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Raw sewage swamps a street in RR section, where sanitation facilities are often dysfunctional or simply non-existent1) DEATHLY EFFECTS OF NO TOILETS

She plunges her hands in and out of the drum and in one smooth movement removes a dripping item of clothing, wrings the water out and gives it a shake before gingerly making her way across her tiny yard where she stretches skyward to peg it to the washing line.

She repeats this a number of times, every time stepping on strategically placed rocks and a makeshift wooden bridge to reach the washing line. She stands on her tippy toes her fulsome frame in a brown shwe-shwe skirt and orange polo neck. Amid the fluttering, colourful washing drying in the south-easter, she cuts an attractive picture against the stark black and white of her shack and Table Mountain in the background.

However, the picture is far from pretty. Nozakhe Thethafuthi has good reason for not walking along the path to the washing line – her shack and yard is regularly flooded with raw sewage from a nearby pipe which blocks and then floods its contents into her surroundings.

Thethafuthi claims that sewerage first started flowing out from two manholes around her home in the winter of 2006. She has been forced to build a moat around her house in an attempt to relay the sewage to the swamp behind her shack. The effluent in the swamp is channeled to the ocean.

The Most Reverend Dr Archbishop Thabo Makgoba speaks to residents of MakhazaOn Tuesday 8 June the SJC met with The Most Reverend Dr Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, regarding our mutual concern for the spiralling situation in Makhaza. Below is the letter submitted from his office on Tuesday to the Mayor of Cape Town, Premier of the Western Cape, and representatives of National Government.

In this letter the Archbishop calls for:

1. The Mayor to commit to adhering to the recommendations made by the Human Rights Commission;
2. The Mayor to acknowledge that there were serious flaws in the Makhaza arrangement;
3. That all relevant parties sit down to discuss how best to implement the HRC recommendations;
4. That a community meeting be held, which the Archbishop would be willing to chair.

The SJC welcomes the Archbishop’s call to put the needs of the community first, and the need to resolve the current impasse speedily. We feel that he is a respected and non-biased community leader, and as such is best placed to serve as a mediator. We urge the Mayor and the Premier to accept the Archbishop's proposal.

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TCM/sm
June 8, 2010
Attention: Mr. Dan Plato
Mayor, City of Cape Town
Attention: Ms. Helen Zille
Premier, Western Cape
Attention: Mr. Sicelo Shiceka
Minister, National Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
Attention: Ms. Buyelwa Sonjica

SAHRC
SOUTH AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
PRESS STATEMENT
4 June 2010

Findings of the South African Human Rights Commission on a complaint lodged by the ANC Youth League against the City of Cape Town on the alleged violation of human dignity by the City in constructing toilets without enclosures.

These are the Commission's findings and recommendations. Please find the report in its entirety below.

FINDINGS

1.The City violated the right to dignity as envisaged by section 10 of the Constitution by not enclosing the toilets. The City ought to have ensured that the rights of all were protected, promoted and fulfilled.
2.The Commission notes the legacy of Apartheid in which adequate sanitation was denied the majority of our citizens.
3.The Commission finds that the consultation process was inadequate.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1.It is recommended that the City re-install the 51 toilets and enclose them with immediate effect.
2.The Commission recommends that the City’s projects that have currently been placed on hold pending this finding, is carried out and completed in a manner that does not violate the right to dignity.
3.The City must inform the Commission at least on a monthly basis as to its progress in respect of Recommendations 1 and 2 above.
4.The National Department of Human Settlements in conjunction with the Department of Water Affairs should intervene more actively in all provinces to ensure that its stated policy of ensuring the eradication of the bucket system is achieved more expeditiously throughout the country. This includes the sharing of communal toilets and the erection of unenclosed toilets.

CAPE TOWN, 26 January 2010 – Today the SJC visited Makhaza Section in Khayelitsha to investigate claims that toilets had been built towards the end of last year without walls or roofs. The City government claim that this was done with the understanding that community members would build a suitable enclosure at a later date. All the residents we spoke to were not aware of this arrangement.

For months community members have been forced to either walk long distances to enclosed containerised toilets, or use these which provide no shelter or dignity. Both scenarios pose significant threats to residents' safety and security. One elderly woman we spoke to (pictured) had recently been stabbed walking to a far away containerised toilet.

Click here to view photos taken on today’s site visit.