STATEMENT BY THE EXECUTIVE MAYOR OF CAPE TOWN, ALDERMAN PATRICIA DE LILLE: AT THE SITE INSPECTION OF MAKHAZA WITH THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION TODAY

City has complied with court order to enclose toilets

13 MARCH 2012

In July 2011, the City of Cape Town, in accordance with an order of the Cape High Court, acted to enclose 1316 toilets in the Silvertown Project with concrete enclosures.

As per the Court's instruction, the City undertook door-to-door surveys in conjunction with a community facilitator to determine whether or not individual residents consented to the said enclosures.

After extensive consultation, a total of 1030 toilets out of 1316 toilets were enclosed with a concrete structure. In the case of the remaining 286 toilets, residents explicitly and in writing chose not to have their toilets enclosed with concrete for various reasons, including the fact that some residents had already enclosed their own.

Furthermore, in each case the City has signed a deed of sale with residents which, once the transfer process has been completed, will see the title of each erf, which includes the toilets in question being transferred to residents.

While the phenomenon of unenclosed toilets is not something that is unique to the City of Cape Town, the City does feel that, in its drive to create a Caring and Inclusive City, it has acted with speed to uphold the dictates of the law and its obligation as a local government to provide people with dignity.

The speed of the City's response stands in stark contrast to other parts of the country, such as Rammulotsi (Viljoenskroon) in the Free State, where there are reports that literally hundreds of toilets remain unenclosed there.

The City of Cape Town remains fully committed to dealing with service delivery backlogs that are a result of South Africa's cruel and divisive Apartheid history.

In the last financial year we committed approximately R1.6 billion to the upgrading of informal settlements and we will spend in excess of approximately R2.1 billion in the next financial year in an effort to try and eradicate backlogs and improve service delivery.

The challenge is a daunting one as the backlogs are a moving target due to the pressures posed by ever increasing urbanisation. In all our efforts we hope that communities will support us, by for example, helping to take responsibility for the maintenance of communal toilets and other facilities.

Issued by the Communication Department, City of Cape Town, March 13 2012

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