DMI Picture

DMI Guideline Series – A5 flyer

 

Full information (content of the booklets) can be downloaded from the following link :

http://www.capetown.gov.za/Family%20and%20home/City-publications/publications-and-reports/building-planning-and-development

Although the cleaning team of the Somerset West CID consists of only three members, they certainly do a great job and make a difference. 

Manager Ernst van Zyl has appreciation for them and says he has good reason to motivate them to keep up the good work! 

The photos of the cleaning team tell more of this good story… 

De-weeding by SWCID worker Cleaning up after bins raided by vagrants Litter left in front of residence by vagrants 2

As part of our winter preparedness program we also regularly clean all the storm water drain in the SWCID area.

Cleaning drains before winter 1 Cleaning drains before winter 3

The SWCID Team also continues to repair and upgrade urban infrastructure in the area.  Last year we started with a project to clean, repair and repaint all the street lamp posts, bollards and public litter bins in the CBD.  This project is now nearing completion and the results make the CBD look fresh and clean and well-maintained.

Maintenance by cleaning team 5 Maintenance by cleaning team 4 Maintenance by cleaning team 6
Maintenance by cleaning team 2 Maintenance by cleaning team 1 Maintenance by cleaning team 3

Making the SWCID sidewalks safe for pedestrians is critical – here an open manhole receives a new cover.

 

Repairing and replacing of drain 2 Repairing and replacing of drain 4 7.My skoonmaker wat drain vervang en rgmaak

 

The City of Cape Town draft Budget 2018-2019 comment period is open
Dear Cape Town residents and businesses

The draft Budget 2018-2019 is available for comment until 16:30 on Friday, 4 May 2018.

A budget of R 49.1 billion will be spent in the metropolitan area to ensure that services are maintained, improved and expanded, that capital projects are rolled out and that the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) is implemented.

The effect of the unprecedented and continuing drought is a strong theme and has influenced many factors, including tariff increases and reviews in tariff structure.
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2016-2017 Budget highlights: Created 45 370 EPWP job opportunities; invested R 3.7 billion (2015/16: R 3.3 billion) in repairs and maintenance; installed 1 747 subsidised electricity connections; provided 676 new taps and 2 085 new toilets to informal settlements; achieved 69,86% employment rate of people from employment equity target groups at the highest levels of management.

Highlights from Annexure A:

  • An allowance of R 76 million for indigent relief.
  • Introduction of a fixed service charge for both water and electricity.
  • Planned capital expenditure includes R 5 billion for Informal Settlements, Water & Waste. Services, R 1.7 billion for the Transport & Urban Development Authority and R 1.1 billion for Energy.
  • Simplifying the steps of the water and electricity tariff from six to four.

The proposed average rates and tariff increases for 2018-19 are shown the table below.

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Important things to remember:

  • The City does not make any profit on the sale of water or electricity.
  • The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) approved an average percentage price increase of 5.23% to Eskom for the 2018-19 financial year, which translates to a 7.32% increase for municipalities.

Frequently asked questions:

CITY OF CAPE TOWN

 

20 MARCH 2018

 

STATEMENT BY THE CITY’S EXECUTIVE DEPUTY MAYOR, ALDERMAN IAN NEILSON

 

Let’s keep our water-saving focus, Team Cape Town

 

As at Monday 19 March 2018, our collective consumption over the past week was 565 million litres of water per day. Unfortunately, usage has increased by 54 million litres per day from last week’s record low of 511 million litres per day. Nevertheless, we are confident that our water users will again shatter water use records in the weeks ahead. Read more below:

 

Our dam levels have shown only a slight decline of 0,3% to 22,7% . This is the lowest decline in dam levels this year to date. This can likely be attributed to somewhat lower evaporation rates and small amounts of rainfall, especially in the Steenbras Dam area.

 

We will continue to monitor the water usage trend to see whether the increase in consumption is a once-off occurrence or whether there is another underlying reason that would need to be addressed.

 

Level 6B water restrictions are still in place. Water pressure reduction remains in place, water management devices continue to be installed on the connections of high water users and the bills based on 6B tariffs are reaching consumers. It is essential that we all continue to save water.

 

All water users are reminded that the City is still required by the National Government to reduce water usage to 450 million litres per day in order to stretch the available water supplies through the rest of the year. This equates to a reduction of 45% from normal usage. We are currently hovering at just below a 40% reduction. A sustained collective push is now required to reduce consumption by just 5% in order to achieve our target.

 

We will continue to drive our initiatives to reduce water consumption. This will include advanced pressure management, the installation of water management devices at the properties of high water users and proactively implementing advanced water restrictions and associated tariffs to encourage behaviour change.

 

If all Capetonians join us by keeping their consumption down to 50 litres of water a day, or less, we will avoid having to take more drastic actions.

 

Please visit www.capetown.gov.za/thinkwater for all water-related information, including Level 6B restrictions and FAQs about Day Zero as well as tips to lower usage even further.

Homeless persons who find refuge at the Somerset West Night Shelter, are given the opportunity to earn their board and lodgings by being employed to assist the SWCID teams, especially with cleaning tasks. The prerequisite is that they should be clean in terms of drug and alcohol consumption. 

enabling the vulnerable to earn helping with beautification 2

 

The services of the shelter, its staff and inhabitants are utilised on a partnership basis in these ways: 

  • For labour when necessary 
  • The resident social worker occasionally meets with the SWCID to determine needs, and sometimes walks through the CID to engage with people on the street in need of help or advice. 
  • The residents of the shelter are willing to engage in conversation with the PSO of Secure Rite to explain how homeless persons with their variety of problems and challenges should best be approached. 

Some of the accompanying photos show Law Enforcement officials being involved with staff from Secure Rite and with Public Safety. 

According to the SWCID manager, Ernst van Zyl, the metro’s Law Enforcement officials regularly contact them for operations to be executed in the CID. 

tidying and beautifying meeting with shelter staff helping with beautification 1 engaging with people on the street collaborating with  security staff cleaning tasks cleaning and de-weeding cleaning and beautifying cleaning and beautifying 2 briefing of shelter clients beautification beautification and cleaning beautification (2)

The cleaning team of the SWCID has a host of tasks and challenges to contend with daily. 

Accompanying photos show the various activities that they engage in, which include the following: 

  • mowing of grass; 
  • maintenance work on poles; 
  • removal of stones that are lying around – in order to prevent criminally minded people  from using them to break windows of cars and businesses; 
  • cutting or pruning of branches and carting of the garden refuse to the dumping site; 
  • removal of graffiti and posters

 mowing 1

 

mowing 2

mowing 3

mowing 4

mowing 5

pole maintenance 2

pole maintenance 3

pole maintenance 4

pole maintenance 5

The Geocentric Urban Management Trolley Project was initiated in 2017. 

The aim of the project is to provide urban cleaning and maintenance teams with a platform to improve their daily tasks, assist with moving of equipment and tools and enable recycling while performing their tasks. 

A few design considerations were introduced into the design of the trolley including 

  • The ability to move heavy loads of litter or recycling from one point to another without effort or potential injury 
  • Create high visibility for the cleaning and maintenance teams 
  • Have quick and easy access to tools and equipment 
  • The ability, even when fully loaded, to easy ascend and descend kerbs and sidewalks 
  • Be able to separate waste as they work to support the recycling initiative 

To achieve some of these design principles, Geocentric looked at simple solutions from other designs, for example, the stair-climbing suitcases used by so many travellers.  By scaling up the design for the urban management trolleys, we could produce a sidewalk and pavement climbing trolley where the urban management worker needs minimum effort to get onto and off pavements to perform their duties.  

(See photos of step 1, 2 and 3 illustrating this concept.) 

step1

step2

step3

The trolleys were also designed to be pushed from any side with key tools located in the middle so that it is in fact easy to use it for a two-man team operation.  On each side of the trolley a plastic tool box allows storage for small tools. 

Recyclables like tin cans, glass and plastic bottles are collected by the urban management workers throughout the day as they clean the streets and public spaces and at the end of each day they separate the items into baskets whereafter Geocentric recycles the items. 

trolley 4

trolley 5

This is another way in which we make CID operations more sustainable and environmentally friendly as we prevent a vast amount of waste from simply going to landfills. 

trolley 6

Geocentric have rolled out these trollies in the Elsies River and Beaconvale City Improvement Districts and plan to roll them out to all the other CIDs under Geocentric management through the course of 2018. 

 

In collaboration with the CCT

In collaboration with the CCT’s Law Enforcement Officer assigned to the SWCID, Secure Rite as service provider to the SWCID conducts a variety of operations aimed at preventing contraventions and addressing a variety of safety and security issues in the area. 

Some of the activities include the following: 

  • Safeguarding the area and ensuring that homeless persons do not sleep in the CID or beg for money from the public; 
  • Patrolling and surveillance of businesses and in the case of burglaries or robberies, the support of clients by the Public Safety Officer. 
  • Addressing the problem of alcohol abuse in public (within the CID). 
  • Joint operations launched by the CCT’s Law Enforcement department. 

See visuals depicting amongst other things, the joint SAPS, Law Enforcement and SWCID operation in the vicinity of the bridge over the river in Somerset west. 

  • SWCID CCTV project: accompanying pictures show the installation of cameras by Secure Rite and the view of the streets from the control room. 

security camera 1 security camera 3 security camera James Street

  • Voluntarily lending a helping hand to the public – for example when car trouble is experienced. 

bridge operation 1 bridge operation 2 bridge operation 5 Confiscate trollies Confiscate wheely bins operation with law enforcement officer 1 PSO assists with shoplifting 1 PSO assists with shoplifting 2 public safety officers 2 Public Safety officers removal of stones 1 removal of stones 2 removal of stones 3 sharp object confiscated

 

A newspaper article reported everything but to mention that this operation was initiated by the SWCID and that most of the manpower and resources came from the SWCID.  Pictures also show officers assisting the SAPS in the operation and of where they are helping to remove structures (with the assistance of the SWCID cleaning team) as well as patrol officers show dangerous weapons found during the operation. 

Article on bridge operation 1

s Public Safety Officer assigned to the SWCID, Secure Rite conduct

“As Geocentric we are very proud to launch our new mobile phone reporting application,” said Gene Lohrentz of the urban management company recently. “This is another way in which we are enabling our CID business and property owners to interact with their City Improvement District Management. 

 

“We want our CID contributors to become part of our family by interacting with us about issues they might encounter.  The mobile application makes that possible on the devices most people have with them every day.” 

Geocentric Reporting App 2

 

The Geocentric app allows users to easily report issues in the City Improvement Districts managed by Geocentric Urban Management based in South Africa.  Currently the areas covered by this Application include Beaconvale Industrial Area, Elsies River Industrial, Glosderry, Maitland, Salt River, Somerset West CBD, Stikland Industrial, Strand CBD and the Tygervalley CBD.  

 

With this application users can report urban defects, crime incidents, public safety issues and general comments.  “We will acknowledge your report and provide you with feedback throughout the process.  We will also send you ‘Alerts’ of problems in your CID area, such as water leaks or power outages and we can even send crime alerts and safety tips to your mobile phone. 

 Geocentric Reporting App 1

The Geocentric Reporting Application is Free of Charge! 

 

Simply install it and register as a user when using it for the first time.  If you need any help, please contact support@geocentric.co.za 

 

Let’s get started! 

 

  • Simply download and install the App from the Google Play or Apple App Store  
  • Register as a user, using the app when you open it for the first time 
  • We will send you a confirmation email and you will have to activate your app by clicking on the activation link in the email – this is to ensure we are dealing with people and not spammers. 
  • Go to your email and verify your email address 
  • Log in and you are ready to go! 

During a recent speech delivered at the Atlantis Aquifer, Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille thanked Capetonians who had been making efforts to cut their water usage, saying that about half of water users had restricted their daily usage to 87 litres per day.

But added that this was not enough. “We need each and every Capetonian and business on board as a partner on this journey,” she said.

“We are in an unprecedented drought crisis and this phase is critical because if the City and residents don’t do enough together and simultaneously, we will run out of water.”

She said the City was doing everything in its power to ensure additional supply, including finding and hiring the country’s best team of experts who were working 80-hour weeks with the metro to ensure that additional water could be brought ‘online’.

The Atlantis plant was one of several sites for alternative water sources which form part of the ‘Water Resilience Plan’.

The City of Cape Town had recently refurbished many of the boreholes around this West Coast area to increase the production of this plant. She pointed out that these boreholes formed a part of the City’s unique Artificially Recharged Aquifer System and said a lot of work had gone into ensuring an increase in the volume of water from this aquifer system.

Prior this work, the system had been producing around four million litres of water per day. “We have now increased the yield from this aquifer by an additional five million litres per day.”

The water is serving homes and industrial businesses in Atlantis, Mamre and Pella on the outskirts of the West Coast, which is quite a vast area. “So the additional capacity will be welcomed,” the Mayor said.

“This work demonstrates our commitment to addressing this current drought crisis. I repeat my commitment that I will not allow a well-run city to run out of water.”

She added that she had made it clear when the site of a new desalination plant with the V&A Waterfront had been announced: “we have a plan and we will supply water, but we need Team Cape Town to assist us”.

In the meantime, the City of Cape Town announced that Level 6 water restrictions will be implemented from 1 January 2018, which means that households using more than 10,500 litres per month could face fines and penalties. A proposal for a drought charge of between R45 and R2 800, depending on the value of the property, has also been tabled.

Take a look at these shocking photos of the Theewaterskloof Dam looking more like a desert than a body of water:

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