform
who applied for an urgent interdict against the City to have their cubicles
returned after they were removed by the City from
It is vital that event organizers know the Event
By-law and get the correct permit issued. We urge the Hout Bay Community to
take note of the following:
Definition: ‘‘authorized official’’
means an official of the City authorized to implement or enforce the
provisions of any other law;
Criteria
6. The Events Permit Officer must ensure that applications for
staging an event are considered in accordance with the following criteria,
where
applicable:
(g)
the event
complies with all applicable legislation
Holding of an event
7. Event organisers whose applications have been approved in terms
of this By-law are responsible for the event and must ensure that —
(a)
the event is
held in compliance with the provisions of this By-law and does not
contravene any other law;
Compliance notice
8. (1) When the Events Permit Officer or a Law Enforcement Officer
finds that a provision of this By-law is contravened by an event organizer or
that a condition has arisen that has
the potential to lead to a contravention of this By-law or any other law, he or
she –
(a)
may issue a compliance notice to the event organizer;
8(2) A notice issued in terms
of subsection (1) must state —
(a)
the provision
of the By-law that is being contravened or will be contravened if the condition
is allowed to continue;
(b)
the measures
that must be taken to rectify the condition; and
(c)
the time
period in which the notice must be complied with.
(3) If a person on whom notice
was served in terms of subsection (1), fails to comply with the requirements of
the notice, the Event Permit Officer,
a Law Enforcement Officer or an
authorized official may, for the purposes of this By-law, take such steps as
may be necessary to rectify the condition at the cost of the event organizer.
4) A person who fails to comply
with a compliance notice issued in terms of subsection (1) commits an offence.
Inspections and right of
access
9. (1) The Events Permit Officer, an authorized official or a law
enforcement officer may conduct inspections of a venue after the submission of
an
application, during or after the
staging or holding of an event to determine compliance with this By-law.
(2) The Events Permit Officer or
a law enforcement officer has a right of access to or over any venue for the
purposes of —
(a)
doing anything
authorised or required to be done by the City under this By-law;
(b)
ascertaining
whether there is or has been a contravention of the provisions of this By-law;
and
(c)
enforcing
compliance with the provisions of this By-law.
* Most noise nuisance offenders are unaware or
unwilling to take into account that any noise in Hout Bay is amplified a
hundred fold due to the natural formation of mountains all around Hout Bay
which turns Hout Bay into an amphitheatre – ideal for acoustics but at the same
time leading to the higher decibel level amplification and severe noise
pollution. Hence, RAHB’s stance
and action against the City for awarding Hout Bay beach as a fireworks display
area on Guy Fawkes day.
We hope that the
year 2009 was the last Guy Fawkes on Hout Bay beach and that the City of Cape
Town will take into consideration Hout Bay’s unique topography when granting
permission for events in future. RAHB will certainly make them aware of this
situation.
Cape Floral Kingdom vs Dontse
Yakhe
From
our Chairman, Len Swimmer; “I wonder what the World heritage Committee who
ratified South Africa and re-nominated them to serve another 4 years on
UNESCO's World Heritage Committee would say to the fact that they allow
squatters on this World Heritage site? Something for the Minister MS BUYELWA
SONJICA, MP, MINISTER OF WATER AND ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS to consider.”
In an article in the
Richard Timms, Chairman of HB & L Heritage Trust responded
in an e-mail, “If this is so, and I am
not sure whether 'tis so, it is only because SAN Parks allowed the boundary of
the land they are responsible for to be moved, so that Dontse Yakhe is
nominally outside the TMNP area and reverted to City ownership.
The clear facts are that the whole of Dontse Yakhe is high on the
mountainside, outside the proclaimed IY Township area on public land which
should be part of TMNP and a World Heritage Site. Mr Stephen Hayward,
as Head of the City's Anti-Invasion Unit must know this and thus it
is dishonest of him to imply otherwise. If he does not know this, he
should and it is negligent of him not to have found out.”
Our
hedgerows! Watch our dunes grow!
In
the absence of Justin O’Riain (who was taking a well deserved break),Len
Swimmer supervised the planting of the hedgerows on the beach by the team of
workers under Felix, a resident of IY. The crew that cut alien vegetation,
transported and planted these hedgerows on the HB Beach were paid not by the
City of Cape Town, but with the funds kept by the HB&L Heritage Trust from
monies transferred to them for this purpose. These hedgerows will stabilize our
dunes over the coming months and years. The Association is delighted with the
progress and the beach goers were under the impression the hedgerows were for
their wind and sun protection!
Illegal
Car Wash and Vehicle Repairs
The rule of law continues to be ignored by many in the
business of car washes and vehicle repairs.
For three months a car wash operating from a recently constructed shack
at the IY circle had loud music and illegal signage as well as illegal ramp
built on public open space. Despite being opposite the Police Station, the onus
for resolving the problem became the Ward Councillor’s and she reported it to
the relevant Law Enforcement Agencies.
The illegal “vehicle repairs” operation on
A situation that continues despite ongoing complaints
to officials by the RAHB and Patrick McLaughlin is the illegal operation of a
vehicle repair shop at
“You have passed your responsibilities
under LUPO on to me. Please, I implore you, EXERCISE THE LAW YOURSELF as the
City of Cape Town. Or we all go down a big hole into a place
where there is no law and order. He is clearly trading in a suburb and has
applied to to do so, as you well know and have seen, and against
complaints from all neighbours. The fact that he opens and shuts at the moment
and you can't catch him, does not diminish his violation of the law.”
International focus
on the Toxic Disa River
A
French based film maker has contacted the RAHB and will start filming a
documentary on our polluted and highly toxic Disa River. While we get decisive international press on
this matter, the problem continues without any EFFECTIVE intervention by our
LOCAL authorities. The City avoids dealing with the root cause of the problem –
the need for relocation of thousands of illegal squatters on the City’s land to
an appropriate serviced site or sites as was agreed on at the Institute of
Justice and Reconciliation (IJR) process sessions in Hout Bay in 2007. They
simply put a band aid on the situation or worse still, take the ostrich
approach and pretend it doesn’t exist – and this has been going on for years!
A
creative e mail from a City official proposed the high e coli levels were
caused by the sea gull population.
Justian O’Riain of RAHB made the following response:
“I do not wish to take more of your precious time
only to say that any official who tells you that the high levels of ecoli are
due to roosting seagulls should be forced to drink a glass of river water
before it gets to where the seagulls roost and below where the informal
settlement offloads its faecal matter directly into the river.
When the 'storm water' entering the river was first
sampled by an epidemiologist it revealed the highest level of E.coli yet
recorded entering a river in the Western Cape (Over 9
billion E.coli/100ml) and previously only recorded in a stagnant trench in an
informal settlement. The City of Cape Town's scientific services sampled
water from the storm water drain emanating from the 'cemetary side' of Imizamo
Yethu this year and revealed E.coli in excess of 1 million/100ml. Both
storm water pipes originate within IY and were sampled before they entered the
Hout Bay River. They are thus not affected by DARG, the World of Birds,
horses, seagulls or any other much used red herrings.
Incidentally, we know the latter all contribute but we are
justifiably more concerned about human contamination which is why we sampled
run off from IY directly.”
The City has re-erected
warning signs on the beach and at the Disa River Bridge and plans are in place
to distribute pamphlets alerting the public to the highly toxic water. Whilst we are happy to have the signs
re-erected, there is no indication of the reason for the polluted water or the
extent of the danger. A sign reading “Human
Faecal Contamination in these waters” would give a much
clearer picture of the dangers.
There should also be many more signs and in prominent positions. These puny
signs far away from the Disa River mouth are totally inadequate.
Such
signage may have avoided a visiting family from Zimbabwe that saw their 3 yr
old child in hospital on an IV drip for 5 days with an E.coli infection after
coming into contact with the Disa River water.
The standard
refrain is that it cannot be proven beyond reasonable doubt that the river was
the source of infection but given the City has the data to show the
staggeringly high E.coli levels in the river, this response always seems so
empty of a genuine willingness to be of service to the community. Human faeces
are carriers of many diseases which animal faeces do not and prominent Hout Bay
Medical Professionals, unlike the City officials, are very worried about the
wide-spread of diseases such as Typhoid and TB.
City
Councillor, Taki Amira has been of great help in trying to mobilise the various
Health and Environmental Directorates; “I believe the City officials now having
been alerted to two incidents that are known, there must be countless more who
we were never alerted by the City, and we need to come out much stronger in
warning holiday makers”.
We
have been informed that a local resident riding her mountain bike along the
Disa River path fell and scraped her knee.
What should have been a small abrasion, became highly infected and the
infection moved up her leg. The doctor
she saw said it was very likely that the infection came from the polluted Disa
River with its high human faecal count.
The
situation seems unending. On the 30th of December, the RAHB received
the following correspondence from resident Andrew Turnball; “My children go to school in hout Bay and we
spend a lot of time at the beach in Hout Bay. With regard to my motivation, the
beach in Hout Bay should be the best in Cape Town and as you and I know, it
isn't! Recently the Kids did a study of the Disa for their end of year projects
and I got in touch with some associates who are involved in the water industry,
they kindly came to Hout Bay at my request to analyse the outlet at the
beach,the results were shocking. We would like to meet with you to show you the
process that we recommend for an ongoing solution, as well as the reports on
the samples taken.”
We
are setting up a “Disa River Water Watch”. So please write to us, “Disa River Water
Watch”, via our e-mail rahb@houtbay.org
or report any known or experienced poisonings on our website www.houtbay.org.za if you know of any
incidents of death or injury to health, due to becoming infected by the waters
of the Disa River. We know of two dogs that have died after drinking the water
and a horse has died from infection in its hooves. The veterinary surgeon who
attended to the horse said that he had never before seen such a high e-coli
count in any horse’s hooves.
In
October the DA called on the Department of Water to adopt the zero-tolerance
approach previously promised by the Minister to stop the illegal, ongoing
discharge of sewage into our rivers. “The
time for negotiation with offending municipalities has passed,” said DA Shadow
Deputy Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Annette Lovemore. Meaningful
action is now required. If this involves legal action, and fines or jail terms
for offenders, then so be it.”
This
was in a response to a DA parliamentary question which revealed that 43
municipalities had directives issued against them, for among other things,
sewage treatment works that are not complying with requirements. Lovemore said
that the 43 directives likely only represented a small percentage of offending
municipalities." Strong words by Annette Lovemore of the DA. So, our
question is, what about the DA run City applying these same standards in Hout
Bay?
IY
Impasse
Chairman, Len Swimmer received the following e mail
from the Chairman of the Ratepayers Association, Graham Kelroe-Cooke and as a
fellow Civic Association RHAB feel the points are pertinent.
“Many
thanks for keeping us informed, and more importantly, our sincere thanks for
the meticulous effort that has been put into preparing these documents and
letters.
If
the City of
I am
also astounded and hugely disillusioned by the complete silence from Helen
Zille on all that has happened regarding this matter. She has been so much
involved in the past, that I find it hard to believe that she can now just
stand by and watch what is being done to Hout Bay, by the City of Cape Town.”
Veldfires
The
Glencairn Fire Committee have been working tirelessly to try and get By-Laws
and Legislation on Invasive Aliens and Wildfire Hazards answered by their South
Peninsula Subcouncil.
Clare
Roy comments, “We rather want the city to
use the National Veld and
Safety laws are more robust, easier to
understand and implement and have "real teeth" and can also be
implemented directly by the city and thus would not rely on the good offices of
a third party such as DAFF.
We, City ratepaying residents (and
Redhill residents) are more concerned our own safety from huge runaway fires as
seen in America, Australia and Scarborough last year... and this must always
take priority over long term biodiversity objectives (as good as those
are). The fire season is already here
and the City must act now to get the bush cut away from the houses wherever
there is overgrowth.”.
Ablution Facilities
Please
report any problems with the cleaning of our beach toilet facilities to:
Byron
Kemp, Area Manager - Area 2.2, Sport, Recreation and Amenities, City of
Tel
: 021 761 7036; Cell : 073 004 9951;Fax : 021 797 0747; e-mail:
byron.kemp@capetown.gov.za
Leak Reporting
Residents
are asked to report leaking taps, pipes and hydrants to the Water Department at
the technical call centre on 0860 103 054. They can also e-mail watertoc@capetown.gov.za
or send a fax to 021 957 4726. Water faults and queries can also be sms’d to
31373, as an alternative to using the call centre. This will save time,
reduce call centre congestion, and eliminate ‘queuing time’. A reference number
will be sent to them.
We invite you to join the
Resident’s Association by sending an email to rahb@houtbay.org.za and we can send you details re
membership and alert you to some of the important issues that might affect you
as a resident of Hout
Bay
You might also want to use your
skill to help the Association operate and participate in community affairs
MEMBERSHIP
(R50 per couple, R30 per individual)
Forms from Chairperson or
Library. Association’s Banking Details:
FNB,
Subscriptions may be paid electronically (please use
your full name as a reference on the payment – to ensure that we correctly
credit your membership as this information appears on our Bank Statement
If you prefer, payment may also
be dropped into our wooden box at the Library (next to the Hall doors) or
posted to our Post Office Box: 27031
Len
Swimmer
Chairman,
Residents’
Association of Hout Bay
Tel: 021
790-0268, Email: lens@telkomsa.net