CAPE TOWN, Oct 30 — Ntombekhaya Makeleni stopped using the communal toilets in her Cape Town neighbourhood after a group of men tried to force their way in as she was inside one day before dawn.
Now the 53-year-old relies on a bucket that is emptied outside later, as do many others in the deprived township of Khayelitsha where thousands live in informal shacks with no sanitation.
The lack of a decent toilet is pushing Makeleni to the polls in South Africa’s local government elections next week. “I will be voting because after voting, things will be fixed,” she told AFP.
The November 4 poll promises a glimpse into whether frustrations with local government failures are changing political loyalties — including for the once long-dominant African National Congress (ANC) — ahead of the 2029 general election.
