Community Officials Speak Twenty Years Post-Apartheid: What Are Sanitation Conditions in Informal Settlements across Cape Town, South Africa?

Background and Purpose:

Protesters threw human feces at government buildings in South Africa in 2014, the world was alerted to the sanitation conditions in Cape Town’s informal settlements. It has been 20 years since Apartheid was dismantled in South Africa, but access to toilets in Cape Town has not changed. This project seeks to understand the current sanitation practices and policy in these settlements. It is comprised of three case studies that examine the sanitation infrastructure of distinctive townships of Cape Town, South Africa.

Methods:

In-person semi-structured interviews and surveys were conducted with community officials in order to build an understanding of sanitation infrastructure, with specific regard to the quality of facilities available to residents.

Results:

Outcomes of the study found that 85% of respondents did not feel safe going to the bathroom alone at night. On average, 44.2% stated that they shared a toilet with 10-12 people, while 21% of participants shared a toilet with 10 or fewer people. Outcomes of this study showed an overwhelming cry from community members to address sanitation conditions for women and children. This presentation will contribute to important conversations surrounding development safer access to toilets for women and children at a global context. Data analysis will cover issues including gender, post-Apartheid socioeconomic inequality, and the geography of sanitation. A comparative approach to infrastructure between cities and townships will highlight new opportunities for improving sanitation. Interviews with city officials, NGPs, and waste plant managers will contribute to our understanding of what infrastructure is currently in place.

Conclusions and Implications:

Policy implications yielded by this study include adding solar power lighting in toilet facilities, proper toilet seat sizes for women and children with proper locks on doors. Sustainability of community resources (sanitation facilities) was also considered within this project; due to the high unemployment rate, innovations for vocational education and training on the construction of public facilities will be suggested.