DAY 8 - 14Oct : Visit to Siyakana Food Garden,

DAY 8 - 14Oct

In the moring we went to meet Mandla at Bez Valley Park.He organised two ladies(Nomatemba Ncusana & Sarah Mashala) to show us how herbal salts were made.He also showed us how he prepared herbal lotions and creams.We watched a shot video clip called “The Corporation” which is about the importance and benefits of an eco-friendly industry. We also viewed a slideshow about the importance and health benfits of the Moringa leaf.

They packaged vegetables,lettuce and many other herbs and salts,ready to be delivered to childrens homes in the Yeoville and Hillbrow areas.We were given some herbal tea, made of sage, violet and lemon balm made by Mandla.

In the afternoon, we went to Sjewetla,to meet the principal of the crèche.There were about 30 children in a class.We wanted to speak to them to get to know what they have learnt about the river or even about water in general.

As we left Sjewetla, we passed by another community living almost separately from Sjewetla called Silvertown. The leader in the Settlement (Elin Chauke) told us that they were moved from proper houses in Alex CBD to these 95 shacks.They were promised RDP houses within a year but its almost been three years and nothing is happening.They have taken the matter to court.







Regarding the sanitation there are 94 shacks for 84 families.Each family consists of about 4-5 people.There are 11 portable loos for all of them with six taps (three on each side of the settlement - only three work at a time).They would like proper flushing type toilets but prefer not to have them because it might delay them further in getting RDP houses.

There toilets were cleaned twice a week,however in Sjwetla,there were more problems like not being able to use them at night for safety reasons from intruders and large rats.Also they were almost never kept clean.An appointment with Malatjie( a committee member) has been set up for next week to address the sanitation problems.

Elin said Miriam Makhubela was the Ward Councillor for this region (Ward 32) ie Alex, Westbank(Sjewetla) and that most often people were referred to Councillor Ngalonkulu (Ward 109),which includes Marlboro,Sandton and parts of Alex(Eastbank)-almost as if Silvertown does not exist and so no media will be able to address the issues,because in the first place, the wrong councillor will be interviewed.Elin said Makhubela has not visited Silvertown in a while and is not readily accessible to them for help.