Day 5: Planact, Johannesburg

Despite an early start – on a Saturday – and still trying to recover after missing a nights sleep the previous day, we arrived back at the office building punctually at the arranged time of 9am. We needn’t have rushed though, as Shumani didn’t turn up until an hour later. Was this another example of African time? An unwritten and complex cultural custom that we still didn’t understand, perhaps? She arrived at a pretty flush 10 am, so there could be something in it. I was just grateful for the opportunity – she was giving up most of her precious Saturday accommodating us.

As was explained to us the day before, we would split up into two groups until lunchtime. Alfons and Hiro headed out with Shumani to Sol Plaatjes to visit a grassroots youth photography project, whilst Matthias and I would only have to journey a few blocks to the Jo’burg Metro Centre where the Community Development Committee for Orlando (a Soweto township) were meeting to discuss, at a relatively early stage, development needs, impacts and opportunities with respect to the 2010 FIFA World Cup (one of the Stadia is currently being built in Orlando) and beyond.

According to Planact’s 2007/08 Annual report:

Following a request by the councillor of Orlando in 2007, Planact began to investigate ways in which the community of Orlando could be assisted to be involved in developing effective and successful plans for Orlando’s development, coinciding with the 2010 Soccer World Cup development initiatives.

We got to the conference centre an hour later than planned, due to the earlier delay. This was no problem, however, we only missed the registration and introductory blurb and just as we took our seats at the side of the room, Mike – the Chairperson and facilitator from Planact was just going through the schedule for the day.

The Community Development Committee (CDC) is made up of range of local stakeholders representing various social, political and religious groups active in the township. Women, an ever present force in local issues, were also well represented; a business women (first tourist office in Orlando) among others. We also met Kaiser, then finding his way as an Entrepreneur, who later kindly offered to give us a tour of Orlando the next day.

Session 1 was taken up with the: Opening & Welcome, Introduction Purpose of the Workshop and House rules & Expectations. Nothing too unusual said here, but interesting to to re-iterate that the stated purpose was to equally assess development impacts as well as opportunities in order to create sustainable positive change other than ill-considered ventures to solely capitalise on the 2 week mass influx of tourists that happens during mega-events such as this one. This time round it is South Africa who won the bid and will host the first ever World Cup on African soil. Another interesting comment, which I hadn’t previously really considered came from one of the senior members of the committee who rather than sitting at the table, chose a seat at the side of the room for most of the day. He wanted everyone to be under no illusion that the World Cup is first and foremost a FIFA event, not that of the host country. Fundamentally, he argued, it means that FIFA are naturally more focussed on protecting their own interests (having the infrastructure ready, keeping all the teams and players happy, enough provision of fun for the fans (Fan Zones) and ensuring comprehensive and effective representation of the sponsors; therefore retaining sponsors for the next event, ad infinitum) which can conflict with the interests of the local authorities and residents, in terms of developing a strategy which will maximise a beneficial trickle-down effect of financial and physical resources aimed at providing lasting improvements.

Session 2 followed with a series of presentations. Or at least should have – three were scheduled, but the representative from JHB Housing couldn’t make it, so that left two.

The first presentation outlined the top 20 priority townships, a city initiative under the 07/08 5-year Integrated Development Plan (IDP) which earmarked the following goals under the Backyard Improvement Programme:

- Establish norms and standards for the  supply of backyard accommodation, together with Development Planning and Urban Management;

- Develop incentives matched by the contribution of homeowners for accommodation improvements; and

- Support provincial Top Twenty Programme and identify success factors for implementation and citywide roll out of programme.

Orlando is a beneficiary of the latter programme. Some of the initial improvements highlighted to be made over the next 5 years include: school facilities, street lighting, renovations, house numbering, building kerbs and considering the use of speed bumps.

Comrads’ note: Not mentioned in the presentation, but stated in the aforementioned IDP for Housing is the Special Needs Housing Programme (pg 115) which targets increased housing opportunities for special needs groups (child headed families, HIV/Aids affected, street children, etc) quantifying the need for ‘institutional housing’ in the city, developing a roster of all HIV/Aids related organisations in the area and engaging stakeholder government departments to address this need.

The presenter then went on to mention new types of high-tech affordable housing which is being currently considered; including a house which can be built in 6 days from cement and, curiously, polysterine.

Starting to train local domestic workers for the planned and ongoing construction and service drive would furthermore help to close enormous ‘skills gap’, a current feature of today’s Joburg. Finally, there was a hint towards creating an annual Orlando Day, to recognise the numerous outstanding community members and volunteers contributing to the townships’ development.

The second presentation was by a representative of the Public Works department who introduced the transport master plan. Called Rea Vaya (We are going) Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, it is an ambitious undertaking for South Africa (and indeed Africa) whose infrastructure, despite often being flaunted as being the best on the continent, still has never boasted a modern, world-class integrated public transport system. If the current plans succeed – which will be impressive given the slender timeframe – by May 2010 they will have knotched up a major milestone in the history of the city’s development.

It consists solely of buses serving as a complementary transport system to a planned underground train system and expansion of the railways following the BRT model as already on display in many South American countries, but also in the US, Canada, China and India, several European countries, and in Africa – Nigeria are also currently developing such a system.

He identified 3 types of visitors during the FIFA World Cup:

International

African and;

Local

The peak capacity period is reckoned to be between day 12-14 of the event and resultingly rail capacity will be increased and a 2010 call centre, info website and website will be set-up.

Other than all the other benefits related to an integrated one-ticket-for-all transport system explained, it appears the 2010 World Cup could be just a springboard used to make a Olympic bid. Possibly for 2020: watch this space.

In the rhetoric of Obama, the challenges are great, the obstacles many… will an integrated transport system be possible in a still substantially fractured city, or will it act as a leverage point to bring about real social improvement and close the gaps in equality? It will be interesting to see, and hopefully it really will be accessible for the large majority – assuming the inhabitants take to it in numbers.

After lunch, the participants split into several workshops to further brainstorm on the potential for Tourism & Heritage development, Housing opportunities, Local Economic Development and Community Events and Campaigns with each being presented in turn to the whole audience. Largely quite productive, they all had clear ideas on what the area needed and there was also an abundance of creativity in some of the suggestions. It’s certainly not unimaginable to picture Orlando and Soweto becoming a huge tourist hotspot in the near future with its powerful recent history. Mandela lived there, as did Desmond Tutu, and it was the scene of some of the strongest and most influential protests against Apartheid – the Soweto uprising of 1976, where 10,000 students were fired upon by the police as they were protesting against the forced education policy of Afrikaans as the first language in the schools instead of English: 566 people died including 11-year old Hector Pieterson who is now an iconic fiqure after a photo of his lifeless bloodied body being carried by a distraught 18-year old was paraded by the international media. There is now a museum in Orlando West in his name.

If the World Cup is a success and Soweto is shown to be accessible and safe, then it could well open the door to mass tourism in the area.

A long but rewarding day. A great insight into the city’s development plans and also into participatory governance in South Africa. The role of Planact in facilitating this process is impressive and clearly much valued.

Back to the loungy hostel – it was good to hear about what Alfons and Hiro had also experienced visiting some community youth and housing development projects:

Just enough time for a dinner, writing up the day reports, and perhaps a game of pool or two before retiring back to the pens again. We had arranged to meet Kaizer and a friend of his at 11am the next day for tour of Orlando. Despite the slightly later start, we decided not to venture out of the compound to dabble with some of the city’s nightlife (Kaizer also invited us to a club that night!)

 

Day 4: Johannesburg, South Africa

We all tried to sleep on the 04.40 flight out of Dubai, with the exception of Hiro who was busy watching films, TV drama’s and playing games. I had a stomach ache; couldn’t sleep and couldn’t eat much of the breakfast either. We were to expected to land on time (10:30 local time) and in the last hour we prepared some more questions for the first interview with TAC (Treatment Action Campaign) and went through the plans for what on paper looked like would be a hectic day. The first meeting was scheduled at 12, meaning that we’d have just 90 minutes from touching the tarmac to getting to some office block in the southern suburbs of Jo’burg. Then, depending on how interesting / long the interview would last we’d either all leave for the next meeting scheduled at 14:00, or consider the possibility of splitting up.

Coming into land we were all fixated on the downward camera shot showing the landscape below. Knackered but excited, we were about to land in Africa.

The outskirts of Jo

All we had to do now was get through passport control, do a Superman style change into business attire and pick up the rental car. However, although we’d adjusted our watches to local time, we had forgotten to set ourselves to Africa time. After running up and down the street of car rental desks in the new terminal in search of the whereabouts of our vehicle, it turned out that the Airport branch (through no fault of their own) had the wrong reference number – not helped by the fact that we didn’t bring a copy of the correct form. After Matthias’ dash to the nearest internet cafe to get a print out back in the terminal whence we came, a few phonecalls and signatures later, we finally had a car key and a primitive road map for our troubles. We were over an hour behind schedule.

In the meantime, we’d acquired a South African SIM card along with an adaptor, so we could at least call the TAC representative and cancel / try to reschedule the meeting. A real shame as they had organised local project leaders to attend to what seemed would be a highly informative start for us. We didn’t have much time to rue that loss however, as we were already struggling to make the second meeting of the day on time. Rushing from the moment we landed, the heavy lunchtime traffic dictated the pace now – and it was anything but quick.

As soon as you join the motorway from the Airport heading towards the Capital, you get a glimpse of the first office blocks rising up before you. Whilst crawling our way up to our destination, we made contact with Becky from Planact who was able to help us with some more precise directions. The same straight road (Commissioner Street) led us all the way into the centre of the block style layout of the (Braamfontein) city, accompanied by the usual platoon of traffic lights at every intersection.

A red light.

During those several seconds of motionlessness, I suddenly felt the effects of (not) going to bed in the Middle East, and waking up in another time zone and continent. Dead tired, and struggling with reality, we were in the CBD of Johannesburg, looking out onto the bustling streets with droves of people going to-and-fro.

Had it. Fought it. Survived it. (Man in blue t-shirt)

It was just a short distance further to the office where we parked, signed in at reception and headed skywards to one of the highest floors where Planact was located. We were led into the boardroom by the secretary where we waited for Becky Himlin. Again a burst of the surreal as the immense window, in the otherwise dimly lit room offered a spectacular “front-row seat” view over the confused and rather oddly planned city. The ripe and modern facade of the clean and uncompromising business district gave way to glimpses of Jo’burg’s past and ever present legacy. Former open-pit mines and now mine dumps straddled the horizon, beyond and amongst the many remaining townships (such as Soweto, where more than half of the 8 million residents of Gauteng ((province) live) and “reservations” of old where black miners were forced in for labour. Separated from their wives and children during this time, they lived under inhumane conditions in the so-called “hostels”. [Traditional] dancing became a way of keeping hold of their cultural and emotional connections to the lives they had been taken from – even becoming a form of entertainment for the white population on weekends.

Just over 100 years ago the area was barely touched Savannah. Today the Gold industry is still the biggest money spinner in the local economy, although only a few operational pits remain.

Becky then introduced Planact to us – a facilitator for community development and empowerment – and gave us some insights into their current work and local projects, one of which was waiting for us to visit. Time was against us today. We were accompanied to Vosloorus, in the South of the city by Shumani, a project officer. A humble, gentle but clearly assertive and very knowledgeable lady, and despite it already getting late into the Friday afternoon, she was patient and unfaltering in braving our barrage of questions which were directed to her over the next few hours.

It is quite amazing how quickly the city scape gives way to rural life consisting of small roads surrounded by dense thickets of single-story township settlements sporadically dotted around the otherwise reddish coloured sandy earth, cast crimson in the fading winter sunlight of the flat Savannah.

After over 30 minutes of driving, we finally arrived at a small plot located on a minor, dead straight and seemingly endless road where we were met by two members of the mostly female run community food gardening / HIV initiative.

Vegetable garden

Something Alfons said?

Hiro and I did not have too much background as we followed Shumani – who was accompanied by Matthias and Alfons on the way there. It was the first insight for us and what we got from the visit was that unemployment is cripplingly high, the HIV rate likewise – although statistics are lacking or at least very questionable.

The Rethabile Cooperative and Masizakhe Home-Based Care organisations have collaborated on this urban agriculture project, supported through funding from the NDA and project management support from Planact.

- Planact (2007/08 Annual Report)

Government presence was not really clear, although they had recently assisted in supporting an initiative to improve housing – as long as the locals provided the labour (and thus having to learn building skills), they would provide the materials or rather sell the house to them for a low price. The site of the community centre consisted of a relatively new (1-2 year old) and healthy looking vegetable garden, and a small brick hut which doubles as an office, information centre and storage facility caring for the local community. The office was pretty much empty when we entered however. Unfortunately, their computer and other office equipment was stolen after a recent break-in. Crime in South Africa, particularly murders in the Johannesburg area has been well documented in the international media. The statistics do not look good for violent crimes such as murder and rape, the UN placed South Africa 2nd highest (out of a sample of 62 countries) in a survey from 1998 – 2000. The rate of overall crime was ranked 10th. In preparation for the trip, you can’t help but page through warning after warning regarding safety and crime. Despite this, I was not willing to be taken over by paranoia. The fact that we would be more or less constantly moving around under the wing of local guidance meant that we should be relatively safe. Or at least I was prepared to assume so.

As it was already evening, we did not have a chance to see them in action. Apart from the sterling, even if limited work they had made of creating the garden, it was not entirely obvious to us what sort of role and impact they were having on the community. We knew that they were primarily a Home Based Care organisation (HBC) called Masizakhe, caring for a number of HIV and Aids patients, and that they were in the process of applying to extend the garden (there was a plentiful supply of uncultivated, abandoned adjacent to the plot). It was also clear that they were lacking human and financial resources, although we did not receive any figures or statistics.

While accessing land proved to be a difficult challenge, an agreement with Ekurhuleni Municipality to utilize land for the duration of the project was ultimately obtained, and a successful first growing season enabled greater food security for project participants and families battling HIV and AIDS in the community. As in most collaborative initiatives, tensions have arisen over allocation of responsibilities and decision-making, but all parties have remained committed to working through disputes and adhering to agreed upon resolutions.

- Planact (2007/08 Annual Report)

View inside the new 2-room government assisted build

After a brief viewing of one of the newly built houses – belonging to one of the ladies, we thanked them for having the time for us, said our goodbyes and set off back the way we came in search of our hostel accommodation for the next two nights. Excited, exhausted and quite overwhelmed we found the Brown Sugar Backpackers Hostel without any problems where one of the most laid back staff I had ever seen and a good meal awaited us.

It was already around 9pm and a shed, albeit a rather comfortable shed (Swiss cottage?) was to be mine and Hiro’s stables for the night. We had arranged to meet Shumani at 9am the next morning at the office where fortunately for us, another busy and varied day lay in wait – despite it being a Saturday.

It was a cool night – but it would be okay, as I would be sharing the bed with a bear. Hopefully of the Teddy kind, obviously…

Bedtime thought: What a contrast. Back in the suburbs we were in the familiar comfort of our Western conveniences, whilst just a stones throw away a truly different world existed. At least that is what my eyes were telling me after the experience of the first day.

Night view from Hostel (Observatory, Johannesburg)

 

The Prelude: Day 3

After the standard hostel breakfast of hummus with flatbread, we decided to do some further preparations for South Africa before daring to go back out into the steam room again. This was partly to familiarise ourselves with the assessment we’d developed but also to catch up on some key reading and generally chat about any holes or problems there were.

A couple of hours later, around midday, we were done. That would be the last time we’d see the hostel.

As our flight was early next morning (04:40) getting much sleep wasn’t going to be an option. To save us time later though, we first took a taxi to the airport (after waiting over half an hour after telephoning, we just ran out on to the highway and jumped in one) and checked-in our fairly minimal luggage. This was a good idea, no problems; pretty quick and hassle free. Ok, it was now early afternoon and we had another 12 hours before we’d need to head back to the airport. We headed to the Jumeira area, more or less next door to Bur Dubai to check out the Mosque. It was a Thursday and apart from the steady flow of traffic along Jumeira road (the main road running along the beach front servicing the swanky part of Dubai), the place was dead. The scene was quite surreal. Over the Mosque tannoy suddenly a prayer started up. Half spoken, half sung, the meditative voice echoed around us. They we were in an alien climate, surrounded by one of the fastest growing cities in the world, yet in the grounds of this modern but quite beautiful Mosque we were completely alone.

We weren’t allowed in of course, although if you book in advance they do offer guided tours a couple of times a week. Alas, it was lunchtime again and there were some shops and cafe’s just on the other side of Jumeira road perfectly capable of satisfying our appetites. After which, with no particular plan in mind we hopped into another taxi where the friendly Bangladeshi driver was more than happy to give us a tour of all the new developments, including the Burj Dubai, set to become the world’s tallest tower when completed, due September 2009.

You don’t need many guesses to know where all that money came from and similarly, to explain the sudden property boom. That reminds me, they do have plans to sort out the congestion problems on the roads, as they are currently building a driverless lightrail metro system.
We cruised round to the beach at Burj Al Arab (worlds’ tallest hotel) and jumped out of our cream Mercedes straight onto sand. The smog filled hazy skies persisted, smothering much of the sunlight. Not going for a swim in the Persian Gulf was not an option (for me and Matthias at least). I know why the sky is so hazy now. It is a cover-up of the fact the Persian Gulf is actually a giant bath tub at which the temperature is regulated at a cleansing 32C… It should come with a health warning to pregnant women, old people, and those with a nervous disposition.
Anyway, here are some pictures of the beach, the Emirates Mall which we ended up at after a walk along the promenade / the main road, and our jolly fine evening spent eating the Arab world equivalent of sandwiches and drinking Moroccan tea in a Shisha cafe in the Heritage Village part of Dubai before heading over to the Airport for around 2am.

An airconditioned bus shelter

Skiing in Dubai...

Despite Alfons’ attempts at plea bargaining with the ski slope admissions staff to let him in for free, based on the arguement that, he’s Swiss and therefore it’s a mockery to expect a man from the mountains to actually have to pay for not even proper skiing…we only smugly / jealously observed through the windows of some seafood café in the middle of the mall. I, meanwhile, after unsuccessfully trying to dry my shorts under the hand-dryer in the toilets (to the bemusement of at least one Arab, but the amusement of the Indian cleaners…) went in search of the cheapest item of clothing that the famous and exclusive Mall of Emirates had to offer. Remarkably, my instinct quickly led me to a damaged (one hole in each bum-cheek) pair of shorts for about £2. Awesome. Over to dinner…

Night view over the Creek from Heritage Village

Trying to get a couple of hours at the Airport before the 8hr 30min flight to Jo

Goodbye Dubai! See you on the way back…

 

The Prelude: Day 2

My guide book was rubbish. Or at least I thought it was. Half of it was dedicated to new residents, much of the rest was only restaurants and every other page was an advert. Actually, it’s a fair representation of life in Dubai. The first population census was only taken in 1960 and only 40,000 people lived there then compared to 1.5 million today. The souks (markets) the oldest parts of the city seemed to be the place to head, so that’s what we did…or tried to do at least.

There was a bus stop opposite the hostel. It seemed to be the easy option, and at virtually no cost. We didn’t have to wait too long, but the bus was full so we had to stand (Except for Lou – an English lady we met at the hostel during breakfast – who was gestured to a seat at the front by the Arab driver), and the air conditioning was wilting under the intense heat.

The traffic was horrible. We crawled along the choc-a-block highway, sandwiched in by a sea of U.S. manufactured cars and a wave of construction sites which made it even more claustrophic combined with the suffocating heat. The rest of the passengers weren’t UAE nationals, of course, they were some of the approximately 85% of non-nationals residing in the persian gulf (mostly from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh) who are both marginally benefiting from, but also being heavily exploited against, by the current construction boom. Not surprisingly, most of them were sleeping.

Some 40 minutes later we completed the handful of kilometres to Deira Bus Station where we explored the Gold and Cloth Souks for a while. We didn’t have much time and most of the rest of Dubai, in particular Bur Dubai, was on the other side of the Creek. The highlight of the day for me was probably in crossing the Creek on a Dhow with a hazy view over the new developments and the mass of office towers.

We visited the Dubai Museum, worth a look with some well constructed exhibitions and located at the site of a former fort dating back to the 1800s. Ancient for Dubai. Thought to be the oldest remaining building in fact.

We then did lunch – a pleasant break from the heat, although the sweaty non-air conditioned Indian cafe / restaurant wasn’t much relief. The food was simple, but tasty and incredibly cheap. Afterwards a trip to one of the many mega malls where we spent some time discussing some of the finer and not so fine details of South Africa – now just one more day and night away.

Apart from in Hotels (most of the nightclubs are inside hotels), alcohol is banned in the Emirates – we headed back to the hostel from the mall, no mean feat considering the queue for taxi’s and the relentless traffic.

Evening traffic in Dubai

We didn’t do much else that evening other than the trip to Lulu’s to grab some necessary supplies.

 

The Prelude: Day 1

We all successfully arrived at Gatwick’s North Terminal early on the morning of Tuesday 12th August. Before we knew it, we were cruising unflappably at 10,000 ft. with only the relentless trays of food and red-lipped air hostesses standing in our way. I was quite excited, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings of an Emirates air cabin (after first having to walk through first and business class (respectively) to get to economy)). Before I had time to adjust my seatbeat, Hiro, sitting next to me, had already navigated his way through the several plastic bags you find yourself surrounded in after taking your seat, and was adorned in the blanket, headphones, and numerous stickers were on display whilst his fingers were busy selecting the in-flight entertainment. Team Suisse were holding up the rear, with Matthias’ ever present Canon snapping away the landscape below.

If you fly with Emirates, you are quite likely to make a stopover in Dubai. We opted for 2 days, enough to see something of the place without eating into too much of our time – our first meeting in South Africa was scheduled for 90 minutes after our expected arrival on Friday 15th August.
6hrs 30 mins after take off we were circling above the Emirate, the sprawling motorways and ever expanding city lit up in the otherwise dark, night time desert below. It was approaching 9pm.

Despite knowing that it was going to be 40 C, and having experienced such temperatures before, nothing can prepare you for Dubai in Summer. It wasn’t until after we’d first collected our bags that we got (had to…) step outside however, when you’re engulfed by a sudden and breathtaking wall of heat. I can only describe it as like being in a steam room, except you’re not, you’re supposed to live and work in such conditions. In fact, it’s not like being in a steam room, Dubai is a steam room; temperatures can reach 50 C and humidity a vapourising 90%. Bear in mind that steam rooms are a more bearable 40-44 C, with humidity higher of course at around 100%.

The unbearable UAE Bear

Sightseeing? Maybe not the best idea. The army of fans at the airport exit made pathetic little difference and the hoards of taxi’s and buses made it seem even hotter. It quickly became apparent that although cheap, buses weren’t the way to get around in Dubai.

Dubai is essentually a building site. A building site within a sauna. The huge highways, are akin to U.S. design and we past construction site after construction site in slow moving, stop start traffic. Wondering if the roads were particularly bad this night, the taxi driver, without irony, replied that it hadn’t been this calm in weeks.

The hostel (not many of those in Dubai) was only a few km’s away, we checked in, had a little wander down to lulu’s shopping centre next door and hit the sack shortly after. Thank Allah for air conditioning.

From Dubai Stopover 1

Left to right: Hiro, Ryan, Matthias, Alfons

 

The all important first post

So here we go: most appropriate blog theme and banner chosen, a desk covered with notes, a laptop bursting with photo’s and a head full of memories…