Thulani Cele and 300 other squatters in Johannesburg, Africa’s wealthiest city, fill buckets from the building’s one operable tap to drink and wash.
We’re in a bad situation. We need toilet facilities. Cele, a 40-year-old former shopkeeper, declares, “We need water.” She also mentions that due to a lack of sanitation, individuals in the neighborhood must use buckets as toilets.
The city’s housing department has selected water and sanitation services for Johannesburg’s informal communities as a major priority. Cele and his neighbors, on the other hand, seem to be forgotten.
Children here play in the dark, in rooms that are coming apart due to a lack of electricity. The ownership of the building is unclear. People have been living there without paying rent for years. Hillbrow is Johannesburg’s poorest area, with no power and just buckets for sanitation.
The constitution of South Africa requires that all residents, including those living in informal settlements, have access to clean drinking water, sanitary facilities, and electricity.
The Inner City Federation, where Siyabonga Mahlangu works, has been supporting Cele and his neighbors, as well as suing the city, to reestablish their access to basic amenities. He alleges that municipal authorities often disregard court directives.
“What are we supposed to do?” they wonder. Mahlangu has asked this question. “How are we going to wash ourselves, prepare food, and cook if there is no water?”
