Thomas Johnson - The Blog

Cape Town City councillors are exploiting park upgrades for votes. That’s according to a community liaison officer (name withheld) of mayoral committee member for community services Zahid Badroodien. He also said park budgets are not spent resulting in work to complete projects being performed up to midnight on the last day of the financial year before budgets lapse. In some suburbs no one uses recreational facilities like Gugulethu that has five astro-turf courts costing R5 million each within a small radius. The official told me this on December 9 during a meeting about unneeded politically driven developments to our local park (see here ). When I heard about these “upgrades” – a pathway, and for the next financial year, exercise equipment and multi-purpose courts – in September, I raised it with Badroodien, Mayor Dan Plato and city manager Lungelo Mbandazayo. Badroodien promised to investigate according to the liaison officer but nothing came of it and the pathway was constructed. T...

I read Jon Cayzer's On race, the DA is on the wrong side of history  in Politicsweb. This is a version of an email I sent him.  Cayzer is a former speechwriter for the DA and IFP. He's currently a PhD candidate and lives in London. His previous article,  The end of a party , was also about the DA's decline. Until the beginning of this year - now almost never - I regularly read PW but became increasingly put off by its right shift (from centre-right) since c2018. But I'm glad I took a rare peek and saw his article.  Except for one or two people, trying to engage in civil debate on PW's comments is impossible - like wrestling a pig; both get dirty. As a despairing PW commentator (a lawyer) wrote before disappearing, "PW comments is where rational debate goes to die among the [far-right, racist] vitriol". (The same can be said of associated BizNews.) Cayzer should be commended that he did and kept his good humour. Both articles are trenchant analyses of the D...

 The (sane) world and just over 50% of American voters (a small number, far from the predicted Biden landslide, given Trump's sociopathy, but that's rightwing middle America for you) are deservedly engaging in schadenfreude at Donald Trump's 2020 election loss, a loss he and his supporters like Fox News and pollster Robert Cahaly of The Trafalgar Group never foresaw.  While Rupert Murdoch-owned Fox and New York Post are distancing themselves from Trump, his refusal to concede is embarrassing any rational erstwhile fans, I wonder how other supporters, including in SA, are coping with the trauma.  For example, in South African media (not trolls who lurk in comments fora) Simon Lincoln Reader, a columnist for Business Live and BizNews, wrote in 2018 "Leftie anti-Trump procession a carnival of narcissism" (to the rightwing, "leftie", or "libtard", is disparaging), and last month, "Can the hysterical anti-Trump collective please sit down?"...

 The auditor-general has delayed the results of Western Cape Health Department until January 2021 apparently because of Covid-19. I’d like to say it was because of my intervention, though.   In June I wrote to AG Kimi Makwetu that the WCHD’s “clean audit” outcome for 2018/19 was not deserved mainly because their performance objectives could not be independently verified. WCHD’s annual report noted not all its performance objectives could be measured but gave themselves a pass anyway which the AG accepted at face value.    The AG’s criteria for a clean audit are financially unqualified and no material deviations in performance objectives and laws.   Every year the DA and DA-run administrations make a huge thing about the number of clean audits they receive. They equate it with good governance. The Western Cape: the country’s “ cleanest government ”, “ Another year of clean audits confirms commitment to good governance ” (2020) and “ Clean audits confirm c...

Cape Town residents like these in Rylands (ward 48) complain about the poor state of neighbourhood parks: city neglect, unmaintained, rubbish strewn, vagrancy, drug taking and prostitution. (The ward councillor is two-term Magedien Davids [1]. Christa Liebenberg is sub-council manager.) The city doesn’t maintain parks – the build and forget approach – or enforce infringements. It's left to residents to deal with the consequences of deteriorating amenities – the “broken window” problem. In the meantime, often in the same wards, the city is upgrading isolated parks. What they mean by that is not always clear but usually it’s adding or refurbishing play equipment and pathways. During a  site visit to Colorado Park  in Mitchell’s Plain mayco for community services Zahid Badroodien said the city “hears the community’s concerns”. He spoke of the importance of communication with affected communities and role of ward committees in the upgrades However, these are hollow wo...

City implicated in forged petition signature. This is an update on the controversial park development that will, if completed, cost at least R3 million. Cape Town City is forcing through “upgrades” despite not having followed a public participation process and appears to be enthralled by a previously unknown residents' group. However, for months the city and ward councillor had discussions and joined forces with this unrepresentative group that was only “officially” formed on September 18 at a by-invitation only inaugural AGM on Google Meets. They are affiliated with former controversial city politician Suzettte Little  (she was investigated for misconduct) who they say is an “advisor” but in reality has taken an active role in developments.  Neither of the group’s members lives nearby. It’s a mystery why they're taking an interest in and concerned with what’s happening here when parks in their own area have problems of alleged drug taking, prostitution and vagrancy which...

 Auditor-general Kimi Makwetu is undertaking annual audits of national, provincial and local government departments. By the end of November government, political parties, analysts and media will scrutinise and pontificate on his findings. Depending on his opinions, they shall either accuse other parties of bad governance or congratulate themselves for a job well done.   The DA particularly shall boast about the “clean audits” they receive for the Western Cape government, Cape Town City and other municipalities. But they, like the public, conflate and confuse unqualified financial audits with good governance in its correct, broad meaning, i.e. financially, legally and ethically well-run.   However, no South African state department meets all three requirements of good governance.   It’s a common misconception especially among the DA and their supporters to confuse clean audits with good governance, their boast when their administrations receive unqualified aud...

A little known residents group is influencing the fast track development of a Cape Town neighbourhood recreational park that when complete will, I estimate, cost at minimum R3 million. The confirmed proposal for the 2020/21 financial year includes perimeter pathway, toddler track, exercise equipment and multipurpose courts. A service road was discussed as an option. (See here and here .) What makes this project unusual is the park is next door to an unused city-owned multi-purpose sports complex and 600m away from another park that has the same facilities. The CSIR’s Guidelines for Provision of Social Facilities recommends neighbourhood parks be within a minimum 20 minute walk from each other. The group calling itself a “residents’ association” was only formed on September 12 via a virtual annual general meeting with invited participants. It had previously been a neighbourhood block working committee. Emails I obtained show they had been in discussions with the city including the Pa...

The Last Whites of Africa Saturday is a slow news day for local media. Bored, I clicked on Politicsweb which I hadn’t looked at since April. I had given up on it, put off by its pandemic denialism and white right victimhood. I was determined not to read it again, but looking for news, thought perhaps things had changed a little, its writers if not commentators.     But everything is still the same. On Saturday September 19’s issue, above the virtual fold (top half of webpage), was William Saunderson-Meyer column where he wrote Donald Trump “deserved” the Nobel Prize (a right-wing Norwegian journalist nominated him) for his role in the rapprochement between Israel, Bahrain and UAE!   Andrew Donaldson , always trying too hard to be amusing, cheered a little known group who want independence for the Western Cape  (in his column last year he explained away the Group Areas Act in Cape Town as a "shortage of land" [sic]) . Fittingly iron ic for one who now lives in is...

 This week I wrote how the City of Cape Town and a clique of residents who don’t live nearby are pushing through unwanted and unneeded developments – they call “upgrades” – to one of our neighbourhood’s recreational parks that will forever vitiate its green, tranquil character. (See here .)   On Thursday I wrote again to mayco for community services Zahid Badroodien because despite saying he will investigate the lack of public participation and residents group – I'll refer to them by their initials BRRA – exceeding their authority and city permitting them to do so, that day the group sent a WhatApp message on behalf of the city inviting recipients to a meeting yesterday. Either he ignored me or doesn't know what staff and colleagues are doing.    Yesterday in response to my latest email to him the senior city official Christa Liebenberg involved in the proposal phoned. Peremptorily, she said she was “instructed” to call, that I wanted “public participation”,...

 The City of Cape Town  has approved in principle proposals to develop the recreational park in our quiet east Southern Suburbs neighbourhood. A neighbour and I recently became aware of it by accident after a city site meeting that reportedly included former controversial city politician Suzette Little.  Last  week at my request, a week later and only because I complained to mayco for community services Zahid Badroodien, city manager and mayor, ward councillor Magedien Davids sent me emailed discussions going back over a month about proposals that include:   ·          Pathway/track around the perimeter for walking and cycling; ·         Gym equipment; ·         Basketball and similar  courts ; ·          Service road.   Neither he nor city informed and consulted residents who would be affected most – those living opposit...