People across the country have been appropriately outraged by revelations that toilets without walls or roofs were built in Makhaza, Khayelitsha, outside Cape Town, and that residents have been forced to choose between relieving themselves in full view of their neighbours or walking (at times long distances) to enclosed public toilets. A deluge of public outrage has since been directed at the governing DA following a complaint by the ANC Youth League. It is certainly not egregious or opportunistic to claim – as they and many others have – that such treatment is reminiscent of apartheid, and inherently contrary to the rights to dignity, health and safety enshrined in our Constitution.
What has been overlooked, however, is that these rights are denied to millions in South Africa on a daily basis. This incident has provided a stark example of the daily plight of people living in poor, working-class informal settlements, but an example that has come as a shock only to those who do not live there. The protracted absence of the basic services that many of us take for granted and the failure to acknowledge this deficit has resulted in the normalisation of suffering, and the routine violation of basic human rights.
It is worth pointing out that this particular section of Makhaza is not one of the worst informal areas in Khayelitsha – a sprawling and densely populated remnant of segregation where at least 57% of people live in shacks, 80% without access to water in their homes, 35% with no immediate access to flush/chemical toilets, and 24% without access to electricity. Despite being unquestionably impoverished, Makhaza has roads and is not as densely populated as other areas. These material conditions might seem relatively insignificant when confronted with the inhumanity of open toilets, but they form part of a broad range of infrastructural barriers that have direct bearing on the quality of life of residents.
You will not find the informal settlement of RR Section on a map, despite it being directly alongside the N2 highway wedged between Cape Town International Airport and Somerset West. On some maps it is marked as marshland, which is fairly accurate – apart from the fact that it is home to thousands. It is covered in shacks, no more than a metre apart in some areas, possesses no roads and very few lights. The absence of roads prevents fire response teams from extinguishing the frequent fires commonly caused by the use of gas and fuelled by an abundance of flammable material. Ambulances, too, are often unable to provide medical care to residents, and police unable to protect, as homes are inaccessible and poorly marked. This labyrinth of indignity and sorrow is the day-to-day reality of life for innumerable people not just in RR, but in poor informal settlements around the country.
One of the greatest community concerns – as illustrated by the Makhaza saga – is that of clean and safe sanitation. There are too few clean and functioning toilets and safe water sources, drainage is inadequate, and refuse collection irregular. As a result, waterborne diseases and parasites – including gastroenteritis, worms and diarrhoea – are rampant. Getting to and using toilets – one of the most unspoken of human rights – can be life threatening. Residents are often forced to walk long distances down unlit “pathways” that wind between shacks, through back yards and sometimes across busy roads; and are frequently robbed, hit by cars, beaten and raped. In many cases residents choose the alternative of relieving themselves on the outskirts of the community, increasing their vulnerability to crime and exposure to disease for both themselves and their communities.
There are two interlinked lessons we must learn from Makhaza. Firstly, we have a duty to hold the incumbent city and provincial government accountable in ensuring that norms and standards are maintained.
The Water Services Act (108 of 2007) notes how everyone has the right to “basic sanitation – the prescribed minimum standard of services necessary for the safe, hygienic, and adequate collection, removal, disposal or purification of human excreta, domestic waste-water and sewage, from households including informal households”. Moreover, it states that the municipality or local council is responsible for ensuring access to water services: that local government has failed to take responsibility for this incident must be strongly condemned.
We must, however, also acknowledge that this is not an isolated case and certainly not limited to the DA’s term of government. It should not be used as ammunition for mudslinging, but rather as an opportunity to initiate dialogue and action on an issue that has been neglected for too long.
We must call on the City of Cape Town to publicise and educate around its Water Services Development Plan as compelled by law, as well as other plans relating to the provision of other essential services. There is too much confusion surrounding the development of informal settlements.
The second lesson is that of the need for adequate communication and consultation around service delivery. Many people in Makhaza were not aware of the arrangement to build more toilets at the expense of walls and roofs. In fact one elderly woman had no idea she was even receiving a toilet, let alone that she would need to build her own walls around it.
It is not enough to communicate solely with community leaders, especially when it involves the provision of services as essential as toilets. Wide forums need to be established which include government, civil society, and the community. At the same time, the community and civil society have a duty to encourage participation.
We should never learn to accept the everyday indignities and inequalities faced by children, men and women in informal settlements.
Source: Writing Rights: Centre for Law and Social Justice
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