One of the City’s Water and Sanitation Directorate’s 2026 grant funding recipients, Bantubanye Community Development, is helping residents in Khayelitsha minimise water waste through education. The organisation is also addressing safety risks at communal toilets through community-led interventions.
The initiative forms part of the City’s ongoing collaboration with 22 community organisations aimed at improving water and sanitation services across Cape Town.
Greywater gardens encourage water reuse
“Through the efforts of Bantubanye Community Development residents were encouraged to adopt affordable greywater recycling methods for growing food gardens and were shown how to report faults correctly, including obtaining reference numbers on the system to help City teams respond more quickly,” said Mayco Member for Water and Sanitation, Zahid Badroodien during a recent visit to one of the community dialogue sessions in Makhaza.
More than 2,000 residents benefit from the initiative
As a result, more than 2 000 residents in the informal settlements of Makhaza, Ireland, Mpolweni, Nkanini, Ndlovini and Town 2 have benefited from a series of projects, including:
1. Installation of solar lights at shared toilets (By the end of June 2026, the NPO will complete the installation of solar motion-sensor lights at unsafe locations to reduce the risk of gender-based violence during night-time toilet use.)
2. Community greywater demonstration garden (The project includes establishing greywater systems to demonstrate how households can safely re-use water for home gardening as well as supplying participating households with basic gardening tools and seedlings.)
3. Water monitoring and reporting teams (Local volunteers are being trained to identify leaks, broken taps and blocked toilets, create a simple reporting system linked to the City, and conduct regular monitoring visits with monthly progress updates.)
Community clean-up campaigns reduce illegal dumping
“Through the funding received from the City, we have successfully run community clean-up campaigns, sanitation awareness programmes and water conservation initiatives in Makhaza,” said Odwa Nakani, project director of Bantubanye Community Development. “The support enabled the organisation to address illegal dumping, unblock drainage systems, promote responsible waste disposal and educate residents on protecting water and sanitation infrastructure.
“Our project has also improved environmental conditions, reduced flood risks during the rainy season and encouraged strong community participation in cleaning up shared spaces.
