BUILD A BETTER LIFE FOR ALL WITH DAGGA, URGES ACTIVIST

A Capetonian believes that homes made of cannabis are an answer to
South Africa's housing problem.

Andre du Plessis plans to hand over a petition to the office of the
Public Protector tomorrow. He is also co-ordinating a march through
the city centre on Saturday morning.

The petition describes cannabis - a plant genus that includes what
South Africans know as dagga - as "a sustainable agricultural option
for economic empowerment" and calls for government departments to
participate in a forum to develop policy "more in keeping with
international trends".

Du Plessis said yesterday that cannabis mixed with lime was currently
used for home construction and insulation in France and Germany, and
that it had a long history as a building material.

The 1,500-year-old Hagia Sofia basilica in Turkey was "the world's
longest-standing dagga building", he said.

He himself had built a scale model dome of cannabis in a Newlands back
garden, which had proved strong enough to take the weight of a 4x4
vehicle.

But for a full-scale prototype, he needed 3 tons of the stuff. He had
been trying for years to get the Agricultural Research Council, which
has a licence to grow cannabis, to work with him.

"They still haven't delivered one kilogram that I can use to test
with," he said.

"All I'm trying to do is build some affordable housing for those
people who live in shantytowns. That's my angle on it." Du Plessis
also said cannabis was the cheapest way to get patients with
full-blown Aids to eat again.

He said the petition had been signed by people ranging from
politicians and surgeons to "folk from the street".

There were also one or two dagga growers on the list.

"They have put their names down, but they haven't put a contact
address," he said.