Public Protector Gcaleka finds Cape Town failed Langa and Khayelitsha residents on basic services

The Public Protector Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka has found that the City of Cape Town failed some of its most vulnerable residents by not providing essential municipal services, following an investigation into complaints from communities in Langa and Khayelitsha.

The findings, contained in a report released on Tuesday, stem from an investigation launched in 2022 after residents of the N2 Gateway flats in Langa and informal settlements in Khayelitsha raised concerns over deteriorating living conditions.

The report found that the city failed to adequately address persistent sewage overflows, poorly maintained municipal housing and non-functioning high-mast lights.

Gcaleka said these shortcomings left residents living in unsafe and undignified conditions while exposing communities to higher levels of crime.

She said the investigation revealed that municipal resources were not being distributed equitably across the metro.

Although the City cited budget limitations, staffing shortages, resource constraints and violence in some communities as challenges affecting service delivery, Gcaleka said these factors do not absolve the municipality of its constitutional responsibility to provide basic services to all residents.

"The Constitution speaks of equity, the dignity of the people and the obligation to provide services without discrimination. Residents in townships should not receive a lower standard of service simply because of where they live," Gcaleka said.

She also encouraged communities to continue holding government accountable for delivering quality municipal services.

The findings have been welcomed by opposition parties, with ActionSA describing the report as a confirmation that the City, under successive Democratic Alliance (DA) administrations, failed to meet its constitutional obligations to residents of Langa and Khayelitsha.

ActionSA said the report paints a troubling picture of years of neglect, citing failures in housing, sanitation, sewerage infrastructure and the provision of other essential municipal services.

The party also noted that the Public Protector's findings come shortly after the Constitutional Court criticised the DA-led City of Cape Town and the Western Cape Government for perpetuating apartheid-era spatial planning through their failure to provide affordable, well-located housing.

GOOD Party Secretary-General and Cape Town mayoral candidate Brett Herron said the report confirms what affected communities have maintained for years.

"The Public Protector's report confirms, in binding constitutional terms, what residents of Langa Flats and Khayelitsha have long experience that the DA-run City of Cape Town has failed to provide the basic municipal services it is constitutionally required to deliver," Herron said.

The City of Cape Town had not responded publicly to the Public Protector's findings at the time of publication.