Former president Thabo Mbeki once spoke of South Africa as a country of two nations, the rich and the poor.
But for the people of Kosovo, it's a country of three nations; the rich, the poor and the forgotten.
While many poor people in this country decry the high rate of unemployment, lack of decent houses and poor-quality education, for the people of the Kosovo informal settlement in Philippi, it's a totally different ball game. A simple flushing toilet, for example, would make a huge difference.
For Thandiswa Mjobo, who walks for 30 minutes just to find a clean toilet, political party manifestos have no meaning, as they have failed to deal with her most basic need - an indoor toilet.
She says this would not only be convenient for her eight foster children, aged between three and 14, but it would save her from the daily half-an-hour walk to the nearest community hall, which, is the closest clean toilet to her home.
As you drive into Kosovo, you are welcomed by an all-consuming stench that lingers in the air.
It is this lack of basic services, like proper sanitation, that breeds the belief that Kosovo is a forgotten community.
After years of using the bucket toilet system, the City of Cape Town "opened" flush toilets to the community last month, but the relief was short-lived as these toilets are already out of order.
The Cape Argus spoke to several women, none of them older than 40, and none of them holding down a job.
Mjobo, 36, tells the Cape Argus she is a frequent visitor to the local clinic as her children are prone to water-borne illnesses. "As you can see and smell, this is a serious danger to children," she says of the shallow canal that runs right in front of her home.
She claims that people throw dirty water, urine and sometimes faeces in the canal, which was meant as a drainage system.
Mjobo says she has told health inspectors about their conditions and that an inspector from the City of Cape Town had suggested that they move from the area.
Although Mjobo feels let down and forgotten by the government and doesn't see change in their future, she says she will still vote in the coming election and make her voice heard.
However, for the first time, she doesn't know which party she would vote for.
"I've heard all sorts of promises from politicians over the years. Ministers have been to my shack, during the floods season, and they left promises."
She accuses politicians of hijacking communities and politicising service delivery, with community meetings no longer addressing community issues, but politics.
While Kosovo has been around since 1998, and is made up of an estimated 7 500 shacks, there is not a single school in the area, nor is there adequate sanitation.
Its streets are lined with various small businesses, which include spaza shops, hair salons and vegetable stalls. Also lining the streets are street poles with political posters, ones that carry the promises of a better future.
The densely populated shack area could easily be one of the poorest in the city, as at around 11am on a weekday the streets are buzzing, mostly with unemployed youth and young children who should be at school.
Parents say they can't afford to send their children to preschools in other areas, because of poverty.
"The residents here feel they are the forgotten people of Cape Town, maybe not during this electioneering period, but generally," said community co-ordinator Andile Dlali.
Dlali corroborated Mjobo's sentiments, saying that while the need for jobs and houses was high, people in Kosovo were hoping for at least basic things, like operating toilets.
Dlali blamed poor sanitation system as contributing to health risks in the area, especially towards the spread of TB infections.
City of Cape Town's Zwai Sokopo said that if the land were to be developed, only 3 295 houses could be built on it and the rest of the people living there would need to leave.
Kosovo is built on private land of 27.64 hectares.
- Cape Argus
But for the people of Kosovo, it's a country of three nations; the rich, the poor and the forgotten.
While many poor people in this country decry the high rate of unemployment, lack of decent houses and poor-quality education, for the people of the Kosovo informal settlement in Philippi, it's a totally different ball game. A simple flushing toilet, for example, would make a huge difference.
For Thandiswa Mjobo, who walks for 30 minutes just to find a clean toilet, political party manifestos have no meaning, as they have failed to deal with her most basic need - an indoor toilet.
| As you drive into Kosovo, you are welcomed by an all-consuming sten |
As you drive into Kosovo, you are welcomed by an all-consuming stench that lingers in the air.
It is this lack of basic services, like proper sanitation, that breeds the belief that Kosovo is a forgotten community.
After years of using the bucket toilet system, the City of Cape Town "opened" flush toilets to the community last month, but the relief was short-lived as these toilets are already out of order.
The Cape Argus spoke to several women, none of them older than 40, and none of them holding down a job.
| 'I've heard all sorts of promises from politicians over the years' |
She claims that people throw dirty water, urine and sometimes faeces in the canal, which was meant as a drainage system.
Mjobo says she has told health inspectors about their conditions and that an inspector from the City of Cape Town had suggested that they move from the area.
Although Mjobo feels let down and forgotten by the government and doesn't see change in their future, she says she will still vote in the coming election and make her voice heard.
However, for the first time, she doesn't know which party she would vote for.
"I've heard all sorts of promises from politicians over the years. Ministers have been to my shack, during the floods season, and they left promises."
She accuses politicians of hijacking communities and politicising service delivery, with community meetings no longer addressing community issues, but politics.
While Kosovo has been around since 1998, and is made up of an estimated 7 500 shacks, there is not a single school in the area, nor is there adequate sanitation.
Its streets are lined with various small businesses, which include spaza shops, hair salons and vegetable stalls. Also lining the streets are street poles with political posters, ones that carry the promises of a better future.
The densely populated shack area could easily be one of the poorest in the city, as at around 11am on a weekday the streets are buzzing, mostly with unemployed youth and young children who should be at school.
Parents say they can't afford to send their children to preschools in other areas, because of poverty.
"The residents here feel they are the forgotten people of Cape Town, maybe not during this electioneering period, but generally," said community co-ordinator Andile Dlali.
Dlali corroborated Mjobo's sentiments, saying that while the need for jobs and houses was high, people in Kosovo were hoping for at least basic things, like operating toilets.
Dlali blamed poor sanitation system as contributing to health risks in the area, especially towards the spread of TB infections.
City of Cape Town's Zwai Sokopo said that if the land were to be developed, only 3 295 houses could be built on it and the rest of the people living there would need to leave.
Kosovo is built on private land of 27.64 hectares.
- Cape Argus
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