The latest data from a report released by the Statistics SA's non-financial census of municipalities (NFCM) shows that North West and Free State increased their supply of bucket toilets to consumers in 2019.
The census, released on Tuesday, forms part of the institution's instruments aimed at measuring service delivery efforts by municipalities.
The data is supplied every year to Stats SA by the country's 257 municipalities. The latest report compares service delivery efforts for 2019 in comparison with 2018.
On the supply of bucket toilets, which are meant to serve as a temporary measure until a municipality provides proper sanitation infrastructure in an area, the figures show a slight decrease overall for 2019, with 42 434 compared to 2018 at 42622.
Deputy director-general for economic statistics Joe de Beer said there had been a general decline in the supply of bucket toilets, especially compared with 2013 where the supply stood at 100 610 consumer unit using a bucket system.
He said it is only the North West and the Free State which had increased their supply of the bucket toilets.
"Ditsobotla municipality in North West and Nketoana municipality in Free State recorded the largest percentage increases.
"Almost half of all consumer units that use a municipal-supplied bucket toilet in South Africa are located in Free State. Eleven municipalities in that province provided bucket toilets to a total of 20 688 consumer units," said De Beer.
The provinces that recorded a zero provision of bucket toilets were Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo, while the Western Cape, the Northern Cape, Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape recorded a decline in bucket toilet use.
The report also shows that the number of consumer units receiving services from municipalities had increased in 2019 compared to 2018.
"For the period under review, sewerage and sanitation showed the highest percentage increase (7.6%), followed by solid waste management (5.8%), then water (5.2%) and electricity (4.2%)."
Political Bureau