Sanitation

No tap and one toilet

A fed-up Khayelitsha resident is anxious to know why the City of Cape Town is not making any provision for water and sanitation on her street.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 28 August 2013

Are we ready for universal breastfeeding in South Africa? A response to Vuyiseka Dubula

Vuyiseka Dubula’s opinion piece published in GroundUp raises some important issues concerning the promotion of breastfeeding in South Africa. Vuyiseka is correct: breastfeeding is much safer than formula feeding.

David Sanders, Tanya Doherty, Debra Jackson, Ameena Goga

Opinion | 12 August 2013

Sanitation in the streets

Under a hail of criticism, the City is making attempts at sanitation improvements in the informal settlements. On June 25, 300 people took to the streets in a protest demanding faster action. This photo story looks at sanitation in Makhaza, Khayelitsha.

Amelia Earnest

News | 26 June 2013

Sick janitor claims City endangered health

Monica Gotshana, is a single mother of five children from Khayelitsha’s Site B. Today is her last day working as a janitor for the City of Cape Town because her six month contract comes to an end. She talked about her experience working as a toilet cleaner.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 26 June 2013

Sanitation in the streets

Under a hail of criticism, the City is making attempts at sanitation improvements in the informal settlements. On June 25, 300 people took to the streets in a protest demanding faster action. This photo story looks at sanitation in Makhaza, Khayelitsha.

Amelia Earnest

News | 26 June 2013

Activists to De Lille: Give us toilet plan in two weeks

More than 300 people marched in the Cape Town city centre today to demand better sanitation in informal settlements.

Pharie Sefali

News | 25 June 2013

Toilets: What’s all the flush about? A GroundUp Q&A

Shit is at the centre of Cape Town's recent political conflict. Today the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) is marching to the Mayor's office and the Human Rights Commission to demand improvements to the City's sanitation programme. But what is it all about? With so many players and issues within issues as well as poo being thrown at politicians, it's understandable if you're confused. So here is a simple Q&A that tries to explain Cape Town's sanitation battles.

Amelia Earnest

News | 25 June 2013

Heading for the 2014 (E)lection

E-tolling, excrement and expanded public works. Apart from starting with the letter “E” they appear at first sight to have nothing in common. But with the country heading toward what promises to be a bitterly contested election in April or May next year, they are not only linked, they are likely to be major campaigning features.

Terry Bell

Opinion | 24 June 2013

Portable flush toilets: What are they and why the fuss?

The public spats over portable toilets have been at the forefront of the news. But what exactly are portable toilets? How do they work? What is good and what is bad about them?

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 12 June 2013

Mayor and SJC clash over toilet facts

Mayor Patricia de Lille held a press conference today to address an unfavourable audit by the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) about the quality of the City's sanitation services in Khayelitsha.

Amelia Earnest

News | 5 June 2013

Battle over Barcelona’s Buckets

Residents of Barcelona informal settlement are living a sanitation nightmare. The company contracted to remove the bucket toilets, Sannicare, has been hit by industrial action and no resolution is in sight.

GroundUp Staff with assistance from Tebello Mzamoand Fergus Turner

News | 29 May 2013

Activist group accuses City of failing to monitor toilet contracts

On 27 April the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) held a meeting in Khayelitsha to report the results of an audit of toilets provided by a supplier contracted to the City of Cape Town. On 10 May the SJC released a written report of the audit's findings.

Fergus Turner

News | 16 May 2013

Responding to criticism

The Democratic Alliance markets itself as an efficient and un-corrupt alternative to the ANC. It never hesitates to point out serious service delivery failures by the ANC. So it is interesting to see its responses to the Social Justice Coalition's criticisms of the City of Cape Town's handling of a major toilet supply contract in Khayelitsha.

Nathan Geffen

News | 30 April 2013

Khayelitsha toilet contractors not delivering

"The toilets are not very good. They are unstable and fall over a lot," says Nomtheto Ndzime, a Khayelitsha resident, about the toilets provided by the City of Cape Town.

Fergus Turner

News | 30 April 2013

Joe Slovo High School toilets still broken

Nearly a year since we told the story of the state of toilets at Joe Slovo High School in Khayelitsha, the toilets remain broken.

Nokubonga Yawa

News | 24 April 2013

Rats, that’s not funny: Khayelitsha child bitten by rat

When Premier Helen Zille was bitten by a rat last week, her spokesperson was quoted saying, “I know the City Bowl rats are mutant freaks of nature but if they’re starting to take nibbles out of people, we’re in trouble." However, as this story of a Khayelitsha baby bitten by a rat shows, in some parts of the City, rats are no laughing matter and rats "taking nibbles out of people" are not that unusual.

Mary-Jane Matsolo

News | 27 March 2013