http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=4076529

Talking past each other on housing

The shack dwellers' movement and the city are not on the same wavelength over what should be done with informal settlements, an issue which leads to continual bickering

October 12, 2007 Edition 1

DARTING through the pouring rain and dodging the puddles on the streets of Durban this week, most residents of our fair city cursed the bad weather and cherished the warmth and shelter of their homes.

This included the 800 000 people who live in 540 shack settlements scattered around eThekwini, and whose emotional experience of home is probably as comforting as the other 2.2 million residents of the city who live in formal housing.

http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=4065373

Eradication of slums could hurt poor

October 05, 2007 Edition 1

Greg Ardé

KwaZulu-Natal's Slums Act, which proposes to eradicate shack settlements by 2014, could remove the only opportunity poor people have of gaining a foothold in the property market, an influential think tank heard in Durban yesterday.

The UK government-funded study into the market in informal settlements in three cities in South Africa was conducted by Urban LandMark, whose team was in Durban yesterday to release the findings of its research.

It studied property transactions in Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg, looking at sales in informal settlements, tribal land, shacks and Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) low-cost housing projects. It found that a shack sold for between R50 and R500, and it took up to 69 days and an additional R1 351 in transport and associated costs to secure.

Click here to see the Motala Heights digital archive

http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=4017176

Photographer was threatened
Police rescue news team after fracas

The Mercury

September 04, 2007 Edition 1

Greg Ardé

Durban Metro Police had to rescue a Mercury photographer from Motala Heights, near Pinetown, where he was prevented from leaving the area after an argument with a local land owner.

The photographer said he had been bullied and his life was threatened.

http://gregarde.blogspot.com/2007/05/are-we-doing-enough-to-house-poor-in.html

Are we doing enough to house the poor in Durban?

This story appeared on May 4 in The Mercury

Unveiling the eThekwini Municipality's R17.4 billion budget, Mayor Obed Mlaba has taken issue with critics who complained that Durban was spending R500 million on a new soccer stadium instead of building more houses for the poor.

Mlaba defended the city's spending on major infrastructure like the stadium, saying: "When one simply gives away houses to the poor who have no means of sustaining themselves or building communities, you had better be sure that you have other income-generating programmes in place to pick up the slack."

http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3794964

Published on the web by Mercury on April 23, 2007.

Slipping down pathways between rickety shacks, Miloon Kolhari tried not to fall into the mud and the filth of the Foreman Road squatter camp in Durban at the weekend.

The United Nations special rapporteur got a first-hand look at the living conditions of the 7 000 people who call the squatter camp home. He visited the city as part of his global study on housing, a tour that has seen him meet national, provincial and municipal representatives across the country.

Kolhari seemed visibly moved by the plight of the Foreman Road residents and the 7 000 shack dwellers in nearby Kennedy Road.

Mercury

eThekwini times

Obed, you pace yourself so wisely
December 9, 2005

By Greg Ardé

Dear Obed, greetings boet! I haven't written for so long because, like you,
I've been busy campaigning. These pre-election bursts of energy are
something else, hey?

Imagine the awesome service delivery eThekwini's residents would enjoy if we
had the same drive throughout the council term? But, that's a ridiculous
notion. It makes absolute sense to save your energy for elections, to pace
yourself. Anyway, Obed, well done on the land thing. I know that your
surprise announcement about the R10 billion Phoenix East housing project was