On 27 April, people across South Africa commemorate Freedom Day – a public holiday marking our country's transition to democracy in 1994. Exactly nineteen years later, 150 people gathered in Khayelitsha to assert their fundamental and hardfought right to hold our leaders accountable in advancing the basic rights of all people, but particularly those in historically disenfranchised communities. The subject of the day: communal toilets servicing thousands of households in informal settlements across the City of Cape Town.
Almost two decades after our first democratic election, millions of South Africans continue to wait for what is arguably the most basic service. It is estimated that over sixteen million people in South Africa do not have access to basic sanitation facilities. In the City of Cape Town there are at least 500 000 people living without access to basic sanitation facilities. Poor sanitation provision has significant adverse consequences on public health, safety and dignity. Improving access to this essential service is a critical step in improving quality of life in our communities.
There are many challenges to providing a toilet to all in need, including high rates of urbanization, a lack of coordinated planning and development, and poor meaningful engagement and partnership with communities. However, the question posed at the Freedom Day community meeting was a simple one. Why has the City of Cape Town paid a private service provider R126 million for a service that is not being fully delivered?
The Freedom Day community meeting followed a week-long social audit in which affected residents worked in partnership with trained practitioners to assess whether Mshengu Services – a provider of more than 5000 communal toilets – is delivering on the obligations outlined in their contract with the City. The results of this audit are detailed in this report. They suggest that the City is failing to monitor Mshengu Services and other contractors, which is leading to wasteful expenditureand human rights violations.
The Social Justice Coalition's (SJC) social audit into chemical toilets in Khayelitsha has illustrated how citizens can work alongside government in monitoring service provision and that communities themselves can participate directly in both monitoring service delivery and holding leaders accountable.
The City of Cape Town has already responded to the audit results by acknowledging that it needs to "improve the monitoring of service providers",3 but much more must be done to ensure that remedial action is taken and that improvements are sustained. We hope that the findings will be used to improve service provision in Cape Town, but also across South Africa.
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