Sanitation

SJC trial: “We wanted the City to see we were serious”

Emotions ran high in the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday as Social Justice Coalition’s(SJC) general secretary, Phumeza Mlungwana, was cross-examined about last year’s protest on the steps of the Cape Town Civic Centre.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 8 October 2014

SJC members defend civic centre protest

Protests are a way to be heard and not just an event, Social Justice Coalition general secretary Phumeza Mlungwana told the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

Mary-Anne Gontsana and Lea Bork

News | 7 October 2014

Activists to Sonnenberg: City must engage constructively on sanitation

Yesterday the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) published a social audit of the state of municipal public toilets in Khayelitsha. Councillor Ernest Sonnenberg responded. This is a reply by the SJC's Axolile Notywala and Dustin Kramer to Councillor Sonnenberg.

Axolile Notywala and Dustin Kramer

Opinion | 2 October 2014

Khayelitsha toilets: the battle for information

Information concerning contracts signed by local authorities should be much more freely available, says Social Justice Coalition spokesman Axolile Notywala.

GroundUp staff

News | 2 October 2014

Khayelitsha residents welcome SJC social audit report

The community of BM Section in Khayelitsha came out in their numbers to listen to the report by the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) on sanitation services in the township.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 1 October 2014

Khayelitsha toilet audit finds “dire” results

One in four of the Khayelitsha public toilets, which are supposed to be cleaned by the City of Cape Town's janitorial services, is not working, a social audit by the Social Justice Coalition has found.

GroundUp staff

Feature | 1 October 2014

Ernest Sonnenberg, Mayco member for Utility Services, responds to SJC

It is deeply ironic that the Social Justice Coalition (SJC), which has appointed itself the guardian of the dignity of the most vulnerable in our city, would rather grandstand, utilise social media platforms, and have lengthy report back sessions rather than work with the City to directly improve the lives of residents.

Ernest Sonnenberg

News | 1 October 2014

City blames “irresponsible” residents for Philippi flooding

For months Philippi residents have been living with blocked drains that have flooded the roads. The City Council says the sewers are blocked because residents throw rubbish, including builders’ rubble, into the drains.

Thembela Ntongana

News | 30 September 2014

Allegations around public works programme spark protests in desperate Free State dorp

Arrive in Smithfield from any direction and the first official board one sees announces: ‘Mohokare declares war on waste’. The chief weapon in that war is a platoon of temporary workers hired under government’s Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) administered by local municipalities.

Carmel Rickard

News | 16 September 2014

Fighting for decent toilets in Gauteng schools

On 13 September Equal Education marched in Johannesburg for decent school sanitation in Gauteng. Brad Brockman, the organisation's General Secretary, explains the campaign.

Brad Brockman

Opinion | 16 September 2014

Khayelitsha cleaners fed up with not getting paid on time

Every month since January, Khayelitsha’s refuse collectors and street cleaners in QA and PJS Section go in large groups to camp outside the supervisor’s office so they can get what is due to them.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 15 September 2014

Week in activism

This week in activism we cover the symposium on torture hosted by the Wits Justice Project, the march by Equal Education for better sanitation for schools in Gauteng, and the ‘What if Women’ challenge by WHEAT.

Thembela Ntongana

News | 11 September 2014

RR Section’s overflowing toilets still unfixed

An unbearable smell lingers in the air of RR Section to the point where you can taste it. This is the daily struggle for Khayelitsha residents who live next to overflowing drains and toilets that still remain unfixed by the City of Cape Town.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 8 September 2014

New toilets for Khayelitsha creche

It’s an hour before snack time at the Sophumelela Day Care centre in Site C, Khayelitsha, and one of the toddlers has indicated to his teacher that he needs to use the toilet.

Barbara Maregele

News | 19 August 2014

TAC pickets Michael Mapongwana baby unit

“There is no privacy, you are asked in front of everyone what your baby's HIV status is. It is dirty and the staff is very disrespectful in the way they speak to patients. I don’t go to that clinic anymore; it’s been a year now. Because of their treatment I did something I shouldn’t have done, I tested my child for HIV myself, because I too work at a clinic.”

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 14 August 2014

Magistrate says charges stand against sanitation activists

The trial of 21 Social Justice Coalition (SJC) members continued in the Cape Town Magistrates' Court today. The group are charged with unlawfully attending and convening a protest in September last year.

Daneel Knoetze

News | 24 July 2014