City of Cape Town remains committed to providing sanitation services

The City of Cape Town, as part of our efforts to build a Caring and Safe City that is committed to redress, prioritises the provision of clean and safe sanitation to residents across the City.

In order to do this, we have worked with a number of organisations including the Social Justice Coalition (SJC), who have provided assistance in a City-run project to provide janitorial services to clean flush toilets and standpipes, and report cases where extensive repairs are needed in Khayelitsha (seeCape Times report).

It is therefore disappointing that the SJC, fully cognisant of the efforts we are making, chooses to conduct an informal ‘audit' pointing out where maintenance is not taking place as it should via public platforms, rather than bring the problem areas directly to the City's attention so they can be fixed immediately.

If indeed we are working towards a common goal of delivering sanitation to those in our City most in need of our assistance, then this strategy of the SJC is perplexing.

It is also noteworthy that the number of toilets found by the SJC is not, in fact, the total number of toilets supplied by the City to the areas being investigated. This number constantly changes as chemical toilets are a temporary measure and are installed as the need arises. When more permanent sanitation facilities are provided, chemical toilets are removed.

Chemical toilets get vandalised every day and the process of replacing and repairing them is an on-going one. Toilets in the Greenpoint area of Khayelitsha in particular are continuously being vandalised for their metal door frames, making it difficult to calculate an exact total as the contractor must constantly take out and replace facilities.

It is precisely for the above reasons that constant feedback from organisations like the SJC and the users of the facilities is essential to the City. When we are aware that toilets are vandalised, blocked or misused, we do everything we can to fix the problem as soon as we are able.

In Cape Town, as in all other parts of South Africa that have experienced rapid urbanisation, the provision of sanitation is not an easy task.

As the latest census figures have shown, the population of Cape Town has grown by close to 30%, the second highest growth rate in South Africa.

Yet, due to a great deal of hard work, the census also confirmed that the Western Cape has the highest number of people with access to sanitation services - 97.2%.

The budget allocation for the provision of sewerage infrastructure has increased significantly from R51 million in the 2006/7 financial year to R130 million in the 2011/12 financial year. The budget for water to informal settlements has substantially increased from a mere R1.3 million to R20 million for the same period.

The number of toilets in informal settlements has more than doubled from 10 591 to 34 225 over the same period.

As a direct result of these investments, the percentage of households with access to sanitation on a 1:5 ratio increased from 47.1% to 88.2% between 2006 and 2012. Access to water through the provision of standpipes on a 1:25 ratio ranges between 95% and 100%.

In the same period, these improvements in expanding access to basic services have occurred despite the fact that the number of households in informal settlements has increased by almost 50 000, from 154 761 to 193 951.

More recently, the City has begun the roll out of portable flush toilets to residents in informal settlements in order to expand access to sanitation facilities in those areas.

To date 1 500 portable toilets have been distributed to residents of The Heights informal settlement, and more will be allocated to other areas in the next few months.

Furthermore, the City conducts hygiene awareness campaigns in informal settlements to protect communities against avoidable health hazards.

We are also putting measures in place to help us become a more responsive government so that we can resolve service delivery shortcomings as quickly as possible.

To this end, the City has now installed 67 FreeCall lines in poor areas to allow residents to report their service delivery queries at no cost to them. A further 20 lines will be connected by the end of July this year.

Despite the numerous measures we have put in place, challenges with regard to the provision of sanitation remain.

Densification of land makes it difficult to install the bulk infrastructure needed to provide the levels of sanitation services we would like, especially full flush toilets.

Often, the land on which people settle is not owned by the City, making it illegal for us to build infrastructure in order to provide services on that land.

In some instances, it is impossible to build the infrastructure needed to install services due to the land being unsuitable, for instance, if structures are built on a flood plain.

In yet other cases, as was seen last week in Gugulethu, City employees are physically attacked, vehicles are burnt and our staff are prevented from going into areas to maintain toilets and other facilities, by protesting community members.

Despite these restrictions, we do as much as we can, with what we have, by installing services as close as we can to residents. When there are disputes between our contractors and their employees, we try, as far as we are able, to step in in the interim so that services are not disrupted and communities are not severely affected.

Whilst we are pleased at this achievement, we are cognisant that there is much to be done.

The Mayor will shortly be embarking on a series of community engagements, aimed at advising communities on the nature of services provided by our contractors, and the various channels the City has provided through which residents may report any shortcomings.

We will continue to do what we can but this remains a much more difficult task if we don't have the buy-in of the communities themselves and those organisations that claim to prioritise their best interests.

The City cannot monitor all toilets at all times - and I appeal to communities to report problems via our FreeCall lines or call 0860 103 089.

 Statement issued by Councillor Ernest Sonnenberg, Mayoral Committee Member for Utility Services, April 29 2013

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