Category: economic issues

City to frack CPD?

Posted on

Wow. This is huge.

The contents of a previously confidential and completely fictitious City of Cape Town report which were revealed during routine business in the Western Cape High Court this morning look set to cause outrage across the city.
The report, commissioned late last year, outlines details of plans to move the Cenotaph from its present site on Adderley Street in the City Centre to a disused quarry on Chapman’s Peak Drive where it would be used as part of a hydraulic fracturing rig to extract the rich deposits of natural gas discovered at the site during preliminary survey work by the toll company Entilini last year.

The plan marries together three contentious issues which are described by the report’s anonymous author as “awkward problems which could prove potentially costly vote-wise at the next election, but which require addressing”. The author goes on to suggest that “tying the three together would likely limit the amount of negative PR generated by these issues should we address them separately”, but notes:

On face value, this plan makes good financial and political sense and makes the best of several difficult situations facing the City; namely, (a) that the position currently occupied by the Cenotaph is the preferred site for a MyCiti bus station, (b) that the City contract with Entilini requires that we must upgrade the Chapman’s Peak Drive toll plaza and a huge office park, and (c) that the natural gas deposits beneath Chapman’s Peak Drive are of such value that it would be foolish not to act upon them.
However, we should expect stiff opposition to each of these issues, given the historical significance of the Cenotaph, the emotional attachment of Hout Bay residents to Chapman’s Peak Drive, and the current negative publicity surrounding the process of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”).

The report suggests that certain environmental and financial points regarding the plans should be emphasised in media releases and interviews, including:

  • The convenience and improved carbon footprint of public transport when compared to private cars.
  • The recycling of the Cenotaph material and the return of those stones to their natural home in a quarry.
  • The cleanliness of natural gas when compared to electricity from coal.
  • The offset of expensive costs of new toll plaza and first stages of the Entilini office park through selling natural gas fracked from the Chapman’s Peak Drive site.

The confidential report appears to have been distributed to appropriate departments within the municipality.
City officials were unable to comment on the report at the time of writing.

Watch this one folks – I have a feeling we’re going to be hearing a whole lot more about it.

Cosatu march route: Cape Town

Posted on

Via the Mail and Guardian:

Cape Town Cosatu march, Wednesday 7th March 2012 from 10:30am.

The route for the Cape Town march against labour broking and urban toll roads on 7 March 2012. Cosatu expects up to 30,000 people. Traffic disruption will start during late morning rush-hour, but the crowd should be dispersed by mid-afternoon.


The march will begin in Keizergracht, head across Buitenkant, past the City Hall on Darling Street, left into Adderley Street, left into Longmarket Street and then right into Plein Street and to Parliament and will obviously cause disruption across most of the CBD.

View Cape Town Cosatu march in a larger map.

When Fracking Goes Wrong…

Posted on

Saw this on twitter and had to share…

When fracking goes wrong the environmental impacts aren’t as severe as when coal mining goes right.

— Francois Fourie (@FrancoisFourie) March 5, 2012

This after an Econometrix report suggested that if estimates of the amount of shale gas under the Karoo were confirmed:

 …it could provide the equivalent of 400 years’ worth of energy consumption in South Africa.

Economist Tony Twine described it thus:

This is a big chicken; she is a big puppy.

And he doesn’t chuck his animal comparisons around lightly.

The decision on fracking in the Karoo isn’t going to be made any time soon, but while the (poorly put and misleading) environmental argument has been stated for some time now, the economic benefits of South Africa’s shale gas resources could literally turn the fortunes of this country around.
Much like the UK, I’m not sure that we – or the Government – can ignore that for very much longer.

City Falling Apart?

Posted on

Many people living in Cape Town gloat over the rest of the country, citing the efficiency of our DA-led City Council and Province as the main non-geological, non-geographical reason for their residence in the Mother City. And yes, when you compare it with Joburg and its rates bill debacle or Limpopo and its everything debacle, we look GREAT!. But then that’s like comparing drinking a poor red wine with being repeatedly punched in the head. Given the alternative, even that “horrible overly-alcoholic fruit-bomb” is going to seem fairly decent.

And that’s what Cape Town governance has been like for the past few years – a poor red wine that seems a whole lot better than a broken jaw and possible ocular contusion. We’ve excused the bad things because it could simply be so much worse. But suddenly the cracks are beginning to show. Potholes aren’t fixed, even when they’re reported. More and more traffic lights are going “a bit Gauteng” and flashing red for hours at a time. And the city implemented their new IT system “ISIS” apparently without actually checking that it worked.

How very Eastern Cape of them.

The upshot of this is that:

…the municipality’s Rates Clearance Department continues to labour under a backlog. The issuing of Rates Clearance Certificates, which would normally take 8 to 10 working days, remains a full month behind schedule – the financial implications of which are obvious to all involved.

And it’s meant that law firm Smith Tabata Buchanan Boyes has got in touch with the council (and Emperor Helen Zille, nogal) to express its displeasure and that of its clients:

The written response received from the Executive Deputy Mayor, Mr Ian Neilson, gives the assurance that the municipality is acutely aware of the problems that have occurred around Rates Clearance Certificates since the going live of the ISIS system and acknowledged the negative impact that the clearance backlog has, not only on the city’s economy, but also on the finalisation of property transactions. Mr Neilson assured us of the municipality’s determination to revert to its previous turnaround times as soon as possible.

That last line of Mr Neilson may just have well have been:

Yes, whatever. Now bugger off and stop annoying me.

But then at least he responded – probably more than you’d get from most municipalities.It’s just another indication of how the city is becoming less Capetonian and more Joburgesque every day. The DA are slipping, but they know that they can afford to, because everyone can remember and can still see just how bad the alternative is.

It’s a bit of a shoddy approach to things. Like it or not, the DA is slipping up more and more in Cape Town and it’s all rather disappointing for those of us forced to cough up rates for less and less service.

Great wine

Posted on

Incoming from Getwine:

In the nearly seven years of Getwine’s existence we have had some fantastic flagship unlabelled wines from farms such as Rustenberg, Saxenburg, Buitenverwachting, Morgenhof, Delaire and many more. These top wines come and unfortunately also go, for example the Asara Ebony that we recently sold the last bottle of.

But like I said, there are always new wines that are offered to us and I must say that I am very, very excited about a range of ultra premium unlabelled wines that recently arrived at our Getwine depot from a well known wine estate in Franschhoek, which we are unfortunately not allowed to mention.

The three wines are listed below.

Select Cabernet/Pinotage 2007 @ R65 per bottle.
Regular cellar door price: R118
Platter * * * * 1/2 – Typical expression of a well structured unique South African blend. Flavours of mulberries, cassis, cinnamon, cloves and cigar box. Silky soft but well structured tannins with loads of berry fruit and spices on the palate.

Select Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 @ R69 per bottle.
Regular cellar door price: R187
Platter * * * * – Cedarwood and cigarbox flavours combined with rich dark berry fruit on the nose. Cassis, mulberry and spices on the palate. A full bodied, firmly structured wine with concentrated fruit, a balanced mouth-feel and a fresh after-palate typical to the Firgrove terroir from which the grapes derive.

Select Shiraz/Viognier 2007 @ R69 per bottle.
Regular cellar door price: R235
Platter * * * * 1/2 – This wine shows meaty spiciness, ripe dark berry fruits and beautiful floral aromas. The integration of the Viognier supports and enhances the rich and ripe flavours of the Shiraz, while softening the tannin structure. A full bodied wine with depth, complexity and elegance.

You don’t have to think too hard to see where these wines are from and what they might be. All of which means that you can see what an amazing deal this is. Stocks are probably limited, which is why I’ve got my order in before I hit the PUBLISH button.

Add to that Getwine’s legendary service and you could be sipping red like a boss by this time tomorrow. You’d be silly to miss out – tell them I sent you.