Warwick Bruce Chapman

Note: A response was received from the MDB’s Robert Willemse acknowledging this submission:
“All submissions will be considered by the Board. In terms of the Structures Act, 1998, the Board may confirm, withdraw/vary a delimitation. The final decisions of the MDB will be gazetted after 19 August 2010.”

A further response from Robert relating to when these Demarcations will be reflected in the IEC data follows:
“The MDB already submitted some of its ward delimitations to the IEC – to empower the IEC to prepare for the 2011 elections.
All wards, including the final wards for eThekwini, will be submitted to the IEC by 1 Sept 2010. The MDB will consider all recorded objections by 19 Aug 2010.”

Summary: DA in eThekwini objections to 1 July gazetted ward demarcation proposals

The DA submitted proposals with the key intention of reuniting fragmented communities and during the consultation process reminded the MDB that it has a legislated mandate to do the same. We are disappointed that despite this the second round of MDB proposals do not address the issue of several communities split between multiple wards.

We’ve just completed a very successful FIFA Soccer World Cup tournament in our country which has helped unite our people. Coming out of the event, where we’ve all seen what government can do if it sets its mind to it, the one thing we have common agreement on is the prioritisation of service delivery, something our Government has been emphasising of late.

All proposals tabled should thus seek to improve service delivery and therefore the more practical the shapes wards have and the more easily recognisable the ward is to the surrounding communities, the more effective the ward councillor will be able to be.

The proposals tabled by the DA, ANC and the original MDB proposals do not require the splitting of any Voting Districts. Further, the DA proposals succeed in reuniting several communities which had been split over multiple wards in both the old and new MDB proposals and the ANC proposals.

It is our contention thus, that of the three sets of proposals, the DA’s proposals are most compliant with the legislation and most likely to result in an improvement in service delivery. Wards which are as closely identifiable with communities as possible will thus greatly simplify the process of finding the correct ward councillor when a community member is in need.

We are concerned that the MDB has accepted only one of the DA’s proposals which seeks to reunite fragmented communities and particularly the basis upon which such selective application has been made. Our proposals for wards 12 and 14 which intended to address the KwaNdengezi community being split in two were accepted, yet proposals in other areas such as Verulam which arguably had more merit were not.

Warwick Chapman and Geoff Pullan
Democratic Alliance Demarcation Coordinators, eThekwini Muncipality

FORM MDB5 (Download)

WARD DELIMITATION
OBJECTION IN TERMS OF ITEM 5(2) OF SCHEDULE 1 TO THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT: MUNICIPAL STRUCTURES ACT, 1998

Name of municipality: eThekwini
Code: ETH
Name of aggrieved person/institution: Democratic Alliance
Contact person in case of an institution: Warwick Chapman and Geoff Pullan
Address: c/o City Hall, Durban
Tel. number:  N/A Cell number: 083 7797 094 and 083 6959190
Email address: ward18@ethelkwini.org and geoffpullan@iafrica.com

We hereby object to the delimitation of the boundaries of the following wards:

We request the Municipal Demarcation Board to consider the following alternative proposals:

Ward	Preferred VD listing	Motivation
102	43362288        1983 43360725        2422 43360736        2155 43362042        2624 43360624        3117 43360635        1121 43362222        3110 Total:                16532	In the case of ward 102,  VD 43350049 contains the land upon which the significant Cornubia housing development will take place.  Cornubia is planned to contain over 70000 individual housing units[1] which are to be built between this election and the next. We thus expect Cornubia to become either a ward of its own, or more likely, several new wards once completed.  The DA’s proposal for this area caters for this eventuality and ensures that the splits can be executed easily without producing oddly shaped wards as would result from the other proposals. Lastly, our proposal for ward 58 succeeds in keeping the airport and beachfront communities in a single ward while not affecting the unity of the Verulam community which we consildated into Ward 60.
35	43350016        3603 43350049        1893 43350050        2800 43350027        3435 43350038        3986 Total:                15717	In our proposals, we specifically structured wards 102 (above), 36 (MDB accepted our proposal) 35, 34 and 11 such that they observed the very significant boundary that is the N2 national highway.
34	43360455        2030 43360466        1400 43360444        2618 43360499        2792 43360398        2790 43360477        3190 43360488        1444 Total:                16264	In our proposals, we specifically structured wards 102 (above), 36 (MDB accepted our proposal) 35, 34 and 11 such that they observed the very significant boundary that is the N2 national highway.
11	43360589        2378 43360523        2160 43360501        2468 43360512        1068 43360590        1131 43360602        2659 43360613        2202 43362211        2045 Total:                16111	In our proposals, we specifically structured wards 102 (above), 36 (MDB accepted our proposal) 35, 34 and 11 such that they observed the very significant boundary that is the N2 national highway.
30	43371413        3513 43371424        2926 43371828        7159 43371390        4555 Total:                18153	In the gazetted proposals, Cato Manor is split between wards 29, 30 and 101.  The Act specifically requires that in performing demarcation you avoid the fragmentation of communities.  Patently, the Cato Manor community is avoidably split into 3 and thus in contravention of this requirement.
31	43360242        2208 43360286        1182 43360275        2051 43360231        1477 43360219        1592 43360118        1449 43360264        2561 43360309        1731 Total:                14251	Using the very recognisable boundaries of the N3 national highway into the City and the road which runs along the top of the Berea, Ridge Rd, our proposals structured a very recognisable and easily defined set of wards. Because the Berea comprises high density residential areas immediately adjacent to one another, it is even more important to have very clear boundaries separating wards.  For this reason we tried to make use of the most recognisable boundaries in the area. We are convinced that service delivery is assisted when a community can easily identify their ward councillor.  Conversely, it is easier for ward councillors to provide a service when the area they serve is easily identifiable.
32	43371244        6603 43371301        2590 43371288        1942 43371299        1639 43371985        2014 Total:                14788	As above
26	43360017        2886 43360040        3047 43360028        3047 43360039        2223 43371255        5514 Total:                16717	In the gazetted proposals, the CBD is split between wards 26 and 28.  The Act specifically requires that in performing demarcation you avoid the fragmentation of communities.  Patently, the CBD community is avoidably split into 2 and thus in contravention of this requirement.
27	43360073        2044 43360062        2839 43360185        2763 43360163        1724 43360174        3114 43360196        1190 43360208        1940 Total:                15614	In the gazetted proposals, the North Beach community is split between wards 26 and 27.  The Act specifically requires that in performing demarcation you avoid the fragmentation of communities.  Patently, the North Beach community is avoidably split into 2 and thus in contravention of this requirement.
28	43360107        2698 43360130        1746 43360084        3298 43360095        2402 43360141        2491 43360152        2269 Total:                14904	In the gazetted proposals, the CBD and parts of Musgrave are lumped into the same ward.  These are vastly distinct communities and while our proposal above addresses the CBD issue, this proposal deals with the Musgrave and Greville communities which are split by these proposals.  The Act specifically requires that in performing demarcation you avoid the fragmentation of communities.  Patently, these communities are avoidably split and thus in contravention of this requirement.
29	43370502        2673 43370388        3762 43371491        1360 43371480        2666 43371839        2617 43371435        2510 Total:                15588	In the gazetted proposals, the Chesterville is split between ward 29 and 24.  These are vastly distinct communities and this proposal and our proposal below for ward 24 seeks to remedy the proposed situaiton.  The Act specifically requires that in performing demarcation you avoid the fragmentation of communities.  Patently, these communities are avoidably split and thus in contravention of this requirement.
18	43390504        3533 43390964        441 43390571        4015 43390515        5502 43390560        2361 Total:                15852	In the gazetted proposals, the Pinetown community is split between ward 18,  21 and 16.  The Act specifically requires that in performing demarcation you avoid the fragmentation of communities.  Patently, these communities are avoidably split and thus in contravention of this requirement. Our proposal seeks to reunite the entire Pinetown community under a single ward 18, and removing the significant Westville portion currently in ward 18.
24	43390784        1562 43390076        2479 43390201        2956 43390212        2217 43390526        3518 43390087        4189 Total:                16921	In the gazetted proposals, the Westville community is split between wards 18, and 24.  The Act specifically requires that in performing demarcation you avoid the fragmentation of communities.  Patently, these communities are avoidably split and thus in contravention of this requirement. Westville is a very distinct and identifiable community which is current split across wards 18 and 24, proving counter-productive when community members seek to identify their councillor.
52	43361524        1746 43361535        1308 43361838        2008 43361849        1608 43361850        2195 43361861        1998 43361872        2555 43361883        1145 43361894        2118 Total:                16681	We see no reason whatsoever for the changes made to the wards 52, 53, 55 and 57.  The changes are limited entirely to that group of four wards in that the VDs have been shifted from one ward to an adjacent other until the knock-on effect has been neutralised. It would appear that the changes are unnecessary and split existing communities.
53	43360129        3701 43360253        1084 43360927        1597 43361287        6627 43361760        1448 43361940        1007 43361951        2009 Total:                17473	We see no reason whatsoever for the changes made to the wards 52, 53, 55 and 57.  The changes are limited entirely to that group of four wards in that the VDs have been shifted from one ward to an adjacent other until the knock-on effect has been neutralised. It would appear that the changes are unnecessary and split existing communities.
55	43360792        946 43361333        1401 43361344        1392 43361366        1237 43361399        2178 43361401        1678 43361489        2385 43361669        1966 43361670        1480 43362008        2419 Total:                17082	We see no reason whatsoever for the changes made to the wards 52, 53, 55 and 57.  The changes are limited entirely to that group of four wards in that the VDs have been shifted from one ward to an adjacent other until the knock-on effect has been neutralised. It would appear that the changes are unnecessary and split existing communities.
57	43361557        2769 43361681        3596 43362154        2145 43362165        3689 43362176        2405 43362187        1008 43362244        1123 Total:                16735	We see no reason whatsoever for the changes made to the wards 52, 53, 55 and 57.  The changes are limited entirely to that group of four wards in that the VDs have been shifted from one ward to an adjacent other until the knock-on effect has been neutralised. It would appear that the changes are unnecessary and split existing communities.
60	43350140        1229 43350072        1600 43350139        1595 43350487        353 43350151        2369 43350195        418 43350162        1658 43350173        2619 43350184        1821 43580820        2701 43584026        467 43584037        736 Total:                17566	The DA’s proposal for Verulam was one of the most important in our package of 53 proposed.  In all the other proposals tabled, the town of Verulam was split over multiple wards for no reason we can readily ascertain.  The legislation as well as the DA’s proposals seek to reunite the fragmented community of Verulam under a single ward councillor.  We thus request some explanation why our sensible proposals have not been accepted.
9	43400078        4088 43400450        2000 43400405        3188 43400797        3693 43400810        996 43400854        798 43400865        2336 43583171        931 Total:                18030	While our proposal for ward 9 did result in an elongated ward, it must be understood that the Hillcrest/Waterfall community resides on either side of Inanda Rd M33 which extends from the east to the west along the length of our proposed ward. Further, assuming the revised split estimate tabled below is accepted, we propose that in order to reduce the fragmentation of the Hillcrest community, the northern portion of the split VD (43400450) be moved to Ward 9 from ward 10, the Hillcrest High School VD (43400078) be moved back into ward 9 from ward 8, the portion of the split Forest View Primary VD (43400393) be moved into ward 10.  The intention would thus be to create a ward which extends the length of the M33 Inanda Rd. The Act specifically requires that in performing demarcation you avoid the fragmentation of communities.  Patently, this community has been avoidably split and thus the current proposal for ward 9 is in contravention of this requirement.
10	43400045        4404 43400067        5056 43400393        2689 43400438        2368 43400809        813 43400843        883 Total:                16213	In order to reunify the Hillcrest Community as described above, VD 43400393 is required to move into this ward.
9 (VD Split)	43400450 (Hillcrest Library Activities Room) The new proposal included in the MDB’s gazetted proposals to split VD 43400450 (Hillcrest Library Activities Room) in two provides an opportunity to address to an extent the elongated nature of our ward 9 proposal.  We do, however, dispute the accuracy of the estimated number of voters in each part of the split VD. Considering the orthographic overlay below showing location of residential areas, the proposed split for 43400450 is more likely to be 2000 in the northern portion and 137 in the southern portion (and not 1000 and 1137 respectively).  The northern portion contains all of the residential dwellings in the VD and the southern portion only a few farmhouses and rural dwellings.
6/91	Since the 1 July gazetted eThekwini proposals include the splitting of a few VDs, we would like to bring the the attention of the MDB a very unweildy VD which results in a very strangely shaped Ward 6.  43400146 (Kwamyeza School) has an extremely unfortunate shape and sufficient voters (3333) that it should be split into two or preferably three more sensibly shaped VDs.  The Voting Station is in the south eastern end of the VD (Emalangeni) and thus voters in the north west (Moya) are much closer to other VDs. We would thus propose that 43400146 (Kwamyeza School) be merged with 43400540 (Dept Of Works) and then split into 3 new VDs something along the lines of the rough diagram provided below.

I confirm that:
    each cluster of voting districts form a contiguous ward;
    the number of voters in each ward fall within the minimum and maximum of voters allowed per ward;
    the proposed ward boundaries comply, in general, with the criteria.

SIGNATURE

NAME AND SURNAME

DATE

As I councillor looking for the contact details of other councillors, I contacted the Chief Whip of Council, Fawzia Peer, and requested a full contact list. She declined saying she didn’t want to be distributing the full list of council details willy-nilly. Why on earth not?! I have since obtained the full list, and post it here:
eThekwini Councillors Information Updated 2009

I am becoming increasingly aware that most South Africans don’t full understand the structure of Government in South Africa and how our electoral system works. Below I have attempted to summarise this as best I can.

Government in South Africa comprises 3 separate but related spheres:

• Local Government = Municipalities and the elected Public Representatives (politicians) are councillors.
• Provincial Government = Provinces and the Public Representatives (politicians) are MPL’s (members of the provincial legislature)
• National Government = South African Government and the Public Representatives (politcians) are MP’s (Members of Parliament)

In Local Governments, half the councillors are directly elected to represent the people living in municipalities’s wards and the other half are “Proportional Representation” or PR councillors and are chosen by the party on the basis of the % the political party won. Thus there are twice as many councillors as there are wards in a municipality. Usually PR councillors are “deployed” to shadow the ward councillor in another ward with a view to winning the voters of that ward over in the next election.

Only in Local Government is any politician elected directly – ie. you vote for a person. In the rest of the spheres the political parties choose who will be appointed.

Thus, if a politician must be replaced in the Provincial or National spheres, the party just replaces them.

In the local sphere however, because ward councillors are directly elected, a by-election must take to allow the community to elect a new person to represent their community.

All SA reps are elected for 5 year terms.

Earlier today I put up a Facebook note about a rather quizzical conversation I had the day before:

Yesterday, while chatting with a black female friend of mine she berated the scarcity of good men saying they were either taken, gay or too promiscuous to trust.

I was quite shocked to hear for the first time that homosexuality is supposedly prolific among black men. This was verified by a young black male friend of mine who was there at the time.

I had long thought that homosexuality among black men was serious cultural taboo and put gay men at risk of being beaten and women subjected to ‘corrective rape’.

I was assured this was a thing of the past and these days people are free to choose – and many black men are now choosing to be gay.

Comments?

I got a most interesting response from a friend of mine which I share below:

Well, let’s address the first glaring point: no one CHOOSES to be gay – the only choice is whether you come out or stay in the closet. Whether hormonal, genetic, conditioned on some level or a combination of those, being gay is something that’s part of who you are, involuntary and innate.

Secondly, the statement that ‘homosexuality is prolific among black men’ is a misreading of the situation. Yes, there are more visible black gay men but that’s because there’s a higher percentage of the gay population that chooses to come out than before. The percentage, I would say, always remains more or less constant in all communities (around 10%) but now more of that percentage is coming out and being visible, hence the false perception that “more men are ‘becoming’ gay”.

Thirdly, homosexuality is generally a taboo topic in black communities (though not uniquely so) but it’s not a uniform picture. There are gradations and variations on attitudes depending on class, geography, age, etc. Most visibly out gay men would be at risk of harassment, victimisation and assault in many townships but you also find islands/enclaves of acceptance, or at least ambiguity, in some townships.

For example, I’ve heard stories of township taverns where straight men specifically go to pick up effeminate gay men for sex. The reasoning is seemingly that: 1) this particular subset of gay men are “woman” enough in appearance and presentation to be fucked but more submissive and pliant in sex than more strong-willed, assertive ‘modern’ township girls and 2) there’s no risk of pregnancy with anal sex. (Naturally my next question was, ‘Well, why don’t they just have anal sex with girls?’ and the answer lies in point 1. Many black girls don’t like taking it from behind and would refuse to do so.)

Even historically, black culture (like most cultures in fact) has evolved and adapted mechanisms for limited accommodation of homosexuality. Basically a blind eye was turned to it (though not all the time) before initiation into adulthood because it was seen as “kids fooling/playing around”. Particularly during puberty, it could be accepted as ‘sexual experimentation.

When teenage herdboys would take cattle herds to graze for days or weeks on end away from home, mutual masturbation and, more commonly, thigh sex (though sometimes anal) was not unheard of, although obviously not all herdboys did it.

But ultimately, the cultural imperative was to get married and have children. There was no concern with, or even conception of, homosexuality as an innate sexual orientation. People only cared that you did what was expected of you as an adult member of society. If you wanted to live a secret double life and continue a same-sex love affair from your teenagehood after you got married, no one cared much as long you didn’t get caught. Interestingly, the penalty for adult homosexual relations in most tribal law codes was SMALLER than the penalty for heterosexual adultery. They understood that proportionally speaking, it was relatively harmless – there was certainly no risk of illegitimate children being borne out of a gay affair!

Warwick, tell your friend to count herself lucky. In the bad old days, she’d have been at higher risk of falling in love with and marrying some closeted queen who would never be physically or sexually attracted to her and be more likely to be thinking about her brother than her whenever they had sex. There’ve always been promiscous men and gay men; at least these days it’s almost as easy to identify the second group as the first so that women don’t waste their time barking up the wrong tree.