Cape Town teams can only come out when security becomes available
Some Khayelitsha are unable to properly serve them from Cape Town’s sanitation team due to high crime rates, the city says. Residents requested electricity, water and better sanitation over the weekend. The city says the hygiene team must be accompanied by security escorts that are not always available. The tap will be installed starting this month.
The city’s city of Cape Town’s sanitation team cannot quickly serve parts of Kaeritssha due to high crime rates.
Zahid Badroadien, Mayor’s Committee member of Water and Sanitation, told Groundup, “Due to the safety risks of Khayelitsha, city teams can only access the area with security escorts that need to be arranged to protect the team while working on the site.”
“This unfortunately means that city teams may not be able to participate in service requests immediately if necessary.”
Badroadien was answering questions from the Groundup after receiving the protest on Saturday. There, residents of a Level 2 unofficial settlement barricaded Walter Sisulu Road near Khayelitsha Mall, where the burning tires are located. The protests disrupt traffic, delayed taxi services and blocked access to the mall.
Protesters were demanding electricity, water and better sanitation. The settlement is on land owned by the city.
Residents rely on water faucets installed in 2021, but supply is unstable.
“Because of low pressure, our taps don’t produce water during the day when everyone uses water,” said Mabhelandile Twani, chairman of the land occupying organization Intlungu Yabahlali Basematyotyomben.
Badroadien said plans are in place to set up 80 taps at the settlement starting in April. Additional toilets will be set up for fiscal year 2025/26, which begins in July, he said.
Towani said that chemical toilets “deprive us of our dignity.” The city is struggling to maintain these toilets, he said. “Cleaning companies aren’t always there because law enforcement is not available to escort them.”
Badroadien said the area’s last toilet service was held on Friday, March 28th. In response to a complaint expressed by protesters that the contracted cleaning company asked residents to clean their toilets because they lacked water, Badrdien said there was no need for water to suck up waste from chemical toilets. The toilets were cleaned by the custodian, he said.
Sign up for the AllAfrica newsletter for free
Get the latest African news
success!
Almost finished…
You need to check your email address.
Follow the instructions in the email you sent to complete the process.
error!
There was a problem processing the submission. Please try again later.
Regarding the protesters’ demands for electricity, a member of Meiko, a human settlement in Karl Pocheim, said the city will conduct a settlement investigation to count the houses. “The city then sends that information to Eskom and applies for funding and approval.”
Many households rely on illegal power connections from nearby formal homes, Chuma Elementary Schools, or streetlights. However, not everyone can purchase the wiring they need.
“Around half of the residents here are not electricity because they are too poor to buy electrical wires,” Twani explained.
People without illegal connections rely on rechargeable lamps and candles. “We want to get electricity legally because heavy rains undermine our illegal connections and leave us without power,” Towani said. “We’re happy to pay for electricity.”
Ayema Bhadashe, who lives with her husband and three children, said she would pay R200 a month to a nearby house for electricity. However, thieves frequently steal electrical wires and leave their families without electricity for 2-3 weeks.
Bhadashe must wait for a child’s social grant before replacing the wire. “We don’t cook because we sometimes steal wires when we don’t have paraffin or candle money,” she added.
She also claimed that the offenders would request protection fees from residents connecting to Eskomwire. “They say they protect our wires, prevent other thugs from stealing them, and make residents pay R150 each month.”
