Sanitation

Porta potties hit Bishopscourt

Following a campaign in Constantia earlier this week, the Ses’khona People’s Rights Movement took their protest against portable toilets to Bishopscourt today.

Johnnie Isaac and Nathan Geffen

Feature | 30 April 2014

South Africa’s water wars

Ma Gladys Mphepho hovers over a pot on a two plate cooker in her shack in Papamani, an informal settlement outside of Grahamstown. “We do not have dignity,” she says, stirring the rice, flavoured with beef stock, that is her family’s Sunday lunch. “We do not know what it means to have dignity. Forget about any question of dignity,” says Mphepho.

Mandy de Waal

News | 5 February 2014

Khayelitsha refuse collectors angry at working conditions

Since starting in November, some Khayelitsha refuse collectors say they still haven’t received uniforms or protective gear to wear while doing their jobs. Their employer says it is all lies.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 22 January 2014

Mshengu toilets down again

Mshengu’s blue chemical toilets have once again toppled over in Khayelitsha’s BM Section causing residents to defecate in the bushes.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 15 January 2014

No-show in RR Section by Disaster Management after flooding?

“When we called Disaster Risk Management on Saturday, they sent one man … He said he would be back in a couple of hours, with provisions for a hundred people, including sand bags and stones to protect houses from further water damage, as well as food. They never came back,” says Luthando Tokota a community advocate with the Social Justice Coalition.

Delphine Pedeboy

News | 20 November 2013

SJC Civil Disobedience matter postponed

The matter against the twenty-one Social Justice Coalition (SJC) activists, who took part in a civil disobedience action last week, has been postponed to 23 October 2013. The 21 activists appeared before the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court this morning.

Sibusiso Tshabalala

Brief | 18 September 2013

What is the role of civil disobedience in South Africa?

On 18 September 2013, twenty-one Social Justice Coalition activists will appear in the Cape Town Magistrate court for contravening provisions of the Regulation of Gatherings Act.

Sibusiso Tshabalala

Opinion | 18 September 2013

SJC activists arrested during protest outside Mayor’s office

Several Social Justice Coalition (SJC) members who chained themselves to railings at the Civic Centre in Cape Town this morning vowing they would not budge until Mayor Patricia de Lille addressed them, were arrested and held at Caledon Square Police Station. They have not yet been charged.

Tariro Washinyira

News | 11 September 2013

When the solution compounds the problem

In April 2012, the Eastern Cape Department of Health (ECDoH) put in place a moratorium on the appointment of healthcare workers to vacant posts at facilities throughout the province. This moratorium was instituted in an attempt to control the chronic overspending that was pushing the department deeper into financial crisis each year.

Daygan Eagar

Opinion | 11 September 2013

A Tale of Rural Health

The failing healthcare system in the Eastern Cape affects everyone: urban communities, migrants from Gauteng and Cape Town too sick to work anymore or returning home to retire, and healthcare workers who don’t have the medicines, equipment and a functioning referral system, to offer the care their patients need.

Marije Versteeg

Opinion | 11 September 2013

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