HEALTH AND SANITATION
“But people are getting sick, so we can’t keep
standing by and doing nothing.” of different government departments, no official
routine maintenance is carried out on any of them.
“We have tried reporting problems to the City of
Jo’burg, but leaks keep going, sometimes for years,”
adds Junitha Kgatla, another WASSUP team member.
“We now report directly to Jo’burg Water repair
teams. But the problem is that the infrastructure is
not designed to service so many people, so it will
keep on breaking.” The report estimates it would cost roughly
USD100 000/year to continue WASSUP’s programme
in Diepsloot Extension 1, and van den Bussche says
many townships are in need of such programmes.
“Private sector funding can never replace government
money in terms of rolling out these sorts of
programmes, infrastructure and maintenance.” Van
den Bussche says the best way to create long-term
sustainable change is through partnerships rather
than outsiders coming in and simply throwing money
at problems.
In 2016, WASSUP and the Diepsloot Arts & Culture
Network successfully hosted the IWSH Community
Plumbing Challenge in collaboration with
Healthabitat. Sticky Situations facilitated the event,
in which international students and apprentices
representing South Africa, Australia, India and the
United States repaired and installed communal
toilet facilities for residents in the Extension 1 area
of Diepsloot.
The CPC participants worked with local partners
on the ordering and sourcing of local materials,
equipment and tools, and collaborated to develop
further solutions for the new and improved
communal toilet facilities. The 2016 event also
featured a Science and Engineering Forum hosted
by Johannesburg Water, and official visits from
representatives of participating countries including
the United States Consul General and the Australian
High Commission.
Van den Bussche says participatory development is a
key part of WASSUP’s programme. “It’s about working
with people on an equal footing where everybody’s
knowledge around the table is equal,” she says.
“I couldn’t work in a township if I didn’t have local
partners. Local partners couldn’t do what they’re
doing if we didn’t have Sticky Situations, IAPMO or
Healthabitat and all those other supporters. So, it’s
acknowledging that what everybody brings to the
table is equal, and the process is participatory in
every sense.”
“WASSUP has demonstrated this in Extension 1,” she
says. “The living environment here is so much better
than what it was in years past. So, the report is trying
to quantify the improvements, and illustrating the
issue of water savings is one critical example.”
Van den Bussche cites a recent visit from IAPMO’s
Chaney; Dave Viola, chief operating officer and
executive vice president of business strategy; and
Peter DeMarco, executive vice president of advocacy
and research, as well as former World Plumbing
Council chairman, Stuart Henry, as being instrumental
in helping revive WASSUP’s collaboration with Iopsa.
As a result, she says, Iopsa agreed to help with the
launch of the report and oversee the completion of
training and professional qualification of two members
of the present WASSUP team.
“The more we work with our community, the more
they look after the toilets,” says Jack Molokomme of
WASSUP Diepsloot. “So that’s the sort of thing – you know these projects
all need money, but I don’t want to ask people for
money; local stakeholders and local industry need
to support this,” she says. “We need the muscle and
the pull, and we need the influence; the ongoing
international Community Plumbing Challenge
programme is a perfect example of how small,
follow-up projects can continue to run and allow us
to bring plumbers from all over the world to look at
specific problems in our local area. The CPC has
worked in India, Indonesia and the Navajo Nation, as
well as Diepsloot; it is so important we keep driving
on with those partnerships and building
those networks.”
IAPMO CEO GP Russ Chaney says the report
provides an excellent overview of the challenges
facing Diepsloot residents, as well as steps that
can be taken to remedy the problem. “This report
signifies the challenges that result from the high
concentration of inhabitants within the Diepsloot
community, and specifically, what remedies need
to be considered in order to address these major
threats to providing a safe and healthy environment.
IAPMO and its industry partners, including our IWSH
Foundation, have contributed to addressing these
serious health and safety challenges. I’d also like to
recognise the vital contributions of Jennifer van den
Bussche at Sticky Situations, and WASSUP, a team
of local tradespeople and volunteers who lead efforts
in upgrading and maintaining the plumbing systems
within the Diepsloot community.” IWSH programme director Seán Kearney says
the organisation is ready and willing to help bring
additional groups together to address the situation.
“We are actively working to support Sticky Situations
and WASSUP in connecting with South African
manufacturers and other plumbing industry groups
who are interested in collaborating and helping the
efforts in Diepsloot – and potentially other locations
around Johannesburg, or further afield in South Africa.
As former CPC hosts, and valued contributors to the
other international projects IWSH have developed, we
want to do all we can to get behind our partners: lead
further fundraising efforts, facilitate new sponsorships,
and help organise and involve other skilled
tradespeople to support WASSUP, hands-on, in ways
similar to our previous CPC activities in Diepsloot,”
concludes Kearney.
Van den Bussche says that while sewage lines,
water lines and structures all fall under the purview The report is available online at http://stickysituations.
org/wassup.diepsloot.html. PA
October 2019 Volume 25 I Number 8
33
"IAPMO CEO
GP Russ
Chaney says
the report
provides an
excellent
overview
of the
challenges
facing
Diepsloot
residents,
as well as
steps that
can be taken
to remedy
the problem.
“This report
signifies the
challenges
that result
from the high
concentration
of inhabitants
within the
Diepsloot
community."
www.plumbingafrica.co.za