CoCT Dispatches Officials to Fix Kraaifontein Water, Sanitation & Refuse Issues After ActionSA’s Request

ActionSA in the Western Cape yesterday wrote to the Executive Mayor and City Manager of the City of Cape Town (CoCT), requesting that the CoCT provide basic water and sanitation services to the communities of the informal settlements known as “Goudini”, “Jerusalem” and “Covid” in Kraaifontein, that were erected three years ago during the Covid pandemic.

ActionSA also requested that the CoCT provide these residents with regular refuse removal services.

We are pleased to learn that CoCT officials have now been dispatched to resolve the issues in the community. We thank them for their timeous response in this regard.

Both I and ActionSA Western Cape Head of Strategic Litigation, Advocate Julie Seton, visited Goudini and Jerusalem informal settlements and found appalling living conditions. Residents do not have access to basic sanitation and are forced to relieve themselves in buckets, which they then empty into nearby drains.  Residents do not have access to water and are forced to beg for water from neighbouring RDP houses that are serviced.  Rubbish is not being removed and skips are not emptied. Raw sewage is flowing through the streets where children are walking and playing.

The CoCT has a Constitutional obligation to ensure that all Cape Town residents are afforded access to basic water and sanitation, and to an environment that is not harmful to their health and wellbeing. South Africans living without access to water, sanitation and refuse removal experience a daily violation of their human rights which cannot be accepted or tolerated.

ActionSA has therefore requested the CoCT to provide basic water, sanitation and refuse collection services to these communities within 30 days.  Should the CoCT fail to comply with this request, ActionSA will approach the High Court for an order compelling the CoCT to comply with their constitutional and legislative duties.  ActionSA will continue to fight for the poor, marginalized and forgotten people of the Western Cape.

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