March 2016 Tel: 021 811 7654Neighbourhood news, taken seriously

The filth, illegal structures and known drug activity at the Wright Street squat-ter camp took centre stage at a recent police meeting.

About 20 residents, the Woodstock police, City Law Enforcement officers, Metro police officers and civic organ-isations gathered to discuss how to resolve the issues at squatter camp, known to locals as the “Plaasie”.

But despite the fact that the informal settlement was identified by the provin-cial department of community safety as an area of great concern, the owner of the property, Saliem Hassan, made little contribution to resolve the issues.

Mr Hassan plays a crucial role in the clean-up of the “Plaasie” as he has the power to prompt an eviction pro-cess, or give the authorities permission to conduct their duties on his land. And while the property has been problem-atic for several years, Mr Hassan has never made a public appearance until this meeting.

However, his only suggestion was that the City put cameras in the road surrounding the plot to subdue criminal activity through constant surveillance. Mr Hassan then left halfway through the meeting, leaving the community and law enforcement authorities to discuss ways to clean up the land.

In his absence, Wright Street resi-dents expressed their concerns about the problematic plot, which is current-ly home to over 100 people, including children.

The Wright Street squatter camp, which was deemed unfit for human hab-itation, has been an eyesore in the area

for about 10 years. Adults and children live and play on heaps of rubbish. The “Plaasie” has no water and the more than 25 structures were deemed a fire hazard.

At the meeting, Woodstock police station commander Colonel Duma Nt-sezo implored Wright Street residents to work with the police and start street committees in an attempt to get rid of the squatter camp.

However, Wright Street residents were sceptical, saying that implement-ing a camera system and establishing

street committees will not help. Col Ntsezo said the Wood-

stock police, along with Law Enforcement, City Health, and other role players will try to come up with ideas on how to tackle the “Plaasie”.

Another suggestion was to use the Gympie Street evictions as a model to solve the problem.

A few years ago, about 10 families were evicted from nine houses in Gympie Street for not paying rent.

The owner, Osman Has-san, sold the properties to new owners, who then applied to the High Court to have the illegal tenants evicted from the hous-es. These evictions spurred the clean-up of the once notorious Gympie Street.

Osman, who died in 2003, was also the owner of the Wright Street slum and left the slum property to his son, Sali-em.

The Community Police Forum chair, Moosa Sydow, said private investment into the property is needed but it won’t happen overnight. Other community organisations at the meeting were en-couraged to work together to keep the youth off the street with initiatives to prevent them from falling prey to drug abuse and crime.

Another resident called for the Woodstock police to reintroduce their social outreach programme, which as-sisted in building relationships with the community.

Wright St slum tops local concern

Saliem Hassan, owner of the Wright Street squatter camp, made his first appearance at a community meeting to discuss the anti-social behaviour at the slum but left halfway through the meeting.

www.woodstocklife.co.za info@woodstocklife.co.zaMarch 20162

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Problematic church reduces noise

CrIME and anti-social behaviour on the vacant land adjacent to the Upper East Side hotel in Pickwick Street has be-come so out-of-hand that law enforce-ment agencies are hesitant to conduct operations on the plot.

Gene Lohrentz of Geocentric, the Salt river Business Improvement Dis-trict’s (SrBID’s) management company, said that after a number of operations with the City’s law enforcement and solid waste departments, the agencies felt that working on the land is hazard-ous.

“The amount of human faeces and all the other items like condoms and drug paraphernalia makes it virtually unsafe to conduct an operation,” he said.

Mr Lohrentz was speaking at a re-cent Subcouncil 15 meeting, under

which Salt river and Woodstock fall, where he appealed to councillors to fence off or redevelop the problemat-ic site. The land belongs to the City’s sports and recreation department.

The field has become one of the big-gest crime generators in the Salt riv-er area as it is a haven for criminals, anti-social behaviour and dumping on a massive scale.

Part of the problem is that the people who frequent the plot are often drug ad-dicts and criminals. On many occasions, drugs, housebreaking implements and dangerous weapons have been found on the field. Informal structures have been built up against the fence separating the CPUT residence from the field.

Local ward councillor Brett Herron said that he has been working on a de-

velopment plan for the site. However, he said the plan, which is

to turn the site into a mixed-use devel-opment including affordable, high-den-sity housing, is long-term and the “symptoms” have to be treated until they start developing. Mr Herron said a geotechnical assessment of the field is under way.

Initially, Mr Lourentz asked the councillors to fence up the field, but Mr Herron said in their experience, fencing does not help.

He said street people find ways to enter will still build informal structures, making the issue more difficult to deal with.

“Where we put fencing before it hasn’t resulted in any significant im-provement,” Mr Herron said.

A WOODSTOCkLIFE article highlight-ing res- idents’ frustrations over noisy churches in the area has prompted one church in Victoria road, The Valley of Miracles Ministry, to take measures to reduce its noise.

Comforter Ncube, pastor of The Valley of Miracles in the Glass and Al-lied building, said they have already stopped their all-night prayer sessions and now only have evening services on a Wednesday and Friday instead of three days a week.

He said the weekday services are now limited to preaching and they no longer sing or use their drum set.

They have also reduced the singing time during their Sunday morning ser-vices and only make use of one loud-speaker, which is connected to the mi-crophone he uses to preach.

residents in St James Street who complained about the noise coming from the church welcomed Mr Ncube’s willingness to address the noise and co-operate with the community.

One resident said she has noticed a slight improvement of noise levels but they will continue monitoring the noise coming from the church.

Nearby residents, who did not want to be named, previously told Wood-stockLife that they were regularly dis-rupted in their home by The Valley of Miracles church.

They complained that music and loud preaching was often audible inside their homes.

Mr Ncube said: “We would like to apologise (to) those who have been af-fected by our services.”

He admitted that the church made a lot of noise and that it was the respon-sibility of the pastor to ensure that the noise is under control.

Other churches in the area who are also guilty of excessive noise make it

difficult for them to convince the com-munity that residents’ complaints are not ignored, said Mr Ncube.

He said there is another church a few doors away in Victoria road and another in the Budget Banners building that often make a noise.

But because The Valley of Miracles is clearly marked with a sign at the gate, people assume all the noise is generat-ed by one church.

“That is the challenge we have. We’re all churches at the end of the day but the challenge is we can’t talk to one another because we’re different organ-isations. And we don’t know what they believe.”

Mr Ncube said he wants the commu-nity to be comfortable with his church, which can accommodate a maximum of 50 people.

In a further effort to minimise the noise, he said they are raising funds for an air-conditioner for the church so that they will be able to close the windows.

They will also investigate the cost of soundproofing if the measures they have already put in place are not enough the address the noise.

Pickwick St field too dirty for law enforcement

Pastor Comforter Ncube of the Valley of Miracles Church in Victoria Road has taken measures to reduce the noise coming from his church.

www.woodstocklife.co.za info@woodstocklife.co.zaMarch 2016 3Woodstock Improvement District

Contact the Woodstock Improvement District: Tel 021 462 6389 Email: info@wid.co.za Web: www.wid.co.za

90 trucks of dumpingcollected each month

The Woodstock Improvement District (WID) is initiating a campaign to get the City to redevelop or fence up open spaces in the Woodstock area.

Eight open plots identified by the WID security and cleaning teams have become a haven for anti-social behaviour, prostitu-tion, illegal activity and dumping.

The problematic sites are the Aspeling Street plot, the Douglas Place plot, the field on the corner of Earl and Victoria Road, the open plot in High Street, Essex Close (earmarked for a telecommunica-tions mast), Dublin Street plot, Pine Road field and the Hilyard Substation.

The WID operations manager, John Julies, said even though the land belongs to the City, the WID’s 10-man cleaning team takes care of the rubbish on the plots on a daily basis.

The WID security team, including the two dedicated Law Enforcement officers, conduct at least two operations a week to remove street people and their belongings from the land.

“We can clean up, but we can’t arrest. We can ask them to leave, but we can’t make them stay away,” said Mr Julies.

In a recent operation, the WID and

other role players removed street people and their structures off the land next to the Victoria Road park and the park-ing lot, which is earmarked for a skate ramp.

he said they would like the City to secure the sites until they can be redeveloped into something positive for the community, such as a garden or a park.

However, sometimes fencing the property is not the best option.

Mr Julies said street people still man-age to break into the fenced-up field on the corner of Earl Street and Victoria Walk.

Another problematic site is the vacant field in Pine Road, opposite the informal settlement which is earmarked for a social housing project. The Chapel Street bridge,

where a group of street people sleep at night, is also a problem. Mr Julies said businesses and residents complain bitterly about the mess the street people leave behind.

The WID chair, Teun Baartman, will meet with proportional representative councillor Stuart Diamond to figure out the best way to secure open sites in the area.

The Woodstock Improvement District (WID) team cleaning the open space next to the Victoria Road park in Plein Street

WID lobbies City to secure open spaces

DuMPIng is still a big concern for the Woodstock Improvement District (WID), which collects two to three truckloads of rubbish from street corners each day.

The WID cleaning team spends about 10 hours a week loading dumped rubbish onto the one-ton truck before going about their daily street cleaning routine.

The WID operations manager, John Julies, said many of the shop owners on Main Road do not have wheelie bins and just dump their rubbish on the street. He urged all shop owners to apply for wheel-ie bins at the City as soon as possible. Perpetrators caught dumping can be fined up to R1 500.

Recently, a truck driver was fined R1 500 for dumping in Tide street after the WID’s law enforcement officers caught him. he was also ordered to pick up the rubbish that was dumped.

The City, which is responsible for removing dumping, usually takes up to a week to remove the rubbish, said Mr Julies, adding that the WID workers clean it up to avoid a bigger mess. Residents and business owners can apply for wheelie bins and can receive forms and informa-tion at the Cape Town Civic Centre.

Report illegal dumping to the City: 021 400 6159 during office hours, or 0860 103 089.

OFFICE THIEVES: The Woodstock Improvement District warns businesses, es-pecially accessible office complexes, to be more vigilant or increase their security. In a recent incident, three suspects walked into The District building in Sir Lowry Road and stole a laptop from a customer at Go Go coffee shop inside the building. The suspects were caught on camera (pictured above). The WID operations manager, John Julies , encourages the installation of cameras at office blocks in order to keep better track of people entering or leaving the building. People are also urged not to leave valuables in their vehicles.

www.woodstocklife.co.za info@woodstocklife.co.zaMarch 20164

The Upper Woodstock residents’ As-sociation (UWrA) has gathered over 200 signatures of support for the City to re-look at the opening times of the Trafalgar pool, following interest from residents who would like to use the pool after hours.

UWrA committee member kerry Petrie, who is driving the campaign, said there have been attempts in the past to extend the opening hours of the pool but none of them have been formalised yet.

She has since set up a survey to find out whether people are interested in using the swimming pool after hours in the mornings and evenings.

And although it is early in the pro-cess, the survey is still ongoing and is available on the Woodstock community Facebook page.

Trafalgar Swimming pool is current-ly open from 9am to 5pm daily, making it impossible for residents who work during the day to use the pool in the early mornings or late evenings.

The Trafalgar aquatics Club, made up of community volunteers who coach local children, also operates from the local pool on Mondays and Wednesdays until 8pm.

The chances that the pool will be open for longer hours are looking good, as the City seems to be open to making community facilities available to resi-dents.

The City’s media office, on behalf of the Sports and recreation department, which manages municipal pools, said they will be happy to look at sustainable ways to improve access to the pool.

One of the challenges of keeping the swimming pool open for longer is the fact that the facility will need staff, such as a lifeguard, a manager and cleaning staff, to stay later or come in earlier.

The City will also need to consider transport for staff.

Ms Petrie said while they recognise that the City may not have the budget to employ extra staff members, most residents are prepared to meet the City halfway to pay for extra staff and pos-sibly travelling arrangements for work-ers who have to stay late.

Meanwhile, Ms Petrie said she will be meeting with Trafalgar pool’s man-agement and the City’s area manager for Woodstock to discuss the way for-ward.

The Trafalgar Aquatic Club chair, Howard Williams, said he is support-ive of the idea that the pool should be available to the community.

He said residents can join the swim-ming club.

Membership costs r200 per season, which runs from November to April.

This will allow residents to have access to the pool on Mondays and Wednesdays until 8pm.

He said the club does not mind sharing the pool with the community on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, when they are not using it.

Residents want pool to open mornings, evenings

The City will implement a r180 000 traffic calming plan for the streets sur-rounding the old Woodstock hospital that will see six speed bumps built in Melbourne road, Earl Street, Victoria Walk and Mountain road.

These traffic calming measures follow complaints about rat-running, speeding and large volumes of traffic in Upper Woodstock.

According to the City’s media office, speaking on behalf of Brett Herron, Upper Woodstock ward councillor and head of transport and roads in the City, the six speed bumps will be constructed by the end of June this year “if all goes according to plan”.

Two speed humps will be built in the vicinity of Golders Green park in Mel-bourne road and two in Victoria Walk near to Woodstock clinic. One speed

hump will be built in Earl Street near the sports field and one in Mountain road at the Earl Street intersection.

The purpose of the traffic calming measures is to reduce the risk of death or injury of vulnerable road users, the City said, adding that effective traffic law enforcement and driver behaviour are just as important to address the traffic issues.

“The speed humps in Melbourne road and the surrounding streets will be implemented due to the presence of public facilities abutting the roads in question.

“Melbourne road is in close proxim-ity to the Mountain road Primary School where a high number of vulnerable road users such as children, cyclists and other pedestrians are present,” the City said.

Six speed humps for Upper Woodstock

Residents take an early morning swim at the Trafalgar pools

www.woodstocklife.co.za info@woodstocklife.co.zaMarch 2016 5

Soon the playground of the Mary Kihn School for the hearing impaired will fill with laughter and excitement as the obser-vatory Pick n Pay Family Supermarket prepares to host another easter-egg hunt for the learners at the school.

Zeenith Thomas, obs Pick n Pay cus-tomer care manager, called on all custom-ers to donate easter-eggs and chocolates for the egg hunt, which will be held at the school this month.

This will be the second year obs Pick n Pay will be hosting the egg hunt at the special needs school in observatory.

Last year’s event saw the grade R to 7 learners climbing the play equipment, dashing around the field and rummaging through the grass in search of the choco-late treats.

Ms Thomas said when the store first adopted the Mary Kihn School as their

community outreach project last year, she was a bit concerned about communi-cating with children who have hearing impairments.

But her team were met with smiles and hugs. obs Pick n Pay aims to make this year’s Easter-egg hunt extra special for the learners with the help of their loy-al customers, who have been very supportive of the store’s community outreach efforts.

Customers can drop off the Easter eggs in the Pick n Pay trolley at the infor-

mation desk at the front of the store. Observatory Pick n Pay Family

Supermarket is open daily from 7am to 10pm. Phone 021 448 9802.

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Obs Pick n Pay prepares to spread Easter joy

ANC has work cut out for it in Woodstock pollWITH the dominance of the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the area, no other par-ty stands much of a chance of winning Wards 57 and 115, which will include Woodstock. But rather than accept the boring predictability of the upcoming ward election in August, Woodstock-Life decided to take a look at what the official ward opposition, the ANC, was planning for the poll.

They have their work cut out for them. In the 2014 provincial govern-ment elections, the ANC got 13.09% of Woodstock votes compared to the DA’s 74.74% local support.

But while the neighbouring ANC branch in Mowbray answer with bland clichés when asked what they thought their chances were (“optimistic”), the local Cissy Gool branch, which covers Woodstock, is more realistic about the dwindling support for the ANC.

Vanessa Hood, Cissy Gool branch chairperson, said the support for the ANC in the area traditionally came from

people who have lived in Woodstock for generations. Those people, predomi-nately from the District Six era, have moved out of the area, she said, adding that the old community has been re-placed by people who don’t necessarily support the ANC.

But despite this change in support, Ms Hood remains optimistic about the ANC’s relevance in the area even after Nkandlagate, various Guptagates and Nenegate.

Holding onto the little support the ANC has in the area could be difficult. The idea of the ANC as a rainbow party with the ability to unite races and class-es seems to have faded. It increasingly seems to represent the rural poor, while the EFF and the DA are in the ascendant in the cities.

But Buyile Matiwane, electioneering manager for the Cissy Gool branch, said they will continue to “tackle and cham-pion” issues the community faces. They aim to not only be active in the commu-

nity during elections or merely act as an opposition to the DA in the area.

When asked about how the change in ward boundaries, Mr Matiwane said the community will remain the same even if the boundaries change. The change in ward boundaries create a new split in Woodstock as the area west south of Mountain road will remain in Ward 57 and the rest of Woodstock fall into Ward 115, will affect the ANC’s campaign in the area.

There are some interesting differ-ences between how the ANC and the DA select their ward candidates. The DA keeps the identity of the people who apply to become the party’s ward can-didates under wraps, whereas the ANC has taken a more public approach. Four members from the Cissy Gool branch are short-listed and “introduced” to the community at a public meeting. Ms Hood said their process of selecting a ward candidate is inclusive of the com-munity and transparent.

Obs Pick n Pay customer care manager Zeenith Thom-as and staffer Majdah Ad-ams asks all customers to donate Easter eggs towards the Mary Kihn School for the hearing impaired egg hunt.

www.woodstocklife.co.za info@woodstocklife.co.zaMarch 20166

Orphanage’s veggie garden boosts local outreachAS THE soil beds sprout bushels of vegetables, the recently launched veg-etable garden at the Al-Noor Orphan-age makes the feeding efforts of the children’s home a little bit easier.

The Al-Noor Orphanage in Mel-bourne road feeds about 200 patients of the Woodstock Clinic, opposite the home, every month through their week-ly soup kitchen. This is over and above the daily meals they prepare for the 35 girls and boys who live at the orphan-age.

Thulani Stemele, operations and facility manager at Al-Noor, said the vegetable garden has managed to cut down their grocery costs as they now no longer have to buy vegetables.

“The only thing which I go to the shop for are potatoes and pumpkin. The rest of the vegetables we have in the garden.”

Al-Noor is a non-profit organisation which offers lodging and education to orphaned and abused children under 18 years old.

Mr Stemele said the vegetable gar-den has not only helped the home feed the children and the patients but it has also been used to educate the children about issues such as the current water restrictions.

“One of the interesting parts of this garden is getting the children involved. It is part of their therapy.”

The children are actively involved in the day-to-day maintenance of the garden, said Mr Stemele, adding that keeping the garden watered and clean are now part of their responsibilities.

The garden was sponsored by retail Credit Solutions (rCS) as part of their social investment programme. rCS do-nated r50 000 to build the garden and has contracted Urban Harvest to main-tain the vegetable garden for one year.

Mr Stemele said rCS first partnered with the home last year as part of the company’s 67 minutes for Mandela Day. About 23 employees from rCS, along with Al-Noor volunteers and Urban Harvest, cleared the area, dug up the ground and planted the 12 vegetable beds.

“One thing that was great about the project was that their staff members got

involved... Their own staff [were] dig-ging the soil, cleaning the ground.”

He said when they receive support from private companies it is often just a sum of money that is donated for a once-off media opportunity. “Some-times we will get this funding and we do the project, we paint our face for the media, and after it falls into disrepair.”

The success of the vegetable garden has allowed Al-Noor to approach the department of agriculture for funding to refurbish their two existing garden tun-nels, which fell into disrepair.

Mr Stemele said once they are able to expand their garden, they can be of more help to the Woodstock community.

At the moment, Al-Noor runs a soup kitchen every Friday for the people who visit the clinic. Often people wait at the clinic from 6am and stay all day without anything to eat, said Mr Stemele.

He said the soup kitchen is just one way they hope to assist the community.

“We appeal to the community to get involved. This garden belongs to the community, who must also come and take initiative...

“We want to be [a space for] pro-grammes not only for Al Noor but for the larger community,” he said.

The children and staff at Al-Noor in the recently launched vegetable garden donated by Retail Credit Solutions.

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