Government’s failures now in the spotlight in townships

Now, the poor are facing a disease we have no cure for – yet – and we have to question the inaction, for decades, on the part of government.

Setswetla informal settlement in Alexandra in Johannesburg, 31 March 2020, were five people were put under quarantine after being in close contact with a confirmed case in the township. Picture: Nigel Sibanda

The years of neglect of the poor is never more evident than during the national lockdown to try and curb the spread of coronavirus. The lacklustre performance of government in the townships is now in the spotlight: still no running water or adequate sanitation. These are dangerous times – so dangerous the only way we can protect ourselves is through proper hygiene and isolation – but how do you do that in a maze of corrugated tin roofs? For 26 years, the song and dance about our democratic dispensation had become a narrative of detraction. But, now, the poor are…

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The years of neglect of the poor is never more evident than during the national lockdown to try and curb the spread of coronavirus.

The lacklustre performance of government in the townships is now in the spotlight: still no running water or adequate sanitation.

These are dangerous times – so dangerous the only way we can protect ourselves is through proper hygiene and isolation – but how do you do that in a maze of corrugated tin roofs?

For 26 years, the song and dance about our democratic dispensation had become a narrative of detraction. But, now, the poor are facing a disease we have no cure for – yet – and we have to question the inaction, for decades, on the part of government.

But the criticism must be honest: Covid-19 can be a reset button. The end goal must be to keep us alive – but government needs to look in the mirror.

An overhaul of the healthcare system is critical.

Yes, there are new buzz words such as “social distancing,” “interim containerised sanitation systems” and “quarantine”. But it is sadly lacking in the townships.

The virus has already hit Cape Town’s largest township, Khayelitsha, whose residents are rightly concerned about their crowded living conditions preventing social distancing.

And water and sanitation is another worry, but at least more than 40,000 water tanks have been distributed countrywide.

We know that to reduce transmission, we need three things: physical distancing; hand-washing; and disinfecting surfaces. But physical distancing with no services is impossible.

What is the possibility of containing a virus where more than 200 residents share one tap, water is stored in buckets and too few mobile toilets are supplied.

Now, we lament those wasted tender millions that never addressed the shortages; those urban renewal projects that just stayed a plan…

These are the tales that have now come to haunt us.

Government is playing a catch-up game it will surely lose.