RESPONSE TO CITY'S STANCE ON THE SJC "TOILET QUEUE" AND THE STATE OF SANITATION IN CAPE TOWN
1. On Saturday 20 March, the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) organised a queue of approximately 600 people outside a public toilet on the Sea Point Promenade as part of The World Toilet Queue - an international demonstration scheduled to coincide with World Water Day - to highlight the plight of the 2.5 billion people worldwide who do not have access to basic sanitation. It was also arranged to draw attention to the lack of basic sanitation services in the City of Cape Town and highlight how this affects residents' health and safety, as well as the disproportionate investment in formal as opposed to informal settlements. It was further designed to coincide with the Human Rights Day weekend, to illustrate how numerous rights, particularly those of dignity and security, are still deprived to hundreds of thousands of Capetonians, and indeed millions more across the country.
2. On Sunday 21 March Alderman Clive Justus (Mayoral Committee Member for Utilities) released a statement (attached in addendum) condemning the event for being unfairly biased against the City of Cape Town and Sea Point, and drawing incorrect comparisons. He includes various claims which are untrue, callous and that show contempt for poor people living in our city's informal settlements.
3. The SJC is a Cape Town based organisation - with the vast majority of our member base located in Khayelitsha's informal settlements. While we routinely acknowledge that inadequate and inequitable sanitation is a national problem, it is appropriate that we focus on the City. The Water Services Act expressly states that the provision of basic sanitation as defined by the Act is the responsibility of local government.
4. The SJC believes that every public area including the Sea Point Promenade should have decent toilets. But a greater, more equitable effort should be made by the City to supply basic sanitation to the poorest, as directed by our Constitution. The particular toilet that we queued at in Sea Point is cleaned regularly, stocked with toilet paper and seats, has dedicated caretakers, is often patrolled by security and personnel, and is well lit. It is a model public toilet. It is therefore suitable to draw a comparison between this safe and clean toilet, and those in informal settlements. His claim that there are "no public toilets in other suburbs away from public or leisure amenities" fails to acknowledge that this is because people in these suburbs tend to have ample toilets in their homes or places of work, whereas in informal settlements residents are left with no choice but to use public facilities.