Social Justice Coalition - Press releases

Social Justice Coalition response to the call for an investigation into the building of the unenclosed toilets in Makhaza, Khayelitsha

tomdavidadams — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:13:23 +0000

Press Release
25 August 2010Makhaza: uneclosed toilets

1.The Social Justice Coalition (SJC) welcomes and applauds the decision by the Cape Town City Manager, Achmat Ebrahim, to launch an investigation into the building of the unenclosed toilets in Makhaza, Khayelitsha (“Cape council probes decision on open toilets”, 24 August 2010 Cape Times). We hope that this decision will lead to a speedy resolution of this unhappy debacle, and that the findings of the Human Rights Commission will be adhered to.

2.From the onset the SJC has been calling for better consultation between the City of Cape Town and the residents of Makhaza and hopes that the City will take up Archbishop Thabo Makgoba’s offer of mediating this process and move forward with these discussions.

3.In calling for the investigation Grant Pascoe, mayoral committee member for social development, refers to Section 9 of the Water Services Act, which states that "the minimum standard for basic sanitation services is a toilet which is safe, reliable, environmentally sound, easy to keep clean, provides privacy and protection against the weather".

PRESS RELEASE: ARCHBISHOP OF CAPE TOWN TO LEAD VISIT TO KHAYELITSHA IN ORDER TO ASSESS TOILET SITUATION

tomdavidadams — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:46:48 +0000

On Monday 23 August Archbishop of Cape Town the Most Reverend Dr Thabo Makgoba, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town and Chairperson of the Western Cape Religious Leaders Forum (WCRFL), will lead a group of senior religious leaders in a ‘prayerful solidarity visit’ to Khayelitsha. The religious leaders from Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Baha’i and African Traditional communities will be escorted by the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) on an assessment of sanitation, including toilet, facilities in RR Section and Makhaza, and will listen to residents affected by inadequate sanitation.
The visit will begin in RR Section, one of Khayelitsha’s poorest and most underdeveloped informal settlements, to assess the provision of sanitation services. They will then go to Makhaza to review the situation with the unenclosed toilets, originally inspected by the Archbishop on Tuesday 8 June. The visit will conclude with prayers in Makhaza for those affected by the consequences of inadequate sanitation.

Upon first visiting the site of the unenclosed toilets the Archbishop wrote an open letter to the Mayor of the City of Cape Town, Dan Plato, urging him to acknowledge serious flaws in the process and adhere to the recommendations made in the recent Human Rights Commission findings. He suggested that a public meeting needed to be called and offered his personal assistance as a mediator. The SJC welcomes the Archbishop’s dedication to resolving the current impasse.

Social Justice Organisations denounce the arrest of Sunday Times journalist, Mzilikazi wa Afrika

tomdavidadams — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 07:40:09 +0000

A free press is essential to democracy, transparency and the attainment of equality

We are organisations that campaign for social justice. The success of our work is dependent on respect for the Constitution, especially the Bill of Rights. The right to free expression and freedom of the press and other media are essential components of democracy. That is why they are contained in the Bill of Rights. They are one of the essential means by which all people in South Africa, especially the vulnerable, exploited and poor, can hold government and the powerful private business sector to account.

This week Mzilikazi wa Afrika, a Sunday Times journalist, was arrested in Rosebank Johannesburg. The circumstances, manner and cause of his arrest all seem to point to intimidation by the state and attempts to suppress freedom of expression.

The arrest follows the exposure by the Sunday Times of questionable dealings by the National Police Commissioner, Bheki Cele. It comes during a national debate over proposed legislation to curtail press freedom, i.e. proposals for a new Protection of Information Act, changes to the Criminal Procedure Act and the ANC's proposals to establish a media tribunal.

We therefore unequivocally condemn the arrest of wa Afrika.

The media in South Africa, as anywhere else in the world, is very powerful and influential. We are not blind to its many shortcomings. The quality of journalism in South Africa is often mediocre. Newspapers, magazines and television sometimes make serious errors, permit unethical advertising and sometimes make false charges against individuals.

We are concerned that the main media houses are overly concentrated in the hands of a few large corporations and consequently primarily represent the interests of a relatively small affluent portion of the population, thereby paying insufficient attention to the interests of poor and working class people.

Open Letter to Mayor Dan Plato: Leadership is Urgently Needed in Makhaza

admin — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 21:43:51 +0000

Mayor Dan PlatoAtt: Mr. Dan Plato
Mayor, City of Cape Town
Cc: Ms. Helen Zille
Premier, Western Cape

Dear Mayor,

1. In a statement last week and an associated opinion piece in the Cape Times (27 May 2010) the SJC – a grassroots social movement campaigning non-violently for improved sanitation services in informal settlements – condemned the politicisation of the provision of toilets to residents in Makhaza. We urged all parties to refocus on the fundamental issue, specifically that countless people in Makhaza have been and continue to be deprived of their constitutional rights to health, safety and dignity.

2. We strongly condemned the incitement of violence by ANCYL regional secretary Loyiso Nkohle, but also called on the City to acknowledge that the Makhaza arrangement – regardless of its initial intentions – had serious flaws. It is clear that these toilets did not meet basic norms and standards. Contrary to the assertion in your statement of 31 May 2010, national norms and standards are not met solely when there is “one toilet for every five dwellings”, but also require that they be “safe and hygienic” and “private and protected from the weather”.

Makhaza Toilets: Review & The Way Forward

Louis Fourie — Thu, 27 May 2010 11:19:33 +0000

This article appeared in The Cape Times on 27 May 2010.

There was widespread controversy earlier this year when it emerged that 50 households in the low-income settlement of Makhaza (Khayelitsha) had been provided with unenclosed toilets, leaving residents deprived of their rights to health, safety and dignity. The City of Cape Town, governed by the DA, claimed an agreement had been reached with the community. It entailed the commitment to build an external toilet for each home, as opposed to one for every five homes, provided each household built their own enclosures (walls and roofs). However, many were not aware of this arrangement and, in some cases, were unable to afford the material with which to do so, forcing them to use uncovered toilets in full view of the passing public.

The source of the widespread media attention was an ANCYL complaint to the Human Rights Commission and public outrage, which culminated in an apology from DA leader Helen Zille on Human Rights Day.

Free Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga

Louis Fourie — Mon, 24 May 2010 14:40:42 +0000

On Thursday 20 May a demonstration was held outside the Department of Home Affairs in Cape Town, South Africa, to protest against the sentencing of Malawian couple Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga. The two men were given 14 years in jail for ‘gross indecency’ and the ‘crime’ of getting engaged.

To punish these two men for as innocent a thing as showing their commitment to each other is unjust, inhumane and an abject violation of human rights. The SJC calls on the South African government to intervene in order to reverse this shameful act of discrimination and victimisation in Malawi.

Below is a video of the protest, and also a link to the online petition calling for Steven and Tiwonge’s immediate release. Please sign the petition and share both the petition and the video with others, in order to increase the volume of the call for justice.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Siyayinqoba
http://www.petitiononline.com/M100518R/petition.html

You may also sign our petition here.

SJC Member Stabbed & Robbed In Effort To Relieve Himself

Louis Fourie — Thu, 06 May 2010 12:53:44 +0000

Makhosandile Qezo: Makhosandile two days after the attack

An SJC member and Khayelitsha resident was stabbed in the face on Saturday whilst trying to relieve himself in a clearing alongside the N2 highway.

Makhosandile “Scarre” Qezo, who lives in RR section - an informal settlement in Khayelitsha in which there are approximately 3000 households and only 240 toilets - had walked across Lansdowne Road and was relieving himself behind a bush in the clearing alongside the N2 when two men attacked him.

“One of the men screamed ‘Where’s the phone?!’ and swore at me”, he said. Before he could “pull up his trousers or respond” the man stabbed him in the face. “After he stabbed me, I tried to grab him but grabbed the knife and cut my hand. He then threw sand in my face so I couldn’t see him.”

Witnesses of the assault, which occurred just after 7am, attempted to come to Makhosandile’s aid. As they approached his attacker fled, taking his cell phone with him.

This harrowing ordeal was endured all because Makhosandile needed to use the toilet – the most fundamental of human needs and rights – but had no toilet to go to. “There are no toilets nearby”, he said, “except those that are locked”. Flush toilets in RR section (as in many other informal settlements) are self-allocated by the community to a number of households, who restrict access to their toilet through the use of a padlock. This often results in arbitrary, uncoordinated, and unfair distribution resulting in some toilets being reserved for a small number of households whilst others are shared amongst scores of households.

SJC Hosts Safety & Sanitation Community Meeting For Residents of Khayelitsha’s Informal Settlements

Louis Fourie — Wed, 05 May 2010 21:40:36 +0000

SJC Co-Chairperson Angy Peter responds to questions from the audience

On 19 April 2010 the Social Justice Coalition held a mass-meeting in the OR Tambo Hall in Khayelitsha, to discuss sanitation and safety in informal settlements – issues identified by the surrounding communities as principle areas of concern. Approximately 500 residents were in attendance.

SJC Secretary Axolile Notywala opened the meeting by introducing the SJC’s campaign for Clean & Safe Toilets in Cape Town’s informal settlements. A speech by SJC Educator Akhona Siximba explaining how this focus tied into the SJC’s core mission of “Safety and Security for all” was followed by Co-Chairperson Angy Peter’s summary of the interconnected issue of sanitation and safety in informal settlements.

With approximately 47, 650 households having no access to a toilet (figure taken from The Water Dialogues: Cape Town Case Study, 2009) in Cape Town’s informal settlements, many people are forced to relieve themselves in bushes or use public toilets far away from populated and relatively safe areas. Angy indicated that this has led to a wide range of safety threats including where people have been hit by cars while crossing the road, attacked, raped and even murdered on their way to relieve themselves.

City Official Joins SJC For Inspection of RR Section

Louis Fourie — Tue, 04 May 2010 10:00:00 +0000

SJC members inspect RR Section for Health & Safety threats, seen here with a local Enviromental Health Office (EHO) Official

On 8 April 2010 SJC members accompanied Laurence Grootboom - Functional Operations Manager for the City’s Water and Sanitation Department - on a visit to an area of RR section long afflicted by an overflowing sewerage line. This followed numerous efforts by the SJC over the preceding six weeks to have the problem rectified, and a meeting a week earlier with the Mayor of Cape Town and other City officials in which it was raised.

The manhole has been leaking raw sewage around – and at times directly through – local resident Noaskile Thethayuthi’s home for well over a year. Her three infant children are ill with diahorrea on a weekly basis on the account of having to live and play amongst raw sewerage. The flow of sewerage is also directed over a standpipe which hundreds use daily for water, and over the doorsteps of many of Noaskile’s neighbours.

There are at present 240 toilets used by 3000 households in RR Section. National norms and standards dictate that there should be 5 households per toilet, but the ratio in RR section is over 12 households to one toilet. Moreover, many of these toilets are unusable as a result of irregular (often non-existent) maintenance on the part of the city.

SJC Responds to City's Condemnation of "Toilet Queue"

Louis Fourie — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 16:05:37 +0000

Cape Town, 23 March 2010 – 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.

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.

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.