MyJHB

Stuff from Johannesburg

Court to hear arguments in case to expose Ramaphosa’s cadre deployment committee

Today, Wednesday 5 October 2022, the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg will hold a hearing on the DA’s application to make public complete records – including meeting minutes, documentation, emails and Whatsapps – of the ANC’s cadre deployment committee dating back to 1 January 2013.

The purpose of the DA’s case is to provide complete transparency to the people of South Africa by exposing the personal role played by President Cyril Ramaphosa, who chaired the deployment committee between 2013 and 2018, in appointing the corrupt individuals who captured and collapsed the state.

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The World’s Largest Man-Made Urban Forest

One of the most surprising facts about Johannesburg is its status as a “green” city. When the first settlers arrived, the Highveld was a barren, treeless grassland (savannah). To support the mining industry, millions of trees were imported and planted to provide timber for mine underground supports. Fast forward to the present day, and Johannesburg is widely considered the largest man-made urban forest in the world.

There are an estimated 10 million trees within the city limits. This includes 1.2 million trees on sidewalks and in parks, and over 4.8 million in private gardens. This forest is so dense that satellite images of the northern suburbs often resemble a tropical rainforest. The most iconic of these trees is the Jacaranda, which was imported from South America in the early 20th century. Every October and November, the city turns a vibrant shade of purple as thousands of Jacarandas bloom simultaneously. However, this “forest” also highlights the city’s historical inequality; during the Apartheid era, trees were predominantly planted in wealthy white suburbs, leaving townships like Soweto as dusty plains. In the last two decades, “Greening Soweto” initiatives have seen hundreds of thousands of trees planted to bridge this “green divide,” emphasizing the role of urban forestry in social justice and climate cooling.