City of Cape Town investigates International Peace College building project:
The International Peace College South Africa (IPSA) has been accused of illegally occupying part of a refurbished building in Cape Town after failing to submit building plans and appoint an engineer to oversee construction of the revamp project.
Whistleblower Salma Moosa, an interior architect who previously worked on the project in Rylands, told the Mail & Guardian about her year-long battle to get the City of Cape Town authorities to confront the matter.
The IPSA has vehemently denied the allegations as “unsubstantiated, defamatory, and malicious”. The City of Cape Town has confirmed that construction work went ahead on the project without complying with building regulations.
Moosa said she had sent emails to the city, including to mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, the office of the city ombudsman and the fire department in November 2024 but had not received a response to her complaint about the failure to submit building plans for months, apart from being told that the city’s legal department was awaiting a court date.
In the meantime, she noticed that the building had been occupied.
In her letter to Hill-Lewis, Moosa alleged that construction had continued on the site despite the city having issued a stop work notice to the IPSA on 18 April 2024.
“Despite my insistence that a structural engineer be appointed, the client refused to do so. I even went as far as bringing a structural engineer to site to evaluate the work … [The] municipality will be held accountable if the structure fails and there is a loss of life, as I have raised these concerns with the relative building inspectors for the area via telephone,” Moosa wrote.
“I am concerned about the safety of the students as it is a public building, and it is currently being used.”
Moosa alleged building works proceeded with no professional engineer being appointed, no structural design plans, no sign-off of construction work and no architectural building plans were submitted or approved for the building works.
“The subcontractor did not follow any of the construction regulations for establishment of the site,” she alleged. “The building is currently being utilised for teaching despite no occupational certificate issued.”
Moosa said she eventually received a letter from the city’s ombudsman on 15 May advising that the office was in the process of “registering and assessing the matter” but this was only after the M&G had prodded the city regarding her complaint.
She said she felt it was her moral duty to blow the whistle on the non-compliance with the building regulations.
Cape Town’s deputy mayor and mayoral committee member for spatial planning and environment, Eddie Andrews, confirmed Moosa’s fears in his response to the M&G’s questions regarding the status quo of the development.
“The work done contravenes section 4(1) read with section 4(4) of the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act No 103 of 1977. The owners started with building on site prior to obtaining written approval from the local authority for such work,” Andrews said.
“No building plan applications have been submitted to date, hence the matter is referred to the city’s legal services department.”
He added that it followed that “no occupancy certificate has been issued, as no building plan has been approved”.
Asked why the city had not forced the developer and the IPSA to comply with its stop work notice, Andrews said it was taking legal steps to enforce compliance.
“Due to non-compliance with the notices served on the registered owners, the matter was referred to the city’s legal services department for prosecution/further processing to the municipal court,” he said.
“We are awaiting feedback from the processing office at legal services to determine where in the process the matter is. At this stage the matter is still being investigated by the city’s legal services department.”
Moosa said she had dealt with IPSA representative Nazier Osman regarding the project’s construction work and interior design.
Osman referred the M&G’s request for comment to the college’s attorney, Edwin Petersen, who, acting for Osman and the IPSA,demanded that the M&G retract the story and threatened legal action.
Petersen said the allegations were “unsubstantiated, defamatory, and malicious”.
“These claims are categorically denied in their entirety and are unequivocally rejected as false, reckless, and engineered to tarnish the reputation of both our client and the institution.”
He said the allegations regarding the illegal building activity were “devoid of truth” and “constitute a deliberate campaign to damage IPSA’s standing as a respected educational institution”.
“The insinuation that IPSA or Mr Nazier Osman engaged in unlawful construction practices is rejected. IPSA has consistently acted in good faith and is cooperating fully with the City of Cape Town’s inquiries. Any suggestion [of] … non-compliance or negligence is vehemently denied. We are currently reviewing the matter, and a comprehensive response will be furnished in due course.”
He said the company would submit its detailed response to the allegations by 16 May, but had not responded to the M&G’s follow-up email requesting this further comment by the time of publication.
Name of research institution: University of Pretoria
Name of Faculty: Veterinary Science
Name of department: Veterinary Tropical Diseases
First author of the paper: Professor Anita Michel
Authors: Maralize Engelbrecht, Francois Roux2 Jeanette Wentzel and Annelize Jonker
Email address: anita.michel@up.ac.za
Name of submitter: Professor Karen Keddy
Capacity of submitter: Head of Department: Veterinary Tropical Diseases
Email address of submitter: karen.keddy@up.ac.za
Submitting authority: Faculty of Veterinary Science
Short description of the research: The common hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) which occurs in rivers, lakes and wetlands in sub-Saharan Africa, is known for its aggressive behaviour when defending its territory. This leads to numerous attacks on people close to water often leading to life-threatening injuries and severe wound infections. Our study investigated the bacterial spectrum common to the oral cavity of the hippopotamus and the antibiotic susceptibility profiles of those bacteria as this is of crucial importance to the effective treatment of bite wound infections caused by hippopotami. The findings showed that the bacteria usually residing in the hippopotamus’ mouth are aquatic bacteria with a high level of antibiotic resistance to several antibiotic drugs which are commonly used to treat bite wound patients. This study highlights the need for revised, more effective treatment protocols that take into consideration the antibiotic susceptibility profiles reported in this paper.
For the full paper see below:
‘You have not abandoned me,’ Maphisa-Nqakula tells uMkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association:
Former parliamentary speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula on Thursday thanked the uMkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) for allowing her to speak at a public ANC event for the first time since her arrest last year.
By being criminally charged, Mapisa-Nqakula was subjected to the ANC’s step-aside rule, which prohibits party members from speaking at any of its public gatherings, attending rallies and public meetings or holding any government position.
She is facing 12 counts of corruption and one of money laundering for receiving R2.5 million from December 2016 to July 2019 from a former South African National Defence Force contractor, Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu. This occurred during her nine-year tenure as defence minister, which ended in 2021.
She was speaking in Gauteng at the memorial lecture of Gertrude Shope — struggle stalwart, member of parliament and the first president of the ANC Women’s League after it was relaunched in 1990 — on behalf of the veteran’s association.
Mapisa-Nqakula said: “I want to thank you for that because you have not abandoned me, and at least you haven’t judged me.”
She also expressed her disappointment at some ANC leaders who left the party to join the uMkhonto (MK) weSizwe party led by former ANC president Jacob Zuma.
Mapisa-Nqakula said she was “very sad” to see that some of her comrades had decided to join the MK party, including one of her commanders in uMkhoto weSizwe, the military wing of the ANC during apartheid.
“I’m concerned; my view is that comrades, not everybody is there because they want to be there,” she said.
“There are generals there; don’t give up on the many comrades who have gone to the MK party because they don’t belong there; uMkhonto is here in the ANC.”
Despite her problems in the ANC, she vowed to remain a member until her death.
“Even in my house, they know, Comrade SG [party secretary general Fikile Mbalula], you will bury me, and on my coffin will be green, black and gold.
“Whatever I may be, my coffin must be draped in green, black and gold. I fought for this country, and I fought because I believe in what the ANC stands for.”
Mbalula warned ANC members not to focus on those who have left the party and joined the MK party, accusing them of being people who “don’t exist and who stole our thing”.
The MK party takes its name from the now-disbanded armed wing of the ANC, which had also accused the MK party of copyright infringement.
Last year in March, the ANC failed in a legal bid to stop the MK party from contesting the 24 May elections after it argued that Zuma’s party had not met the official registration criteria. This was dismissed by the electoral court but the ANC was granted an appeal.
Mbalula said the more the ANC speaks about the MK party, the more they build it.
“Let’s talk about what we do; uMkhonto weSizwe is not dead; it’s still alive; let it show that it’s alive. We must fix what needs to be fixed for war veterans of our uMkhonto weSizwe.”
He said those people who had left the ANC to join the MK party would soon regret their decision.
“Let it be clear that we are leading the government, and we are not being led. Let it be clear that we are leading to improve the lives of our war veterans.”
The ANC received 16.99% of the votes in KwaZulu-Natal in the 2024 elections, down from 54.22% in the 2019 general elections. Because of Zuma’s popularity and support from traditional ANC voters, the MK party scored 45.35% of the vote in KwaZulu-Natal.
ANC Veterans League deputy president Mavuso Msimang said it was hurtful to see the party drop from 54% to 17%, saying this had everything to do with what his party had neglected.
“That quantity moved across to form this thing, Zuma’s party. Why did we allow this thing to be formed?”, stating also that the MK name should not be associated with the likes of Zuma.
The veterans league and MKMVA are separate organisations.
ANC Women’s League president Sisisi Tolashe also indirectly condemned Zuma’s party, saying it is the generation that never went into exile yet they wear military-style outfits, which “insult and spit on the graves of real fighters” who gave their lives.
“Today we have to bear with liars, people who are not thankful, and today we are being insulted and called names because there are people who thought this movement was for them and their children.”
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