The Bottom Road Sanctuary

Photographs from Mea Lashbrooke

Issued by Mea Lashbrooke of Bergvliet in the Western Cape, as spokesperson for Princess Vlei Forum.

Correcting the imbalances of the past is the core message arising from the Princess Vlei Controversy. “I tell you I will lie down in front of any bulldozer!” said a resident who has lived within the environs of Princess Vlei for more than 60 years.
This desperation was one of many equally urgent responses made at a meeting of the Princess Vlei Forum early in May in response to the threat of what is seen as inappropriate commercial development near the shores of Princess Vlei, a stretch of water set mid-way along the Cape Peninsula with an unobstructed line to the Table Mountain range. The view of the sunset from here is one of the best on the Cape Peninsula. It is little wonder that the Vlei is known as the jewel of the Peninsula by the locals.
People in the vicinity feel betrayed and angry. For long enough their needs have not been met and at no time have they been surveyed to establish what
form of development is needed.
But meanwhile, as authorities make high-handed decisions behind closed doors and resistance grows there is an alternative plan. “Dressing the Princess”, a public-private partnership, involving community, SANbi, City and Adopt a School programme has been rehabilitating the Plain Sand Fynbos near the shores of the Vlei for the past three years. The project is spearheaded by Mr Kelvin Cochrane who has lived on the Vlei for more than 35 years.
“A double volume mall, a car park for close on 600 cars, plus a taxi rank, all of which will cover 9000 sq metres close to the Vlei is unacceptable to a people who have been marginalised historically. It is time to restore dignity to the Princess and to the people who enjoy what she offers,” says Cochrane. “Adjacent to the car park and recently upgraded toilet facilities we have planned a braai area and to the east close to the M5 there will be a craft market. The children’s playground will extend to accommodate a concert area for the under 18s. From the overnight Khoisan Village a path leads to a bridge across the outlet canal of the Vlei and on to a grassed and treed amphitheatre.”
Many years ago the M5 made access to the Vlei difficult and dangerous to pedestrians but Cochrane’s eyes light up when he speaks of two pedestrian ecoducts that will span the highway from Grassy Park across to the Vlei.
“These are bridges lined with indigenous vegetation,” he explains. A cycling, jogging and walking path of eight kilometres will encircle the Vlei. On the western shore, picnic sites will be sponsored by local business, and on the eastern shore there is an area designated for recreational fishing.
Cochrane has no doubt that these alternative plans will revitalise the entire area, in a way that would be impossible if a mall was built. “The inequalities of the past have prevailed for too long on the Cape Flats. I see Grassy Park becoming the wetlands capital of the City – a tourist destination to match the wine routes. Imagine all the vleis in this area linked by a walkway or easy road access,” Cochrane says excitedly. “Already we have an idea for a hiking trail from the Vlei to the Elephant’s Eye Cave on the Constantiaberg, which used to be known as Prinseskasteel, for it was there that the legendary Princess once lived, coming down to the Vlei to bathe.”
“Most importantly there will be a Memorial and Environmental Hall where the history of the Cape Flats will be recorded, in particular the legend of the Princess and the Khoisan occupancy of this area, and where information on the local flora and fauna will be accessible. As an educational facility the Vlei has huge potential,” says Cochrane.
Mr Philip Bam, prominent citizen of the area, civic leader, and Chair of Ottery, Lotus River and Grassy Park Rate Payers’ Association, adds to this.
“Princess Vlei has always been a place where families gather to relax, bond and enjoy the beauty and splendour of a water space where the bird life with its joyful sounds soothe the sometimes angry inner soul.
“With our city becoming more congested, the people of Grassy Park, Retreat, Parkwood Estate and Lavender Hill find solace in this green lung where we can escape the noise and air pollution and renew our energy. This open space, where we can braai, practice our golf putting and enjoy recreational fishing will be denied to us if an inappropriate development is allowed.
“This is the place where we recall the injustice to a Khoisan princess, reminding us of our ancestry which is being obliterated by what is called “development”. A shopping mall on the vlei will be an insult to that memory. A shopping mall at our vlei will mean the alienation of the land of our forefathers and will be nothing more than a gross insult to the cultural and environmental heritage of the first nation people. It will be a perpetuation of deculturalisation which distorts who we are; and that loss of identity leads to an environment of conflict which we cannot afford as a nation.”
This is not just a matter of concern for the immediate community. “People from across the Flats are saying in a clear voice that we do not want this shopping mall. Our existing business nodes are already suffering and the proposed mall will add to job losses and economic disempowerment of local business people. We urge communities to stand side by side in rejecting this development because it is the right thing to do,” says Bam.
Listening to Cochrane and Bam it feels that if handled wisely the neglect of the Vlei and its surrounds by Local and Provincial governments during both the Apartheid and post- Apartheid eras could now act in favour of this area that grew out of the Group Areas Act. Ironically, it is this very neglect that has resulted in a healthy freedom from late twentieth century development – much of which is unsustainable, such as malls, high rise buildings and chain stores. A number of commercial corridors serve the communities with people-sized shops. It would be in the best interest of everyone if these shops were to be rehabilitated not disempowered. As Dr EF Schumacher the great twentieth century economist once said “Small is Beautiful”. The Vlei and its banks is still an open space and, like the shops, it is well-used but all would agree a face-lift is required. This is the way to empower a people, not by surrounding them with alien structures.
However, myopic politicians see this lack of development as a place ripe for crass commercial opportunities. They seem unaware of studies indicating that community is best served by open space, clean air and local shops and meeting places. Instead they are considering rezoning the area around the vlei from Public Open Space to Commercial, knowing the next step will be a shopping mall. (There are already four malls within easy driving/taxi
distance.) Not only would a double volume mall be an eyesore, but the ecosystem services of the vlei and its streams would be compromised. This is serious as the Vlei is the gateway to the chain of wetlands lying to the East.
The Princess Vlei Forum, which comprises citizens in their private capacity as well as representation from many organisations supports Cochrane’s plans and is currently raising awareness about the proposed mall, which will affect not only locals, and the whole community of the Peninsula, but also tourism in general. A guiding hand within the Forum is the Greater Cape Town Civic Alliance which has been collating material and facts around this issue for more than a decade.
Dr Graham Noble, Executive Member of the Alliance explains: “In 1998 Insight Developers applied to the South Peninsula Municipality to buy part of the Public Open Space between the Vlei and Prince George Drive. In 2006 Environmental Authorisation was given and in 2008, rezoning and subdivision.
In 2010 the environmental authority and rezoning expired and the public, who were now allowed to comment, were overwhelmingly against a shopping centre.
In response to an application to extend the environmental authorisation, the W Cape Government ruled that environmental authorisation could not be extended,, but in terms of the new NEMA (National Environmental Management
Act) EIA regulations would now not be required. Opponents of the shopping centre strongly disagree with the latter conclusion.”
Noble went on to explain developments since 2011, when the developer appealed against the delay in the City considering his application to extend the validity of the rezoning. “To our great relief, in September last year the City recommended against permission for a shopping centre. But early in
2012 MEC (W Cape Provincial Govt) Anton Bredell reversed the recommendation and approved extension of the planning permissions. He refused to meet stakeholders and said if they did not like his ruling they would have to take the matter to the High Court.”

The Princess Vlei Forum hopes this matter does not proceed that way; however they are receiving legal advice and drawing up all necessary documentation.
Mr Patrick Dowling, Western Cape Regional Head of Education at WESSA (Wildlife and Environmental Society of South Africa) who has supported community efforts to rehabilitate the area around the Vlei, said in a 2003 response to the scoping report that the development proposal flew in the face of the City’s own planning, open space and environment policies. He added that it would amount to the privatising of a public asset. What was needed he said was exemplary action by the City to rehabilitate areas like this; not using degradation as an excuse for more unsustainable development.
“This kind of growth costs more than it is worth,” he said, “and does not meet needs and desirability criteria in WESSA’s view.”
Because of the Khoisan legend, Dowling says “The National Heritage Resources Act should be invoked to help assure the position of Princess Vlei in the cultural landscape.”
It is felt that Bredell confused community with commerce when he wrote in a letter to The Greater Cape Town Civic Alliance “the proposed shopping centre is clearly in the interests of the local community.”
David Hockney RA, contemporary British artist well-known for his Nature paintings said, “When there is any threat to our landscape, we should all stop being so polite; stand up and speak out more.”

Mea Lashbrooke 16 May 2012

Ps Up to the minute news at www.bottomroadsanctuary.co.za On Twitter ‘Princess Vlei For’ and on Facebook ‘Save Princess Vlei’

Photographs- Mea Lashbrooke

The controversial proposed development at Princess Vlei in the Southern
Peninsula has turned into a public debate, with interest from the Cape Flats
to Camps Bay.
But stakeholders can rest assured that there are plans for the Vlei that
will benefit and dignify the community in question, unlike the double volume
mall currently proposed by Insight Developers and Western Cape MEC Anton
Bredell, which, with its car park for close on 600 cars and a taxi rank,
will cover 9000 sq metres and cut the community off from their Vlei, a
traditional venue for relaxation and family activity.
Standing on the shore of his beloved Vlei , the Constantiaberg background
soft in the autumn air, Mr Kelvin Cochrane explained how a public-private
partnership that has involved community, City, Sanbi and Adopt a schools
project for the past three years, and has largely been driven by him, will
ultimately provide a carefully considered and sustainable development for
locals and visitors.
The ‘Dressing of the Princess’ project began after the community of Sassmeer
Estate, adjacent to the Vlei, had noted the success of Cochrane’s
restoration work at neighbouring Bottom Road Sanctuary. Since then Plain
Sand Fynbos rehabilitation has taken place at what he terms the ‘Heart of
the Princess’. In addition, during the three years of the project, about six
months of heavy loader work by the City has sculpted the area, redefining it
in preparation for the community plans.
When asked to explain the plans Cochrane’s eyes lit up. “Firstly, let me say
our intention is to dignify the Princess and in so doing restore dignity to
the people of this area who have historically been marginalised.”
Adjacent to the car park and already upgraded toilet facilities, there will
be a braai area. To the east of this, close to the M5, a Craft Market will
be easily accessible to visitors. The children’s playground will extend to
accommodate a concert area for the Under 18s – this in compliance with local
byelaws around the consumption of alcohol. From an overnight Khoisan Village
a path leads to a bridge across the outlet canal of the vlei and on to a
grassed and treed outdoor amphitheatre.
Access to Princess Vlei from Grassy Park will be by bridge. “Two pedestrian
ecoducts, bridges which are lined on either side by indigenous vegetation,
will convey cyclists, joggers and walkers across the M5 which separated us
from the Vlei many years ago. The path encircling the Vlei will be
approximately eight kilometres. On the western shore, picnic areas will be
sponsored by local business and on the eastern shore there will be an area
designated for recreational fishing.”
Cochrane has no doubt that this will revitalise the area. “It is about
correcting the imbalances that have prevailed for too long on the Cape
Flats. I see a tourist destination to match the wine routes. Imagine all the vleis in this
area linked by a walk way or easy road access,” Cochrane says excitedly.
“Already we have an idea for a hiking trail from the Vlei to the Elephants
Eye Cave on the Constantiaberg, which used to be known as Prinseskasteel for
it is there that the legendary Princess once lived.”
“Most importantly there will be a Memorial and Environmental Hall where the
history of the Cape Flats will be recorded, in particular the legend of the
Princess and the Khoisan occupancy of this area, and where information on
the local flora and fauna will be accessible. As an educational facility the
Vlei has huge potential.
A fisherman approached us as we spoke. He wanted a light. The place felt
safe and at the same time the wide vista was exhilarating. There was an
extraordinary sense of freedom at the Vlei. A sense of untapped potential.
How different this would be if a mall were to be erected.

Kelvin Cochrane’s comments re Princess Vlei. Copy and Photographs by Mea Lashbrooke, Spokesperson in her private capacity for Princess Vlei Forum

Princess Vlei Event

The Princess Vlei forum and the community of Grassy Park and surrounds will be launching the alternative Development Plan for Princess Vlei on the morning of the 3rd June 2012. Exact time to be confirmed. This will also coincide with annual peninsula paddle event where under priviliged children from local schools come to Princess Vlei for a whole lot of fun and education.

We encourage everyone to be there. More details soon.

PRINCESS Vlei has always been a place where families gather to relax, bond and enjoy the beauty and splendour of a water space where the bird life with its joyful sounds soothe the sometimes angry inner soul. With our city becoming more congested, the people of Grassy Park, Retreat, Parkwood Estate and Lavender Hill find solace in this green lung where we can escape the noise and air pollution and renew our energy.

This open space, where we can braai, practise our golf putting, enjoy recreational fishing, will be denied to us if an inappropriate development is allowed. This is the place where the memory of the injustice to a Khoisan princess is remembered, reminding us of our ancestry which is being obliterated by what is called “development”.

A shopping mall on the vlei will be an insult to that memory. A shopping mall at our vlei will mean the alienation of land of our forefathers and will be nothing more than a gross insult to the cultural and environmental heritage of the first nation people.

It will be a perpetuation of deculturalisation which distorts who we are; and that loss of identity leads to an environment of conflict which we cannot afford as a nation.

The people of the Cape Flats are saying in a clear voice that we do not want this shopping mall. Our existing business nodes are already suffering and the proposed mall will add to job losses and economic disempowerment of local business people. We urge communities to stand side by side in rejecting this development.

PHILIP BAM CHAIRPERSON: LOTUS RIVER OTTERY GRASSY PARK RATEPAYERS RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION GRASSY PARK

Cape Times

ITH deep pain and disgust, I write this plea to avoid the building of a mall on the banks of our beloved Princess Vlei.

As a kid, I ran skelmpies (secretly) to the vlei with my brasse (friends) to catch fish. I say skelmpies because we all knew the legend of the Khoisan princess who was raped and lost her love there, and how her spirit would take a boy’s or a man’s life in the vlei every year.

When I was a kid, apartheid taught me to fear anything African, but today I am who I am because of these magnificent first people’s blood running through my veins. I encourage our communities to stand up and make sure

Wthat this memory is not cemented away in the name of greed and ‘‘progress’’. This heritage is what will stop gangsterism, crime, drug abuse and violence. This knowledge will bring a sense of belonging to the so-called coloured people who are made to feel like immigrants in their own country. This knowledge will give back our connection to the first people of the land and we will reclaim our self-worth.

That princess I feared as a kid, I now love as an adult. It is said that they took her to “Elephants Eye” as a hostage and when she cried, her tears ran into the Princess Vlei, Zeekoe Vlei, Rondevlei and Zandvlei. These are stories I wish to tell my children while sitting on the vlei banks, so that they can feel at home. I will tell them that we come from a long lineage going back to the beginning of mankind, and like those tears, our people’s blood flows through all people.

My children will finally feel equal and part of the human race and not some bastard tribe that apartheid created. I will tell them that we belong to the land and have to protect it because it is our only home. I will tell them how we were taught to forget and write-off the Khoisan as uncivilised and childlike by our oppressors because they knew it would destroy our humanity. I will tell them how the Khoisan live on when we say “er” and “he er” as they mean “yes” and “no” in Nama language.
I will show them Nama words like gogga (insect), kriekie ( cricket), gwagga (kwagga), dagga, boechoe (a plant), abba (carrying a baby on your back), eina (ouch), aitsa (well done), that are still in the Afrikaans dictionary.

I will tell them about the natural fish traps at Kommetjie and the name Hoerikwaggo for Table Mountain, and they will be proud. I will tell them how the Khoisan named the Xhosa (which means angry looking man in Nama) and how they shared the three clicks out of four in Nama with them.

I will tell them how everyone in SA is living on the land of the Khoisan and how forgetting them, will be like forgetting our common humanity.

As we sit and watch the sun set, I will dig my fingers into the soil and know that I am blessed, for within them lie ancient dormant fynbos seeds that can be found nowhere else in the world. As I watch my children play on her banks, maybe she will not take our men any longer, for we have stood up and saved her from being raped this time.

Toa tama !kams ge (The struggle continues)

EMILE JANSEN
EMILE YX? GRASSY PARK
BLACK NOISE

As everyone is using the ‘paving of paradise’ metaphor for the proposed rape of Princess Vlei, perhaps Joni Mitchell’s song should become the anthem of the resistance and its title ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ become the symbol of the mass opposition.
But after ‘they paved paradise and put up a parking lot’, the song continues, ‘you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone’! To the provincial government I say, give us a chance to show you what we’ve got in Princess Vlei before it’s too late. Just consider our alternative development plan which both honours the integrity of creation and provides for the real needs of our people. The integrated plan provides educational, recreational and commercial opportunities and allows resources to be directed where they are desperately needed – in upgrading the infrastructure of Retreat Main Road and Victoria Road, Grassy Park.
Yes Princess Vlei is a sacred space – not simply because the Khoisan feel a cultural connection to the soil and evangelical Christians have a baptismal bond with the water, but because here people of all faiths can revaluate their gross dependence on our consumer culture and experience a new way of relating to Nature. An enhanced Princess Vlei has the power to dislodge one of the cornerstones of the modern disenchanted worldview – that there is no such thing as Spirit.
‘You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.’ The people have spoken! Our children have a right to this natural and divine legacy. You cannot steal it from them!

Fr. John Oliver
Princess Vlei Forum
Grassy Park

Vleiletter_CapeTimes150520120001

Don’t bury Princess Vlei with concrete, Bredell

NEITHER MEC for Environmental Affairs Anton Bredell nor the city wants to meet us on the Princess Vlei issue. Doesn’t this smack of double standards? In a press release last week, the DA stated that “real public participation is essential before…JAMES GEORGE

You can’t steal our kids’ legacy!

…MARIAM OSMAN FR JOHN OLIVER

Please keep the pressure on!

On Wednesday last week a press release from the DA stating that ‘real public participation is essential before contentious decisions are taken unilaterally.’ Or on Monday the Mayor of Cape Town uttering in a radio interview that ‘we always listen to the people.’
If you truly listen to the people then there is no way in hell that this mall development at Princess Vlei is even still being contemplated.
And then no-one in government is willing to meet with the people on the issue. The mayor says that the decision to grant permission for the development was taken by MEC Bredell, Minister of Environmental Affairs. The City cannot interfere in a provisional government decision. It would be best for you to contact his office directly. Which we have done Ms De Lille.
(A reminder too that the city vehemently opposed the big mall being built on the banks of the Vlei- let’s hope you keep being opposed to it for the good of the people of the Cape Flats – its decision was overturned unilaterally by the so-called competent or appeal authority, Mr Anton Bredell)
Bredell’s response in a letter dated 12 April 2012: “I have discharged my decision-making powers. I am functus officio in this regard. Under the circumstances I cannot reconsider the decision taken in this matter and neither myself, nor my department, can entertain any further meetings regarding the application. Your only recourse is to apply to the High Court to review my decision.” This smacks of total arrogance.
Mr Bredell comments, “…the objectors’ concerns largely amount to the repetition of the previous round of objections.” The goalposts of the objectors never change. All of the objections remain totally viable and he has ignored them. It appears the following has not been taken into any consideration- the cultural heritage and historical importance of Princess Vlei, the vital ecosystems and fynbos which should not be destroyed- a critical biodiversity area etc. anyone that says this land cannot be rehabilitated I urge them to come and see for themselves what the Cape Flats Wetland Forum and other organisations have done.
Frankly it is questionable now whether Bredell can be objective at all in this matter. He forwards us a letter effectively giving an official nod to the mall being built, then subsequently turns around on the radio a few days later and says he has to remain objective- he has not decided yet on the mall’s fate- he can’t do that-he has to be objective- Come on!
The building the mall will be putting concrete where the endangered cape flats sand grass should be nurtured. The issue is bigger than the size of the Mall. The people did not ask for a mall. We just want the space to be preserved and rehabilitated to its full potential. We shouldn’t have to travel to Green Point Park. We want to travel to Grassy Park, our neighborhood, where we can have a public space that all the people can be immensely proud of.
You are treating the people of Grassy Park and surrounds like mugs. It is time for common sense to prevail.

James George
Zeekoevlei