'We demand our houses'

The minister of Human Settlements, Tokyo Sexwale, was greeted by an angry mob yesterday as he arrived at the launch of the Lufhereng housing development near Protea Glen in Soweto.

He was met by more than 1,000 Soweto Bureau for Sustainable Settlement (Sobuse) members who were protesting on the road demanding that they too be allocated houses.

Some Sobuse members said they had been on the waiting list for houses since 1996, but were overlooked when houses were allocated.

When the crowd saw Sexwale they all ran to him singing:

Awulethe isikhiya sam (bring me my key).

Others shouted: "We are staying in shacks; we demand our houses."

Sexwale calmed the angry Soweto residents and told them he only found out about them yesterday in the media.

"You did not call me here; I came on my own," he said.

"I don't know about your issues - no one told me about them."

Sexwale urged the leadership of the group to give him a report of their grievances.

"I want the full story of why you are demonstrating," he said.

While Sexwale was addressing the crowd, Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane joined him on the side of the road.

Some people in the crowd shouted that they wanted their houses from Mokonyane.

"We need to sit down and discuss our own issues. We are not enemies," Mokonyane said.

"Our common enemy is poverty, hunger, unemployment and homelessness."

She told the crowd that the issue of houses in Soweto was not going to be resolved in one day, but asked them to work together with the government to fight corruption.

"If you have evidence of corruption, bring it forward and we will deal with it," she said to loud cheers.

She told the people that the issue of waiting lists was a problem in the whole country, but said there were plans in place to address this.

Six first-time home owners were handed their houses. Three of the beneficiaries first applied for their houses in 1996.

Elizabeth Mpeqeka, 75, who had been staying at the Protea South informal settlement for 16 years, was the first recipient of the four-roomed houses.

The elderly woman who had been staying with her two grandchildren at the shack was overwhelmed with emotion and said she was "extremely happy" that she had finally received her house.

MMC for Housing Ruby Mathang told those who had not received their houses that if they were on the waiting list of 1996 and 1997 their turn was going to come.

"We are keeping our promise of allocating houses to the beneficiaries who are first priority," he said.

The beneficiaries are Protea South residents who are living in a dolomite area, the Soweto 1996/1997 waiting list and the Doornkop farming community who now occupy the development land.

Lufhereng, which is the first mixed housing development in Soweto, is expected to provide 24,000 housing opportunities for residents of the greater Soweto area.

Housing products planned for Lufhereng include RDP housing, affordable housing for low-income households and fully bonded products for middle-to-high income groups.

Provision will be made for 15 primary and three secondary schools and about 60 community facilities.

There will also be an agricultural component of the project which will focus on small-scale intensive field farming and other agricultural activities.

It is expected to create approximately 10,000 job opportunities. The project will incorporate the existing Doornkop farmers as well as new aspiring farmers.

Meanwhile, 19 Sobuse residents arrested during a protest at Lufhereng on Sunday were released on their own recognisances at the Roodepoort Magistrate's Court yesterday.

- The Star

A third of RDP houses are 'sub-standard'

A THIRD of all the people who were allocated RDP houses are unhappy with their quality

This is according to Statistics South Africa's General Household Survey conducted between 2002 and and last year.

The survey revealed that 31 percent of 1,8 million people who received the houses regarded them "as very weak".

The most complaints were in the Western Cape at 66,7 percent, Eastern Cape at 62,5 percent and Northern Cape at 35 percent.

MAKING MONEY OFF THE HOUSES

The study also showed that 71,6 percent owned their RDP houses while 7,8 percent were renting.

RDP house rentals were more common in Western Cape at 20,4 percent, Eastern Cape at 10,4 percent, and KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo at 7,9 percent.

ON THE WAITING LIST

More than 1,8 million people nationally were still on the waiting list for RDP houses last year, with Gauteng leading the pack at 661,000 followed by (the Western Cape with around 550,000) then KwaZulu-Natal at 301,000.With 29,000 people on the list, the Northern Cape has the least number in need of houses.

MORE ARE LIVING IN BETTER HOMES

The number of households living in formal dwellings increased from 8,1 million in 2002 to 10,4 million in last year.

Despite these advances, 1,9 million households were still living in shacks and another 1,4 million were still living in traditional dwellings such as rondavels and huts by last year.

The most significant strides in housing were made for black people as the proportion of households living in formal dwellings increased from 65,8 percent in 2002 to 69,5 percent last year.

MUNICIPAL SERVICES DECLINE

A survey recorded a steep decline in the provision of regular refuse removal for informal dwellings and for the population in general.

Statistics SA head of social analysis Isabelle Schmidt, said access to regular refuse removal increased significantly for residents of informal settlement between 2002 and 2006. "However, this was followed by a significant decline to the extent that 2009 levels were below the figures reported in 2002," she said.

- Sowetan

Child dies in shack fire while mother goes drinking

A little boy who was left alone while his mother went to a shebeen burnt to death when the kerosene lamp his mother left on burnt their shack down on Friday night.

The four-year-old boy Viwe Mrwetyana’s mother Bulelwa Mrwetyana, 31, narrowly escaped being beaten by her neighbouring residents in Du Noon’s Doornbach squatter camp after they discovered what happened.

A neighbour and close friend of Mrwetyana’s, Thenjiwe Wellem, 23, said she woke up at about midnight when she started coughing due to the smoke billowing into her shack.

Peering through the window, she saw Mrwetyana’s shack engulfed in flames.

Wellem said she jumped out of bed and woke her boyfriend and the pair of them started yelling and waking up the neighbours.

She said she heard Viwe crying in a faint voice, calling for his mother to help him, and then suddenly the crying stopped.

She said the flames were so fierce that none of the over 300 residents who rushed to try put out the fire dared try rescue the little boy.

“The entire shack was consumed in flames. No one could jump in the fire to rescue Viwe,” she said.

Men and women frantically demolished the shack to stop the fire from spreading, said community leader Zoliswa Gila.

Mrwetyana said she was still at the shebeen when she heard some one say a shack in the squatter camp was burning.

She said she raced home, only to discover it was her shack that was engulfed in flames and started frantically asking neighbours about her son.

She admitted that she left a kerosene lamp on before leaving her shack, and had locked her son inside.

“My shack was burning when I arrived. People were extinguishing the fire,” she said.

Ntombothando Piyosi said angry residents surrounded Mrwetyana and wanted to beat her. Some women took her away and hid her while police were called to the scene.

City Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson Theo Layne confirmed the fire and Viwe’s death.

Layne said the fire-fighting crew was dispatched to the scene at about 1am but when they arrived the fire was under control.

Table View Police station commissioner Colonel Dirk Vosloo said the fire started shortly after midnight.

Vosloo said it appeared Mrwetyana was out drinking when the fire started in her shack, killing her son.

“An inquest docket has been opened and investigators are busy on the case. If there is foul play involved the docket will be changed to murder,” said Vosloo.

In a separate related incident, Layne said apart from the Doornbach fire, one wooden structure was burnt to the ground in Khayelitsha town two, resulting in the deaths of two adults and four children.

The cause of both fires has yet to established, he said.

- West Cape News

Municipal officials receive housing training

Some municipal officials who attended a housing development training session at the University of Cape Town on Monday said finding suitable land often hinders delivery.

Seventy employees from more than twenty municipalities across the Western Cape have been receiving a skills refresher.

Provincial authorities said they cannot afford to spend billions on sub-standard housing.

The Prince Albert municipality’s Ashley America said officials in their area face specific challenges.

“The nature of the Karoo region – it’s very difficult and expensive to install services when doing a housing project because normally those costs are tremendously high and it cuts your budget down which means at the end of the day you are only allowed to build less houses.”

The Human Settlements department’s Rika van Rensburg said, “The whole idea of this programme is to build capacity and enhance our skills."

She said from identifying a site there are questions that need to be asked like, "is this site well-located (and) what are all the planning procedures that we need to follow?”

- Eyewitness News

Zille 'broke her promise

The allocation of subsidised housing to only 20 Zille-Raine Heights families in a Pelican Park housing project is "unfair", say some members of the community "living in fear" of eviction.

A city housing report on the allocation of houses to Zille-Raine Heights says during a public meeting in 2006, former mayor Helen Zille undertook to accommodate residents from the informal settlement who were registered on the city's database in the Pelican Park development.

And the city is also planning on evicting the 39 families and sending them to Happy Valley after the city was granted an eviction order by the high court.

"There are 20 such persons. At this stage, approximately 4,000 applicants have responded expressing interest. This list of 4,000, including the 20 from Zille-Raine Heights, currently constitutes the list of potential beneficiaries," the report said.

However, Yushra Adams, a community leader, said she was not aware that 20 of her neighbours would benefit.

"This is very unfair because some had houses before coming here and they didn't qualify. I've been on the waiting list for 17 years and I don't know if I'm part of the project," Adams said.

She said the whole community should be considered and not just 20, and blamed Zille for "breaking her promise" by saying the city would not relocate them.

In July, Happy Valley backyard dwellers invaded nearby land after hearing that about 50 Zille-Raine Heights families would be moved there. Zille-Rain Heights families had lost a court appeal against relocation.

"We all want to go to Pelican Park because our families are all here. It's nice because it's still in the southern suburbs. And what will happen to the 19 people who won't get housing. We want to know who the 20 people are and who is on that list. We should be together. We are also very upset (about the eviction). Zille said we won't be relocated and made a promise to the people of Zille-Raine Heights, but now they are going to evict us. The DA is evicting people at the moment," Adams said.

She said their pending eviction was political as the city had already provided the site with services like toilets.

"The ANC is pressing the city, so it's very political. People are living in fear and don't know when the eviction will take place," Adams said.

Christina Green, who lives with her daughter, said she was told that she was on the waiting list, but she wasn't sure if she would benefit|from the Pelican Park project.

Another resident, Gwendolene Botha, said she was "flagged" by the city and was later told that she did not qualify for a Pelican Park home.

"There are a lot of people who lost their slips (that show they are on the list)," Botha said.

On the pending eviction, she said they would rather be moved to the nearby informal settlements than be moved to Happy Valley.

Peter Oscroft, the project co-ordinator, said all Zille-Raine Heights residents were asked to register and some did not.

"Three years ago, they were told when I was at a public meeting with Zille. They were told exactly what to do. At the moment we can't do anything," Oscroft said.

On the pending eviction, Oscroft said he was not sure of when this would carried out.

- Cape Times

Boost for Muslim women's property rights

The Women's Legal Centre has welcomed a high court ruling which it says enforces equal rights for Muslim women under the City of Cape Town's housing policy.

The centre said on Tuesday that the policy had historically not recognised Muslim marriages, which meant Muslim wives could not get joint ownership with their husbands of properties bought from the city.

While the policy on paper no longer excluded Muslim women, in practice the discrimination had continued to be implemented, the centre said.

It said Cape High Court Judge Chantal Fortuin had recently ruled this was unconstitutional.

The ruling followed an application brought by the centre on behalf of a Muslim divorcee asking for an order giving her half ownership of a property allocated solely to her ex-husband.

Fortuin ruled the policy was inconsistent with the Constitution as it unfairly discriminated against women. She had said Muslim women should be entitled to joint ownership of properties, even though these had been awarded by the city solely to their husbands or partners.

She had ordered that the property at the heart of the application be transferred to the applicant and her ex-husband in equal shares.

The centre said on Tuesday that the ruling set an important precedent for other women in the same position. It said the policy had impacted adversely on many Muslim women.

When a Muslim husband obtained a divorce, the woman did not have any right to share in ownership of the property. They often left the marriage with no assets because these were owned by their ex-spouse or partner. - Sapa

Residents block development

Some Khayelitsha residents on Monday said there would be no housing development in their community if they were not properly consulted.

Community members in Mandela Park have blocked the construction of houses in the area for nearly two weeks.

They are demanding that 50 percent of all homes built in the area should be allocated to people .

They have called on Human Settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela to launch an independent probe into the allocation of some government houses in the area.

Community leader Luyolo Mfuku said the MEC has been ignoring them.

“They are building 100 units for people coming from outside of Mandela Park. This is after several complaints or protests that we have been doing in Mandela Park trying to get the Minister’s attention to actually hear our cries as well,” he said.

Madikizela has dismissed the claims and said he has other priorities too.

“People from Mandela Park must understand that I’m not the MEC of Mandela Park only. I have a number of other areas that I am dealing with that are facing similar challenges, even more. And I must say that we have been engaging with the people of Mandela Park regularly,” he added.

- Eyewitness News

The Vienna Declaration

THE VIENNA DECLARATION

The criminalisation of illicit drug users is fuelling the HIV epidemic and has resulted in overwhelmingly negative health and social consequences.
A full policy reorientation is needed.

Toronto City Council today voted to endorse the Vienna Declaration, a recently released document that highlights the failure of the global War on Drugs and calls for a transparent review of the effectiveness of current drug policies.

The City of Toronto is the first municipality to join a long list of Nobel Laureates and academic, political, law enforcement and health leaders to endorse and sign the Vienna Declaration, the official declaration of the XVIII International AIDS conference (AIDS 2010) held in Vienna, Austria from July 18-23, 2010.

“We welcome the City of Toronto’s leadership in signing the Vienna Declaration and publicly recognizing the severe health, social and criminal justice issues caused by the global War on Drugs,” said Dr. Evan Wood, a Canadian physician and Chair of the Vienna Declaration writing committee. “Toronto City Council’s support for a full policy reorientation for illicit drugs marks a sea change for drug policy in Canada. We hope that other cities across the country and around the world follow the city’s lead.”

The Vienna Declaration (www.viennadeclaration.com) is a scientific statement seeking to improve community health and safety by calling for the incorporation of scientific evidence into illicit drug policies. More than 16,500 people have signed the declaration since its launch on June 27, 2010, including six Nobel Laureates, thousands of scientific experts, law enforcement leaders, members of the judiciary and a diversity of academic, faith-based, and civil society organizations around the world.

The declaration has also been endorsed by former heads of state including Fernando Henrique Cardoso (former President of Brazil), Ernesto Zedillo (former President of México) and César Gaviria (former President of Colombia). In Canada, the declaration has been signed by five chief provincial medical health officers and the Canadian Public Health Association.

“Toronto City Council’s endorsement of the Vienna Declaration underscores our city’s commitment to evidence-based policy making and our support for improving community health and safety by advocating for drug policies that can meaningfully reduce harm,” said Councillor Kyle Rae, Chair of the City of Toronto’s Board of Health subcommittee on HIV/AIDS and the councillor responsible for bringing the Vienna Declaration forward to council.

In response to the complexity of the drug problem, the City of Toronto’s Drug Strategy follows the four pillars approach, which includes prevention, treatment, harm reduction and enforcement. Support for initiatives such as the Toronto Harm Reduction Task Force, a community-driven city initiative that provides education and services to individuals and communities, demonstrates that Toronto is committed to health and evidence-based approaches to drug use.

The Vienna Declaration highlights how over reliance on drug law enforcement results in a range of health and social harms including growing HIV rates among people who use drugs.

“The number of HIV infections attributable to injection drug use in Toronto, as well as in the rest of the country, is unacceptably high,” said David Miller, Mayor of Toronto. “In Toronto, we are committed to a balanced response to drug use that focuses tax resources on measures that can meaningfully improve community health and safety.”

“The War on Drugs approach fuels the AIDS epidemic in Canadian cities and results in violence and increased crime rates, yet there is no evidence that drug prohibition has reduced rates of drug use or drug supply,” added Dr. Julio Montaner, the Director of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Chair of the AIDS 2010 conference and past President of International AIDS Society (IAS). “Toronto’s endorsement of the Vienna Declaration reflects innovative leadership and the fact that more Canadians recognize the futility and expense of the War on Drugs, and are demanding that their elected officials enact effective policies.”

Toronto’s call for drug policy review and reform builds on a progressive resolution approved by the United States Conference of Mayors in 2007. The resolution states that: "the United States Conference of Mayors believes the War on Drugs has failed and calls for a New Bottom Line in US drug policy, a public health approach that concentrates more fully on reducing the negative consequences associated with drug abuse, while ensuring that our policies do not exacerbate these problems or create new social problems of their own."

The impact of the Vienna Declaration will be measured over the coming years, and progress reports on the adoption of evidence-based policies will be presented at subsequent International AIDS Conferences. The adoption of the Vienna Declaration’s recommendations among high-level policymakers at the local, national, and international levels will be tracked by the International Centre for Science in Drug Policy, founded by Dr. Wood. Should additional policy-makers or councils wish to endorse the Vienna Declaration they are encouraged to email declaration@icsdp.org.

The Vienna Declaration was drafted by an international team of scientists and other experts. It was initiated by the IAS, the International Centre for Science in Drug Policy (ICSDP), and the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Those wishing to sign on may visit http://www.viennadeclaration.com, where the full text of the declaration, along with a list of authors, is available. The two-page declaration references 28 reports, describing the scientific evidence documenting the effectiveness of public health approaches to drug policy and the negative consequences of approaches that criminalize drug users.

www.viennadeclaration.com

City evicts alleged drug dens from city rentals

Much to the anger of many community members, the City of Cape Town is taking action against all residents that are conducting illegal activity – mainly drug dealing - from their city-owned rental unit, by evicting the entire family. Manenberg residents were outraged, saying it was unconstitutional as every South African resident has the right to housing. They further claimed that the city was not investigating the alleged drug dens, but simply just evicting them for seeming suspicious.

“The council doesn’t investigate,” said Jasmin Cloete, resident of Manenberg. “They just say that they are going to evict the people - it’s not right. You cannot do that. There are a lot of minors in these houses. Minors must have roofs over their heads.”

Another resident of the area, Joyce Stollies said that innocent people were being classed as gangsters and drug dealers and subsequently being served eviction notices. “They stand outside and they are classed as gangsters,” said Stollies. “Many of them are not gangsters.”

The Proudly Manenberg Campaign (PMC), which aims to help those living in impoverished conditions in Manenberg, has also condemned the action by the city officials. Secretary of the organisation, Emily Fairbairn said that the evictions were going to contribute largely to the housing shortage in the Western Cape. “Nobody is saying that the problem with drugs is not way out of hand and that tik is not doing a lot of damage,” said Fairbairn. “But is removing housing a way of punishing people?”

“Manenberg was built in the 1960s for about 50,000 peope,” continued Fairbarin. “It’s now at 150,000 and the services aren’t sufficient. The overcrowding is really bad. Every court has got a backyard dweller. In South Africa with an acute housing shortage how can you be throwing people out of houses?”

Devan Petersen of Manenberg said that he’s brother was a drug dealer but has died four years ago. However, he said he has still received an eviction notice because of drug activity on the premises. “It began with my brother when he was smuggling drugs,” he explained. “When my mother found about this stuff she threw him out. He’s been dead almost four years now.” He further said that the notice said that he, along with his parents and wheel-chair bound brother, would have to remove all their belongings from the house they were renting from the city by the end of September.

“We have nowhere to go. My brother is in a wheelchair. Where must he go? Where must my parents go?” added Petersen.

Eviction

Mayoral committee member for housing, Councillor Shehaam Sims confirmed that the City of Cape Town was planning to evict residents in various areas living on council-owned property for drug dealing and other illegal activity. Sims explained that a case is lodged after complaints by neighbours about a particular house and the activity within. City officials would then interview the residents being accused of the wrong-doing and request that they put an immediate stop to their activities. The South African Police Service watches over the houses to monitor the activity. Once it is being established that residents are continuing with their illegal behavior, the case then goes to court and the judge decides whether the eviction should take place or not.

Sims said that currently 200 cases have been lodged of which 60 were being prepared to go to court. “We’ve dealt with the more serious cases,” she Sims. “And the seriousness is determined by how ofen we receive a complaint about a particular house.” Two household have so far received notices to leave by the end of September.

Sims further said that the residents have been warned years in advance. “It takes a number of years when we get to the point where evictions actually happen,” she added, saying that there were 43,000 units owned by the City of Cape Town in various areas. Upon signing the lease agreement, the tenant agrees to abide by all the rules and regulations stipulated by the city, one of which is to not partake in any illegal activity on the premises.

Sims said that if the person who has signed the lease agreement was the one involved in the drug dealing, the entire family would be evicted. However, if that person was guilty and has died, it was up to the rest of the family to change the name on the lease agreement to avoid being evicted. However, if tenant was in jail the entire family would still be evicted.

“The fact that the person is in jail is indicative of the fact that they actually took part in illegal activity,” explained Sims. “They have been given all this time to rectify behaviours and chose not to think about their own family and own children, [therefore] I don’t believe we should make that the problem of the City of Cape Town.”

Sims said that the city was not planning living arrangements for the minors. “I would hope that they would make their own plans. The evictions have not yet taken place. All that has happened is people have been served the necessary notification. And I’m hoping that the sheriff of the court will actually end up causing the evictions to take place … if people rectify their behavior before it ends up going to court then we can reconsider.”

“I believe that they must think about their behavior,” added Sims. “And I’m hoping these two potential evictions will cause people to sit up and think about the impact it will have on them.”

Sims further said that the vacant houses would be given to people who were next on the housing waiting list. “The next person on the waiting list will have to be considered first,” she said. When we take over the drug houses we are actually going to be setting up temporary law enforce offices until such a time things have cooled down and then we will give it to the next person on the waiting list.”

Sims added that the complaints about drugs houses was an old issue and something the City of Cape Town had not dealt with adequately enough. “Therefore I am proud that we are doing something about it and not ignoring the issues and it will continue until the behavior stops.”

- Voice of the Cape

Khayelitsha dwellers say they have proof of RDP house allocation fraud

Khayelitsha residents said on Sunday they want an independent investigation into the allocation of RDP houses in the township.

Community members in Mandela Park have said Human Settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela must ensure that the probe begins with immediate effect.

They insist corruption continues to plague the allocation of government homes.

Residents have warned if this is not addressed they will halt all new developments in their area.

Community leader Loyiso Mpuku said they have proof of corrupt activities.

“Houses have been identified that are being sold in Mandela Park. The people receiving attend our meetings. We have seen that the government is not willing to take this issue seriously,” he said

- Eyewitness News

This is not good business

Sunday Times Editorial: President Jacob Zuma is serious about rooting out corruption in government and state-owned institutions. Since he took over as president, South Africa has seen close to 2000 government officials being arrested for illegally benefiting from housing subsidies and, in the process, about R44-million of taxpayers' money being recovered.

Most recently, he appointed the Special Investigating Unit to probe allegations of graft in a number of government departments - including public works and the SA Police Service. The probe is already bearing fruit, with a number of politically connected business people being arrested and their assets being seized over the last two weeks in a crackdown on a R200-million tender fraud in KwaZulu-Natal.

But the president's campaign against graft is severely undermined by the multibillion-rand deals that continue to be snapped up by members of his family and friends.

In an interview with this newspaper, Zuma says he sees nothing wrong with these business dealings as his relatives did not acquire the wealth through corruption or any other illegal means.

What the president fails to appreciate is that these deals, especially the highly questionable one between Arcelor-Mittal and a black empowerment company that has his son, Duduzane, and friend, Sandile Zungu, often require the involvement of government departments for them to become reality - hence raising suspicions that state institutions are being used to unfairly benefit a few well-connected individuals. These deals leave many wondering if the president's anti-corruption drive is not just aimed at soft targets while a blind eye is turned on elite families who manipulate state institutions in order to line their pockets.

Khayelitsha shack fire kills six

Six people including four children have been killed in a blaze in Khayelitsha in the Western Cape.

Officials are investigating the cause of the fire which broke out on Saturday night.

Seven other people have been left homeless after four separate infernos gutted down their homes at two other informal settlements.

Disaster Management’s Wilfred Solomons Johannes said, “In a devastating fire in Town Two Khayelitsha, six people were burnt beyond recognition. They comprised of a household of two adults and four minors. The cause of this fire is undetermined and the authorities will investigate.”

- Eyewitness News

Another presidential mansion

There may well be another Zuma baby on the way - bringing all the president's children to a tally of 22.

The Ilanga newspaper reported on Friday that President Jacob Zuma's fiancee, Bongiwe Gloria Ngema has been confirmed as pregnant by a close friend.

Ngema already has one child with the president and a wedding date has been set for December, with lobola arrangements currently under way.

Ngema accompanied the president on his recent visit to China and apparently he has bought her a mansion worth millions in the elite suburb of Waterkloof in Pretoria.

- Pretoria News

Ray of hope to end deadlock

ONE of the most militant unions in the public servants strike has raised hopes the impasse between workers and the government could be resolved after all.

The National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu), whose members were the first to reject the government's new wage offer on Wednesday, said yesterday its members might be reconsidering.

Spokesperson Sizwe Pamla said a change of heart might occur because of a new housing scheme for public servants that the government is busy working on. He said not all union members were yet informed of this new commitment by government, made this week in ongoing talks.

Public sector workers often complain they earn "too much" to qualify for RDP houses - but "too little" to get a decent bond from a bank.

"Government will recommend that the Government Employees Pension Fund, the Department of Human Settlements, and the Public Investment Corporation actually develop that idea (housing scheme). They will research it and put together a model before April 1 2011," Pamla told Sowetan.

He said many Nehawu members had not been informed about this when they rejected the offer.

"In terms of technical details, the plan is still vague but at least time frames have been set," he said.

The government's latest wage offer of a 7,5percent increase and an R800 a month housing allowance had been leaked to the media and this had caused problems, he said.

"Some stewards never took time out to actually read through the whole document. Some of them didn't explain it to the members. They just heard about the R800 and 7,5percent in the media and decided to reject it.

But Sowetan has also been told that Nehawu is divided over the housing scheme proposal. A Nehawu leader who spoke on condition of anonymity said the union could not tell members to go back to work because "there is something in the air".

"We heard that Tokyo Sexwale (human settlements minister) will introduce a programme and that this will be disclosed to us by April next year. But there are no details and we aren't going to rush to tell our members there is something in the air.

Public Service and Administration Minister Richard Baloyi's spokesperson Lebogang Mafokosi said she could not provide any details of the new housing scheme. She previously told Sowetan the housing scheme still needed to be developed and that discussions with the unions were to have started in October.

Cosatu declined to comment on the developments, saying a statement would be issued today. Spokesperson Patrick Craven said he did not want to affect the talks.

- Sowetan