Water

Masixole Feni

3 June 2014

For many Cape Town residents, getting clean water is a daily effort. And in some parts of the city, polluted canals run alongside people’s houses.

Masixole Feni’s photographs capture the daily struggle with water experienced by many of the city’s poorer residents.

Feni calls a fetid stream that runs through Masiphumelele township, “The Unbearable Canal”. Such canals are found in several parts of the city.


Crossing over canal to fetch water, Masiphumelele township in Cape Town.


Fetching water for religious purposes, Deer Park Drive, Cape Town City Bowl.


Fetching water alongside the canal in Masiphumelele.


Khayelitsha after rain in 2013.


Khayelitsha Site C resident washes his home after people returning from a shebeen urinated on it.


Playing on the canal.


Man fetches “holy water” for the St Johns Church in Mfuleni.


Another view of the Masiphumelele canal.


Water bearers on way home alongside the Masiphumelele canal.


Erosion in Mfuleni.


Another unbearable canal. This one is in Khayelitsha.


Early morning outdoor bathroom in Masiphumelele.