Below you will find the text from the memoranda presented to MEC Richard Dyantyi, Thubelisha Homes, and Trafalgar Property Management at today's march. Unfortunately, no representative from Trafalgar Property Management bothered to attend to accept a memorandum. After prolonged negotiations, the SAPS superintendent accepted it on their behalf.

As Trafalgar was unwilling to send a representative to accept a memorandum, the N2 Gateway joint committee representing residents of the Joe Slovo Phase 1 flats, the Joe Slovo informal settlement and the Symphony Way settlement in Delft will be meeting to plan further action that will insure that Trafalgar addresses the needs of the poor.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

24 July 2008

M E M O R A N D U M

To Thubelisha Homes:

You were given the responsibility for building housing as the principle agent and developer of the national N2 Gateway Housing Project. This was a special responsibility and you could not deliver.

First, your forcibly removed people to Temporary Relocation Areas with the false promise of housing. Then, you were responsible for the building of flats of substandard quality for poor people who need homes. Then, you carried out a mass eviction of people who were on the waiting list for housing for more than twenty years; six months later they are still on the pavement in the dead of winter opposite your empty houses. Now you want to evict more people from shacks to build more shoddy housing.

Is it any surprise that you ran out of money, not trying to deliver adequate, decent, affordable housing, but because of lawyer's fees for eviction court cases? This is like a curse that you have put on yourself for not thinking of the poor.

This is not the first time that you have attempted to exploit the poor people of this country. For years, you have gone unchallenged and now you have met your match, it is too late for you.

And now:

You are now dead. We do not expect any letters or summons from ghosts. The truth will now arise. Fair well and good riddance.

REST IN PEACE

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

24 July 2008

M E M O R A N D U M

To Trafalgar Property Management:

You are an international company that manages properties for rich people. Yet, for the past year, you have been attempting to manage the flats in Joe Slovo Phase 1, shelter for poor people that you treat as if they were homes in rich suburbs.

We do not know you. We never met you. We do not have any agreement with you. Yet, for the past three months, you have been sending the residents of Joe Slovo Phase 1 threatening lawyer's letters because they refuse to pay your extravagant rent.

The agreement you have is with Thubelisha Homes, not with the residents of Joe Slovo Phase 1. We never signed any contract with you. We don't need any more letters from you as they create heartache and pain for pensioners and single parents. Keep your papers and ink.

In future, avoid abusing poor people on behalf of the state. Do not participate in the privatization and outsourcing of housing management. We are sick and tired of government agents.

Now that you are buried, we can rest easy knowing that you can no loner exploit the poor people on the N2 Gateway Housing Project..

REST IN PEACE

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

24 July 2008

M E M O R A N D U M

To Richard Dyantyi, MEC for Local Government and Housing:

You are responsible for seeing to the needs of over half a million pensioners, single parents, farm workers and other poor people who desperately need proper housing, especially now that it is winter. This is your job.

But your current annual budget allows for only 12,000 homes to be built, when in fact the need increases by 22,000 units each year. If you continue business as usual, the number of homeless in the Western Cape will increase, instead of decrease, by another half of million. When you think of your children, think of all our poor children living in shacks, in backyards, and homeless, especially now in the wintertime. Is this the future you wish for our country?

You need to declare the housing backlog a State of Emergency. Start by scrapping the laws that allow for the eviction of poor people until we all have homes, security, and comfort.

Your department must take direct responsibility for housing, housing delivery, and housing management. But you continue to outsource and privatise housing and housing delivery, as if it is a solution, rather than acknowledge that this is part of the problem. Evict Traflagar and Thubelisha Homes, not the poor people. To us, Trafalgar and Thubelisha Homes are now dead and buried.

You have been given one more chance to deliver on the needs of the poor. To educate and inform you about real public participation and the needs of our communities, see the ballot box that we have left you. Take this as your mandate for delivery. Also, take it as a reminder that we will not vote until we have land and housing. No land, no house, no vote.

Yours sincerely,

On Behalf of the poor communities of the Western Cape

Cape Town -- All three communities affected by the N2 Gateway fiasco - the pet national housing project of Lindiwe Sisulu - will be marching tomorrow morning to claim that they are not stupid, that they can think, that they must be at the centre and in control of any housing policy that effects them.  Communities are tired of the government's authoritarian way of governing.  This is not a protest about lack of service delivery, but a protest about the undemocratic structure of government.

Communities are calling on government to end the privatisation of services to private companies like Thubelisha Homes and Trafalgar Properties.  Communities are marching to Provincial Department of Local Government and Housing to claim service delivery as their own and to mandate government to carry out the wishes of the people in the manner the people decide.

1. Housing is not an excuse to evict shackdwellers.
2. Sustainability is not an excuse to raise rents on shoddily constructed flats.
3. Order is not an excuse to violently evict families who have nowhere else to go.

We are marching to claim our right to dignity! We are marching to claim our right to humanity! We will assert our right to express ourselves despite government's attempts to silence us and prevent us from being heard!

Phansi Forced Removal! Phansi High Rent! Phansi Privatisation!

For more information:

On Thursday, 24 July 2008, the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign will be leading a march to the Provincial Department of Local Government and Housing to protest the continued privatization of housing construction. Beginning at 10 am at Keizergragt Street, marchers will arrive outside the Provincial offices of MEC Richard Dyantyi to deliver a memorandum to the MEC as well as Prince Xanthi Sigcawu of Thubelisha Homes and Lloyd Nussey of Trafalgar.

Jointly planned by the various communities impacted by the N2 Gateway Project, this march bring together the residents of the Joe Slovo informal settlement, the occupants of the Joe Slovo Phase 1 flats, and the families of the Symphony Way informal settlement in Delft, along with other communities from across the Western Cape region. While each of these communities has struggled individually, this march will be their first collective action directed at the lack of genuine public participation that has been the hallmark of the N2 Gateway Project.

Over the past several months, these three communities have faced increasing intimidation from municipal and provincial officials as well as the companies to whom housing construction and management has been outsourced. Even though the residents of the Joe Slovo settlement will be challenging their forced removal to Delft before the SA Constitutional Court on 21 August, MEC Dyantyi has already applied for the rezoning of the land they now occupy – as if this community has already lost its legal appeal.

In Joe Slovo Phase 1 flats, those on a rent boycott to call attention to shoddy construction and escalating rent have begun receiving threatening letters from Trafalgar’s lawyer. And in a meeting in Osterberg last week (17/7/08), City of Cape Town Informal Settlements Manager Gregory Exford threatened representatives from the Symphony Way community with an eviction order from the Department of Roads and Transportation if they did not move from off the pavement to a Temporary Relocation Area so as to allow for the reopening of Symphony Way.

City officials also threatened to arrest the three members of the Anti-Eviction Campaign convening the march if they refused to comply with a predetermined march route. In a meeting at the Cape Town Civic Centre held on Monday, 21 July 2008, Officer Mangale from the Traffic Police refused to permit a march that included Thubelisha Homes on Lower Berg Street and Trafalgar on Bree Street along the route, citing the inconvenience to motorists, the possibility of injuries and potential damage to property. “We will make the decision whether to grant this march or not,” argued Mangale.

When the AEC members resolved to march whether or not they had a permit from the city, Officer De Graaf from the Public Order Police threatened to arrest them for not complying with the city’s requirements. After three hours of negotiations, the march conveners and city officials agreed on a route that would only bring marchers to the MEC’s office.

The Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign condemns the efforts by officers Mangale and De Graaf to limit their democratic right of assembly and freedom of expression. “The city workers are public servants. They must let the poor express themselves,” said AEC member Gary Hartzenberg.

The Anti-Eviction Campaign also condemns the ongoing efforts of city and provincial officials to push through their plans over the objections of poor people. Public participation must exist in practice, not just on paper!

The campaign also invites all struggling communities to join with the residents of Joe Slovo, Joe Slovo Phase 1, and Symphony Way on Thursday in calling for a transparent and accountable process to solve South Africa’s housing crisis.

Phansi Forced Removal! Phansi High Rent! Phansi Privatisation!

For more information:

On the afternoon of Sunday, 20 July more than a dozen local community leaders came together from across the Western Cape for the first Anti-Eviction Campaign General Meeting in more than sixth months. Held at the BSL Ex-Servicemen's Club in Silvertown, the meeting drew more than sixty delegates from informal settlements as well as public and privately owned housing. Although facing a range of different issues, from the privatization of water to a rash of night-time evictions, delegates resolved to strategise a collective way forward during the months leading up to the April 2009 elections and 2010 World Cup.

From Gugulethu to QQ section, Hout Bay to Hanover Park, delegates expressed their solidarity with the various communities impacted by the N2 Gateway Project who will be marching in Cape Town on the morning of 24 July. This includes the current residents of some 700 N2 Gateway rental flats (otherwise known as Joe Slovo Phase 1 who have been on a rent boycott since mid-2007) the thousands of families of the Joe Slovo informal settlement resisting forced removal to Temporary Relocation Areas in Delft, and the more than 200 families of the Symphony Way settlement living opposite the homes they were evicted from in Delft.

Jointly called by the residents of all three communities, Thursday's march in the Cape Town CBD will draw attention to the problems caused by the privatization of housing construction through Thubelisha Homes and housing management by Trafalgar Properties. Marchers intend to call upon the Provincial Department of Local Government and Housing to directly see to the region's grave housing needs. Drawing on the common concerns regarding privatization, Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign chairperson Ashraf Cassiem warned that, "The responsibility for housing, something that is usually provided for by the state, has been given to these private companies. They have a bottom line. They don't care if you don't have bread to feed your family."

Delegates also found common cause with each other's struggles, as they spoke to recent victories and pressing local issues. In particular, those in attendance called attention to the failure to upgrade of informal settlement, the needs of backyard dwellers, and "pink letters" threatening evictions and service disconnections. At one point, the delegates from the Wes Bank community in Delft spoke movingly and sometimes in tears about the problem of night-time evictions from RDP housing in Delft. Several delegates also spoke to the problem of police and councilor corruption in their areas.

In addition to a general discussion forum, Sunday's meeting also provided and opportunity for communities facing similar problems to learn from each other. Hawkers in Mitchell's Plain Town Centre took time to speak to those representing informal trades in Gatesville and Gugulethu. Similarly, the general meeting also brought together several delegates from the nine Cape Town Community Housing Company projects.

At the end of the meeting, delegates resolved to take the discussion back to their communities and meet again in two weeks.

For more information, please contact:

Now there will be a new empire invading the latest Electronic Arts game series, Command & Conquer Red Alert 3; Empire of The Rising Sun.

"An nationalistic, zealous army of warriors willing to lay down their lives for their godlike Emperor and his vision. The Empire of the Rising Sun runs a strictly-disciplined military that takes great pride in its futuristic weaponry and ruthless tactics.

Get a first-look at the fanatical armies of the Japanese, intriguing new third faction, the Empire of the Rising Sun! This trailer features over 2 minutes of non-stop heart pumping gameplay with a heavy focus on some of the more unique "transforming" units in this third faction.

IAHGames has released new expansion for their popular game title, Granado Espada. More exciting adventure awaiting you in The Requiem including new map, new boss raid, new costumes and armors, new veteran stances, and many more.

New Map - Chaos Requiem (Land of The Giants)

Reunited lovers Edward Jameson and Selva Norte have entered this poisoned land in search of their hated enemy, Montoro. Expert Pioneers who defeat a powerful Great Hill Giant can join the conflict, but is there more to the danger than anyone suspects?

Swiftness & Song - The new RNPCS

Bai Hu, a martial arts expert, and Vicente Rio, the enchanting musician, have decided to enter the frey and join any pioneering family worthy of their services

Le Noir - New Challenges for The Expert Pioneer

Features include veteran stances, necklaces and earrings, Le Noir, a top armor set, RNPC costumes, boss raids and more

Download the expansion HERE

]]> http://n2xplor.wordpress.com/?p=21 Mon, 07 Jul 2008 07:02:16 +0000 N2's http://n2xplor.wordpress.com/?p=21

In an interview with Eurogamer Blizzards Rob Pardo admit that it’s a ”theoretical possibility” that Diablo 3 will be ported to consoles. Earlier Blizzard has gone out with the information that the game will only be released to the PC and Mac. A decision the company motivate with that it’s the most suitable platforms for the game. But when Pardo got the question if there was a possibility that the game could get ported to consoles from Eurogamer, he answered:

On the question of a console version and if it would mean that they have to build it from scratch, Pardo answered:

Now we know the possibility exist. But due to what Blizzard earlier said regarding a consoleversion, it’s most likely highly unlikely.

- Curse -

Das aus Schweden stammende Neonode N2 ist kleiner als eine Kreditkarte (4,7 mal 7,7 mal 1,47 Zentimeter) und wiegt nur 60 Gramm. Der kleine Schwede ist in vier Farben erhältlich: Schwarz, Rubinrot, Azurblau und Lime (grün). Das Handy kommt ohne herkömmliche Tastatur aus und lässt sich via Touchscreen steuern.

Das Neonode N2 soll sich "mit einem sanften Streicheln über das Display" (Originalton Pressemeldung) und mit nur einem Finger bedienen lassen. Das Neonode bietet Klang entweder über den eingebauten Lautsprecher oder über die mitgelieferten In-Ear-Kopfhörer im Stereo-Sound. Wer will, kann auch seinen eigenen Kopfhörer anschließen. Über Bluetooth besteht die Möglichkeit, ein drahtloses Headset zu verwenden.

Ereignisreiche Momente lassen sich mit der 2-Megapixel-Kamera festhalten. Das Display kann 176 x 220 Pixel darstellen. Neben Multimediaanwendungen wie Internet, MP3 und Video lassen sich das Adressbuch und der Terminkalender mit MS-Outlook synchronisieren. Das Neonode N2 ist in Deutschland zunächst exklusiv in den my-eXtra Shops erhältlich, einer Handykette, die auch Mobilfunkverträge von T-Mobile, E-Plus, Vodafone und o2 verkauft.

Der Schweden-Winzling, übrigens ein Quadband-Handy, kostet 299 Euro ohne Kartenvertrag und ist je nach Vertragsabschluss auch schon ab einem Euro erhältlich. Die Sprechzeit beträgt nach Angaben des Herstellers maximal vier Stunden, die Standby-Zeit bis zu 200 Stunden.

En voici un exemple, avec des fleurettes jolies jolies

Blouse Monoprix ; jean Replay ; escarpins André ; bijoux N2

Vous noterez par la même occasion l'une de mes dernières acquisitions chaussure: mes peep-toe multicolores et vernies. Je les adore!

   Si, algo de cariño me tendrá, más que nada porque somos medio amigos (digo medio porque no se como va a acabar esto) y un poquito le debo gustar para que se acostara conmigo. O a lo mejor, fue como dice él "Necesidad sexual-social".

   Y, lo peor de todo es que no puedo echarle nada en cara, él me dijo la verdad desde el principio, y como yo aún no tengo claro si oponerme o no, pues pasa lo que pasa.

   Un poco cabrón si que es, porque sabe que cuando está intentando tirarse a otras me duele. Se que no puede curarme ese dolor, pero que no me haga creer que tengo alguna posibilidad.

   El otro día empezamos a ver una peli y acabamos enrollándonos, aunque eran en realidad tan solo unas pocas caricias. Y empezamos a hablar. Él estaba colaborador, comunicativamente hablando =) . Y yo, que ya me había hecho a la idea que nunca íbamos a tener nada mas allá que ser amigos con derecho a consumición, va y me pregunta que si cuando vuelva a España que si lo vamos a dejar.

¿Dejar qué?

   No me preguntes eso si no quieres nada conmigo. Bueno, el caso que pensaba que estábamos yendo a más, y va, y el lunes empieza a echarle más fichas que nunca a la enana de mierda.

   El que decía que no quería ninguna relación en este momento. Odio esa frase, porque en verdad significa "No quiere una relación contigo pero en 2 semanas estaré empezando una relación estable y duradera con otra persona".

   Y, además de eso, me siento idiota. Porque me molaba eso de llevar la parte sexual en secreto, pero es me siento como que me esconde. Él muy cabrón se pasa casi un día entero en mi cama y como teníamos que ir al mismo sitio ese mismo día, vamos por separado porque yo iba a ir con otra tía que le mola y claro, no se puede enterar. Tampoco quiere venir a casa porque pasar la noche no puede. ¿Por qué? Por el mero hecho que mi compañero de casa conoce a una de las que le mola. Coño, es que me siento como que se avergüenza de mi. y eso no es bueno para la autoestima de nadie. Y, encima soy masoquista porque yo estaba de acuerdo, que gilipollas estoy.

   Pues eso, que no me apetece volver a tener momentos sexuales con él porque solo puedo pensar que se esta intentando ligar a la enana de mierda y que ha quedado para ir de excursión con ella este finde. Si, va con 3 personas más, pero es pasar el día con ella. Que envidia le tengo a la enana de mierda.

   Y repito, no me apetece, de ahí el titulo del post (no los voy a usar en mucho tiempo), pero sé que no tengo fuerza de voluntad, caeré y me hundiré en mi propia mierda.

¿Todo o Nada con N2?

   Por supuesto que lo quiero Todo pero sólo hay un inconveniente: N2 sólo quiere darme amistad. “Sólo amigos”. Y, en este punto, es cuando me planteo si quiero tener un amigo genial o estar sola y perderlo. La primera vez elegí Nada y durante el primer día fue extraño pero llevadero. Hasta que llegó la enana de mierda y empezó a echarle fichas. Las siguientes 2 semanas fueron una pesadilla. La puta enana viniendo a reírle las gracias mientras que yo tenia que estar a medio metro de ellos, oyéndolos flirtear sin ni siquiera unos cascos con los que evadirme.

   Pero aun así, sigo pensando que la opción menos dolorosa es Nada. Aunque en estos momentos no es posible. No puedes elegir Nada con una persona que esta trabajando a medio metro de ti.

   Podría dejar el curro, volver a España, volver a huir. Una huida demasiado exagerada incluso para mi, que soy una dramática.

   Así que, en realidad, no hay opciones. Me toca quedarme con la amistad esperando a que algún día sienta los mismo que yo.

Background note: This is not the first time Judge Hlophe has been accused of corruption. He was accused of taking bribes from property developers and evidence shows that he was guilty of this offence. He was also the judge to rule on the forced removals from Joe Slovo which is now being appealed to the constitutional court. It is clear to everyone involved that Hlophe has been biased towards the ANC and property developers which accounts for his viscious ruling against about 20,000 Joe Slovo residents. For more information see the article by Pierre De Vos (Professor of Constitutional Law at UWC).

Cape Judge President John Hlophe has been accused of attempting to influence the Constitutional Court's decision over search-and-seizure raids carried out by the Scorpions on properties of African National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma and French arms manufacturing giant Thint.

A Constitutional Court statement released on Friday afternoon said that a complaint had been referred to the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) following allegations that "Judge John Hlophe has approached some of the judges of the Constitutional Court in an improper attempt to influence this court's pending judgement in one or more cases".

The statement did not reveal which of the court's 11 judges had allegedly been approached by Hlophe, but it did say that "the complaint relates to the matters of Thint [Pty] Ltd v National Director of Public Prosecutions and Others [CCT 89/07], JG Zuma and Another v National Director of Public Prosecutions and Others [CCT 91/07], Thint Holdings [South Africa] [Pty] Ltd and Another v National Director of Public Prosecutions [CCT 90/07] and JG Zuma v National Director of Public Prosecutions [CCT 92/07]."

The cases were heard by the court in Johannesburg between March 11 and 14, and related to controversial search-and-seizure raids at properties belonging to Zuma in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, as well as at the Durban office of his attorney, Michael Hulley, on August 18 2005.

A ruling is yet to be made.

Zuma, Hulley and Thint have argued that they should be granted leave to appeal against a November 8 2006 majority judgement of the Supreme Court of Appeal that upheld the raids.

The raids were carried out two months after Judge Hilary Squires convicted Zuma's former confidante and financial adviser Schabir Shaik on two counts of corruption and one count of fraud in the Durban High Court.

The corruption charges related to Shaik's attempt to solicit a R500 000-a-year bribe from French arms manufacturing giant Thales International (formerly Thomson CSF) for Zuma.

'I find the whole thing a bit bizarre'
Hlophe could not be reached for comment. The South African Press Association was told that he had left his office in Cape Town and would only be available again on Monday.

However, Cape Talk radio presenter John Maytham said on air that Hlophe had spoken to a reporter for the station about the referral to the JSC.

"He did deny it in the bluntest of terms and said he never approached anybody," Maytham said.

The Constitutional Court statement said: "We stress that there is no suggestion that any of the litigants in the cases referred to ... was aware of or instigated this action." It also said: "The judges of this court view conduct of this nature in a very serious light."

National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Tlali Tlali said he had not seen the statement and could not therefore comment.

Advocate Rudi van Rooyen, the chairperson of the Cape Bar Council, said he could not immediately comment, but that a statement would be issued shortly. He said the council was dealing with the matter, which it "considered as one of extreme emergency and extreme concern".

Hulley said he had not seen the statement and that "I find the whole thing a bit bizarre". He said he would not be in a position to comment until the JSC had released its findings and "when we know what the full nature of the complaint is".

Leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) Helen Zille said the allegation "shakes the very foundations of our constitutional democracy".

"If the JSC confirms that Judge Hlophe abused his position in this way, then he must be dismissed from the bench and face the full force of the law," she said.

"The allegation raises the possibility that Judge Hlophe acted at the behest either of Jacob Zuma or his political allies. This is not implausible given Zuma's numerous attempts to avoid justice to date. The DA will follow this line of questioning at the JSC to ascertain whether or not Zuma or any of his representatives exerted pressure on Judge Hlophe," she said.

JSC spokesperson Marumo Moerane said he could not immediately confirm receipt of the complaint as he had just arrived back in the country. -- Sapa

N2 me pregunto:

-Y tu, ¿qué has probado?

-Casi nada- conteste yo. Aunque no pude terminar la frase porque el la acabó:

-Ya, sólo algunos porros

Creo que N2 esperaba que le preguntara a él, pero no lo hice. Algún día lo haré.

   Por algunos comentarios que ha hecho otras ocasiones se que ha probado bastante. En ese momento no me di cuenta, pero al día siguiente, en el avión, me di cuenta que me molestó el tono en que sabia mi respuesta. Era un tono de “Si, ya lo se, que en tu vida no has vivido emociones fuertes, sólo has dejado que la vida pase, sin implicarte”. Imbécil.

   Aunque se que si lo hablara con él, me diría que ni por asomo piensa eso de mi. Y se que N2 no me miente.

Je ne vais pas vous mentir, ce matin j'étais ravie que Joël Collado annonce que Paris subirait des orages accompagnés d'averses en fin de journée. Youpi! youpi!! je peux enfin utiliser mon joli chapeau qui attend la pluie depuis notre retour de Belle Ile.

Car c'est à Belle Ile que je l'ai trouvé ce joli chapeau, chez Papa pique et Maman coud, dans leur nouvelle boutique toute neuve, toute grande tout belle.

Le voilà mon beau chapeau, et le sac qui avec, histoire d'être ensoleillée de la tête aux pieds (ou presque) lorsqu'il pleut. Et tout ceci est waterproof of course!!

Il est joli, hein?
La jolie broche toute mignonne c'est N2...what else?

Si vous allez faire un tour chez Papa pique et Maman coud vous vous rendrez compte que tout est joli, quand je dis tout, c'est tout: les chapeaux de pluie, les chapeaux de soleil, pour les petites et les grandes, les barrettes, les chouchous, les sacs, les besaces, les trousses de toilette, les bandeaux pour les cheveux...TOUT!

Un cauchemar pour carte bleue...enfin non, même pas. Un bonheur!
De ma visite j'ai ramené mon beau chapeau, son copain sac, quelques barrettes pour ma Choupie - qui en avait déjà reçu plein grâce à sa jolie maman, chut! ne dites rien à son papa - et un autre chapeau, très rigolo!

Moi la pluie ça m'amuse beaucoup ces temps-ci, elle peut tomber jusqu'à vendredi soir si lui chante, moi ça me va.
Après ce sera le week-end, faut pas déconner non plus, hein Mme la Pluie?

Les adresses Papa pique et Maman coud:
A Belle Ile: 12 rue de la Citadelle, Le Palais
A Paris: 39, rue Saint Placide (6éme)

Bonne nouvelle, on peut aussi acheter en ligne.

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Province 'to hold R300m' from Gateway

By Andisiwe Makinana

The Western Cape provincial treasury is withholding at least R300-million meant for the N2 Gateway Housing Project until the ongoing problems engulfing it are resolved.

It was revealed at a budget committee briefing in the provincial legislature yesterday that millions of rands allocated for the project in the 2007/08 financial year have not been spent and that the department will hold on to a further R300m set aside for this (2008/09) financial year.

The issue was raised after ANC MPL Patrick McKenzie asked whether the Treasury had plans to combat organisations holding up construction on any of the government's housing projects.

The project first encountered problems when Joe Slovo informal settlement dwellers refused to be relocated to Delft - 15km away - to make way for the housing development.

This prompted Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, government-appointed housing company Thubelisha and Local Government and Housing MEC Richard Dyantyi to ask the Cape High Court to order that the squatters be moved to temporary housing in Delft last September.

The more than 4 000 households, who were going to be moved over 45 weeks, opposed the application for their eviction. A long legal squabble, which has now gone to the Constitutional Court, ensued.

The court is yet to decide whether to allow residents to appeal a Cape High Court judgment which last month ordered them to be temporarily relocated to Delft.

This is the delay that has led the Treasury to hold on to the funding until the N2 Gateway legal issue is solved.

The head of public finance in the Treasury, Harry Malila, said that given the problems associated with the N2 Gateway, there was an agreement between the provincial and national governments that any underspending will be rolled over to 2008/09.

Malila said that once everything had been sorted out, the Treasury will then transfer the money to the account of the administrator (Thubelisha).

He said that in the last fin-ancial year, the department had paid only for the work done - from April until about October/November 2007, when problems started.

Part of the underspending - from October/November 2007 to March this year - had been rolled over to the current financial year.

Malila said he wasn't sure of the exact figure of the money to be rolled over.

Sources close to the Cape Argus estimate this amount to be about R80-million.

The Treasury has set aside a further R400m for development for the 2009/10 financial year.

"Among other reasons to withhold the funds was that we also have to look at whether conditions for the conditional grant were being met," added Malila.

The head of the N2 Gateway project, Prince Xhanti Sigcawu, told the Cape Argus that the legal issues had badly affected the development and caused enormous delays to the whole process.

"If people had relocated (last year) and we never went to the courts, we would have gone far with the project," he said.

Sigcawu said massive development in Joe Slovo had not started because of the courts and people refusing to relocate.

"There are other approved funds, even by the city, which are sitting there unless people relocate," said Sigcawu.

Other issues revealed at the meeting were how the energy crisis, high inflation and interest rate climate, coupled with skills shortage, international financial marketing crisis and slow growth in manufacturing and agriculture, were posing risks to the economic outlook of the Western Cape.

Starting from now I will published what I've eaten and whatever things I feel like publishing (ain't it like that all the times?) on this blog. Hehe...

Goal - minus 10kgs in 4 weeks or less.

Since I've annouced it hence I feel like I got the motivation to do it more than I am just thinking and keeping it to myself. So from now on when you see or catch me eating something which I shouldn't. Fine me !! Haha... I'd gladly doing that ... hehe ...

Coming up soon *the SELFISH UNDERGRADUATE Student in NTU* EXCLUSIVE to all of you !!

As I drove along,  I noticed kids playing on the side of this national highway. There were about three groups made up of about 10 - 20 kids each. All of them were engaged in a game of soccer and seemed blissfully unaware that their playground was extremely dangerous. Ignorance is bliss, right?

For a few moments, I worried about their safety (and I continue to) but then my thoughts turned to the 2010 World Cup, and I felt sad.

These kids, and their families, who are the soccer-lovers of this country, will never be able to support their country come 2010. They cannot afford it. Isn't it ironic that SA is hosting the world cup for foreigners. Our own people will have to watch it on TV as if it were in another country.

And whats even more troubling - surely the money spent (billions of it) on this event would be better off going to the kids playing on the side of the N2? How is this event going to benefit South Africans in the long run?

Today people have been evicted from houses in Delft at police gunpoint – despite their non-violence. But this situation, arising from illegal occupation of N2 Gateway Houses, was not caused, as the Housing DG said on your programme earlier, by DA councillor Frank Martin. It is a product of a contradiction between two things: on the one hand a desperate and worsening housing crisis in the Western Cape; and, on the other, the inflexible bureaucratic attitude of the tops of the national and provincial Housing Departments and the management of Thubelisha Homes in the N2 Gateway project.

In fact the blood spilled by women and children today through police shootings is on the hands of Housing minister Lindiwe Sisulu and Thubelisha tops John Duarte and Prince Xanthi Sigcau.

The housing backlog in the Western Cape is 360,000 and worsens every year. The backlog increases by 18,000 a year, while only 10,000 houses a year are being built. Hence the length of time people spend on the waiting list (more than twenty years) and hence the desperation – expressed in the chants of the Delft occupants outside the Cape High Court (and, for thirty minutes, at a meeting called by provincial housing minister Richard Dyantyi in Delft last Saturday) of “We want houses! We want houses!”

The national government spends a mere 1, 5% of its budget on housing – compared to the 5% regarded as the norm for developing countries. With an imaginative government, in fact, the 8 million unemployed in the country could be put to work to build the needed houses, with the relevant SETA’s focussed on providing crash courses for the necessary skills in building. But this is precluded for the present ANC government by its stress on defending neo-liberalism and capitalist profit.

The N2 Gateway project, moreover, was conceived less to build houses, or to contribute to solving the Western Cape housing crisis, than to prettify the margins of the N2 highway before the 2010 World Cup. The poor were to be eliminated from the sides of the N2, and more expensive housing installed there. The poor were to be banished to the margins of the city in Delft.This “pilot” project claimed to be implementing the new “Breaking New Ground” national housing policy of minister Lindiwe Sisulu. But in reality it has broken every proclaimed aim of this policy. It was imposed from Pretoria. Every phase of it has run into problems from the start and overall it has been a disaster. The Cape Town city council (when the DA won control of the city) was removed from any participation in it by the ANC government.

The BNG policy claims, for example, to be “accelerating the delivery of housing as a key strategy for poverty alleviation and using “provision of housing as a major job creation strategy”. However, housing provision has slowed since its introduction.

The national average since 1994 of 180,000 a year has declined steadily since 2002/3 – to 137,659 in 2005/6. And even Finance Minister Manuel has disputed whether these figures are correct, or are gerrymandered by corrupt developers.

The BNG policy promised “increased flexibility and demand responsiveness”. It promised to address “the distortions of the inherited apartheid space economy”, i.e. to stop settling the disadvantaged on the fringes of the cities. It promised an “in-situ upgrading approach to informal settlements.”.

But instead of “demand responsiveness” N2 Gateway has ignored the wishes of beneficiaries such as residents of the Joe Slovo settlement in Langa. Instead of ending the “distortions of the inherited apartheid space economy” and “in-situ” (on site) development, it wishes to forcibly remove Joe Slovo residents to the margins of the city in Delft from where few of them will return to Langa.

When this creates problems, Thubelisha management, instructed by housing minister Lindiwe Sisulu, and aided and abetted by provincial housing minister Richard Dyantyi, simply tries to bulldozer its way through any problems that arise.

Recently appointed acting CEO John Duarte complained in Monday’s Cape Times (18/2/2008) that instead of immersing himself “in the detail of the project, building schedules, protocols and targets” he had “been exhausting valuable time and money in court defending Thubelisha’s mandate to build houses for the poor”.

What he fails to understand is that building houses is not just about bricks, mortar, and spreadsheets. It is about fulfilling the needs of living, breathing people. This the process engaged in at all phases thus far of N2 Gateway has failed to realise, failed to adapt to – by failing to consult, listen and negotiate.

The attempt to find solutions in the courts to a political and social problem is futile. This is what Sisulu, the housing DG, the Prince Xanthi, John Duarte, Richard Dyantyi – the government and Thubelisha tops – have been trying to do. This actually means forced removals, with, inevitably, police overreaction, injuries, possible deaths. It is the poor who suffer the consequences.

In the Western Cape, COSATU offered to mediate solutions to the problems in both Joe Slovo and Delft. This has been ignored by the government and Thubelisha.

It is bureaucratic madness to try to forcibly evict Joe Slovo residents to Delft, where they do not want to live, on the margins of the city, and at the same time to forcibly evict Delft residents from houses that are not wanted by Joe Slovo residents, which are desperately needed by Delft residents who have nowhere else to live.

Who controls allocation of the houses in N2 Gateway? In theory it is supposed to be a collaborative project between the province, Thubelisha, and the city. In practice it is controlled by Thubelisha – who use it for their own inflexible ends.

Constantly spokespersons for Thubelisha proclaim that this is a “pilot project”, a “laboratory” – but in a social science “experiment” it is vital to listen to feedback from your so-called “beneficiaries”. This the N2 Gateway project – in particular Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, and Thubelisha general manager Prince Xanthi Sigcau has signally failed to do.

This is why blood is on their hands, in the injuries suffered by women and children from the bullets of police in Joe Slovo last September, and again in Delft today. They are building up a legacy of bitterness against themselves.

As the housing crisis deepens, these problems will get worse, not better. There will be many conflict situations ahead.

Lindiwe Sisulu has a particular responsibility in this. The N2 Gateway is her “flagship project” yet she has not lifted a finger to try to resolve the problems. Instead she has taken a hardegat line but left it to her subordinates to impose. She is a coward not to come and meet the Joe Slovo and Delft communities face to face.

Lindiwe Sisulu, strangely, was one of the 40% of Mbeki’s ministers who survived onto the NEC. Moreover she has been elected to the 20-member National Working Committee of the ANC. She should be forced to resign.

Martin Legassick

Here's last month's tasty bits, a little behind once again! I've decided to stop numbering the column hereafter...

JKK added HSDPA to the Asus 701 (Eee) - I'm working on a similar mod using a Sierra Wireless AirCard 875U HSDPA modem...

Also I've started using Qik to stream live video with my Nokia N95!

I'm keeping an eye on all the CES madness this week and I'll be at Macworld next week, so stay tuned :)

Asus 701 (Eee):
- WiMax-Enabled Asus Eee PC Confirmed
- How to add internal 3G HSDPA to Asus Eee PC
- How to add touch panel to Asus Eee Pc
- It's official: upgrading the Asus Eee PC memory keeps warranty intact
- eeeXubuntu: Ubuntu distilled for your Eee
- Ubuntu on the Asus Eee PC: Part 1 (or How to run a functional Ubuntu install off a USB drive)

Nokia N810:
- Nokia N810: unboxing and first impressions
- Canola2 Now Out!

Nokia N95:
- Nokia N95-3 Finally Gets an Update to v 11.2.009
- The N95 classic hits v20 firmware
- The N95's camera quality? It just got better...
- Hands-on with the Nokia N95 8GB for North America!

Nokia N82:
- Nokia N82: impressions after a week...
- Nokia N82 hands-on
- Nokia N82 preview: First look
- Nokia N95, N95 8 GB and N82: The evolution of the multimedia computer

More Nokia:
- Cellphones: Alleged Nokia N96 Spy Shots Look Yummypianoblacklicious
- New Slider: Nokia's Patent Reveals Innovative Six- or Eight- Megapixel Slider Phone
- Video streaming from your phone QIK-ly, as in: instantly
- All About N-Gage - Totally CONFIRMED Star Wars N-Gage Video
- emTube - YouTube client for S60 phones
- Nokia Internet Radio
- Clarification: Upcoming Nokia IS a QWERTY Nseries

Apple iPhone:
- Breaking: iPhone Firmware 1.1.3 Video and Evidence Confirms Update Is Real, Breaks Unlock, Third-Party Apps
- How to Install Applications on iPhone 1.1.2 (Video Tutorial)
- Syphon lets you save iPhone text messages
- Control Pro Tools with your iPhone
- Apple doesn't give us MMS on the iPhone, so the community does
- iPhone gets video recording capabilities
- Not all is lost: partfoundry developing GPS module for iPhone
- Fixing YouTube on your Jailbroken iPhone
- Mobile Safari plug-in downloads files to your iPhone/iPod touch
- Apple relents, sanctions custom ringtones!

OQO Model 02:
- OQO Announces model e2 with Built-In HSDPA Mobile Broadband Capability
- OQO does WiMax and 64GB SSDs

Neonode N2:
- Neonode N2 officially coming to the US
- Review of the unique Neonode N2 multimedia phone

BlackBerry 9000 (aka. BlackBerry 8xxx):
- BlackBerry 9000 specs revealed, our early Christmas present to you
- BlackBerry 8xxx hails from Rogers!
- BlackBerry 9000 series spy shot revealed?

Samsung:
- Hands-on with the Samsung G800
- Hands-on with the Samsung P520 Armani
- Samsung's P720, F490 make their video debut

Other:
- Google Maps for Mobiles shows your location, even without GPS
- Verizon Wireless will open network for non-Verizon devices, services
- Photo of the Sony Ericsson P5i Leaked
- Wibrain's B1 UMPC gets showcased on video - Engadget
- Hands-on with the LG KU990 Viewty
- A teaser shot of Motorola's 5 megapixel multimedia maven?

Along with the ideas outlined here, newspapers have a number of challenges to overcome which I feel are limiting their growth  and future success. The most limiting of these being the ability to activate new ideas often and quickly. In my estimation, newspapers have a 18-24 month window to move on these ideas to maximize their revenue opportunities.

Here's three business ideas for newspapers in 2008 that may help them capitalize on their position in the local marketplace and acquire new customers over the next 18 to 24 months:

1. Web Development & Hosting For Businesses.

As part of the API's Newspaper Next initiative, seven local news organizations were selected to launch N2 pilot projects over a 4 month period. Local market research was conducted to determine what "jobs" businesses needed done. One of the prominent discoveries among non-advertising small businesses was that they needed  help developing an effective web presence. Local newspapers are in a great position to develop and promote web sites for small businesses.

Whether it's a shopping site profile page or a full blown 15 page site, local newspapers can capture the market for local web development and on-line promotion. Local newspapers have creative services departments in place churning out print ads 24 hours a day in many cases. With the proliferation of easy to use web development tools and templates, web ads are much easier to develop than print ads. Most layout and design software including Adobe's Creative Suite come with "save for web" features built in.

"That's a completely different business model", a colleague of mine argued. "How can we maintain the servers and all the programming". Newspapers may not realize it, but they are already in the hosting and design business. Each section of the newspaper site is its own "mini" web site. Servers are already co-located and there are no real technology barriers to hosting and maintaining web sites today. Newspapers also have the layout, design staff and systems in place which local businesses need.

"But most businesses already have web sites." it might be argued. While this may be true, I'd challenge any newspaper to take a random sample of 10 local business websites to see what you're up against. In my estimation 6 out of 10 sites are outdated, poorly designed and generally ineffective as an advertising vehicle. The average local newspaper  has been designing advertisements for businesses for over a 100 years. They know how to write effective copy and turn customer ideas into action generating advertisements. The WWW can be thought of as nothing more than a giant newspaper or yellowpage directory.

Business models and pricing still need to be worked out, but the real value here is in relationship building. There are over 200, 000 businesses in the average metropolitan marketplace, there might be 2000 to 3000 who have been "touched" by the average print sales executive.  Providing these new services expands the prospect base and opens up new opportunities to market products to non-customers who might not ever advertise in the local news paper. Special print/on-line bundles can be created to market a web presence along with additional on-line or print exposure.

Becoming the web presence provider for local businesses is like owning their telephone, fax machine or front door.  Newspapers are effectively locking in a relationship with that business. Whether it's facilitating domain name registrations, providing self-service web creation tools or complete web services, newspapers are helping businesses attach themselves to their local newspaper, a brand they've trusted for years.

2. Renting Mobile CSC Codes to Businesses

Whereas the technology and price barriers to web site development have come down, these barriers are still very much in place for mobile advertising. The cost and price of mobile devices are dropping but the processes by which advertisers can start using mobile advertising are still too complicated and expensive for business owners. There are many applications and ideas for mobile advertising within an industry or vertical market. The basic ability to communicate with customers via text messaging is something businesses will find invaluable for local promotions. 

 The most common mobile programs and easiest to employ are based on CSC (Common Short Code) text messaging. A CSC is a 5 or 6 digit number or letter combination, similar to a phone number which mobile phone users can text messages to interact with businesses.  The CSC itself costs from $500 to $1000 per month, and requires a somewhat lengthy and detailed application process. Newspapers can setup a master CSC for their business community and rent the keyword phrases to local businesses. For example, mobile users might text the phrase "Free Pizza" to  LANEWS (526397) and receive information on a free pizza deal in town. Newspapers can earn monthly fees for renting the phrase and CPA (Cost Per Action) fees for each response received. Because this type of marketing is in its early stages, newspapers can become the front runners in providing local mobile advertising services to businesses. Again, the strong brand and reputation that local newspapers enjoy will help them in acquiring new revenues from advertisers who are currently non-customers.

3. Email Marketing For Businesses

If they don't have one already, every business should have an email list of all their local customers. Newspaper's can create programs to help businesses collect email addresses and send emails with promotional information. Newspapers should already be actively collecting email addresses from visitors to the news site and creating opt-in lists of users who are open to receiving information on deals from local advertisers.

With the increase in behavioral targeting capabilites and the proliferation of personalization features on local news websites, newspapers can create databases of consumer information. Local businesses can then be matched up with consumers by interest.  Email marketing can also be bundled with local direct mail campaigns providing for "Total Audience" direct marketing programs.

The Work Factor: 

Henry Ford once said "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."

Recognizing that the strength of newspapers lies in their strong LOCAL brand, ad production systems, and local sales forces, these ideas are in no way "easy" to implement.  In fact, I think newspapers and especially their sales forces will have to work harder and more consistently than they ever have to succeed in todays marketplace, but the results will be worth the effort.

 "The Word Is Alive"

1) Let's start with mod-friendly Asus 701 (Eee) coverage:
- Ars Technica review with some hacking tips
- Notebook Review tweak guide
- Forbes background story
- Uneasy Silence article on running OS X

I tried following this article and running OS X on my Eee but the installation keeps hanging along the way - to be further investigated.

2) The Nokia N82 was announced and released (!) recently (instead of announcing now and releasing 6 months later, for a change):
- Additional info
- Unboxing video
- Multi-part review

The N82 appears similar in features to the N95 albeit in a candybar form factor with a smaller (2.4") screen and a better (Xenon) flash. Sadly, there's no HSDPA support for North America.

3) The Nokia N95 is still getting plenty of attention:
- US version review
- Screen auto-rotation application
- Original vs. 8 GB pros and cons
- 8GB vs. Apple iPhone comparison

4) Apple released an iPhone update (1.1.2) and the community soon responded with another jailbreak. Here's more iPhone coverage:
- Send files directly from iPhone to another (1.1.1)
- Instant Jailbreak for iPhone and iPod touch (1.1.1)
- Stream Music from your iPhone to iTunes with Firefly (1.1.1)
- AFP for iPhone and iPod touch
- iRadio Brings Streaming Radio to iPhone
- iTunes 7.5 and iPhone 1.1.2 return custom ringtones
- T-Mobile to offer Germans unlocked iPhones

5) Finally, here's more interesting assorted info:
- LG's KU990 "Viewty" now available in Europe
- Neonode N2 makes its FCC debut
- Samsung F700 comes knockin’?
- Meizu's M8 MiniOne gets touched
- All the Android coverage you want is at Engadget right now
- OQO product announcement Dec. 3rd in London
- Apple Tablet "confirmed" by Asus?
- New 13-inch MacBook rumored to be announced at MacWorld
- Nokia shows off Haptikos tactile touch screen technology
- Evolving S60: Touch UI, Sensor Framework and Accelerator Toolkit
- From S60 to iPhone

die tweeduisend sewehonderd agt en twintig
halwe brode op sy oë glinster
nutteloos in die sekelmaan; traag om sy
strot swaai 'n bottervat.

verby die nedersetting jaag hy,
mieliemeel flonkerend in sy kieste
verby die Kaap wat steeds Hollands is
(elke hektaar oorbevolk) verby sinkfraktalle
en gratis elektrisiteit en stof.

niksnutte

dink hy en speel met die geslypte
beesderms om sy kneukels, sy sitvlak knus
in 'n waterkan. niksnutte, brom hy
en stuur liters loodvrye lampolie van
stapel. ledige, oproerige niksnutte!

in 'n sloot langs die N2
lê Uyinyani en staar hom agterna. totsiens
mieliemeel, mompel sy, totsiens
brood en vleis en water. sy
draai haar rug op die grond,
vryf haar maag
en sien 'n kar in die sterre.

© Johan Swarts 2007