230 000 households still using bucket toilets

Parliament - At least 230,000 households were still using the bucket system, Water and Sanitation director-general Margaret-Ann Diedricks said on Wednesday.

Briefing Parliament’s portfolio committee on water and sanitation, Diedricks informed MPs the use of the bucket toilet system was still widespread.

The department confirmed that 88,127 households in formal areas and 140,000 households in informal areas were using bucket toilets as a form of sanitation.

The figures were expected to climb, however, as authorities in four provinces have not confirmed the number of households still relying on the bucket system.

“It may of course go higher but we are waiting for KwaZulu Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Gauteng to confirm,” said Diedricks.

She said reports from provincial authorities showed the  households relying on this form of sanitation, the highest number of households using the bucket system:

• Western Cape 59,932
• Free State 46,758 
• Eastern Cape 23 958 
• Northern Cape  5,350
• North West province 4,150

A total of 185 projects aimed at eradicating the bucket system were currently underway across the country’s nine provinces.

- ANA

‘Deadly’ E.coli levels found in Cape river

Cape Town - A river flowing into scenic Gordon’s Bay has been found to contain potentially deadly levels of E.coli bacteria. It has sparked calls from the ANC for City of Cape Town officials to take immediate action and prevent life-threatening infections, especially among people with low immune systems and those living with HIV.

The Sir Lowry’s Pass River was found on October 23 to have an E.coli count of 130 000 per 100ml at the point where it flows into Gordon’s Bay.

The test was confirmed by the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS).

This count is four times that found by a DA health fact-finding mission into borehole water at the poor community of Mokopane in Limpopo, where the E.coli count was 40 000 per 100ml.

DA health spokesman Dr Wilmot James described a count this high as “highly pathogenic and unfit for human or animal consumption”.

But he pointed out that some of the water at Mokopane was for drinking, whereas the water in the Sir Lowry’s Pass River was not intended for human consumption.

The results on the Sir Lowry’s Pass River show the E.coli count increases dramatically as the river winds down to the ocean after passing through an informal settlement 6km upstream.

The information comes two weeks after a False Bay fish exporter revealed he found dangerously high levels of E.coli in harders (mullet) tested in July.

E.coli, or Escherichia coli, is normally found in the intestines of people and animals. Most E.coli is harmless, but its presence indicates the presence of pathogenic (illness-causing) compounds.

The young, elderly, pregnant and those with weakened immune systems, such as people with HIV, are particularly vulnerable.

“This could be devastating,” said the ANC’s acting spokesman Cobus Grobler. “An E.coli count that high is a potential killer, especially if you have TB or are HIV-positive, because you are then more prone to be infected.

“It can have severe, if not fatal, consequences. The city may not think it is serious but to the poor it is life-threatening,” said Grobler.

“The city seems to know there is a problem in that area, yet they are doing nothing. If this escalates they could find themselves legally liable.”

But mayoral committee member for health Benedicta Van Minnen said there was no need to be alarmed.

“The City of Cape Town cannot comment on these results as they were not analysed in the city’s laboratory and it is unclear how the samples were taken, stored and transported to the laboratory.”

She acknowledged that the count was over the limit for recreational water use as set by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry’s SA Water Quality Guidelines.

A single sample result should give an E.coli count of equal to or less than 1 000 per 100ml or it is unsafe for bathers and other water users. “However, the appropriate manner of testing is to weigh each single sample result against a number of fortnightly samples collected over three months.

“A single sample result does not really provide adequate information to draw any specific conclusions,” said Van Minnen.

Rivers passing through urbanised areas often had “background” pollution owing to contamination on hard surfaces that was washed into the river by rain. Blocked or overflowing sewers could also cause a problem.

“The water quality in the Sir Lowry’s River is therefore impacted to varying degrees at various locations. However, it does not impact on the overall water quality along the coastline. Bikini Beach is a Blue Flag-accredited beach and the water quality there is fine,” said Van Minnen.

“The water in the Sir Lowry’s River would be considered non-potable – it is not for consumption.”

The SABS report comes just three months after the DA embarked on a four-province water-testing tour in ANC municipalities.

The DA’s James, along with Kevin Mileham and Leon Basson, travelled across Limpopo, North West, Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape investigating the quality of drinking water and water supplies.

This was sparked by an outbreak of diarrhoea in Brits in North West that affected more than 500 people and led to the deaths of at least three babies.

James described an E.coli count of 40 000 per 100ml in boreholes in the community of Mokopane in Limpopo as highly pathogenic and unfit for human or animal consumption. “That will kill you if you drink it.”

The count at Gordon’s Bay is more than three times higher than found at Mokopane.

The DA vowed to take legal action against the ANC-run municipalities where high E.coli counts were discovered.

But on Wednesday, James told the Cape Argus the Gordon’s Bay results needed to be tested over a period by the National Health Laboratory before confirmed as reliable.

“Our oversight visits to the provinces examined E.coli levels in drinking water. The Gordon Bay tests were of non-potable river water not intended for human consumption.

“It appears as if the river in question is polluted as a result of dumping and contamination practices of civilians and possibly businesses.”

He said the city ran educational programmes to promote public health.

“We can always do more – including post warnings – and I give you our assurance we will do whatever is appropriate under the circumstances.”

elliott.sylvester@inl.co.za

- Cape Argus

Time to flush out evil legacy

Positive results will soon be felt by the people whose dignity has been assaulted by the bucket toilet system, says Human Settlements Minister Connie September.

On receiving the South African Human Rights Commission report on the state of water and sanitation, I promised deputy chairperson Pregs Govender that I would study and respond. I did so in the conviction that on assuming office I swore to uphold the constitution of this beloved country of ours and the SAHRC is an institution borne out of this constitution.

It gives me no joy to acknowledge the parlous state of sanitation in many of our communities, a fact brought home in my first meeting with the SAHRC on assuming office last year. I started a process in September to prioritise sanitation for the remainder of my tenure.

As we celebrate Human Rights Month it is apt to reflect on how far we have come in restoring human rights. That apartheid sought to destroy the dignity of black people is evident in the most degrading lack of basic sanitation services in general and the dehumanising bucket toilet system in particular.

In proactively responding to this evil inheritance, the Department of Human Settlements has implemented an intensive Bucket Eradication Programme (BEP) which will replace the bucket toilet system with water borne sanitation systems.

A partnership between the Departments of Human Settlements, Water Affairs and Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, as well as the Department of Science and Technology, has been forged to ensure an integrated and sustainable approach to this complex legacy.

As government we have tirelessly worked in our quest to restore our people’s dignity, through, among other things, the BEP. As President Jacob Zuma pronounced in his State of the Nation address, phase one of BEP will see the eradication of buckets in formalised townships of the Free State, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape. These provinces have the highest volume of bucket toilets. Phase two will ensure the eradication of buckets in each of South Africa’s nine provinces.

BEP is buttressed by a financial allocation as announced by Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan in his budget speech. A total of R40 billion in infrastructure grants has been made available for among other things, sanitation services.

The bucket system is the unwanted legacy of deliberate neglect. Daily the users of this unhygienic sanitation system as well as workers responsible for the collection and disposal of human waste from bucket toilets are subjected to dehumanising and unhygienic conditions.

Twenty years into our democracy, this inhumane sanitation legacy still poses a challenge. We still have fatal incidents that remind us of the death traps that these toilets can be. Recently 6-year-old Michael Komape died in a pit latrine at his school. Our country mourned with his family.

The integrated planning approach as well as implementation across departments ensures that sanitation service delivery is not reduced simply to a toilet at the expense of other matters related to sustainable sanitation services.

Because of the united approach, particular attention is focused on issues pertaining to environmental sustainability, community involvement, affordability, hy- giene, education, user education, operation and maintenance of wastewater treatment works. Part of the challenge facing the programme is the development of bulk water and wastewater treatment infrastructure where none exist, and the increase in capacity where infrastructure does exist but has not held pace with the growth of water borne sanitation.

The Troika of Ministries plus one (Science and Technology) have integrated working, as well as pooled resources, financial and technical, to ensure that the constitutional promise of the right to water and a safe environment is incrementally materialised.

Importantly this approach also sees that dignity is restored to communities robbed of safe and basic sanitation services. This marked improvement in co-operation between government departments and the three tiers of government not only proactively accords with SAHRC’s recommendations for improved co-operation but also provides a mechanism for speedily unblocking delivery and implementation blockages that may arise from time to time.

State-owned entities and institutions have been appointed as BEP implementing agents, in particular the Water Boards providing bulk water services in the various provinces and institutions like the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agency, National Urban Reconstruction and Housing Agency and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

Their involvement constitutes the public/private partnerships required to address the prevailing complex sanitation issues. These entities, which report to the Department of Human Settlements, have in an integrated manner implemented the intensive and extensive BEP and have provided effective project management.

The integrated nature of BEP also ensures that local municipalities are involved in the programme at every step of the way thus avoiding a top-down approach. This model of delivery has the added benefit of ensuring that the system is owned at a local government level. This augurs well for future maintenance and operations of the infrastructure being installed.

Contractors on the ground are also being closely monitored for timeous and quality delivery by the BEP implementing agents and in certain instances are being penalised financially for failure. The latter monitoring and evaluation role at ground level that is being played by the implementing agents proactively harmonises with the SAHRC’s recommendations regarding contractors and the need for monitoring their performance.

Throughout phase one of the BEP implementation we have learnt lessons from the past and have heeded the calls from communities to engage with beneficiaries before starting these programmes.

Community engagement has ensured participation in the pre-design stage and also in the pre-sanitation technology choice stage. It is through community participation processes that a one-size-fit-all approach has been avoided and we have now been able to identify families with special needs when it comes to sanitation. So for example in Makana District Municipality, Eastern Cape, we have been able to install toilets which were modified to accommodate disabled residents as a result of comprehensive engagement.

In addition, beneficiaries were consulted on the positioning of the waterborne toilet structures to be erected. All-embracing community engagement is an example of participatory democracy in action. We are further unwavering in improving on our community engagement and participation processes as directed by the SAHRC in its report.

We’ve committed ourselves to giving further effect to its recommendations. We will stand by this pledge.

In the priority provinces significant progress has been made in removing the apartheid scourge of the bucket system. Significantly, in the process we have also been party to job-creation and the empowerment of local contractors, including woman-owned and operated contracting firms.

The BEP in the Western Cape has also progressed. Improved delivery capacity has been added through the appointment of additional implementing agents.

The positive results will soon be seen and felt by the people whose dignity has been assaulted by the bucket toilet system.

A major challenge in the quest to eradicate buckets is the accessibility and presence of water and the accompanying water infrastructure. This is a challenge which, with partners like the Department of Water Affairs, the CSIR, and with the patience and fortitude of our communities with whom we have had ongoing engagement, we are confident of finding workable solutions.

In areas where capacity of water and water supply infrastructure and wastewater treatment capacity are lacking, or where bulk infrastructure is still being developed, or wastewater treatment plants are still in the process of being built, interim, alternative solutions are being implemented and explored.

Improved sanitation, represented by the BEP has reduced child diarrhoea and has contributed to improving overall child health. For women and girls the improved sanitation offers greater dignity, privacy and personal safety.

The bucket eradication programme has brought with it improved health benefits, improved, cleaner and safer environments and the restoration of human dignity to long-suffering communities and this progress is cause for celebration in Human Rights Month.

* Connie September is the Minister of Human Settlements.

** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Newspapers.

- Cape Times

Poo protest leaders threaten chaos

Cape Town - Andile Lili and Loyiso Nkohla have again threatened to bring chaos and “ungovernability” to the city centre, apparently because Premier Helen Zille would not meet with them in person.

The duo pioneered Cape Town’s poo protests last year and led a march of informal settlement dwellers on the city centre. The march descended into chaos when a group of marchers broke away from a picket in front of the provincial parliament and looted traders’ stalls in the city centre.

After this, a group of religious and community leaders formed the Concerned Citizens Group (CCG) to mediate with the informal settlement leaders. Yesterday, Lili and Nkohla met with a CCG delegation to discuss the agenda for a planned meeting with city and provincial officials to discuss grievances over poor sanitation services in many of the city’s informal settlements.

“Our engagements are always cordial, but there was obvious frustration from their side because we could not give a guarantee that the premier would be present at the meeting,” said the Rev Gordon Oliver, a CCG representative.

Oliver was however, shocked to see statements, published in the media this morning, in which Lili and Nkohla threatened violence and another march on the CBD. He then issued a call for calm and a continuation of “peaceful discussion”.

Meanwhile, the group have approached Zille’s office to inquire about the possibility of her attending the meeting, on February 5, in person. However, Zille’s spokesman Zak Mbhele this morning said that the premier would not attend the meeting.

“Lili and Nkohla’s statements reveal very clearly the political nature of their agenda,” he said.

“Minister Bonginkosi Madikizela already met with them in a lengthy meeting on November 27 where he explained what the Western Cape Government was doing to deliver on all the programmes of the provincial Department of Human Settlements.

“That they ignore this and continue to threaten ungovernability simply shows bad faith.”

The cellphones of Lili and Nkohla were switched off this morning.

- Cape Argus

Cape weather IS wettest for years

Cape Town - Capetonians are talking of little other than how this winter is the wettest they can remember – and they’re probably right, considering that the Cape Town Weather Office says most parts of the Western Cape recorded almost double the usual amount of rain last month.

This year, Strand, which has a rainfall average of 101.9mm in August, showed the highest increase in rainfall – with a record 235.2mm recorded last month.

The rainfall in Khayelitsha, Philippi, Nyanga, Gugulethu, Ottery, Delft and Kuils River last month was 168mm – the second highest for the month after the 169.7mm recorded in August 2004. This was compared to an average for those areas of 85.3mm.

Rainfall in the Green Point and V&A Waterfront area nearly doubled, jumping from 76.6mm in August last year to 151.2mm this year. Chapman’s Peak also had its highest August rainfall since 2000, at 171.6mm.

Weather office spokeswoman Gail Linnow said: “Most places in the Western Cape recorded almost double the amount of rain for the month of August 2013, compared to the average for the area.”

In most areas in and around Cape Town, last month saw either the highest or second highest rainfall since 2000.

The highest recorded August rainfall for the Cape Flats was 160.7mm in 2004, 195.5mm for Observatory, also in 2004, and 224.4mm in 2001 for Gardens.

Observatory had 188.8mm of rain last month – more than double its rainfall for the same month last year. Gardens had just over 200mm of rainfall last month, not far short of its 2001 high.

Rainfall in the Septembers since 2000 has been significantly lower than that of August, with the wettest September for most areas being in 2008. But this September is not over.

So far this month, the wettest area in Cape Town has been Gardens, with 34.4mm of rain.

Dam levels have also increased over the years as a result of heavier rains.

Five of the city’s six major dams, and five of the seven minor dams, were over capacity last week for the first time since 2009.

For the years 2009 and 2013, the only major dam with water levels below capacity during the week of September 9 to 15 was Wemmershoek dam, near Franschhoek and Paarl.

The province’s biggest dam, Theewaterskloof Dam, near Villiersdorp, had the highest water levels, with a recording of 104.9 percent – which is also the highest recorded water level for the week of September 9 to 15 between 2009 and 2013.

The last time Theewaterskloof Dam, which has a capacity of 480 188 megalitres, was over-capacity was in 2009, with water levels recorded as 102.8 percent.

Voëlvlei Dam, near Gouda, which has had water levels within or just under capacity since 2009, was 1.8 percent over capacity last week.

The province’s third largest dam, the Berg River Dam, reached its highest water levels – 102 percent storage – for last week between 2009 and 2013.

Of the province’s minor dams, Kleinplaats had the highest water levels for the week with 102.5 percent storage – the first time the dam has been over capacity.

Alexandra and Lewis Gay dams, the province’s smallest and third smallest, respectively, are the only dams to have not gone over capacity for the week September 9 to 15 in the years between 2009 and 2013.

sibongakonke.mama@inl.co.za

- Weekend Argus

‘Zille is inciting party propaganda’

Cape Town - The professed “task team” behind Cape Town’s faeces attacks has lashed out at Premier Helen Zille, accusing her of breaking the law for “party propaganda purposes”.

A task team press conference in Site C, Khayelitsha, was held days after Zille revealed the names of 11 ringleaders whom she claimed were behind a series of orchestrated attacks.

The protests have seen faeces dumped at Cape Town International Airport, the provincial legislature and on the N2.

Zille noted that many of the instigators were members of the ANC Youth League who had used the refrain of “making the province ungovernable” as their slogan. This, she said, proved that the attacks were politically motivated and aimed at rallying support for the ANC before next year’s elections.

On Monday one of the task team’s more prominent members, city councillor Loyiso Nkohla, read a statement in which he accused Zille of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by “seeking to dictate the outcome of pending criminal cases… for party propaganda purposes”.

Nkohla and Andile Lili are among the protesters arrested following the airport dumping. They face trial under the Civil Aviation Act, and could be jailed for up to 30 years.

Nkohla said the faeces protests had nothing to do with a party political agenda, and that they had received no mandate from the ANC’s leaders in the province.

 

Zille has conceded her office had no evidence that the ANC had instructed the task team, but she said the top brass’s failure to discipline their own members amounted to “collusion”.

“I have had no response to letters sent to President Zuma asking him to condemn the task team’s actions. So I can only presume he condones them. No wonder they act with impunity.”

She also accused the police of watching the proceedings without arresting the poo-tossers.

The Cape Argus asked ANC spokesman Phillip Dexter on Friday whether the party would consider the DA’s evidence against some of its members and take action, but the party has failed to respond to queries.

Richard Pithouse, a political lecturer at Rhodes University, accused the ANC Youth League of being disingenuous considering there was also a sanitation crisis in informal settlements in ANC-run provinces.

- Cape Argus

Floods leave thousands homeless

Tens of thousands of Peninsula residents have been forced to abandon their homes, with forecasts of a respite today and tomorrow offering little solace after the havoc wreaked in the past few days.

More than 36 000 people have been left homeless as nearly 10 000 homes were flooded and countless informal houses and businesses damaged.

Residents swarmed around mayor Patricia de Lille yesterday in Philippi, when she waded through water mixed with sewage and rubbish, inspecting some of the worst-hit parts of the city.

At Kosovo, she and Disaster Risk Management officials and members of her mayoral committee who were accompanying her, struggled through knee-deep water during the inspection of affected homes yesterday.

Kosovo is built on a flood plain and is at high risk of flooding during bad weather. And while residents have been lucky for the past three winters, they were caught off-guard by very heavy downpours on Friday night.

Several homes were under water and residents could be seen packing up their belongings as they moved to stay with family and friends.

Following the example of residents, De Lille resorted to using stones and plastic sheets as makeshift stepping stones to traverse the mud and waterlogged paths.

Faeces, rubbish and even dead rats were floating in the larger puddles, which in many cases were turning into streams.

Shacks erected in the heart of Kosovo township were worst affected and while De Lille tried her best to reach them, it proved impossible.

“Sadly, because of its location on a water retention area, this outcome was almost predictable.

“It’s heartbreaking to see people’s homes filled with water and their possessions floating all over, with garbage,” she said, adding that they were relocating those affected to one of 13 temporary relocation areas.

The city had tried to move the people out of Kosovo for the past two years, but had met with resistance from the community.

“Some stay for close proximity to work and family, but some political activists convinced the people to resist our relocation attempts and stay, despite the danger. It is reckless and irresponsible to manipulate people’s lives for political gain,” De Lille said.

Throughout her inspection De Lille was mobbed by people who wanted to tell her of their plight.

Kosovo resident Nomavo Ndupe said she was pleased to see De Lille, because “the city must see what we go through”.

“It’s not just the water, but the sewage that flows into our homes. The children and old people get sick all the time,” she said.

Residents were given loaves of bread before De Lille and her team moved on to Macassar, where residents of Kramat had stacked sandbags in front of their homes after a nearby river began overflowing.

About 50 residents abandoned their flooded homes there on Thursday. They are being sheltered in the Macassar Community Hall.

Veronica du Plessis said it was the second time her home had flooded in three years.

“Last time we had no place to go and no one to help us, but this time we get meals and a place to keep our children safe,” she said.

While the women looked after the children in the hall, the men took it in turns to keep watch over their flooded homes to keep looters away.

On the other side of town, at the Klipfontein Mission Station along Lansdowne Road, residents protested and burnt tyres on Friday night over lack of proper stormwater drainage in the area.

Residents Jessica and Peter Andries said their home was knee-deep in water.

Jessica Andries said:

“I have a five-year-old and a baby grandchild who had been living under these conditions for over a week. Nobody has been here to help drain this water.”

Other residents complained about the threat of disease, sickness and sores.

Henry Adriaanse, 57, said they had been living “worse than animals” for the past week.

A fuming Patricia van Rensberg said they had given the city a memorandum demanding proper drainage.

“The entire road next to our homes is flooded, and when the cars come past all that water splashes and runs down into our homes. No person should be allowed to live like this,” she said. 

- Weekend Argus

Battle lines drawn in ‘poo war’

Cape Town - While nine men remain in custody after human waste was dumped at Cape Town International Airport, a new group have taken up the “poo war” against the City of Cape Town.

The nine in custody face serious charges under the Civil Aviation Act and, if found guilty, up to 30 years in prison.

The new group, comprising 15 members, say they are willing to be arrested for their actions.

The 15, who say they represent the areas “affected” by the fight with the city over toilets, announced on Friday they had established a task team.

They say they are not politically aligned, and will continue protesting and throwing faeces.

The task team’s secretary, Phaphamani Ngcingi, said the protests would continue.

The task team’s spokesman, Sithembele Majova, said the group’s role would be to “interact with the relevant people” and to “lead and co-ordinate” them against the city’s sanitation resolutions.

The group warned that the protests would “be worse”.

It said the protests over the past four weeks had had an impact “even on the most ignorant person”.

“The mere fact that the N2 is packed with metro police every 5km since that Monday morning simply means that the Western Cape government is more worried about the few elite who are fortunate enough to use this route daily,” the task team’s statement read.

The team demanded the protesters in custody be released immediately or the province would be made “ungovernable”.

It said the police were provoking residents by arresting protesters. That ANC councillor Loyiso Nkohla and former councillor Andile Lili remained in custody did not “weaken’’ their “struggle in rejecting portable flush toilets”.

The city has agreed to engage with the group if they are serious about improving services.

The mayoral committee member for human settlements, Ernest Sonnenberg, said the city would engage with any group or organisation that was genuinely interested in improving service delivery.

“However, we cannot engage with organisations that promote breaking the laws of the country to raise their issues,” he added.

- Cape Argus

14 000 homes affected by Cape weather

Cape Town - A total of 14 337 households were affected by the bad weather conditions in Cape Town last weekend, the disaster risk management centre said on Saturday.

The centre's spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said 52 529 residents were affected by the flooding and inclement conditions.

Last weekend the city experienced extreme weather conditions including strong winds, heavy rain, flooding and extremely cold conditions.

Solomons-Johannes said the city's relief aid workers had spent the week mopping up.

He said a total of 42 402 blankets, 45 090 hot meals, 22 488 brunches, 27 food parcels, 767 flood kits and 332 baby packs were distributed to those affected.

He said an early warning system had been put in place and all rescue and disaster agencies were on standby for the next cold front which they expected over the next weekend. - Sapa

'Bucket system here for decades'

Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale hopes that the current national sanitation backlog of 2.278-million households will be eradicated by December next year, but critics believe this target is unrealistic and the minister himself has cast doubt upon it.

The government has made repeated promises to eradicate the sanitation backlog, including the infamous bucket system, but these have failed to materialise, resulting in a strong community outcry in several areas.

Now Mr Sexwale admitted, in a written reply to a parliamentary question on Friday, that he did not know when the bucket system would be finally eliminated.

Democratic Alliance human settlements spokesperson Stevens Mokgalapa was adamant that the government was unlikely to meet its latest target in view of the very slow progress made so far, particularly in rural areas.

The Social Justice Coalition also believed that eradicating the sanitation backlog was likely to take many years, "if not decades", and that the minister’s estimate of its size was too conservative.

Missing next year’s deadline would mean a failure to meet the United Nations millennium development goal on sanitation by 2015.

Mr Sexwale said the target "may not be met due to insufficient financial resources and a lack of technical and financial management skills at municipal level".

He attributed the magnitude of the backlog to a number of factors, including an "exceptionally large" backlog that was inherited by the post-1994 government. Further, the number of people per household had declined while the number of households had risen and there had been a rapid rise in informal settlements — particularly in urban areas — as a result of migration from rural areas and of foreigners.

Mr Sexwale said municipalities had not made sufficient allocations for sanitation in their budgets.

Social Justice Coalition deputy general secretary Gavin Silber said the estimated backlog of 2.278-million was conservative "as it assumed that all public toilet facilities installed in informal settlements to date are properly maintained, whereas municipalities across the country are failing to do so. Many toilets have broken down and have not worked for years, while others are very unhygienic and unsafe."

At the current rate of delivery and population growth in informal settlements — in addition to the absence of co-ordinated and coherent informal settlement development plans at local level — it was likely to take many years if not decades to eradicate the backlogs, he said.

"The only way to address this is through a new approach that incorporates meaningful engagement with affected communities, better intergovernmental co-operation, and an acknowledgement that informal settlements are in many cases not ‘temporary’ but permanent communities deserving of quality basic services," Mr Silber said.

Mr Mokgalapa urged the government to consider alternative sanitation systems that were not dependent on water.

- iafrica

The buckets don't stop here: Toilet trials and tribulations in the Cape

For the past nine months photographer David Harrison has been documenting sanitation issues in the informal settlements around Khayelitsha.

Khayelitsha is reputed to be one of the fastest growing partially informal areas in South Africa and, despite some improvement, the situation is still dire. In Khayelitsha, going to the toilet means putting your life at risk.

It is early morning and in the dim light I walk carefully along the narrow stretch of grass and sand that runs between the shacks of Khayelitsha Site C and the N2 highway. 

I find myself in the middle of an open latrine with faeces in varying states of decomposition all around me. An overwhelming smell assaults my senses; I struggle to fight my gag reflex. 

Cars rush past to my right as the morning traffic heads into the city. 

• View slideshow: Cape Town's dirty secret

To my left Site C residents emerge through broken gaps in the concrete pillar barrier that separates their shacks from the road. Many are carrying buckets containing "dirty water" accumulated in their shacks during the previous night, which they throw out on to the ground, hesitantly once they spot me.

A young boy walks past me followed by his twin brother. They are wearing matching shirts and shorts, both are barefoot. They each find an open piece of ground, squat and relieve themselves.

A woman standing in an opening in the concrete barrier calls out and asks me what I am doing. 

I explain my presence and why I hope taking photographs could help to make a difference. 

"Lots of people come to take photos," she says. "Still nothing changes."

Sewerage infrastructure

The City of Cape Town spends nearly 60% of its direct service delivery budget in poorer areas and has doubled the number of toilets delivered to informal settlements to more than 34 000 for the 2011-2012 financial year. It has also increased the budget for the provision of sewerage infrastructure and the provision of water, yet despite this, for large numbers of people living in informal settlements, there are still limited options when it comes to sanitation and it may indeed seem as though little changes.  

In September last year I started documenting sanitation issues around Khayelitsha. I've tried to understand and document some of the issues and problems faced by so many people living there without basic services and proper sanitation. 

I've seen how few properly working toilets there are in some communities and how far away many toilets are. Many communities don't have any access to flushing toilets at their homes. They must use either the blue plastic chemical toilets or portable toilets.

In extreme cases, going to the toilet might literally mean risking your life. Khayelitsha has some of the highest crime statistics in the country, with violent crime on the increase, rape and murder rates being particularly high. 

Added to this is the breakdown of the relationship between communities in Khayelitsha and the South African Police Service. There is currently a commission of inquiry into the police. It was prompted by allegations of ineffectualness, incompetence and corruption. 

But there are steps being taken, seemingly in the right direction, as special programmes get up and running. Also, community-based organisations are getting involved. They advocate for better sanitation and hold the service providers and city officials accountable.

Sitting in the rain one evening last year looking out over RR Section in Khayelitsha and the heavily polluted waterway that runs through the middle of the settlement, it was easy to see how there would be a sanitation problem there. 

Infant deaths

Just like so many other informal settlements nearby, it is in a low-lying area, prone to flooding, densely populated, and has little infrastructure and few basic services.

Residents don't have their own toilets. There are rows of flushing toilets, but the blue plastic chemical toilets and the portable toilet system are also in use. I have seen standpipes, which provide water to the community, that are located right next the toilets. They become a focal point for the community and young children regularly play in these areas, often barefoot.

Water samples taken from around RR Section show high levels of raw sewerage and of E.coli bacteria, which are responsible for diarrhoea. Khayelitsha reportedly has the highest rate of diarrhoea-related infant deaths of all districts in Cape Town.

In 2008 the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) was formed in RR Section. When the organisation heard testimonies of people who had been raped or had family members murdered while they walked long distances to use a toilet it started to focus on sanitation issues in Cape Town's informal settlements.

In 2010 the SJC launched its clean and safe sanitation campaign, which has, with the City of Cape Town's help, seen the introduction of a janitorial service project for flushing toilets. Now in its second and more successful phase, more flushing toilets are being constructed where conditions allow. 

City of Cape Town councillor Ernest Sonnenberg, the member on the mayoral committee responsible for utility services, has said that the city tries to provide these flushing toilets where possible. But he says topographical constraints, servitudes, land ownership issues and technical hindrances such as population density often make this impractical. When this happens, alternatives such as chemical or portable toilets are used. 

Nomlungisi Qezo lives with her three children in RR Section and is also a member of the SJC. Until a month ago she and her family used a portable toilet in an outhouse that she built on the side of her shack. A number of flushing toilets have recently been built in RR. Qezo and her family now have access to one not far from their home. 

"I'm so proud of SJC because without the clean and safe campaign this wouldn't have happened," she says. "I'm safe if I want to go the toilet late at night or early in the morning; we're seeing an improvement here."

Temporary services

I join Qezo and members of the SJC on their door-to-door campaign to get new members and begin new branches throughout the areas where services are still lacking. 

We go to Ndlovini, another informal settlement in Khayelitsha. The campaigners are well versed in the issues confronting the communities – they face the same challenges.

"These people still haven't got proper toilets", says Qezo. "But we'll fight for them."

Axolile Notywala, a researcher with the SJC, says: "There is still a lot that needs to be done because there are many people who still have to use the chemical or portable toilets. There are many areas that still need flushing toilets."

He believes that, because authorities see many informal settlements as being temporary, only temporary services are provided. These end up being used for years in some 

cases. Maintenance of these services is also a major problem.

"The city's janitorial project is having an effect in the communities in which residents are employed to clean the rows of flushing toilets, but there is a long way to go because people reporting issues often have to wait months before problems are attended to," he says.

This week, the SJC will be involved in a social audit in RR Section and other informal communities in Khayelitsha, where community members will learn to be involved in the monitoring of the performance of sanitation service providers. 

Notywala says: "We want communities to empower themselves through information, to hold service providers responsible."

Lack of access 

Community members will be involved in monitoring the chemical toilet service provider in this programme.

The social audit system has been pioneered successfully in India, where, despite early resistance, it's become an important mechanism to address corruption and strengthen accountability in government service delivery there. Along with other SJC members, Qezo has been going door to door again, getting residents involved in gathering information and ensuring the service provider is held to account. 

"We need to know if the service provider has built the chemical toilets properly on a concrete base, otherwise they're not safe," she says. "We need to know how often the toilets are being cleaned and what chemicals are being used. We also need to know about the possible side effects of these chemicals."

Residents are supposed to report any issues they have with chemical toilets to a specific service provider community liaison officer, but they can report problems directly to the City of Cape Town if they're not attended to.

There is a toll-free number that city officials made available at a community meeting this week. The problem is that there aren't any payphones in this community to make the call from.

Although there are flushing toilets in many informal communities around Cape Town, in Khayelitsha there are still people who use buckets overnight because of safety concerns. And many people still use the open bush because of a lack of access to clean and working toilets.

Near the N2 highway the twins walk back through the concrete barrier into Site C and disappear into the sea of shacks. Just another day; just part of their normal routine.

- M&G

Two children die as heat sees spike in diarrhoea

Cape Town - At least two children have died and thousands have been treated for gastric-related complications across the city as the notorious diarrhoea season gains momentum.

According to the City of Cape Town more than 2,500 children have been treated at local clinics with moderate to severe dehydration due to diarrhoea. Nearly 300 were admitted at Red Cross Children’s Hospital between November and December.

Sandile Bontsa, spokesman for mayoral committee member for health, Lungiswa James, pictured, said the number of diarrhoea cases seen in children this season had gone up slightly compared with last year at this time.

But there has been half the number of serious cases with dehydration. Only 57 children out of 2,519 were treated for severe dehydration.

Bontsa said health authorities were, however, bracing themselves as the worst time was yet to come, pushing up the cost of treatment to thousands of rands.

It could cost up to R14,000 per patient to treat gastro enteritis in a hospital, depending on the severity and the level of care given.

“The cost of treating a case of diarrhoea is almost negligible if it is treated early by nurses at the clinics, with a sugar and salt solution. But once the cases are admitted to hospital the costs increase significantly.

“The cost depends on what type of hospitalisation the child requires… with complications it can take up to a week in a high care bed, at a cost of more than R14 000,” he said.

While the regular diarrhoea season has not yet peaked – it is expected to do so next month. Diarrhoea is more prevalent in summer than at any other time.

Heat encourages bacteria to breed, leading to serious gastric illnesses.

In informal settlements, where there is poor sanitation, residents are particularly at risk. The cases, which start around November, usually peak during February and March.

Faiza Steyn, spokeswoman for the provincial Department of Health said since December Tygerberg Hospital had admitted 170 children with diarrhoea while 281 children had been admitted to Red Cross Children’s Hospital between November and December.

She said two children had since died at Tygerberg Hospital due to diarrhoea. Both children were younger than five.

- Cape Argus

Africa behind on millennium goals progress: UN

Most African countries are lagging behind in achieving the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals

They will not make as much progress in health, nutrition and sanitation as had hoped, UN officials said.

The Millennium Development Goals aim to dramatically reduce global poverty and boost education, gender equality and health by 2015. But it is becoming apparent most African countries will not meet those targets, often referred to by their initials, MDGs.

“There is a reason to be pessimistic about the MDGs from the point of view that the progress has been slow on some of the goals,” UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said late Thursday.

“In spite of the progress that Africa is making we are lagging behind in a number of MDGs and there is a clear indication that in a number of MDGs particularly in areas of health, nutrition and sanitation, Africa will not register significant results as to what we anticipate it should be by 2015,” said Erastus Mwencha, deputy chair of the African Union Commission.

Mwencha said the global economic downturn has slowed aid to African nations from developed countries and is partly to blame for the weak performance.

Education is one bright spot in the list of development targets. Many African countries are on track to having 90% of children in school, according to a July UN report.

But the continent is not on schedule to meet targets to eradicate hunger and poverty, reduce child mortality and improve maternal health, said the report.

Although Africa has achieved economic growth in the past decade, it has failed to reduce poverty and hunger and create adequate jobs, according to the report. The slow progress has been linked to high population growth and persistently high levels of gender and geographical inequalities.

African countries need to prepare for post-2015 challenges, said Deputy Secretary-General Eliasson. African governments must contend with scarce resources and population growth pressure, he said. He also called on the countries to give priority to improving inequality, human rights protections and good governance.

Eliasson spoke at the close of a meeting to devise a post-2015 development agenda for Africa. More than 200 representatives from the United Nations, the African Union Commission, African states and various regional and international institutions attended.

- Sapa-AP

Water danger for people with HIV

Scores of South Africans with HIV in informal settlements and rural areas lack clean, safe water and this is putting them at risk of contracting potentially lethal waterborne diseases, according to a new report.

“They are particularly vulnerable to opportunistic waterborne pathogens. Exposure to these should therefore be prevented at all costs,” cautioned the Water Research Commission study. “Additionally, the absence of a safe drinking water supply has particular implications for HIV-infected breastfeeding mothers unable to ensure safe infant-feeding through the alternative of formula feeding.”

The report, “How Does the HIV and Aids Epidemic in South Africa Impact on the Water Sanitation and Hygiene Sectors?”, said that drinking water of good microbial quality was essential for the health of people living with HIV and Aids, particularly in rural and informal settlements.

The report noted the irony “in providing people living with HIV and Aids with advanced antiretroviral agents while they are forced to wash them down with water that may contain life-threatening pathogens”.

Caregivers, it said, should be provided with a safe water supply to promote antiretroviral treatment. “Not only is diarrhoea one of the many side effects of these drugs, but people on antiretroviral drugs require greater amounts of water for drinking.

“Diarrhoea is a common symptom of HIV and Aids. Diarrhoea affects 90 percent of HIV and Aids-infected people and results in significant morbidity, mortality, limited uptake of medicines and malnutrition. Morbidity from diarrhoea in HIV and Aids child patients is much higher than in adults.

“People infected with the disease also have to deal with waterborne pathogens that are known to cause eye and skin infections. “Diarrhoeal disease in these patients will compromise the absorption of the drugs and can even contribute to antiretroviral resistant strains of the HIV virus.

“HIV and Aids are changing the structure of African societies, hampering development progress and worsening poverty levels. Social factors such as gender inequality, human rights violations, stigma and discrimination are social drivers of the disease.”

But the report found that beyond water quality, inadequate quantities of safe water were a recurrent issue, highlighting the “inadequacy” of the free basic water policy for people with HIV and Aids “This policy provides 6 000 litres of potable water supplied per formal connection per month per household in the case of yard or house connections. Current estimates of water requirements are highly variable (from 50 to 200 litres and more daily per person) but there are no tangible data to confirm this.”

Often the water supply system was not working. “Water interruptions are common in many of the smaller municipal areas and in townships. People have to store water or resort to using surface water if available, buy water, get water from sources far away from their home yards. Each of these scenarios poses some potential impact for their health.

“Storing water leads to in-house contamination and using surface water exposes people to waterborne pathogens,” said the report. -Saturday Star

Residents reel after heavy rains

The stench from flooded toilets, residents in rubber boots scooping water out of their homes, muddied roads: this is what life will be like for the next few weeks for people living in an informal settlement in Gugulethu.

Residents of Europe have suffered the full brunt of the heavy deluge which began last week.

Community leader Nombulelo Mgogo said this is what they go through every time it rains. “After the flooding, we get blankets and bread and then it ends there. But for us, that is when the real work begins.”

Resident Yandisa Kwale, 23, has a large pool of water in front of his shack and every time he opens the door his one-roomed shack floods.

His shoes are lying in the water inside the shack. He estimates it will take a week for the water to subside, assuming it does not rain again.

Another resident, Sandile Vice, 45, said he had missed work on Monday in order to clean his home after the floods. His carpet and belongings are hanging up to dry outside his shack as he cleans the muddied floor.

“Every time it rains we have to do the same thing. On Friday this whole place was full of water, it is only getting better now but it will take time for the walls to dry because the cardboard sucks up some of the water,” Vice said.

Neighbours said some residents moved to a different area during the rainy season to escape the flooding.

SA Weather Service forecaster Rian Smit said there would be some showers on Tuesday and that more rain was expected on Wednesday. - Cape Argus

Cheap water filters can help poor communities

A tea bag-sized filter that cleans highly polluted water and costs about three cents a litre to use could be available to the public in approximately six weeks, the University of Stellenbosch said on Monday.

"The water is cleaned right then and there when you drink from the bottle," said professor Eugene Cloete, the dean of the faculty of science at the University of Stellenbosch (US), in a statement.

Cloete said the filter could help meet the needs of people who lived in remote areas or whose regular water supply was not being treated to potable standards.

"The lack of availability of adequate, safe and affordable water supplies impacts severely on vulnerable groups such as the poor, the elderly, HIV/Aids patients and children," he said.

"More than 90 percent of all cholera cases are reported in Africa, and 300 million people on our continent do not have access to safe drinking water. Clearly, something has to be done about this," he said.

A researcher on the project, Marelize Botes, said the filters would cost only three cents and fitted into the neck of a bottle.

She said the filters were disposable, portable, easy to use and environmentally friendly.

The filters were made with the same materials as rooibos tea bags.

Cloete, a former executive vice-president of the International Water Association and a member of Coca-Cola's worldwide panel of water experts, worked on the invention with researchers from the Department of Microbiology and other US scientists for 18 months and patented it in January.

"The inside of the outer material is coated with a thin film of biocides, encapsulated within tiny nanofibres, which kills all disease-causing microbes," said Cloete.

"The bag is filled with active carbon granules that remove all harmful chemicals."

The filters were tested in a very polluted river in Stellenbosch where they proved to clean one litre of the most polluted water to the point where it was 100 percent safe to drink.

The invention was submitted for testing by the South African Bureau of Standards, after which the team hoped to introduce it to various communities, as well as the outdoor activities market.

- Sapa

20 children die in Cape diarrhoea outbreak

Twenty children in the Western Cape have died as a result of complications arising from gastroenteritis and diarrhoea in the past few months.

Some medical staff said they were under serious pressure from both the seasonal outbreak of diarrhoea and a measles epidemic that had been diagnosed in 1 250 people since September.

The provincial department of health said that more than 700 children with diarrhoea had been admitted to its hospitals last month.

And on Friday, there were just more than 100 children being treated for measles in Western Cape hospitals. Thirteen children have died of complications linked to measles since the epidemic broke out last year.

The Red Cross Children's Hospital is dealing with scores of measles and diarrhoea cases, and staff are battling to cope.

One doctor, who declined to be named, said staff shortages at the hospital meant doctors and nurses felt overwhelmed by the number of patients they were treating.

"Staff aren't happy. There's been too much pressure for them deliver, with few resources. Critical staff shortages have made the situation worse.

"Staff just feel overwhelmed by the work as a result of the measles outbreak, for instance. It would be interesting to know what the department is doing to address staff shortages here," said the doctor.

Provincial health department spokeswoman Faiza Steyn acknowledged that there were staff shortages at the Red Cross Children's Hospital, but insisted these were being addressed as part of an ongoing process.

"We have addressed this with the employment of two additional medical officers at the beginning of the year, and we are in the process of appointing two additional medical officers next month," she said.

Meanwhile, both the province and the city are upbeat about a mass inoculation campaign, which aims to vaccinate at least one million children against measles. It is part of a national inoculation drive - other provinces have also been hit by measles outbreaks.

Steyn said that more than 400 000 children had been vaccinated across the Western Cape during the first three days of the provincial inoculation drive, which started last week.

Dr Ivan Bromfield, the head of City Health, said: "There has been a good response so far. Certain areas have been put under strain with numbers, but are coping.

"The challenges relate to ensuring that normal primary health-care services continue whilst we have to utilise a large proportion of our personnel power to deal with the campaign."

- Cape Argus

Lookout Hill - Mamela Minister

In the last few months, we have seen an increase in the number of service delivery protests across the country, including here in Cape Town. People are getting frustrated and this is understandable.

However, I dont believe that frustration arises only out of the pace of service delivery and when it comes to my portfolio, the provision of housing opportunities. I believe that a very significant factor in that frustration is the lack of information people have about what the government is doing to address this issue, as well as the challenges we face in doing so. We as government need to improve our communication and engagement with the people we serve.

If people were given more platforms to engage with the government, they may be less inclined to take to the streets and damage property. That is the rationale behind this programme. We need to pre-empt riots over housing and service delivery by giving people more channels with which to engage with me and my department.

Therefore, I will be undertaking a road show to visit communities across the province to share my vision and my goals for addressing the housing needs of the people of our province and to listen to some of the concerns that people have about the way we are addressing this challenge.

I will also be making myself available to participate in call-in shows on community radio stations across the province, where people will be able to call in and direct questions to me and senior officials in my department. My goal is to give as many people as possible the opportunity to engage with us, and to hear about our plans and programmes to meet their needs.

Enquiries: Zalisile Mbali Cell: 084 558 9989

Issued 12 November 2009 by:
Department of Local Government and Housing, Western Cape Provincial Government

Source: Western Cape Provincial Government

Cape on alert for waterborne diseases

With 20 000 flood victims and nearly 6 500 homes still affected, the City is trying to prevent an outbreak of waterborne diseases by draining stagnating water.

Charlotte Powell, spokesperson for the City of Cape Town Disaster Management Team said more than 60 informal settlements have been damaged by flooding and the City's Disaster Relief Team was conducting ongoing water checks in all communities, especially ones at risk of stagnant water.

The City's Disaster Management Team has alerted health authorities in the informal settlements.

All clinics in the settlements have been placed on high alert and advised to do regular checks of people and the surrounding environment, said Greg Pillay, Head of Cape Town's Disaster Risk Management Centre.

They check stagnant water for waterborne diseases.
Stagnant water can be contaminated by many sources including sewage, said Ivan Bromfield, Executive Director of City Health.

"The longer the water is stagnant, the greater the risk of contamination," he said.

Diarrheal waterborne diseases such as E.coli are the greatest risk, and settlement residents have been advised not to drink, walk or play in standing water, he said.

- Cape Times

Diarrhoea's seasonal sweep claims kids' lives

At least 11 children in Cape Town died of diarrhoea at provincial hospitals last month and 1 000 were admitted for the treatment of gastro-enteritis.

This weekend alone, there were 45 new admissions to Red Cross Children's Hospital from its specialised rehydration unit, designed to address the seasonal diarrhoea epidemic in the city. Ten of the 45 were admitted early this morning.

The province's biggest hospital, Tygerberg, said six children had died after being admitted in February, and Red Cross said five had died since the third week of January.

Tygerberg Hospital spokesperson Laticia Pienaar said the number of admissions for gastro-enteritis for February had risen from 95 last year to 124 this year.

There were more than 1 000 cases in hospital in the province for January and February

Although there were more than 1 000 cases in hospital in the province for January and February, health authorities warned that the outbreak was not over, as late March and April were considered peak season for diarrhoea.

"March is the hottest month of the year in Cape Town, and because of poor living conditions… things get worse," said Dr Tony Westwood, co-ordinator of child health services at the Department of Health and a specialist at Red Cross hospital.

"Another aspect is that the more infected people you have, the higher the risk."

Areas in Philippi, Guguletu, Nyanga, Delft, Khayelitsha and Ikhwezi township in the Helderberg were described as hotspots for diarrhoea.

Given the sporadic outbreak in the province, health workers were taking precautions and testing the more severe cases of diarrhoea for cholera, but there had been no cholera cases among children.

'... because of poor living conditions, things get worse'

Tygerberg Hospital, which has about 33 cases, said a significant part of its intensive care unit space was filled with critically ill children.

Pienaar said at least 30% of children in the hospital needed to be admitted for longer than 48 hours because of the severity of their illness. Most of them were younger than two and most were dehydrated.

"There is a range from mild to very severe cases. Most of the mild cases are dealt with at local clinics and don't get to hospital.

"Some severe cases are from clinics and community health centres, but many are transfers from district hospitals because the children are so ill," she added.

Westwood said that of the 1 000 admissions for January and February, at least 470 were at Red Cross and 140 at Tygerberg.

Although he had noticed a steep increase in the number of admissions, which was putting pressure on hospital beds, it was too early to say whether the situation was worse than last year.

"We don't yet know if it's worse than usual," he said, adding that when the numbers have been crunched, it might be possible that figures were down, considering the increase in the province's immigration numbers.

Temba Gubula, a spokesperson for Red Cross, confirmed that up until the end of last week, 150 children had been admitted.

But then another 45 had been admitted in the past three days.

A total of 33 were discharged while 20 were transferred to other provincial hospitals, including Tygerberg and Karl Bremer.

Gubula said there was no significant increase in the number of deaths this year.

- Cape Argus