Cape Town - The City of Cape Town aims to do away with at least 958 bucket-system toilets by next year in an effort to alleviate a sanitation backlog.
During a press briefing on Sunday, Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille said some residents had rejected portaloos and had opted to use the bucket system.
In a statement, De Lille said: “The reality is that in some instances communities have rejected the use of PFTs (portable flush toilets) for a range of reasons.
“This is regrettable as… it is often the only available toilet technology for a community.”
Human Settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela said the reason some residents had rejected the portaloos was to “hold the city to ransom” because they wanted houses and flush toilets.
Madikizela said it had also been found that people pretending to be “gatekeepers” would claim to be mandated by “the community” to communicate with the city and would reject new systems.
But after investigation it was established that the “gatekeepers” were not in fact representing the needs of residents.
The city planned to not only engage with community leaders and gatekeepers but also to communicate with individual households.
The city said it was impossible to give everyone houses and flush toilets at once and that the portaloos were a “dignified option”.
De Lille said: “The city has already rolled out 11 300 of these portable flush toilets to communities, especially in informal settlements.
“We now plan to roll out another 12 000, of which we will prioritise 958 where we still have the old bucket system.”
In a warehouse depot in Woodstock there are about 12 500 portable flush toilets in storage, to be distributed to the areas identified as still using the bucket system.
The city said it serviced 958 bucket toilets.
“Sanitation investment” had been boosted, with funds spent on sewerage infrastructure increasing from R51 million in 2006 to R130m in 2011-2012.
The number of toilets in informal settlements has more than trebled from 10 591 to 34 225 over the same period, according to the city.
Social Justice Coalition’s Axolile Notywala raised doubts about the number of bucket-system toilets quoted by the city.
The coalition has been vocal regarding the monitoring of sanitation in the city. Last week, it raised the alarm about the monitoring of outsourced services.
“A lot of residents see it (porta-loos) as an improved bucket system – but still a bucket system,” Notywala said.
He said the city undermined research that showed that about half a million people did not have access to sanitation.
“Our research shows that the city is failing to monitor outsourced services,” he said.
Regarding those who did not want the portaloos, Notywala said: “There are people who don’t prefer to have the portaloos. But I don’t think the reason is that.”
He said the city had failed to explain to residents that the portaloos were a temporary measure.
“Because then people would be interested,” he said, adding that it was a generalisation to say residents were against the portaloos.
Cape Argus