Toilets in informal areas ‘often neglected’

TOILETS in informal settlements are often neglected because they are seen as temporary, the Social Justice Coalition has said.

The coalition’s policy coordinator, Gavin Silber, said these areas were seen as illegal and therefore as not being in need of proper infrastructure.

“We need to change the very nature of communities and the way we view them.”

Silber was speaking at a SA Human Rights Commission public hearing on water and sanitation. The commission was discussing ways to solve the rampant problem of unenclosed toilets.

It highlighted two informal settlements affected: Makhaza in Khayelitsha, and Rammulotsi, Viljoenskroon, in the Free State.

The DA become embroiled in a political storm when the City of Cape Town did not enclose more than 1 300 toilets in Makhaza. In June, the city complied with a Western Cape High Court order that it enclose these toilets.

It then emerged the ANCled Moqhaka municipality had not enclosed almost 1 600 toilets in Rammulotsi.

Silber said councils could focus on two issues that would improve matters. The first was to ensure toilets did not become blocked, damaged, or potential health hazards. The second was to have meaningful engagement with affected communities.