A joint statement by the Treatment Action Campaign, , Equal Education, Social Justice Coalition, SECTION27 and Ndifuna Ukwazi Join the Right2Know Protests this Week! We are civil society organisations who support the Right2Know campaign. For the past year our members have spoken out against the Protection of State Information Bill (Secrecy Bill) and protested against…
DetailsThis article by Zackie Achmat and Fritz Jooste appeared in the Cape Times on 1 November 2011 The lived experience of people in informal settlements is a dehumanising defiance of the constitutional and moral obligations that require the state to treat every person as having equal dignity and rights. Uncollected rubbish, floating faeces and the…
DetailsThe Social Justice Coalition (SJC) welcomes the announcement by President Jacob Zuma regarding the dismissal of Minister of Public Works Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde and the immediate suspension of the National Police Commissioner Bheki Cele. Since early this year the SJC has been calling for action to be taken against Mahlangu-Nkabinde and Cele following two reports issued…
DetailsOn 13 October 2011, representatives of our organisations met with the Western Cape Premier Helen Zille and MEC for Community Safety Dan Plato. The meeting was called in response to a picket and protest of at least 600 people on 4 October 2011 outside the provincial parliament in Cape Town where we issued, for the…
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The Social Justice Coalition (SJC) has observed that refuse collection in informal settlements is often irregular and of very poor quality. Refuse is often left rotting for days or weeks, contributing to the spread of disease.
All refuse collection for informal settlements in the City of Cape Town is outsourced to private contractors, which in our view limits accountability and recourse. In addition, the provision and maintenance of sanitation services, which are also outsourced, are either non-existent or of a poor quality.
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The Social Justice Coalition (SJC) welcomes a commitment from the Office of Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille that janitorial services for sanitation facilities in informal settlements “should be considered for inclusion” in the planned Mayoral Special Jobs Creation Project. According to the Mayor, the R138 million project – announced on 29 September 2011[2] – will come in the form of “a community based operation and maintenance programme in historically neglected communities” which will include “cleaning, maintenance of services in informal settlements, maintenance of stormwater systems, and more”. If such a service is designed and implemented effectively, it will serve as a groundbreaking step towards ensuring that all people in Cape Town have their rights to basic sanitation progressively realized.
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