‘No action despite bad toilet audit’

Cape Town - THE Social Justice Coalition says the city is yet to take action five months after its audit showed some chemical toilets were “missing” and that a toilet contractor was failing to provide a proper service.

The coalition is also upset that Mshengu Toilet Hire’s three-year contract has been extended for another six months despite alarming findings which showed it was failing in its obligations. The contract expired in June.

The city is denying the findings of the social audit.

At a meeting in April Khayelitsha residents highlighted the dismal state of chemical toilets, which they said had not been maintained and cleaned properly by the city’s contractor, Mshengu Services. At the time mayor Patricia de Lille acknowledged that the city needed to improve the monitoring of the service.

The social audit released in the same month, conducted by the SJC with assistance from the International Budget Partnership in Washington and the Society for Social Audit in India, found that Mshengu was failing to maintain some toilets in four sections in Khayelitsha.

“It is problematic that the city has rolled over the contract for Mshengu,” SJC deputy general secretary Dustin Kramer said.

“We haven’t really seen any remedial actions from them.”

Kramer said the city had conducted its own “mini audit” but had delivered new toilets to “discredit the social audit”.

Among its findings the audit revealed that of the 346 toilets supplied, 256 were found and 170 were damaged. Instead of five families a toilet (the city’s norm), on average 17 families used each toilet.

Kramer said they would only take a decision on the matter once the Human Rights Commission had completed its report on the Mshengu contract.

Mayco member for utility services Ernest Sonnenberg said the Mshengu contract had been extended for six months in line with Supply Chain Management policy until a new tender was awarded.

He said the city was in the process of finalising the details for a new tender.

Sonnenberg said contrary to the report stating that toilets were missing, they had been relocated due to fluctuating needs of the community or were undergoing repairs.

When the city conducted a follow-up audit, it found that some toilets were undergoing repairs after being vandalised.

xolani.koyana@inl.co.za

- Cape Times

‘Poo’ leaders demand land and housing

Cape Town - Hundreds of residents, including the so-called poo protesters, from Cape Town’s informal settlements marched to the provincial legislature on Monday demanding land and housing.

Andile Lili and Loyiso Nkohla, who co-ordinated the recent “faeces protests” in Cape Town, were at the helm of the protest.

In a memorandum to Western Cape Premier Helen Zille - received by Bonginkosi Madikizela, the province’s MEC for Human Settlements - the marchers accused the DA-led provincial government of having “remained indifferent to the plight of thousands of informal settlement dwellers who are in desperate need of housing”.

The document claimed that government-owned land had been mismanaged. Lili said that such land should be reserved for housing to accommodate people from far-flung informal settlements where flooding, shack fires and poor sanitation was the norm.

He said the sanitation protests had been suspended, and the issue of land and housing would form the basis of future protests. Lili said he would no longer support illegal means of protests, such as faeces dumping and blocking the N2 highway.

Khayelitsha Site C resident, Vuyokazi Ncinane, however said poor sanitation was the main reason for her supporting Monday’s march.

Shack dwellers marched to the provincial legislature, demanding that the Western Cape government provide land and housing. Photo: Jason Boud

Cape Argus

“It is school holidays and my children are playing right next to portable toilets that have not been cleaned for some time. It is a real health hazard. That is my biggest concern,” she said.

Madikizela acknowledged that some of the marchers had legitimate concerns and he promised their complaints would receive his attention.

“But, we must separate the political element in this march from the real issues,” he said, referring to the fact that many protesters were wearing the attire of political parties - the ANC, the PAC and the EFF.

This, he said, was proof that the march was being used to electioneer ahead of general elections next year, especially for the ANC.

“The memorandum is vague. I have asked the leaders to provide me with a list of grounds owned by the local and provincial government. From here I will engage with them to discuss what the status and future plans for these tracts of land are.”

Zackie Achmat, an activist with the Social Justice Coalition, attended the march.

daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za

- Cape Argus

Activists question toilet policy document

Cape Town - The Social Justice Coalition (SJC) and the City of Cape Town are engaged in a war of words over sanitation provision in Khayelitsha.

On Thursday, the SJC accused mayor Patricia de Lille of fabrication and “an exceptional show of force” after the arrest of 21 activists outside the Civic Centre on Wednesday.

Mayoral committee member for utility services Ernest Sonnenberg said the SJC was using the sanitation problems for “self-serving publicity”.

The city and the SJC have been at loggerheads over the provision of sanitation in informal settlements and about the way the city has monitored companies contracted to supply and clean chemical toilets.

On Wednesday, SJC activists, including general secretary Phumeza Mlungwana and Ndifuna Ukwazi director Zackie Achmat, chained themselves to railings outside the Civic Centre.

They were arrested and charged under the Illegal Gatherings Act and are to appear in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on September 18.

De Lille described the protest as a “publicity stunt” that “smacks of grandstanding”. She said the coalition had not responded to an offer to meet on October 8 or 17.

But the SJC said: “These are outright fabrications. The mayor only proposed these dates after the SJC’s lawyers, the Legal Resources Centre, sent two letters and it was clear that the SJC would be taking legal action against the city.”

The coalition again accused the city of being lax in its monitoring of toilet contractors and said it would continue to protest in spite of the arrests.

Mlungwana said the SJC had tried to set up an earlier date with De Lille as the sanitation problem in Khayelitsha was an “urgent” matter.

In June, it asked the city to provide a policy on sanitation and a plan to fix the problem in Khayelitsha, which the city had done.

“We had a lot of questions about the document. It didn’t say who was responsible for what and when they should be doing it. This is an urgent issue and we want the mayor to give answers,” Mlungwana said. In the policy document there was no indication of public consultation.

Achmat said the SJC wanted the city to provide a breakdown of how many people were employed to clean toilets, not only in Khayelitsha but other areas, and details of the equipment provided.

Sonnenberg said the 800 people employed in the programme were provided with “protective clothing, necessary immunisation and training”.

“There will always be management challenges… and the city has sought to respond to these as they arise. If the SJC has concerns…these should be reported as they arise so they can be remedied, not kept back to generate self-serving publicity.”

xolani.koyana@inl.co.za

- Cape Times

Cape Town given toilet ultimatum

Cape Town - The social Justice Coalition (SJC) has given the City of Cape Town three months to firm up plans to tackle the “ongoing sanitation crisis” in its informal settlements.

But mayoral committee member for utility services Ernest Sonnenberg accused the coalition of “misinterpreting” data about its ability to deliver basic services.

“Cape Town is the leading sanitation services provider in South Africa. It is therefore ridiculous for the SJC to refer to a ‘crisis’ in this regard in the city.”

About 200 people marched to the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and the Civic Centre on Tuesday with a memorandum of demands for improved sanitation services.

The coalition called for a clear policy and plan for the city’s janitorial staff, who are supposed to monitor the cleaning of toilets, and it has given the city eight weeks in which to meet affected communities about this and a further four weeks in which to develop and implement the policy.

The coalition said it had pointed out shortcomings in the way the city implemented the janitorial service in September. The city had promised to hold a mini summit on the issue, but had not done so.

According to the SJC’s latest report, for March to May, “there has been a significant deterioration” in the janitorial service.

The SJC gave the city two weeks in which to detail its operational plan to deliver new sanitation facilities to each informal settlement. It must also clarify, with time lines, how it reviews complaints lodged against Mshengu Services and other contractors about their shoddy performance.

The SJC has also asked the human rights commission to conduct an independent investigation into the Mshengu contract and to release a report of its findings within a reasonable time.

Melanie Dugmore, provincial manager of the human rights commission, accepted and signed the memorandum. City officials accepted the memorandum from the marchers, who waved placards that stated: “We don’t throw poo, so engage with us constructively.”

In a statement issued later, Sonnenberg said that while the city respected the right of the SJC to raise its concerns, its information was inaccurate.

He said the city had plans in place to improve sanitation. Since April, it had distributed 6 000 portable flush toilets. There were plans to roll out 23 000 of these, as well as to install 1 300 full flush toilets.

Nearly R70 million had been allocated for water and sanitation in informal settlements in the next capital budget, as well as R450m for operational expenditure.

Sonnenberg acknowledged that the janitorial service “did have some teething problems at the outset”, but said these had largely been resolved. A janitorial services operational policy had been developed.

In response to the SJC’s demands and time frames, Sonnenberg said: “We would ask that they review their claims and direct their efforts to working with the city to even further improve the quality of sanitation provided in Cape Town.”

- Cape Argus

Protesters cause a stink at Zille’s office

Cape Town - The ANC Youth League members behind Monday’s porta-loo spill outside Premier Helen Zille’s office said they were “ready to be arrested” the minute they opened the first canister of raw sewage.

ANC proportional councillor and youth league member Loyiso Nkohla and former ANC councillor and banned league member Andile Lili led a group of protesters to the provincial legislature, where they emptied five porta-loos full of raw sewage outside 7 Wale Street before lunchtime.

The main entrance to the legislature was closed for more than an hour as cleaning staff hosed away the waste.

Nkohla and Lili arrived with the portable toilets in the back of an Audi around noon.

They walked to the legislature’s main entrance and emptied the canisters of sewage in full view of the police, who were seated behind a counter in the legislature’s foyer. The group left minutes later.

Lili said the spill was a “warning” and that thousands of informal dwellers would descend on the legislature in seven days to do “the real dump”.

“We will return with thousands of these bucket toilets next week and empty them around the legislature building,” Lili said.

“Zille must also be ready to be beaten with these toilets when she visits the townships. We’ve had enough of these toilets. We were ready to be arrested and will die for this.”

Nkohla said porta-loos in Philippi’s Brown’s Farm area had not been cleaned for weeks.

“It is unacceptable,” he said. “We had to do this to send a clear message.”

The ANC Youth League denied responsibility.

Mfuzo Zenzile, secretary of the league’s Dullah Omar (metro) region, said Lili was no longer a league member and that Nkohla would “be dealt with if he acted in his capacity as a youth league member”.

“We condemn this act,” Zenzile said. “The law must take its course.”

Zenzile added that residents of Philippi, Nyanga and Khayelitsha were “growing tired” of the city’s “non-delivery”.

“While we don’t condone these actions, we understand where the people are coming from,” he said.

“It is winter, people are cold and the toilets are not being cleaned. Not the city or the provincial government is offering solutions.”

Axolile Notywala of the Social Justice Coalition said yesterday’s incident was a “clear sign of the people’s frustration”.

“The authorities need to get their act together and start delivering on their promises,” he said.

“At the weekend, the city’s toilet-cleaning contractors had still not cleaned the portable loos in Philippi. These are the things that are causing protests on the N2 and acts like the one outside the premier’s office.”

Zille’s spokesman, Zak Mbhele, said the incident was “absolutely disgusting”.

He said a team from the premier’s office was analysing camera footage to identify the culprits “who, according to witnesses, are allegedly ANC Youth League members”.

“Once we have identified them, we will be pressing criminal charges,” Mbhele said.

“On May 23, the City of Cape Town was granted an interim interdict against seven identified ANC Youth League-linked residents and their supporters who spilled the contents of porta-loos on the N2 highway recently.

“As part of this interdict, these toilets (as city property) are not allowed to be removed, therefore this was a criminal act.”

Mbhele said the latest incident was another blatant example of the “ungovernability tactics” that the ANC Youth League and its cadres were planning to use in the run-up to next year’s election.

-  Cape Argus

'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