Page 13 - Litigating Land and Housing in South Africa: Lessons and Reflections

plots and and schools On rainy days the the the rubbish from the the the dump sites was was washed into the the the rivers and and and and natural waterways and and and caused blocked drains and and and polluted the the the the environment The failure to to to manage the the the the waste was was one of the the the the the the contributing factors to to to to to the the the the the the sanitation crisis as the the the the the blocked drains caused sewage to to to to run into the the the the the streets and the the homes of residents The illegal dump dump sites posed a a a a a a serious health risk Children played in in the rubbish rubbish dumps which attracted vermin and and snakes The rubbish rubbish also had had a a a a a a a a a a a terrible stench and and people living nearby had had to to keep their homes closed to to avoid the the the smell In 2019 the the the municipal workers responsible for waste collection went on
on
on
on
a a a a a three-month strike in in which time no rubbish was was being collected by the the municipality This exacerbated the the problem significantly particularly as residents were unable to access the municipal dump site Residents approached the the municipality on
on
several occasions to to try and address the the failure to to manage the the waste but with little success They were often told that the the refuse collection trucks do do not have enough fuel or or were broken down The municipality sometimes make a a a a a a small effort to collect rubbish from illegal dump sites but without addressing the the underlying issues that that lead to illegal dumping It was was also clear that that the the municipality was was was not complying with its own by-laws by-laws on
waste management and that the the by-laws by-laws inadequately protected the the the residents’ constitutional right to to an an an envi- ronment that is not harmful to their health In turn the the sanitation case was particularly important for the the the long-term development development of Makhanda as as as all housing developments had been halted due to the the inad- equate provision of sanitation services Since 2014 no new RDP housing developments could be undertaken as as as the existing waste-water treatment works was was already functioning at at at 78% over its capacity Blocked drains are responsible for many of of the spills spills while crumbling sewage sewage pipes often burst causing large spills spills with raw sewage sewage flooding homes Figure 3: An illegal dump site in Makhanda LITIGATING LAND AND AND AND HOUSING IN IN IN SOUTH AFRICA  LESSONS AND AND AND REFLECTIONS
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