The City of Cape Town’s Executive Mayor,
Alderman Patricia de Lille, outlined the City’s investment plans to improve access to basic services in informal settlements, on Wednesday, 7 August 2013.
The City has prioritised a large number of resources specifically to providing refuse removal and area cleaning, adequate sanitation, water and electricity to the areas.
“The City of Cape Town remains committed to providing the best services we have available to our residents. Whilst challenges remain, we will continue to invest in improving the lives of all the people who live here, with a particular focus on the poor and vulnerable,” says Alderman De Lille.
She adds: “This is part of our broader commitment to pro-poor spending and investment in infrastructure. The City has consistently and significantly increased its budget for the provision of services to informal settlements since 2006. As a result, we have made substantial headway in our efforts to provide services to those residents who live in informal dwellings.”
This year’s budget has made allocation for, among others:
- an estimated R292 million to provide electricity to informal settlements
- an approximate R521 million for water and sanitation to informal settlements
- an estimated R141 million to provide solid waste management services to informal settlements, which will include weekly door-to-door services, refuse bags, collection and area cleaning, as well as litter picking between informal dwellings.
“Despite providing the best level of access to sanitation in the country, the City has again imposed our own target ratio and committed to the provision of sanitation on a 1:5 ratio, in order to further enhance levels of service provision,” says Alderman De Lille.
Based on the latest census results, approximately 19 000 households are serviced outside of this ratio. To reduce the number, the City will continue to provide full flush facilities where possible, and other sanitation types such as Portable Flush Toilets (PFTs) where conditions preclude the provision of full flush toilets.
“Since April this year, the City has provided residents with over 7 100 PFTs. This is over and above the more than 10 000 PFTs previously provided.
“The toilets are cleaned free of charge three times per week by a City contractor and are not bucket toilets. PFTs are a sealed, water-based alternative that is fully flushable providing access to dignified, safe sanitation,” says Alderman De Lille.
De Lille stated the emphasis in the media on providing the PFTs to the estimated 700 people in the city who still use the ‘bucket system’.
“This number has been reduced from the 958 that were still in the system when the campaign started. The figure remains at 700 due to continued political resistance in areas where the ‘bucket system’ is still in circulation…
“It must be emphasised that despite these legal and physical constraints, the City still provides the highest level of service possible through alternative sanitation types, including PFTs, chemical and container toilets,” says Alderman De Lille.
For the full statement, click here.
