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