'We have failed on sanitation'

15 March 2012 - 02:24 By PHILANI NOMBEMBE
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The Presidency has revealed that the government will not achieve its target of providing all citizens with water and toilets by 2014.

Nothemba Mpemyama, of Makhaza informal settlement, Cape Town, at a toilet enclosure. File photo
Nothemba Mpemyama, of Makhaza informal settlement, Cape Town, at a toilet enclosure. File photo
Image: SHELLEY CHRISTIANS

Hassen Mohamed, a deputy director-general in the Department of Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency, released a report on the status of sanitation at the SA Human Rights Commission's public hearings in Cape Town yesterday. The report, which was ordered by the commission after it ruled on open-air toilets in Cape Town and Viljoenskroon in the Free State, says there are more than 16 million people without basic access to sanitation.

It also says 11% of households have no water and toilets, whereas 28% have sanitation services that do not meet set standards.

Only 40 out of 826 of the country's waste water works achieved the "green drop" status during an annual assessment conducted by the Department of Water Affairs last year.

The "green drop" status is awarded to well-run waste water management systems.

The report also found that water services authorities were unable to manage existing infrastructure.

It will cost the government R13.5-billion to provide basic sanitation services to communities where they do not exist and R31.25-billion to refurbish and upgrade existing infrastructure.

"We are not going to reach the100% target at the current pace of delivery," said Mohamed. "The issue that is emerging, as we've seen in Makhaza, is that there are services that do not conform to standards in the way we define issues of human dignity, privacy and health."

He said the worst-off areas were in KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Limpopo and North West.

Pregs Govender, the commission's deputy chairman, slammed the government for not prioritising sanitation and instead spending on arms and splurging on World Cup stadiums.

"Fifa made billions in South Africa more than it made anywhere in the world. The question is: at whose expense?" asked Govender.

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