T he May 2011 Local Govern-ment elections will forever be remembered as “The Toilet Election”. In the

past, the effects of inadequate access to sanitation facilities has remained a very private issue rarely discussed. Two weeks before the election, the SJC organised a march for clean and safe sanitation that was attend-ed by approximately 2500 people – the biggest protest specifically focused on access to sanitation in South African history with coverage in local, national, and international media. This serves to illustrate how rapidly public sentiment has shift-ed. Toilets have now become one of the most widely debated issues across the country, both in town-ships where people are directly af-fected and in affluent suburbs where people have been shocked by the real-isation that millions of fellow citizens are forced to relieve themselves without dignity or security. Toilets have become so controversial be-cause their absence affects the poor-est and most vulnerable in the most fundamental way. They have become symbolic of broader failures to pro-vide basic services to working-class and poor communities.

The spark that ignited the Toilet Election came a year earlier, when it emerged that the City of

Cape Town had built more than a thousand “loos with views” (as local government officials called them) in Makhaza, Khayelitsha. These were toilets with no walls or roofs, forcing people to relieve themselves in the open. The public response was one of wide condemnation, and illustrated how communities grow increasingly frustrated with the slow pace of basic service delivery. Closer to the election, it was revealed that other municipalities such as the Free State’s Viljoenskroon Municipality had also built unenclosed toilets.

Despite the encouraging public reaction, the response by government and politicians was distressing. Instead of critically engaging with what went wrong and finding ways to speedily address the situation, political parties (both DA and ANC governed municipalities built these toilets) blamed each other and used the controversy to advance political agendas. The SJC argued that the unenclosed toilets related to broader systemic failures with the provision of sanitation, which has been characterised by a lack of planning, consultation, resource allocation, and coordination. Seventeen years after democracy it is estimated that more than 10 million South Africans continue to live without basic sanitation.

In an attempt to ensure we learnt from past mistakes, the SJC lodged an Access to Information (PAIA) application and picketed to get access to a secret City of Cape Town internal report into the unenclosed toilets built in Khayelitsha. When finally released to the SJC, the report served as a damning indictment of how the City failed to consult with residents as claimed, and how the unenclosed toilets were in violation of the Water Services Act and ultimately the Constitution.

The Report contributed signifi-cantly to the verdict reached by Judge Nathan Erasmus of the Cape High Court, when he ordered the City to enclose all 1200 unenclosed toilets earlier this year. The case further serves as a landmark ruling highlighting the need for govern-ment to meaningfully engage with communities when delivering basic services. As a direct result of the unenclosed toilets and subsequent Toilet Election, the National De-partment of Human Settlements has established a Sanitation Task Team headed by Mrs Winnie Madikizela Mandela, to investigate how basic sanitation delivery can be acceler-ated. Government is now engag-ing communities to develop a new National Sanitation Policy.

Since the advent of a new admin-istration under Mayor Patricia de Lille, SJC has also developed a con-structive working relationship with the City of Cape Town.

The City has now prioritised sani-tation delivery to informal settle-ments. It is likely that none of this would have happened were it not for the public outrage and subsequent mobilisation that stemmed from the unenclosed toilets.

2012 will be a critical year for communities to organise to ensure that these significant advancements and commitments from government are converted into practice.

Viva clean, safe, private and dignified toilets for all viva!

What Is The Social Justice Coalition?

The Social Justice Coalition (SJC) is a grassroots social movement campaign-ing for safe, healthy and dignified com-munities in some of South Africa’s largest, most under-developed and dangerous townships. The SJC’s main focus area is Khayelitsha, Cape Town —home to 700 000 people, most of whom live in shacks made of wood and metal sheeting. With approximately 11 active branches and over 40 partner organisations, the SJC pro-motes active citizenship through educa-tion, policy and research, and community organising to ensure government is ac-countable, open and responsive. We focus on some of the most basic rights and serv-ices guaranteed in the Constitution to ad-vance this vision. Meaningful engagement between communities and government to realise these rights is a core principle of SJC campaigns. We are currently engaged in two primary campaigns – The Clean and Safe Sanitation Campaign and the Justice for All Campaign. We also participate in broader campaigns to combat hate crimes (most notably homophobia and xenopho-bia), prevent corruption, and protect the supremacy of the Constitution and rule of law.

The Clean & Safe Sanitation Campaign Using a toilet is the most dangerous activity for people living in informal settlements. Residents are robbed, beaten, raped and murdered while trying to relieve themselves. There are too few communal toilets and taps, and residents must walk very long distances – often kilometres – to relieve themselves or get water. In many cases, a few hun-dred people have to share one toilet stall. Polluted water and raw sewerage rou-tinely flows between and through homes making these communities places of illness and death. Lack of access to clean and safe sanitation routinely emerges as the number one concern for people liv-ing in these communities. The SJC be-

lieves that by ensuring existing toilets work optimally—through improved State mainte-nance, monitoring and coordination—and by encouraging meaningful engagement between the State, communities, civic move-ments, and experts; universal access to the most basic of services can be achieved. In addition to improving safety this will also dramatically im-prove health conditions in communities where preventable illnesses attributable to poor sani-tation and hygiene standards – such as diarrhea, gastroenteritis, worms and TB - are widespread. Ensuring sanitation facilities are clean, safe and dignified is a critical first step in building communi-ty power to ensure access to other basic services is progressively realised.

The Justice for All CampaignAnother reason why residents of townships are unsafe is that despite being South Africa’s primary victims of crime, these areas are served by under resourced policing and court systems. Families and comrades face a criminal justice system that is crippled by lost dockets, corruption, poor investigation, escaped suspects, the State not opposing bail for accused standing trial for serious crimes, mistreatment of victims, failures to update victims and families about cases, years-long forensic backlogs and endless postponements that see cases taking years to be resolved. In 2011, SJC members together with the Treatment Action Campaign, Free Gender, Triangle Project and others have attended numerous court cases and held a variety of demonstrations to address these barriers to safety and justice.

The Toilet Paper

“Seventeen years after democracy it is estimated that more than 10 million

South Africans continue to live without basic sanitation.”

2011: THE YEAR OF THE TOILET

“Toilets have become symbolic

of broader failures to provide basic

services to working-class

and poor communities.”

The Official Newspaper of The Social Justice Coalition

ISSUE 1 JANUARY 2012

The Irene Grootboom Memorial Lecture Series

The SJC’s annual Irene Grootboom Memorial Lecture Series (co-hosted by the Cape Times newspaper) provides a forum through which people can engage on various issues related to sustainable development and social justice. The theme for 2011 (considering the high levels of inequality that are experienced in Cape Town) was: ‘One Cape Town/Een Kaapstad/ Sisonke eKapa—Uniting a Divided City!’. Members of the public, activists, faith-based organisations, academics, experts and government officials gathered for a series of four dialogues which explored the dynamics of inequality in Cape Town by examining its historical roots. The Series progressed to focus on how we can better deliver basic services and housing to informal settlements, ways of building alliances and partnerships in society for development, and finally visions for the future of Cape Town as a more inclusive city.

Hosted in various venues across the City (including Khayelitsha, Woodstock and Sea Point) with approximately 300 people at each event, the Series produced interesting reflections from all spectrums of society on the hard questions of mean-ingful transformation, and produced a collective sense that in order to tackle in-equality, a campaign for the rights of the poor that cuts across divides is needed.

Improving the Criminal Justice System

Khayelitsha suffers from dispropor-tionately high levels of crime. The area has experienced increases in rates of both murder and sexual assault over the past two years. Each day, residents’ rights to safety, freedom and access to justice are violated. Through our campaigns we have tried to create safer communi-ties and to improve access to and quality of justice.

The SJC has continued to monitor 5 criminal cases—dealing with an assortment of violent crimes includ-ing murder, rape and assault—and sup-ports victims and families in receiving justice. Through this we have identified the recurring problems that are hinder-ing both safety and access to justice and this allows us to advocate for changes to be made. We have also continued to take testimonies of Khayelitsha residents’ experiences relating to safety and justice completing approximately 100 in June and July alone.

Since 2010 we have been calling for the Premier of the Western Cape to appoint a Commission of Inquiry into the Khayelitsha police and criminal justice system. The system is fundamentally flawed and dysfunctional to the extent that it needs an all-encompassing investigation to identify the problems, and provide recommendations to improve the situation.

After many protests and a meeting in October 2011 with Premier Helen Zille and Community Safety MEC Dan Plato, we were invited to lodge a formal complaint and request for a Commission of Inquiry. On 28 November 2011, the SJC, TAC, Free Gender, Ndifuna Ukwazi and Triangle Project lodged our formal complaint against the South African Police Service. and the Cape Town Metropolitan Police Department.

As the primary complainant, the SJC is coordinating the campaign and assisted the drafting of the complaint with our attorneys, the Women’s Legal Centre, as well as counsel Advocate Peter Hathorn (SC) and Advocate Ncumisa Mayosi. We now await government’s response. This is a significant advance and the first time civil society has launched such a complaint based on the Constitution.

M any informal settlements are plagued with rotting rub-bish and waste, resulting in a

generally unhealthy and unsafe environ-ment. Failure to adequately collect and dispose of refuse leads to the spread of disease, pests such as rats, contamina-tion of water sources, and blockage of sanitation systems. Refuse collection

is a critical component in ensuring that communities are clean and safe. Within this context SJC branches have partnered with the Khayelitsha Environmental Health Office (EHO) and carried out more than 10 successful community clean-ups in areas including BT, Site C and RR sections. On average, more than 100 bags of refuse are filled and disposed

of. At some clean-ups, EHO work-ers distribute rat poison door-to-door, and explain the correct and safe way to use what can be a deadly substance if not handled correctly. The SJC views community clean-ups as an important way of encouraging active citizenship and contributions to the betterment of our communities.

By law, all sanitation and water related faults should be repaired within 48 hours. While this re-

quirement is generally met in suburban areas, it is hardly ever met in informal settlements.

People can wait for weeks or months for a fault to be addressed while toilets fall increasingly into disrepair, sewerage

is overflowing from manhole covers, and standpipes are not providing clean water.

Through our branches we receive numerous water and sewerage related complaints. Where possible, we assist in lodging these with the City’s Techni-cal Operations Centre (TOC). We also

train community members about the responsibilities of the City, and how to log complaints themselves. We have also worked with the City to ensure that log-ging complaints becomes easier. The City is currently in the process of in-stalling toll free phones in informal set-tlements, to facilitate this process.

SJC Community Clean-ups

Each year South Africans celebrate Freedom Day —a national holiday that commemorates our freedom

from Apartheid. Much has changed since South Africa’s first democratic election on 27 April 1994, yet millions of people continue to wait for delivery of basic services. The SJC chose this date to host a unique protest in which approximately 2500 people from across

Cape Town patiently queued behind a toilet to symbolise that many continue to wait for access to clean and safe sanitation facilities. We also intended on illustrating—two weeks ahead of the local elections—that holding our leaders to account should not only happen on election days, but rather consistently through active citizenship. Participants gathered at St. Georges Cathedral for an interfaith service lead

by the Anglican Archbishop, after which we marched down Adderley Street to the Mayor’s office where the queue was formed. A petition signed by more than 10 000 people calling for specific interim and long-term demands to improve access to sanitation was handed over to the Mayor’s office. As a direct result of this march and petition, the SJC was invited to meet with the new Mayor after the election.

Constructive Engagement with the Cityof Cape Town

The SJC’s relationship with local government—the arm of government directly responsible for water and sanitation provision—has changed significantly over the course of 2011. In response to an SJC protest in early 2010, the previous City Administration attacked the SJC and others claiming that “there is access to toilets in (Cape Town’s) townships”, that the City “has essentially met a norm of one toilet for every five households in informal settlements”, and that the “SJC uses incorrect facts”. It became evident during meetings with the previous Mayor and subsequent correspondence that the City was unwilling to work with the SJC, or in fact even acknowledge that problems relating to sanitation provision existed.

A year later – following significant campaigning and a new City Administration—the relationship has improved. Following the SJC’s “Toilet Queue” in April 2011, the SJC met the new Mayor on a number of occasions to discuss our demands. In stark contrast to her predecessor, Mayor Patricia de Lille has acknowledged the scope of the problem. For example, Mayor de Lille has recognised that in some communities more than 100 houses must share one toilet stall, that the ratio of one toilet to five households is not being met in many communities, and that a lot more needs to be done by the City to improve maintenance, monitoring, and coordination.

The Mayor has also acknowledged the need for partnership in addressing these challenges. In an official statement released in July 2011, Mayor de Lille announced that she “had asked the SJC to use its specialist knowledge of Khayelitsha to assist us (the City) in providing the highest level of services possible to the people of that community”. The Mayor further noted that “we want the SJC to be our partners in service delivery and show their commitment to helping the people of Cape Town by positively engaging with government.”

The SJC feels that addressing the sanitation crisis must be done as a matter of urgency. The best way for this to be achieved is through partner-ship between communities, civil soci-ety, and government. Our work with the City over the past six months serves as a promising start, but there is much work to be done on encouraging com-munity engagement and implementa-tion. We are also mindful of the fact that engagement cannot be restricted to a relationship between the City and SJC, but must be far wider. The SJC is committed to building an alliance to contribute to this process.

On 15 September 2011 over 60 or-ganisations and more than 100 delegates participated in the inaugural Cape Town Sanitation Summit, hosted by the SJC. The aim of the Summit was to bring together community organisations, so-cial movements, academic institutions, NGOs, and various levels of govern-ment to discuss ways of working together to deliver services to the half a million Capetonians who live without access to

basic sanitation facilities. The Summit was opened by Mayor Pa-

tricia de Lille, leader of the opposition Tony Ehrenreich, The Most Reverend Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, and com-munity leader Alakhe Mbuku. Other speakers included public health experts, religious leaders, engineers, economists, activists, and community members af-fected by the lack of sanitation facilities.

The Summit formed part of the SJC’s

strategy to build a broad alliance of or-ganisations committed to improving ac-cess to clean and safe sanitation.

We have long held that provision of sanitation is complex and that Govern-ment cannot do it alone—partnership is essential. The success of the Summit stands testament to the fact that many from across society are willing to partner with Government to realise this right.

Mayor commits to SJC demand for cleaning and routinemaintenance services

According to the Western Cape Department of Health, approxi-mately 16% of the toilets that were reported broken last year were ac-tually repaired—or 1 out of every 6. Many more faults are not reported at all. In addition to the lack of re-pairs, no routine maintenance serv-ice exists. Therefore, the provision of routine cleaning and maintenance services by the City has been a cen-tral SJC demand. This will ensure that both existing and future sani-tation services are run optimally. At present toilets—some which are shared by 500 people—are left to the “community” to maintain. As a result, toilets are very often unhy-gienic and quickly fall into disrepair. A regular janitorial service would greatly contribute to improving ex-isting conditions.

Following the SJC’s meetings with the Mayor and the Cape Town Sani-tation Summit, in October 2011 the Mayor issued a statement announc-ing a R138 million special mayoral fund, of which a portion will go to-wards janitorial services for commu-nal toilets in informal settlements.

This is a significant victory for the Campaign. A janitorial service is a critical first step in ensuring sanita-tion facilities run optimally. How-ever it will need to be implemented parallel to improved monitoring of both existing and new services to en-sure that it is coordinated effectively. The SJC is playing an integral and ongoing role in assisting the City in developing these policies.

Holding service providers and government accountable forbasic services

The SJC has been working with Ndi-funa Ukwazi—a Cape Town based organisation—to get access to ten-der specifications and service deliv-ery agreements for providers of basic services. These services include refuse collection and servicing of temporary chemical toilets. The frequency and quality of these services is often inad-equate due largely to little or no govern-ment oversight. Another difficulty is the lack of clear details about the specific performance requirements of these pro-viders. Every local government must by law make these requirements publicly available in the form of Service Delivery Agreements (SDAs).

Although these documents are meant to be publically available, it has taken us more than five months to get access to them. We now know the basic require-ments of each provider, and will make these available to the community in early 2012 in order to create awareness and ensure these providers are held ac-countable. The SJC also plans on intro-ducing a community “scorecard”. This will enable communities to rate the level of service in their community, and allow problem areas to be identified.

The Cape Town Sanitation Summit

Freedom Day Queue forClean and Safe Sanitation

“Each year South Africans celebrate Freedom Day—a national holiday that commemorates our freedom from Apartheid. Much has changed

since South Africa’s first democratic election on 27 April 1994, yet millions of people continue to wait for delivery of basic services.”

Challenging Illegal Evictions and Demolitions

Many communities in Khayelitsha are considered “illegal” and “temporary”. Very often, residents who have lived in a home for many years are forcefully and illegally evicted. In cases where the City has been in violation of the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act (PIE), the SJC has provided assistance. Very often the illegality of these actions stems from the fact that the City does not obtain a court order authorising the evictions, does not provide 14 days notice to the occupiers, and does not offer alternative housing options. Personal belongings are often damaged as homes are torn down by police while people are at work. Such actions damage relations between the community and government.

In addition to providing legal support to victims, we have produced pamphlets about this issue and provided copies of the PIE Act to communities in Khayelitsha. In at least one instance, officers did not carry out the eviction after community members had provided them with a copy of PIE and explained to them that their actions would be illegal.

On 1 July 2011 Anglican Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, Father John Oliver, Imam Rashied Omar, and approximately 20 other religious leaders representing the Religious Leaders Forum, conducted a “Walk of witness” with the SJC in Khayelitsha’s RR and Taiwan informal settlements. The religious leaders were appalled at the conditions in which people are forced to live, and acknowledged that sanitation, water, drainage, and refuse management remain the biggest challenges to a decent and fair standard of living.

Archbishop Makgoba was shocked at how—in a community where more than 50 people must share one toilet stall—a toilet that was broken on a previous visit a year earlier remained in disrepair on this visit, illustrating that necessary repairs are not taking place. The religious leaders and the SJC spoke about the need for the faith-based community to play a more dynamic role in calling on Government to prioritise these issues, and also to improve consultation between communities and the State.

Religious Leaders’ “Walk of witness”

2011 THE YEAR IN REVIEW

A summary of some of the highlights of the past year

“we want the SJC to be

our partners in service delivery”

—Mayor of Cape Town

The SJC has been an active member of the Right2Know Campaign – an alli-ance of organisations opposed to the so-called “Secrecy Bill” since it’s formation in 2010. We are committed to ensuring that people retain their right to access government held information that is in the public interest. On numerous oc-casions, the SJC has used existing ac-cess to information legislation to access documents relating to sanitation, service delivery agreements, and policing.

The Protection of Information Bill, which was recently approved in Parlia-ment, will severely obstruct our ability to do so in future. The SJC will contin-ue to fight this bill through community engagement, protest, and if necessary through the Courts.

Campaigningfor our Right2Know

SJC members and COSATU general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi at a community clean in RR section

Grootboom lecture at the Woodstock town hall

Picket outside the provincial legislature calling for an investigation into the Khayelitsha criminal justice system

Assisting Communities to log sanitation related faults

Abongile Nyumbeka Phumeza Mlungwana Gavin Silber

Mandla Majola Leslie Liddell Mpumi Mantangana

Zackie AchmatNomlungisi Qezo (resigned November 2011) Andrew Ardington

We would like to thank all our partner organisations in Khayelitsha, Cape Town and across the country. None of our achievements would have been realised without your support.

We would also like to thanks our donors for their continued support: Atlantic Philanthropies Open Arms

Open Society Foundation RAITH Foundation South African Development Fund Scott Wallace Foundation Yellowwoods

Over the past year and largely due to sustained pressure, there have been significant improvements to existing infra-structure and conditions in many of the communities in which the SJC is active.

Some examples include:• Many toilets which have been broken for years have been repaired following lobbying by the SJC. For instance, ac cording to the City, 182 toilets in BM Section and 68 toilets in RR Section have been repaired in November 2011 alone• Hundreds of broken toilet doors have been replaced• Turnaround times for repairs have improved • Manholes have been raised to prevent sewerage overflows• Missing manholes have been replaced

• Toilets have been numbered and tagged using GPS to ensure repair crews are easily able to find faulty toilets that have been reported• Additional refuse containers have been installed• Refuse collection has improved, particularly following the SJC’s campaign to access SDAs.

Despite these successes, much work remains to be done to ensure residents of informal settlements have access to sani-tation services in line with norms and standards. We will continue to work with local officials, but will also continue to lobby for changes in policy to ensure that there are systemic improvements.

Branch Activities and Workshops The majority of the SJC’s work takes

place at branch level. Lead by the Cam-paign’s Department and our Commu-nity Advocates, hundreds of branch meetings, workshops and door-to-door campaigns have taken place across Khayelitsha over the past year. Some of our focus areas include BM, BT, CCT, DT, Endlovini, France, Island, Mak-haza, Mfuleni, Nkanini, PJA, RR, SS, SST, Taiwan, TD, TR and Y.

Workshops have focused on a number of issues, including the criminal justice system, sanitation, health, social grants, gender based violence, South African law and the Constitution, rape and sex-ual assault, drug and alcohol abuse, fire, flooding prevention, illegal evictions and housing. Branches also engage regularly in political discussions and on issues af-fecting their communities.

The SJC’s work is reliant on your support. Acc Name: Social Justice CoalitionBank: NedbankBranch Code: 100909Account Number: 1009862383Acc Type: Current accountSWIFT Code: NEDSZAJJ

For other donation options visit www.sjc.org.za/donate. Individuals and organisations based in the United States can donate via the TAX-exempt South Africa Development Fund (www.sadevelopmentfund.org).

Letter from the SecretariatD ear Members, Supporters,

and Partners

The last two years have seen the organisation grow from strength to strength. When we convened branches in early 2010 to discuss how the SJC could take its campaign for good gov-ernance and active citizenship for-ward, few would have predicted that our two campaigns for improved safety in our communities would advance so quickly.

The Clean and Safe Sanitation Cam-

paign could not have been initiated at a better time. Launched a few months before the Makhaza open toilets scandal, the campaign immediately appealed to those who saw the open toilets as sym-bolic not only of failures with sanitation delivery, but a broader failure by govern-ment to provide services to historically neglected communities. The City’s com-mitment to improve maintenance and

monitoring, and to introduce a new jani-torial service, is a significant victory for SJC and its partners.

The Justice for All Campaign has also intensified over the past year, but partic-ularly over the past 6 months. Our formal complaint asking for a Commission of Inquiry into the Khayelitsha police and criminal justice system is an important step in achieving safer communities. We hope that the Premier will appoint such an investigation but if this does not hap-pen we will consider going to the Courts.

The division of management capacity into three departments – Policy, Com-munications and Research; Operations; and Campaigns – has enabled the or-ganisations to develop appropriate man-agement systems to support the rapid growth we have experienced.

None of this would have been pos-sible without the continued support of

SJC comrades in branches across the City, and our supporters across the country and indeed in far flung places across the globe. Our success over the past two years belongs to our branches: Nkanini, Vuselela (Site C), RR 1, RR Nyanga, Makhaza, Green Point, LloydBM, BT, Mfuleni, Taiwan.

2012 must be a year of delivery through mobilisation. The SJC will ensure that a plan for safe and clean sanitation is im-plemented by the City of Cape Town and that a Commission of Inquiry into Khay-elitsha’s criminal justice system provides a plan to make our communities safe and achieve justice for victims of crime.

The SJC will be closed from 16 Decem-ber 2011 until 9 January 2012. We look forward to seeing everyone energized to take our campaigns forward.

Aluta continua!

Sanitation Campaign has shown results on the ground

How to Donate:

For more information or to join the SJC:Call: Email: Website: Facebook: Twitter:

KHAYELITSHA OFFICE: SHAWCO Centre, G323 Mongezi Rd, H SectionSite C, Khayelitsha,Cape Town, 8000.

THE BACKPAGELetter from the Secretariat, the past year continued and more

The SJC believes that success in our campaigns depends on building wide support and understanding of our

work. The Policy, Communications and Research (PCR) department is responsible for spreading our message and educating the wider community on the issues we aim to address. Our policies and advocacy work are largely informed through our research. This takes the form of collecting personal testimonies, monitoring court cases, working with academics, digesting and distributing existing research, and conducting our own.

In 2011 we have produced a variety of materials that have been distributed to our branches and through our door-to-door education and workshops, to the broader community. We have distributed 10 000 Sanitation Campaign Booklets around Cape Town, as well as thousands of factsheets, pamphlets and posters. Our factsheets have covered topics including victims’ rights, fire and flood prevention, illegal evictions and the 2011 census. These have been distributed in both English and Xhosa. Currently, the SJC is working with budget expert Alison Hickey Tshangana (Ndifuna Ukwazi) to analyse the City of Cape Town Budget, prepare budget education materials and to organise community-based workshops on local government budgeting.

We have also worked to ensure that issues on which we focus receive maximum public exposure through the media. Over the past year the SJC has received wide press coverage locally, nationally and even internationally. In addition to this coverage, we have published more than twenty opinion pieces in local and national papers.

The SJC has also attended and presented at a number of conferences in 2011. Topics have included: water and sanitation, housing, the justice system, the use of force by the police, lesbian rights and hate crimes, xenophobia, building partnerships in civil society and the structural and spatial development of Cape Town.

Through the SJC website, Facebook page and Twitter we provide updates of the work we are doing which allows a far greater number of people to become involved with and learn about our organisation.

Spreading the message

“The SJC believes that success in our

campaigns depends on building wide support and understanding of

our work”

SJC Secretariat

+27 21 361 8160gavin@sjc.org.zawww.sjc.org.zaSocial Justice Coalitionsjcoalition

Cover photo by David Harrison Designed by Pieter Jansz

Hip-hop act Brotherhood performs at the SJC Queue for Clean and Safe Sanitation on Freedom Day