The 'PHA Campaign'
Located in the centre of the Cape Flats is the PHA. Compared to the farmlands of Stellenbosch, Constantia or Franschhoek, there is nothing beautiful about the PHA.
"If you’ve ever taken a drive through the area, you will know that it is not uncommon to hurriedly roll up your window trying to keep out the stench of heaps of compost on the fields," says the team at The Big Issue.
"Be that as it may, the PHA is crucial to food security in the city as it produces 200 000 tons of vegetables each year and contributes nearly R484-million in direct turnover to the regional economy. This unique ecosystem is also the primary recharge zone of the Cape Flats aquifer," the team adds.
For the past 10 years, the 'PHA Food & Farming Campaign' has been trying to preserve the agricultural integrity of the area against proposed developments and alleged attempts by the City of Cape Town to rezone the area.
The 'PHA Campaign' has recently filed for a judicial review of 12 development permissions, ranging from rezoning and environmental impact assessments to urban edge shift challenges (page 8).
With World Environment Day approaching on Wednesday, 5 June, the preservation of the PHA is as critical as the impact of climate change (page 14).
From single-use plastics to the Knysna Education Trust ...
In this issue, the magazine also highlight the negative impact of single-use plastics (page 16) and allows readers to travel to the Southern Cape where the Knysna Education Trust is supporting early childhood development (page 32).
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