Mosaic Artwork

ONE of the few pieces of public art in Observatory is almost hidden as a bus stop shelter outside the University of Cape Town’s medical library in Anzio Road, but once it catches your eye, it is as striking as the story behind it.
The mosaic mural called “Long Life” originated in 2002, when HIV positive women produced “body maps” on which they depicted their feelings and stories of living with HIV.
They were part of a support group called Bambanani (Xhosa for “hold” or “support each other”) in Khayelitsha. The members traced the outlines of their bodies on large pieces of paper.
On these figures, the women drew and wrote about aspects of their life with HIV.
The idea was to help them to come to terms with it, and to help free them from the stigma of the disease and feelings of guilt and shame that went with it.
It was at a time when HIV was highly politicised and was just emerging from its stigma as a death sentence to be seen increasingly as a treatable chronic disease.
The body maps produced in the workshops became quite well known and were exhibited as far away as New York.
In 2006, the University of Cape Town’s Works of Art Committee commissioned ceramicist and mosaic artist Lovell Friedman to turn it into a mural on the once-drab wall of the medical library.
The mural, consisting of three of the body maps, tells a remarkable story of healing and hope.

Seventeenth garden and counting

A DUSTY gravel patch under the Station Road Bridge along the railway fence in Oak Road has been beautified by an Observatory Improvement District (OBSID) public garden initiative.
The OBSID gardens, established with donations from residents and the hard work of OBSID gardener Ibrahim Chiwaya, now amount to seventeen.
The latest garden was initiated when Obs resident Anthony Wood, 69,  approached the OBSID about the gravel patch opposite Cape Mental Health in Oak Street, and asked if it could be converted into a garden. The gardening enthusiast and former nursery owner provided plants and mulch. Ibrahim spent three days establishing the garden in the hard soil.
The OBSID’s approach is to propagate plant water-wise plants in its gardens so as to minimise the need for watering.
But even so, the biggest challenge with the OBSID’s gardening effort so far has been the availability of water trolley’s to cart water canisters to each garden.

Four homeless died in 2012

THE harsh life on the streets took its toll on six of Obs homeless residents who passed away during 2012.
Obituaries of the six were read out at a Christmas lunch for Observatory’s homeless residents organised by the Observatory Improvement District.
The lunch, part of the OBSID’s Give-Responsibly Campaign over the festive season, was attended by about 56 homeless residents of Obs.
The Give-Responsibly Campaign is aimed at persuading Obs residents not to give cash to the homeless, as it usually ends up in the pockets of bottle store owners and drug dealers, and keep the homeless trapped on the streets. Residents should rather give meal vouchers, food donations and support for social-work projects.
OBSID Chief Operating Officer Ursula van Stavel said they are very grateful to residents who responded to calls for donations towards the Christmas lunch, which was held at the Salvation Army Church in Dane Street.
Johnny Burgoyne, Salvation Army  pastor, opened with a prayer. Each participant received a goody bag which included meal vouchers, Haven passports and toiletry packs.
The OBSID would like to thank Securistore, Loaves and Fishes, Obz KwikSpar, The Haven, Werner Steyn, Sean Walpole, Mya Zwicky, Matt Rich, and Kris Marais for their generous donations.
The six homeless residents who passed away during 2012 were Mita Jaarts, Pietie Boonzieer, Nofeko Tswanelo, Maria Baadtjies, Methew Williams and Kasiefa Links.

Safety patrols strengthened by interns

THREE interns helping out with the OBSID Public Safety patrols got off to an exciting start when they apprehended a suspected burglar in Arnold Street scarcely a week after starting at the Observatory Improvement District (OBSID).
The suspected burglar was caught carrying a compressor allegedly stolen from Arnold Street. He was handed over to the police
The three patrollers are part of a group of seven youngsters from Chrysalis Academy in Tokai who were recruited for an internship of three months at the OBSID.
All indications are that their presence on the streets of Observatory have been a significant boost for the OBSID Public Safety patrols over the festive season.
The Chrysalis Academy is an initiative by the provincial government aimed at giving training and work experience to youngsters at risk.
Charl Brooks, the contract manager of the OBSID Public Safety patrols, said crime levels were particularly low over the festive season. The extra eyes and ears on the street generated lots of useful information, much of which were passed on to the police.
The Chrysalis patrollers wear blue T-shirts. They patrol mostly wearing bright blue OBSID bibs, but some of them work “under cover” in civilian clothes in order to observe and gather information. They work from Mondays to Fridays from 8am to 4pm.
Their presence has enabled the OBSID to shift some of the full-time patrollers onto night duty.
The general feeling among the Chrysalis patrollers is that they are happy to be working in Obs. The young men, aged from 19 to 22, said their three-month training at the academy was very strenuous and physical, but it also included leadership skills, security, welding, anger management, team building, cooking, carpentry, first-aid and fire fighting courses.
Ursula van Stavel, OBSID COO, said she was impressed with the quality of the young trainees. A new group from Chrysalis will take their place when their internship finishes at the end of February.  Most of the interns have plans to study further ranging from policing, cooking, and electrical studies.
Ursula said the youth training is an important part of the OBSID’s vision of being a constructive, uplifting civic citizen. Currently, two interns from Cape Mental Health in Oak Road are helping out as interns at the OBSID’s office as part of their reintegration into society.

Developers ignore council orders

A THREE-STOREY 18-unit rogue building is going up in St Michael’s Street despite two stop-build orders from the City and serious complaints from a neighbour who claims he was almost killed when a wall from the building collapsed on his patio.
Local city councillor Paddy Chapple confirmed that various fines have been levied against the developers, the Venture Group, for building transgressions and that two orders to cease building operations at number 18 St Michael’s Street have been ignored.
Building work on the complex, which developer Chris Hayman says he wants to sell as student accommodation although it has officially only been approved as offices, started in September last year, apparently without any approved plans. Plans were only submitted two months later, according to Paddy.
The neighbours, Trish and Ron Gates, claim that the previous structure on the erf was demolished without go-ahead from the council.
They told ObsLife that relations with the developers started off friendly enough even though they were not consulted about the new building.
But the Gates noticed various building irregularities and by the time the wall had collapsed on the Gates’ patio because it did not have the required supports, relations with the company had soured.
Ron said had he not moved away seconds before the wall collapsed, he would have been killed.
After one of the stop-build orders from the City, the Gates heard noises from the building. Trish inspected, and found worker inside, trying to work as quietly as possible.
ObsLife first became interested in the structure because of the unusual building method - it is built from polystyrene bricks filled with cement. Developer Chris Hayman was at first keen to market the building to ObsLife as an environmentally friendly project.
But when ObsLife subsequently approached him for information about the complaints and stop-build orders, he failed to return phone calls. ObsLife was therefore unable to get any comments from the Venture Group on the allegations.
However, in the first interview he admitted to ObsLife that he intended to sell the units as student flats, even though it is official approved only as offices. He told Obslife not to “mention that”.
Council building regulations state that  accommodation units must include parking space on the property, but offices don’t need to. Councillor Paddy Chapple said the plans submitted to the council describe the units as offices, but the plans given to the architect showed accommodation units, complete with showers.
Ron Gates said that building with polystyrene bricks allows the builder to use unskilled labour. “To build with polystyrene is brilliant for low cost building, but not for this building," he said, adding that the builders did not use proper equipment, or structural reinforcements.

Student complex turns one

WHEN 880 UCT students return to Obz Square residence in Main Road on 29 January, they will be celebrating the first birthday of the giant student complex, providing a good opportunity for Observatory to assess the impact of the giant hostel on the suburb.
There is little evidence that any of the fears of parking congestion and noise expressed during the development of Obz Square has been realised. Local residents shared only minor complaints with ObsLife.
Marc Turok, Observatory resident who used to live in William Street behind the site where the seven-storey Obz Square went up, said pedestrian congestion has been successfully handled and students seem to be crossing Main Road safely. But the Jammie Shuttle, UCT’s student bus service, tends to block Greens Passage, the narrow road alongside Obz Square, when it stops for up to fifteen minutes. It effectively uses Greens Passage as a bus terminus, blocking it for other vehicles.
A nearby resident who did not give his name told ObsLife that the area sometimes it gets noisy but he said it was usually caused by students passing through, not by those living in Obz Square.
Another resident living behind Obz Square, Tapusaz Jonathan, said the students seem to be parking everywhere despite the presence of parking bays in the basement of Obz Square: “They park where they feel like parking. They park in the streets in front of houses anywhere, but it doesn't bother me because I don't have a car," he said.
A manager at Obz Square who did not want to be named because of UCT’s strict policy forbidding employees direct contact with the media, said Obz Square had a “hectic” start at the beginning of last year. They had to deal with"a lot of attitude" from the neighbours, but by June last year things had settled down.
According to Kemantha Govender, the media liaison at UCT, Obz Square received complaints about the noise generated from the residence, but the issues were addressed with the students and resolved.
Comments from local business owners, who had eagerly awaited the flood of business from 1 000 extra students in Observatory, shows a similar subdued impact of Obz Square on life in Observatory. Mike Webber-Harris of Obviouzly Armchair in Lower Main Road says he had experience no significant increase in turnover last year. His comments were echoed by other business owners along Lower Main Road.
There is also no sign of any of the retail shopping spaces on the ground floor of the building has been let yet, probably because the rentals charged does not fit the current slow economic conditions.
Perhaps the greatest impact of Obz Square on Observatory was to seal the fate of the section of the suburb on the mountain side of Main Road as a high-rise apartment precinct.
Marc, who successfully fought Obz Square’s application for an additional eighth storey, moved elsewhere in Obs  after his neighbours in William Street behind Obz Square sold their homes to the property developers, and his was one of the few residential  homes left.
Students and managers at Obz Square says because most of the students living there are seniors, including post-grads, the focus of the residence tends to be on academics and not on partying.
Rizaan Samuels, senior sub-warden for the second-year students at Obz Square, said that that he was at UCT’s Smuts Hall residence for four years before moving to Obz Square, and that Smuts Hall had many more traditions and organised activities than Obz Square because it is a much older residence.
He said it was “very exciting” living at Obz Square because it's different and new, and they are trying to establish a community-focus tradition for the residence. Students are encouraged to do community outreach, for example with the Arcadia Place old-age home next to Obz Square.

Child drug slaves

By Naquita Hendricks
STRONG, direct evidence has emerged of why Observatory residents must not give money or food to the children begging at local traffic lights and shops.
ObsLife has captured on camera images of regular local child beggars smoking drugs in the Groote Schuur graveyard with the adults who exploit them.
An investigation by ObsLife revealed that Observatory is “home” to a group of about eight children aged between eight and thirteen, many of whom come from Valhalla Park. They are being exploited by a number of adults who give them drugs in return for the money they get begging at the Main Road intersections with Station and Anzio Road, among other places.
Interviews with social workers and street people indicate that the number of children in the loose grouping occasionally rises as children from mainly Khayelitsha and Philippi pass through Observatory. They are mainly boys, but sometimes they are joined by two small girls.
Kenneth Roman, the Observatory Improvement District’s field worker for the homeless, says the drug-addicted adults who exploit them include a mother whose children were previously removed from her care after she burnt the hand of her 12-year-old daughter. Kenneth said he did not know how she managed to regain custody of her children. The heroin addict currently uses her children and two grandchildren to beg for her.
The activities of the children observed by ObsLife were confirmed by local street people as typical of their daily movements.
On one occasion, ObsLife observed two boys who were begging at the Anzio Road traffic lights jump the fence into the Groote Schuur graveyard.
The boys walked towards a woman

who had a little girl in her arms, and a man. They huddled and were seen smoking what is believed to be unga, a heroin derivative. The children smoked openly, while the adults covered their heads with jackets as they smoked.
 After a while, the boys emerged from the graveyard and started begging again, this time in the St Peter’s Square parking lot.
Kenneth explains that the children come from extremely depraved backgrounds. Many have run away from home to escape abuse. To illustrate the extent of parental neglect they suffer, Kenneth tells of how he recently took a young boy back to his home in Valhalla Park after he was caught grabbing money from people at the Standard Bank ATM in Station Road.
Kenneth was greeting at the door of the boy’s home by the mother, who blew out a puff of Mandrax-and-dagga smoke and asked: "What did he do this time?"
Despite his attempts to get social workers involved in the case, Kenneth says the boy was back on the streets of Observatory after a week.
Apart from the grouping from Valhalla Park, social workers are also aware of an alcoholic mother who regularly begs in Observatory with a small boy and girl. She claims to have come from Groote Schuur Hospital and needed money to get home.