Cape Town mayor Dan Plato has called on Makhaza residents in Khayelitsha to burn tyres and protest against the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) for destroying toilet enclosures last week.
“I want to throw it back at the community … that you need to tell those rude hooligans, those thugs, that you must march and burn tyres against those hooligans,” Plato said at a press conference at his offices in Cape Town.
“What is happening now is that the youth league is taking decisions on the part of the community without the community having any say in it.”
Plato said the unenclosed toilets in Makhaza were removed on Monday morning. They would be replaced once residents had built enclosures themselves.
“We are willing to go back and reinstall the toilets as soon the community reaches an agreement with the youth league.”
Plato said charges were laid against the ANCYL last week for destruction of city property.
“We are also looking at the youth league’s call to make the City of Cape Town ungovernable, and so we are looking at a charge of inciting violence.”
He said the case was with detectives. “The detectives and officials have it in hand.”
Plato said the ANC’s criticism of its youth body was “too little, too late”.
“The ANC leadership did not respond immediately to the actions of their cadres. It is a week too late. Their actions were not enough. The damage has been done.”
Plato said the city had reached an agreement with residents and the ANCYL that it would install the toilets once the enclosures had been built. This had been done in other parts of Khayelitsha with great success.
“In 2007, the city negotiated an agreement that residents would contribute to the project by building enclosures around the toilets themselves,” Plato said.
Of the 1 316 toilets provided in terms of this agreement, 1 265 were properly enclosed by residents. The remaining 51 were not.
“Given that the city has been prevented from building the remaining enclosures, we have resolved to temporarily remove the toilets until appropriate enclosures have been built.”
Plato said the city had to remove 65 toilets on Monday morning. He said this was because some of the residents in Makhaza had sided with the ANCYL and broke down more enclosures. — Sapa