Sanitation

Project to map Khayelitsha’s toilets could improve sanitation

Two organisations have teamed up to map public flush toilet locations in Khayelitsha. They will launch an interactive website and phone-based reporting system to improve efficiency in toilet maintenance.

Michelle Korte

News | 8 July 2014

City delays providing toilets to creche

Educators at the Suphemelela Day Care in Khayelitsha where children have been using buckets as toilets, say they are still waiting for flush toilets promised to them by the City of Cape Town more than a month ago.

Barbara Maregele

News | 2 July 2014

Three infants die from polluted water in Northwest: Justice must be done

In early April 2014, violent service delivery protests erupted at Boitumelong at Bloemhof in Northwest. Residents, accusing Lekwa Teemane municipality councillors of corruption, maladministration and nepotism, torched the house of the mayor and demanded the municipality to be disbanded.

Melissa Fourie

Analysis | 9 June 2014

Sewage from blocked Khayelitsha toilets overflows into family’s yard

A Khayelitsha mother fears her children’s health is at risk as the sewage from the newly installed toilets metres from her home constantly overflows into her yard.

Barbara Maregele

News | 2 June 2014

City to fix filthy Khayelitsha toilets

The foul smell of stagnant sewage water and the sight of vandalised toilet seats covered in faeces are part of the daily lives of residents of PJS section in Khayelitsha who live close to the toilets.

Barbara Maregele

News | 30 May 2014

How South Africa is faring in the provision of free basic services

Many poor communities are still not getting adequate access to free basic services. This is despite the government’s set of policies aimed at helping municipalities to provide these services.

Koketso Moeti

News | 26 May 2014

Khayelitsha creche hoping for flush toilets at last

The founder of Suphumelela Day Care in Khayelitsha is hoping city officials will provide portable toilets for the creche children, who have been using buckets for a year.

Barbara Maregele

News | 22 May 2014

Govt develops new toilet technologies - but how much will they help?

The Department of Science and Technology (DST) has launched an initiative to test new toilet technologies for South Africa’s rural areas.

Paul Kennedy

News | 21 May 2014

Risking their lives is a daily routine for Kossovo residents

The people of Kossovo exist on the margins of unguarded train tracks. Their children are at risk. A lack of service delivery and poor sanitation makes dire conditions worse.

Dudumalingani Mqomboti

Opinion | 14 May 2014

City boots refuse removal contractor

The removal of waste at informal settlements across Cape Town will soon be conducted by new contractors.

Barbara Maregele

Feature | 14 May 2014

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