The African National Congress Youth League’s (ANCYL’s) attempt to win the backing of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Sicelo Shiceka in its fight with the Democratic Alliance (DA)-run Cape Town metropolitan council over the Khayelitsha toilets saga could backfire, as the minister is already involved with the council and the Western Cape government in his own quest for a solution.
Mr Shiceka, who was invited by the youth league to intervene, has asked DA leader and Western Cape Premier Helen Zille and someone from the council to accompany him on his planned visit to the Makhaza community. His spokeswoman, Vuyelwa Qinga Vika, said the visit would take place when the minister’s diary allowed for it.
The council installed 1316 toilets in the Silvertown/Town 2 upgrade project, enclosing all but 55 of the 280 put up in the Makhaza area.
When the council provided galvanised iron enclosures for the unenclosed toilets, these were demolished by the youth league. The council then decided to remove the open toilets and promised they would be replaced once the enclosures had been erected.
Yesterday, Ms Zille sent a detailed memorandum on the controversy to Mr Shiceka, ahead of his visit that was initially planned for today.
“The so-called ‘open-air toilets’ saga is an issue that has been hijacked for specific agendas to the detriment of residents in this community. I hope that we can use the opportunity to engage constructively,” Ms Zille said in her letter to the minister.
Asked whether Mr Shiceka was likely to disagree with the youth league, Ms Zille said “it would take a very, very brave minister to go against the ANCYL”. She recalled how ANC veteran Pallo Jordan was recently chased out of a meeting for suggesting it was not a clever idea for youth league members to have demolished the enclosures.
The youth league lodged a complaint against the council with the South African Human Rights Commission, which made a preliminary finding last week that the unenclosed toilets were a violation of human dignity and should be enclosed.
Ms Zille told a media briefing yesterday that the commission’s finding that the toilets were an affront to dignity was in fact an indictment of the national norm for sanitation laid down by the ANC government. This norm was one toilet for five families. The council had supplied one toilet per family on condition that residents enclosed them.
Ms Zille said the commission’s finding represented an attack on the national norm that, if not followed, would blow housing budgets apart because it would require each dwelling to have its own toilet.
In Cape Town alone there were 223 informal settlements with no services or bulk infrastructure, and 500,000 families waiting for houses, she said.
Mr Shiceka, who was invited by the youth league to intervene, has asked DA leader and Western Cape Premier Helen Zille and someone from the council to accompany him on his planned visit to the Makhaza community. His spokeswoman, Vuyelwa Qinga Vika, said the visit would take place when the minister’s diary allowed for it.
The council installed 1316 toilets in the Silvertown/Town 2 upgrade project, enclosing all but 55 of the 280 put up in the Makhaza area.
When the council provided galvanised iron enclosures for the unenclosed toilets, these were demolished by the youth league. The council then decided to remove the open toilets and promised they would be replaced once the enclosures had been erected.
Yesterday, Ms Zille sent a detailed memorandum on the controversy to Mr Shiceka, ahead of his visit that was initially planned for today.
“The so-called ‘open-air toilets’ saga is an issue that has been hijacked for specific agendas to the detriment of residents in this community. I hope that we can use the opportunity to engage constructively,” Ms Zille said in her letter to the minister.
Asked whether Mr Shiceka was likely to disagree with the youth league, Ms Zille said “it would take a very, very brave minister to go against the ANCYL”. She recalled how ANC veteran Pallo Jordan was recently chased out of a meeting for suggesting it was not a clever idea for youth league members to have demolished the enclosures.
The youth league lodged a complaint against the council with the South African Human Rights Commission, which made a preliminary finding last week that the unenclosed toilets were a violation of human dignity and should be enclosed.
Ms Zille told a media briefing yesterday that the commission’s finding that the toilets were an affront to dignity was in fact an indictment of the national norm for sanitation laid down by the ANC government. This norm was one toilet for five families. The council had supplied one toilet per family on condition that residents enclosed them.
Ms Zille said the commission’s finding represented an attack on the national norm that, if not followed, would blow housing budgets apart because it would require each dwelling to have its own toilet.
In Cape Town alone there were 223 informal settlements with no services or bulk infrastructure, and 500,000 families waiting for houses, she said.
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