Sanitation

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

Cape Town’s protest permit system not supported by law, says City employee

The City of Cape Town's policy that requires groups, marchers and protesters to apply for a gathering permit is not supported by law. This was a concession made by one of the City's own officials, Noel da Silva, who is employed to consider such applications and to grant permits.

Daneel Knoetze

News | 23 July 2014

Khayelitsha’s stinkiest home finally gets cleaned up

A house in Khayelitsha stank so badly, even the neighbours complained about it. Thankfully, the City of Cape Town has unblocked the sewage drain of Mluleki Gantso’s house.

Johnnie Isaac

News | 22 July 2014

City in the hot seat over toilet audit

Over a quarter of the flush toilets inspected during the Social Justice Coalition’s (SJC) social audit did not work.

Barbara Maregele

News | 21 July 2014

Flush toilet audit begins in Khayelitsha

This week the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) began a second social audit of janitorial services in Khayelitsha. This time the organisation is looking at flush toilets.

Thembela Ntongana and Zintle Swana

News | 18 July 2014