Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
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Chapter 6: Down at <strong>the</strong> dumpsAs noted, DSW says that Bisasar Road will be closed around 2013. Given <strong>the</strong> historyof broken promises, it is unsurprising that residents of Clare Estate are sceptical. Ei<strong>the</strong>rway, it is clear that <strong>the</strong> decision on closure remains impervious to <strong>the</strong>ir demand forimmediate closure. The current CDM Project Design Document responds bluntly:“This is not a feasible option from a municipal waste management perspective.” 93Kennedy RoadIn <strong>the</strong> shack settlement down Kennedy Road from Khan’s house, <strong>the</strong> project appearedto offer hope. Conditions <strong>the</strong>re are dreadful. As Richard Pithouse reports:Many people have no viable livelihood and scrape out <strong>the</strong> most precariousand uncertain living. The tiny number of toilets 94 causes serious healthrisks, puts <strong>the</strong> safety of women and children at particular risk when seekingprivacy at night and imposes easily avoidable cruelties on <strong>the</strong> everydaylives of people with AIDS who often suffer chronic diarrhoea. The lack ofelectricity means fires and last year <strong>the</strong>re were nine conflagrations. Childrenhave been found eating <strong>the</strong> worms that grow in <strong>the</strong> shit in <strong>the</strong> portabletoilets. Everyone seems to have someone who is desperately sick and <strong>the</strong>reare more than 50 households headed by children. [2006: 11]The settlement started in <strong>the</strong> 1970s as a small number of shacks hidden in <strong>the</strong> bush toevade <strong>the</strong> enforcers of <strong>the</strong> Group Areas Act. Several of <strong>the</strong> early settlers were familiesremoved without compensation from <strong>the</strong>ir farmlands a little way up <strong>the</strong> Mgeni valleyto make way for <strong>the</strong> Inanda Dam which now supplies <strong>the</strong> bulk of Durban’s water. TheKennedy Road site afforded <strong>the</strong>m access to jobs and many worked as domestic labourfor people in Clare Estate. The opening of <strong>the</strong> dump provided a new income streamfrom waste picking for many.The settlement grew during <strong>the</strong> 1980s as apar<strong>the</strong>id started falling apart in <strong>the</strong> faceof increasingly overt resistance and expanded rapidly in <strong>the</strong> early 90s, encouraged by<strong>the</strong> ANC slogan to ‘occupy <strong>the</strong> cities’. In power, however, <strong>the</strong> ANC’s position startedshifting. While <strong>the</strong> Kennedy Road Development Committee (KRDC) participated in93 CDM PDD: Durban Landfill-gas-to-electricity project – Bisasar Road Landfill, Version 2007-03-28, p.39.94 147 pit latrines were installed by <strong>the</strong> Urban Foundation in <strong>the</strong> late 1980s. The City stopped servicing <strong>the</strong>m in2001 and installed six portaloos for <strong>the</strong> population of 6,000.- 146 - groundWork - <strong>Wasting</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Nation</strong>