- Residents of Overcome Heights have endured three years without functioning flush toilets, relying on inadequate portable options.
- Community leaders accuse the City of Cape Town of neglecting service delivery, despite repeated pleas.
- The City cites vandalism and logistical challenges but promises replacements by mid-2025.
Residents of Overcome Heights informal settlement have reached their wits end pleading for workable flush toilets, which they claim had been broken for more than three years.
However, after repeated service requests the City of Cape Town have yet to provide flush toilets, says community leader Karen Mentoor.
“The officials are not doing their jobs,” she claims. “I’ve told the City of Cape Town that there’s no service delivery in Overcome Heights because all our flush toilets are broken and the pipes leading to toilets are forever blocked.”
Mentoor reached out to the People’s Post yet again after efforts to have flush toilets repaired and replaced had fallen on deaf ears. The People’s Post initially raised the issue with the City of Cape Town in December last year (“All we want is a toilet,” People’s Post, 3 December 2023).
At the time, the City of Cape Town said maintenance and operational teams respond to service requests as received. However, a year later residents complained that the toilets had still not been fixed.
Mentoor questioned. “The City’s slogan is that they work for the people, but how are they working for people when these toilets have been broken for three years?”
Resident Liziwe Siyila explained that they are currently using “mobile toilets” which she described as pot/ bucket toilets.
“It’s been more than three years since we’ve been using mobile toilets which is like a pot or bucket. We have been complaining to officials, but they’ve done nothing so far,” she said. “When you have a full bucket inside your house, it stays full of the waste for days until it is collected. “
READ MORE | ‘Having a toilet is a human right’: Vandalised and broken toilets in Overcome Heights a ‘big issue’
Nomaphelo Titi, a resident for several years, said it is hard to believe that they have been begging and pleading but with no results.
“These toilets have been broken for a very long time, more than three years,” she commented. “If you try to flush a toilet, the sewage spills out from the pipes. We are tired of living like this.”
Broken or unusable
When the People’s Post visited the area last week, the toilets from a year ago were indeed still broken and not usable.
In response to the claims, Mayco member for water and sanitation Zahid Badroodien said the toilets referred to have been severely vandalised by the community.
“The doors have been kicked in, toilets filled with rubble and cisterns stolen. These toilets are now unfortunately beyond repair and have therefore been condemned,” he said. “They will have to be removed from where they are located.”
When the People’s Post pointed out that the City’s claim, a year ago, to respond to service requests as received was false, Badroodien responded: “The sewer line that services these full flush toilets (FFTs) are misused, with construction material and other foreign objects being dumped into the network blocking the pipes needed to convey the sewage. The conditions that these toilets and the connecting sewer pipelines were subjected to by these acts of outright vandalism also added to the costs of servicing the affected communities and the replacement.
READ | Community sees relief as refurbished toilets and new installations ease years of struggle
“In order to replace these toilets, the sewer line also has to be cleared. It is difficult to do this as the manholes have been built over and buried almost 500mm deep, making this entire replacement process a difficult and lengthy one. As a result, the design report for the replacement of the toilets has required additional time to prepare.”
Badroodien added that while the flush toilets are out of order there are portable and chemical toilets in Overcome Heights.
“Please note that the community is serviced by chemical and portable flush toilets. This means that there is currently access to sanitation services while the full flush toilets have been taken out of use.”
He further added that the replacement of the FFTs is anticipated to commence between March and June next year, subject to necessary processes.
