Cape Town - In the city's outlying slums, residents are drowning in filth and garbage, forced to live with the stench of polluted air while their counterparts in small towns across the Western Cape are complaining of a life confined to poverty and a lack of opportunities.
With the local government elections upon us, the Cape Argus took a look at pressing issues facing residents across the province. While many agreed the dawn of democracy brought improved service delivery and upliftment to some, many more said the spiralling cost of living and high unemployment were sending them to an early grave.
Sias Marthinus, 59, a Struisbaai fisherman, will not be voting this year - he died last week, after telling the Cape Argus how tough times had become.
The fisherman, who made headlines after President Jacob Zuma made a public promise in 2010 to help him, was hospitalised after being told he did not qualify for the life-prolonging kidney dialysis treatment he needed.
"I have no medical aid, I've lived an active life on the sea and I've lived to see the day that a president of a country took my family's plight to heart. I was sent home to die, because I did not qualify for treatment," Marthinus said.
From his hospital bed, Marthinus questioned how state hospitals could turn him away.
"There is something very wrong if people behind desks are making up rules which impact on who lives and who dies. I've lived my life, but if I'm gone, who will take care of my children?" he asked.
Speaking about Zuma's promise to help build him a house that would allow his two disabled children easy access to their home, Marthinus said Zuma kept his promise and made it happen.
"He did not deliver on everything but even so, I never thought I would live to see the day that a president of a country would deem my needs as important. And he did this not knowing which political party I support," he said.
Marthinus died while waiting for a live-saving intervention. "If our hospitals turn us away to die, what does that really say about society? If I had money for treatment, they would be falling over their feet," he said.
Reverend Xola Skosana of the Way of Life Church in Khayelitsha described the area and other informal settlements as "glorified refugee camps and rat-infested hell holes".
Skosana said flying into any of the big cities in our country; one could see the horror and scandal of land theft, of violent dispossession and the ongoing preservation of white privilege.
"Vast acres of land are still occupied by a few white families and most secured and patrolled suburban spaces are reservoirs of white privilege, while hundreds of black people are squashed in hazardous uninhabitable concentration camps.”
Skosana said township residents spent over half of their income travelling in search of work, only to be enlisted as modern slaves under the guise of job creation.
"South Africa remains the most unequal society in the world. Both the constitution and the Freedom Charter have legalised, normalised and legitimised mass land theft by whites. These fraudulent documents must be rejected as a first step to black liberation."
He stressed elections and parliamentary politics had not been able to fix this divide in 22 years.
"Just because there are new black bodies in silky suits, over-compensating for what they lack ideologically, or in overalls mimicking revolutionaries, walking around the corridors of power calling each other honourable, we must believe freedom has come - not a chance," Skosana said.
Former mayor of Riversdal Wiekie, Van Wyk, 70, said after two decades of democracy it was becoming more important for people to vote.
Van Wyk said while service delivery in their town had been above standard, as a voter he was concerned about high increases in tariffs and taxes.
"Taxes and tariffs increase every year, way above inflation, and this affects ordinary citizens," he added.
Zuki Tonisi, 36, from Zwelitsha township in Bredasdorp has ambitions to be a councillor.
In her community, Tonisi said, poverty does not have colour or boundaries. "It does not matter who you are, what race you are, but if you poor you will know hardships unlike any other."
Tonisi said in terms of unemployment, the government was trying, but after over two decades trying was not good enough.
"Government programmes are just not sustainable. Our people are struggling and we are moving away from Ubuntu, youngsters are ill-treating their elderly parents and do not care if their parents are looked after."
She said slowly but surely Bredasdorp was moving away from being a sleepy rural town, but added at least integration was taking place.
"When you have a white couple staying in RDP houses in your street, then it is a major sign that we've moved forward," she added.
Nicolene Julies, a single mother from Saldanha, said without the state grant she received, she would not be able to provide for her children.
Julies said making a meal for her kids had become a battle.
"Options are limited; the day potatoes and vegetables became a luxury rather than a necessity, our hardships escalated. I can't remember when last meat was part of our diet," she said.
Julies said with elections around the corner politicians were out in full force, only to disappear once they had the votes in the bag.
Asked what had changed since the past election, she said: "I've lost a daughter to drugs, our children have no opportunities and skin-colour is still a major obstacle for getting a job."
Julies said while they were blessed with running water and electricity, it made little difference if you had to feed a family of five on R1 400 a month.
Thembelihle Dadasi, 21, from Gugulethu, said he would be voting.
Dadasi said he was concerned that many youths were falling through the cracks, unable to complete their schooling.
"I am willing to do any job, but jobs are hard to find. The area where we live is always waterlogged and after all these years housing still eludes us," he added.
According to Dadasi, although the city had provided services, a lot still needed to be done in township areas.
"People are still racist towards people living in townships. This has not changed. But it can change if more is done," Dadasi said.
Michelle Turner, 50, from Somerset West, said while they'd always had good services, one could not ignore the plight of township residents.
"People protest for a reason. More effort should be put into poverty-stricken areas. No matter where you are, there will always be the very rich and the very poor, and in Cape Town it is no different," she said.
Turner added while services were the main issue, most people should vote to ensure Zuma received the boot.
"Zuma must go. All the money that went into Nkandla could help provide better services to people living in inhumane poverty."
Overberg resident Lucy de Jager said unemployment, drugs and violence were affecting most surrounding towns in the region.
"Depending on where you live, this town (Bredasdorp) is and has always been a place where families can still flourish and neighbours still check up on each other."
She said the root cause of the town's problems was a lack of opportunities for the youth. "No matter who is in charge, if the elderly and frail and the youth are not taken care of, we are heading for hard times," she said.
Rene Wales, 27, of Blue Downs said she was voting to ensure her children would have the same privileges she had enjoyed since apartheid ended.
"Choosing a party to vote for is difficult since nobody is doing anything about poverty and unemployment. Our people are still struggling, there's a lack of youth development and integration has not fully been achieved," Wales said.
Thandeka Mkhize, 22 from Sea Point, originally from Kwazulu-Natal, said she had worked in the city for three years and her honest assessment was that the city was not only still racist, but also a nightmare for the unemployed.
"People find it hard to get jobs, they judge you by the colour of your skin and make unfounded assumptions," she said.
Mkhize said there were still too many people who thought they were better than those living in townships.
Election Bureau