Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Anger at poor public services in South Africa

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Inside the conical brick tower looming over Walter Sisulu Square in Kliptown, Soweto, Busi Hlatshwayo thoughtfully studies


10 giant bronze slabs announcing the core principles of South Africa’s Freedom Charter.


She pauses at one that declares: “The people shall share in the country’s wealth!” and remarks wryly: “Where is that wealth?” Hlatshwayo then slowly recites another: “There shall be houses, security and comfort!” “Where (is the) comfort?” the 79-year-old asks. “Instead, we are still crying.” Hlatshwayo hails from Kliptown, a suburb of Johannesburg’s Soweto township. Many people here live in crowded, makeshift homes built with corrugated iron sheets and other rudimentary materials.


Several families share a single, outside toilet.


“All these things written (here), none of them have been done,” Hlatshwayo said, pointing at the triangular bronze slabs arranged to form an imposing, gleaming circle at the monument’s heart.


As May 8 general elections approach, South Africans who accuse the ruling African National Congress (ANC) of reneging on Nelson Mandela’s 1994 promise of “a better life for all”, have staged often violent demonstrations in townships that still lack basic services 25 years after the country’s first democratic vote, which ended white minority rule.


It was in Kliptown in 1955 that about 3,000 anti-apartheid activists adopted the Freedom Charter, a pinnacle document which became the cornerstone of the ANC’s stated policies and the foundation of South Africa’s much-admired constitution. The monument erected on a civic square of the 116-year-old township attracts thousands of tourists each year.But for local residents, the grandeur of the tower and its 10 surrounding pillars belies their suffering.


According to the 2019 Socio-Economic Survey published by the Centre for Risk Analysis, a policy research institute, the number of regular houses in South Africa has increased by a quarter since 1996.


The number of people with access to electricity went up by 61 per cent, and access to flushing toilets rose 30 per cent.


However, official statistics from 2017 show that 13.6 per cent of South Africans were still living in informal settlements, more than a third had no access to flush or chemical toilets, and more than half had no piped water where they live. The official unemployment rate — which does not count people who have given up looking for a job — is 27 per cent.


“Where are the free houses? Our kids are staying in shacks,” said Hlatshwayo, letting out a deep sigh. “A shack (is) for chickens to stay in.” She walks down a muddy street. — AFP


Susan NJANJI


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