23 June 2023
People wait for a City of Cape Town water truck to arrive in Noxolo Xauke informal settlement in Makhaza on Wednesday morning. Photo: Vincent Lali
People living in Noxolo Xauke informal settlement in Makhaza stood waiting for the City of Cape Town water truck on Wednesday morning.
“The City can’t even get water tankers to bring us water,” said community leader Nonceba Ndlebe. “We want the City officials to explain how long we will get water from the truck, and when we will get water taps.”
Community leader Fundile Mapolisa said City officials had phoned to say the water tanker would deliver at 9am. They waited in vain until 11am.
Asked why the water tanker did not arrive, mayco member for water and sanitation Zahid Badroodien said: “The depot advised that Noxolo Xauke is one of the areas that does not want water that is delivered using a water tanker. They want a tap installed.”
Masixole Mtyida, chairperson of ward 96 new land occupations, said a tanker had been turned away two weeks ago “because we are scared of drinking dirty water”.
“We are wary of using water from the tankers because of what happened in Hammanskraal,” he said.
Mtyida said people fetch water from nearby formal houses, but “if you don’t have friends or a relative staying in nearby RDP houses, you must buy 25 litres of water for R5”.
The new occupations include Island, Msindweni, Lansdown Road, Noxolo Xauka, Sanitizer, Estate, Wetlands, and Kuvuka Land.
The residents of these areas want the City of Cape Town to use a R111-million grant that human settlements minister Mmamaloko Kubayi told them at Thusong Community Hall, Khayelitsha, she had allocated for the provision of basic services for them.
Last week shack dwellers blockaded Baden Powell Drive with burning tyres to express their anger at the delay in getting basic services and called on the City to use the R111-million budget to install water taps, toilets and electricity.
But the City says the R111-million grant was “received unexpectedly” “on the eve of financial year-end” and it still needs Treasury approval to roll it over into the new financial year.
The City is proposing to allocate R61-million to informal settlement upgrading projects in the 16 settlements the minister had suggested.
The City said Kubayi had requested that R50-million of the R111-million be allocated to PRASA for the central line relocations.
“Overall, the City spent 99% of its R512-million informal settlement grant funding for 2021/22, with a projected 99% spend of the R554-million grant funding in 22/23,” the City said.