Residents plead for government to address pit toilets
Eugene Ubisi
Bushbuckridge is a sanitation timebomb. Just 8.2% of its 500,000 residents have access to proper toilets. The rest are forced to use pit toilets, which contaminate the region’s water, and raise the risk of cholera outbreaks.
Residents in the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality in Mpumalanga have pleaded with government to address the high number of unhealthy pit toilets in the area, and instances of numerous households having to share one long-drop with each other.
Bushbuckridge has a population of over 500 000 people, and according to data analysis tool WAZImap, only 8.2% of people have access to a flush or chemical toilet. This is compared to 41% for the whole of Mpumalanga. 80% of the municipality’s population makes use of a pit toilet, and more than 10% of people have no access to a toilet at all.
Community member Eugene Ubisi (29), who uses a pit toilet, urged government to do something about the situation and build toilets for the community.
“The smell is terrible and I’m sure there is a lot of bacteria which makes people sick. Some people have to share these toilets. We wish government would build proper toilets or at least employ people to come and spray the pit toilets to stop the smell and bacteria,” said Ubisi.
Another resident, Surprise Mahlanga (35), lives in a rented house and shares a pit toilet with a number of different people. He said that the toilet quickly fills up with human waste and disposed diapers.
Surprise Mhlanga
Community member Eugene Ubisi (29), who uses a pit toilet, urged government to do something about the situation and build toilets for the community.
“The smell is terrible and I’m sure there is a lot of bacteria which makes people sick. Some people have to share these toilets. We wish government would build proper toilets or at least employ people to come and spray the pit toilets to stop the smell and bacteria,” said Ubisi.
Another resident, Surprise Mahlanga (35), lives in a rented house and shares a pit toilet with a number of different people. He said that the toilet quickly fills up with human waste and disposed diapers.
“We are so many here, and the toilet we are using is getting full because the ladies we are staying with have children. Normally they put pampers inside the toilet and because of this it gets full fast. The toilet is also gets very dirty and is very smelly most of the time,” Mahlanga explained.
Robin Clanahan, an environmental specialist from the Mpumalanga Environmental Hotline said a contaminated water supply through poor maintenance of infrastructure can cause outbreaks of these diseases.
“Unless a person has built up a resistance to water related diseases, anyone can be infected. Those with compromised resistance will be at greater risk,” said Clanahan.
He said the financial implications for government in case of a waterborne disease outbreak could be astronomical if the outbreak is widespread.
Municipal spokesperson Aubrey Mnisi confirmed that there is a huge sanitation backlog in the municipality.
“The population within the municipality relies on the pit latrines and the VIP toilets. When you look at public schools they both rely on VIP and pit latrines as well,” said Mnisi.
A Ventilated Improved Pit or VIP toilet is a ventilated toilet which is said to be more hygienic than its pit toilet counterpart as it allows natural elements to enhance sanitation for example airflow through ventilation pipes.
He added that the municipality has planned to allocate R1.8 million in the 2016/2017 financial year to build over 600 toilets, at a cost of R3,000 per toilet.
“We have made applications to build over 600 toilets, which will hopefully be funded by the Department of Water and Sanitation. We are also partnering with the Department of Public works to make sure that sanitation is covered when building schools and other facilities,” Mnisi explained in December 2016.
However, in January 2017 Mnisi indicated that the municipality has advertised a tender to catch up with the backlog and are awaiting the appointment of a service provider. R1.8 million has been allocated by the municipality to address the backlog. Mnisi could not confirm how many toilets the municipality have built until date and what the shortfall is.
Mnisi denied the outbreak over any waterborne diseases in the municipal area.
“We did not experience any outbreak of waterborne disease due to the fact that we have the water from the borehole tested in a laboratory to ensure that it is disease free,” said Mnisi – BUSHBUCKRIDGE NEWS
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