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dam-l SA Civic group & LHWP/LS


>Alexandra Civic Organisation (ACO)
>Housing Workshop
>
>Press Release
>
>At the Alexandra Civic Organisation Housing Workshop, held at Chamdor
>House, London Road on 11 October 1998, it was agreed to continue with
>the campaign to oppose the Lesotho Highlands Water Project and to
>extend water rights to all in Alexandra. The Alexandra Civic
>Organisation will also develop a civic approach to the development of
>Alexandra in response to top down development initiatives in Alexandra
>and as the basis for further housing and services campaigns.
>
>*****
>
>The Alexandra Civic Organisation Housing Department held a workshop to
>discuss the crisis in housing and the provision of services in
>Alexandra and identify civic campaigns to address these problems. The
>participants included the Alexandra Civic Organisation office bearers
>and representatives from the local areas' executive committees.
>
>The workshop identified the following housing problems:
>
>1. The government's market-driven housing policy has failed to meet
>housing needs in Alexandra. 2. National government has failed to live
>up to the RDP promise to allocate 5% of the budget to housing, instead
>it is allocating only 1%. 3. The housing subsidies are insufficient to
>provide for acceptable houses. 4. Interest rates are so high that
>housing loans are unaffordable. 5. The local authority has failed to
>acquire the land required for the residents of Alexandra. 6. The small
>number of houses that have been built have been poorly constructed
>with cheap materials, resulting in cracks and an inability to build
>extensions to the weak structures.
>
>Participants noted the poor standard of services, including broken
>sewerage pipes, lack of refuse removal, leaking water pipes, taps and
>toilets and the lack of postal services. Issues of affordability were
>raised, such as the high cost of electricity connections and service
>tariffs and problems with payment of outstanding amounts, including
>outstanding amounts owed by previous residents. Participants pointed
>to the lack of progress made by councillors and the favouring of big
>capitalists instead of local contractors when awarding tenders.
>
>The R3 billion development fund and the sports development were also
>discussed and participants called for a change from the top down
>approach involving minimal consultation to a people-driven approach in
>which Alexandra residents control the implementation of the projects.
>
>There was extensive discussion on the Lesotho Highlands Water Project,
>in particular the R6 700 million currently being spent on the Mohale
>Dam, that is leading to increased water tariffs in Gauteng and taking
>up resources that could be used to fix leaking taps and pipes, extend
>services to all residents and create jobs.
>
>It was agreed that Alexandra Civic Organisation will continue with the
>campaign to oppose the Lesotho Highlands Water Project and to extend
>water rights to all in Alexandra, including the following: 1. To
>respond to the World Bank's Inspection Panel, which found no
>connection between the project and the poor state of water services in
>Gauteng; 2. To build alliances with other civil society organisations
>to put a halt to the building of more expensive and unnecessary large
>dams in Lesotho; 3. To call for a lifeline of 50 litres per person per
>day for free and for increasing tariffs for higher usage and to
>encourage people to pay for water used in excess of the lifeline
>amount; 4. To initiate a programme to fix leaking pipes and taps and
>extend services to all in a manner which creates local jobs.
>
>It was also agreed that Alexandra Civic Organisation will take forward
>campaigns on the other issues raised in the workshop and that further
>decisions on specific campaigns will be taken in the organisation on
>an ongoing basis.
>
>The Alexandra Civic Organisation will develop a civic approach to the
>development of Alexandra, based on the issues raised at the workshop,
>as a first step in this direction and as a concrete response to the R3
>billion development fund and sports development.
>
>The Alexandra Civic Organisation will endeavour to work with
>councillors where this is possible, but will not hesitate to challenge
>those who are not acting in the interests of Alexandra residents. The
>Alexandra Civic Organisation will strive to work towards ensuring that
>the rights to decent housing and services, as stipulated in the RDP
>and the Constitution, are met.
>
>Houses to the people!
>Water and services to the people!
>Power to the people!
>
>Sam Moiloa, General Secretary
>David Letsie, HOD Housing
>
>Contact details:
>David Letsie, 648 7000, 082 709 4099
>Sam Moiloa, 440 3697
>George Dor
>60 Isipingo Street, Bellevue East 2198,
> South Africa
>Tel: (27) (11) 648 7000
>Email: george@sn.apc.org
>

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      Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
        and Editor, World Rivers Review
           International Rivers Network
              1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
                  Tel. (510) 848 1155   Fax (510) 848 1008
                        http://www.irn.org
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