Cape Town doubles toilets in poor areas
2013-02-13 09:48
Cape Town - The number of toilets provided in Cape Town's
informal settlements has more than doubled in seven years, the Cape Times
reported on Wednesday.
Addressing the Cape Town civic centre on the provision of
services to the poor, mayor Patricia de Lille said there were 14 951 toilets in
2006/7 and this had risen to 34 225 in the last year.
"If you don't focus on the poorer areas then you are
ignoring the areas where the majority of Capetonians live," she said.
According to the report, the city had 204 informal
settlements with over 193 000 households.
Open toilets saga
The city attracted negative publicity in 2009 when the ANC
Youth League lodged complaints with the Human Rights Commission about open
toilets in Makhaza, Khayelitsha.
De Lille said more than half the city's operational budget
of R18m was being spent on poorer areas in the current financial year.
She called on residents to be more protective of the
services delivered to them so the city could fund new services.
Over R115m had already been spent repairing vandalised
sewers in the last year.
- SAPA
