DA Inanda, Ntuzuma and KwaMashu constituency head Marlaine Nair called on the SAHRC to urgently investigate this matter and take action on behalf of these vulnerable residents. The SAH RC's provincial acting spokesperson, Wisani Baloyi, said the commission has started the processes of registering the complaint from the DA and assessing it in terms of the commission's complaints handling procedures CHP . "This will include determining whether the SAHRC KZN provincial office has jurisdiction to deal with the matter, the basis thereof and if so it will be allocated to an official in the PO's legal unit to propose the way forward in dealing with the complaint. "This proposal recommendation will be made in consultation with and under the direction of the provincial manager, after which the complainant will be advised accordingly," he said. Baloyi added that at this stage the commission was not able to comment on any expected outcomes as this would be premature and possibly prejudicial to any investigation. However, the SAHRC did reiterate that the right to proper and safe sanitation was a basic socioeconomic right that is protected in terms of section 27 of the Constitution, and should be enjoyed by all.

"Whilst the SA government has taken a number of steps to address challenges with safe sanitation, regretfully a significant proportion of our communities and our overall population still do not enjoy this basic right, which also impacts on other intrinsic rights such as the right to human dignity, health and even the right to life. "Further, the rights to water and sanitation are closely interlinked and the lack thereof significantly negatively impacts on several aspects of the daily living requirements of affected communities," he added. Baloyi said there was accordingly a critical role for the commission, other Chapter 9 institutions, government, nongovernmental organisations as well as civil society to work together in raising awareness and achieving this basic and very critical human right in the country. According to the eThekwini Municipality, the lack of bulk sewer infrastructure and funding constraints have led to a significant backlog in the provision of acceptable sanitation in some areas around the city. The city proposed a new plan to install onsite sanitation technology, including urine diversion toilets, to replace pit latrines, which were given the green light at a council meeting last month.




Source: The Witness