The Nelson Mandela Bay municipality is racing against time to eradicate more than 6,000 bucket toilets in wards across the city, with six contractors appointed to do the work.
The bucket toilets are removed and replaced with communal ablution facilities such as low-flush toilets or chemical toilets.
The aim is to provide stand-alone single toilets.
However, a report tabled at an infrastructure and engineering committee meeting on Thursday by acting executive director Joseph Tsatsire warned that the spread of informal settlements in the metro had worsened the situation.
“During 2010, the municipality had a mandate of eradicating an official count of 23,470 bucket [toilets] within the metro, and has since strategically eradicated over 16,000 by providing suitable technologies as a means of dignified short- and medium-term sanitation provision.
“The effective and sustainable implementation of the programme [depends] on the eradication of all bucket [toilets] within the municipality.”
The report stated that the city had faced significant growth in unplanned informal settlements, with the last count sitting at 187.
“Consequently, these informal settlements have been recognised to need provision of dignified rudimentary water and sanitation services as per the constitution of SA.”
DA councillor Masixole Zinto called for a recount of the bucket toilets as the city relied on an old count.
“We need to ensure our people are [treated with dignity] and remove all the buckets in the city.
“This was an issue back in 2018 when I headed this department, and I’m surprised to learn that we are still dealing with this,” Zinto said.
Infrastructure and engineering political head Buyelwa Mafaya said the city would be able to do a recount after removing the bucket toilets on the original list.
“After this work is done, they will count how many have been removed and whether there are remaining ones, and take it from there,” Mafaya said.
Water and sanitation senior director Barry Martin said contractors were working on removing the bucket toilets.
He said six contractors were busy with the work.
The Herald
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