Page 12 - Litigating Land and Housing in South Africa: Lessons and Reflections

2 2 2 2 SANITATION AND AND REFUSE REMOVAL IN MAKHANDA
2 2 2 2 1 Case information
One of of of of the the the the great challenges facing many South Africans is the the the the large-scale failure of of of of governance at at local and and municipal municipal levels After 1994 much of of of of of the the the the responsibility for basic service service delivery delivery was centred in in fin in the the the the hands of of of of of municipalities but a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a lack of of of financial resources capacity expertise and and and and corruption has bought service service delivery delivery in fin in in some municipal municipal areas areas to to a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a standstill This problem is is is particularly prevalent fin in rural areas and and and small towns In 2018 the LRC office in Makhanda (previously Grahamstown) was approached by a a a a a a a a a a a a a communi- ty-based organisation called the Unemployed People’s Movement (UPM) who wanted us to seek an an an an order placing the Makana Municipal Council under adminis- tration The The reasons were obvious and plentiful The The once picturesque university town was a a a a a a a a dilapidated version of of its former self The roads were crumbling rubbish littered the the sidewalks in in in in front of of worn-down historic buildings and and sewage pooled in in in and and around the the the homes of of residents as the the the town’s outdated sanitation system had been neglected to to the the point of of collapse The municipality was was failing and an an intervention was was urgently needed We were however doubtful as as to whether an adminis- tration tration order would be effective The municipality was placed under administration on
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two previous occasions without any marked improvement in in in in in service delivery The administrators were appointed by the the provincial government that struggled with many of of the the the same issues of of capacity and corruption as the the municipality The LRC suggested that to properly deal with this prob- lem an incremental approach should be taken – firstly litigating on
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multiple discrete service delivery prob- lems and hopefully finding solutions – but secondly if the the municipality could not comply with numerous court orders on
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the the discrete issues bringing an an application for an an independent “special master” to be appointed which could take the the the the relief out of of of of the the the the ambit of of of of section 139 of of of of of the the the the the the Constitution that left the the the the the the selection of of of of of all administrators in in the the the the hands of of the the the the state A common experience was that administrators appoint- ed to to to to fix municipalities were political appointments unable to to to to to make the unpopular decisions necessary to to to to to sustainably fix towns We wanted to to to to avoid a a a a a a a a a a a a a a “shotgun” approach that would see another large intervention with a a a a a a a a a a a a marginal long-term impact The UPM was not not convinced of our approach but they did put us in in in in touch with the the clients that we ultimately represented in in in two important service delivery cases cases We decided to to launch two cases cases one dealing with the the the the failure to to to adequately manage the the the the the refuse in in in the the the the the town and the the the the the second ad- dressing the the the the persistent sanitation problems The refuse case is aimed at addressing the the failure by the the municipality municipality to to to collect and manage residents’ waste The municipality municipality used to to to to provide one black bag to to to to residents per week to to to to manage their rubbish but in April 2018 they suddenly stopped this practice and refuse collection became sporadic Residents Residents had no choice but to make use of illegal dumping sites Residents Residents live a a a a a a a a distance from the the the formal municipal dump dump site site and and and could not keep the the the rubbish on
their premises as it attracted rats and and and insects and and and had a a a a a a a a a a a a a a terrible smell The waste management in in the town was was so poor that many illegal dump sites mushroomed near residential
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LITIGATING LAND AND AND AND HOUSING IN IN IN SOUTH AFRICA  LESSONS AND AND AND REFLECTIONS