DISTRICT 6 – PHASE 3 DEVELOPMENT UPDATE DEMANDING A MINISTERIAL INQUIRY INTO THE FAILURE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LAND AFFAIRS TO COMPLETE PHASE 3 OF DISTRICT 6 1 MARCH Update Video clip: Remembering Sistrict six: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyfbR0fSxeE THE TIME HAS COME FOR ALL DISTRICT SIX CLAIMANTS TO DEMAND A MINISTERIAL INQUIRY IN THE FAILURE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LAND AFFAIRS TO COMPLETE PHASE 3 OF DISTRICT 6. ESTABLISHING THE FACTS 1) 2,670 District six claims had been submitted before the first deadline of December 31, 1998, (which I would refer to as D6 Group 1; 2) Of which 1,439 claims had been settled; (slightly more than 50%); 3) 236 owners and 890 tenants had chosen to be part of the District Six Redevelopment; 4) Of the 1,126 District Six returnee families, 139 had been accommodated in phases 1 and 2 restitution houses and apartments, with the outstanding 987 families D6 of Group 1 still awaiting accommodation; 5) Since the passing of Restitution of Land Rights Act (Act 22 of 1994), we as District Six claimants note the slow progress that has been made to accommodate all the outstanding claimants of Group 1. If one uses 1994 as the official date which allowed the new government the opportunity to start with plans to accommodate the District six Group 1 claimants, one notes that only 139 families have been accommodated within 23 years, an average of 6 families per year. If the present trend is allowed to continue, it would take the present government 148 years to settle all the claims of Group 1, by which time all present claimants of Group 1 would be dead. One must ask the moot question here: Which social injustice is greater – the forced removal of over 60,000 people from District Six by the Nationalist government pre-1980, or the inability of the new ANC government to restore the claimants to their former home in Cape Town. If one accepts the maxim: ‘Justice delayed is justice denied’ one cannot but deduce that the inability of the ANC government to deliver the outstanding 987 homes to the District six families of Group 1 (let alone the almost 60,000 families who were removed from District six) is the greater injustice, because the land claimants are trapped by the false promises of expedient politicians who commit themselves to speedy delivery in exchange for party support, usually just before national elections. A good case in point is former President Jacob Zuma in “April 2011, while handing over some of the houses which had been built as part of the "Next 100 Houses" to claimants, President Zuma committed to settling all remaining verified claimants within a three year period. This commitment has provided considerable energy to the project with plans to implement a Fast Track Development process on land that is currently zoned appropriately.” This election promise was never kept. We assume he had no intention to keep the promise and that it was merely made to attract votes for the 2014 national elections. http://www.districtsix.za.org/news/all-claimants-be-housed-2015 6) The 108 phase 3 units were currently being built, with 20 houses scheduled to be completed by July 2017, which did not happen with no reasons provided by Land Affairs for the delay; 7) The development of phase 3 has stopped completely due to the lack of funds and that none of the 108 housing units intended for phase has been completed;   RAISING PERTINENT QUESTIONS REGARDING THE DEVELOPMENT OF PHASE 3: 8) As claimants, we assume that the construction company, Fikile construction (www.Fikile.com) has received the full tender price by Minister Nkwinti, to complete the 108 units on time and within budget and that the fault for the delay in the completion of the 108 housing units do not rest with the Department of Land Affairs, but with the construction company, Fikile construction. If this assumption is incorrect, what is the true state of affairs? 9) What tender process was followed to select a Johannesburg based Construction Company, Fikile Construction, and why were none of the following construction companies, which have proven track records to deliver projects within budget and on time (see their websites to get their records on successful projects completed), not encouraged to tender:? a. TRENCON CONSTRUCTION (delivered since 1995) - https://www.trencon.co.za/Projects/ b. NMC CONSTRUCTION GROUP - (100% black owned) - http://www.nmc.co.za/ c. LUBBE CONSTRUCTION (100% black owned) - http://www.lubbeconstruction.co.za/about.asp d. GROUP 5 – (BB-BEE compliant) http://www.g5.co.za/pdfs/corp_docs/company_profile_version6.pdf e. CONCOR – A leading black-owned company (formerly Murray & Roberts) - http://www.concor.co.za/ f. MOTHEO CONSTRUCTION GROUP - (100% black owned) - http://motheogroup.co.za/ g. TIBER BONVEC CONSTRUCTION – (Level 6 BB-BEE compliant) - http://www.tiber.co.za/ h. WBHO CONSTRUCTION - (BB-BEE compliant) http://www.wbho.co.za/portfolio/ 10) What was the total construction costs of Phase 3? 11) The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform received a Budget of R23.7 Billion in the budget year of 2017/8; (See source: http://www.treasury.gov.za/documents/national%20budget/2018/default.aspx) 12) If a budget of R2 Billion 508 million (figures provided by the Department of Finance) was made available for Restitution Grants in the budget year of 2017/8 what portion of that budget was used to complete the phase 3 development of District six and why was the construction work not completed? ; 13) If a new budget of R2 Billion 608 million (figures provided by the Department of Finance) was made available again for Restitution Grants in the new budget year of 2018/9, how much funding will be made available for the development of phase 3 of District six in order to it. And even if the budget is available, will phase 3 be completed in 2018 or much later in 2019? 14) What are the selection criteria that will be used to select the 108 families to place them in the 108 phase 3 homes? Will the following criteria be used and how will they be weighted? Date of submission of claim; Age and social status of claimant; Will the 236 land owners get preference above tenants in the allocation of phase 3 homes? If not why not? OUR RECOMMENDATIONS A. REQUESTING A MINISTERIAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY INTO INVESTIGATING THE REASONS FOR THE FAILURE IN DEVELOPING DISTRICT SIX SINCE 1994, BUT PARTICULARLY THE CESSATION OF CONSTRUCTION WORK IN COMPLETING PHASE THREE. Reasons why such a commission of inquiry is pertinent: 1) Lack of transparency and accountability to the 987 District Six returnee families who are the outstanding claimants who submitted their claims as Group 1 before the first deadline of December 31, 1998; 2) To get a full report by former Ministers of Land Affairs, including Minister Nkwinti, stating the reasons why only 139 families had been accommodated in phases 1 and 2 restitution houses and apartments in District Six at exorbitant costs over a period of 23 years and the reasons why the remaining 987 District Six returnee families had not been accommodated as yet, with the view of supplying claimants an estimated time period of how long they would wait in order for their claims to be settled; 3) To establish reasonable time frames for the completion of the full development of District Six to accommodate all the claimants of both groups 1 and 2. For more updated information, please register with the FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ctdistrict6/ Bishop Louis Michael Green Initiator of the District Six Phase 3 Transparent Campaign Kraaifontein Western Cape South Africa Email: louisgreen69@gmail.com