Follow-Up on Khayelitsha Streetlights

Follow-Up on Khayelitsha Streetlights

In February, GroundUp published a report on the issue of street lights in Khayelitsha, in particular on Lansdowne Road and Mew Way. Activist organizations -- the Social Justice Coalition (SJC), Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and Equal Education (EE) -- held a march on 4 February in Khayelitsha.We have a great selection of blown glass backyard solar landscape lights and solar garden light.

City of Cape Town Mayor Patricia De Lille, who attended the march, received a memorandum that the City should ensure that street lights were functioning in Khayelitsha. It also demanded that the City implement the installation of street lights where they were not available and fix damaged and vandalized lights within Lansdowne Road and Khayelitsha.

GroundUp ran a follow-up story in April, and it seems there has been some improvement.

Councillor Danile Khatshwa of Ward 96 (Makhaza in Khayelitsha) said street lights in his ward from Lindela Road to Baden Powell Drive have been fixed and are working.

"Since I submitted complaints from residents within my ward, the street lights have been fixed and are functioning. You would only find that about one or two street lights are not working, but I can say that there's been an improvement," he said.

Zodwa Sinkempele (20), a Community Librarian at Equal Education said that she has some mixed feelings when it comes to the issue of street lights. "Since the march, I have seen some improvement in the functioning of the [street] lights. But I don't know whether the City only fixed the lights because we were pressuring them, or they only fixed the lights to get us out of their way then discontinued with the work they were supposed to do."

Khatshwa admitted there are however some parts of Khayelitsha that still remain in the dark.

"Despite the improvements on street lights in Makhaza, major sections in Khayelitsha still remain without functioning street lights,How does a solar charger work and where would you use a solar charger? particularly along Lansdowne Road .. Even some of the newly implemented streetlights are not of the best quality."

Councillor Danile felt that the newly installed lights were not as bright as the previously installed lights,A solar lantern uses this sunlight that is abundantly available to charge its batteries through a Solar Panel and gives light in nighttime. and felt that much brighter streetlights should have been installed. GroundUp went out at night to see whether this statement was true. The streetlights at Makhaza are very bright, and about 15 floodlights are providing light for the Site B, Town Two and Makhaza areas.

In addition to the three small bedrooms, the one-story house has two discreet sleeping lofts.

"We wanted small rooms," says Mr. Christiansen, which he says encourages the family to get together in the large central living and dining area. The master bedroom has a wall that opens entirely onto a private deck overlooking a tree-lined yard.

They hoped to finish by Christmas 2011, but delays on foundation and basement work meant a half-year postponement. They finally moved in July 2012, spending more than $500,00 on the project.

A basement is unusual for a summer house in the area, says Mr. Christiansen, but it was necessary to conceal the complicated technology involved in making the house energy efficient. Outfitted with a heat pump, solar panels and photovoltaic cells, the house can generate all of its heating, and can contribute electricity to the grid when the family is away.

Triple-glazed windows and near-total insulation mean that controlled ventilation is essential, and the house is programmed to ventilate itself four times a day. Heating can be controlled by a smartphone app,Shop funtional and elegant solar lights, outdoor solar lighting, solar garden lights, path lights and decorative solar lights. which allows the house to be just the right temperature when the family arrives for winter weekends.

In addition to the main house, the property has a new free-standing sauna, lined with ash wood and equipped with a large picture window. The wood-burning sauna oven is imported from Finland. Mr. Christiansen designed the sauna himself. "It is beautiful sitting here in 175-degree heat," he says, of his winter sauna sessions, which end with a roll in the snow.

Saunas aren't rare in Denmark, but "most Danes who build a sauna end up using them for storage," says Mr. Christiansen. The couple, looking ahead to the property's resale value, built the sauna to be easily converted into a guesthouse.

Read the full story at www.soli-lite.com!