Human settlement office says it can’t intervene in Alexandra’s toilet crisis
With up to 50 people sharing a single toilet in Ward 76, Alexandra residents say overcrowded facilities threaten their health and dignity, but the department of human settlements says they cannot intervene because the properties are privately owned.
The human settlements office has said it cannot intervene in the sanitation crisis facing parts of Ward 76 in Alexandra, because the properties in question are privately owned.
The office’s response comes after residents raised concerns over the state of shared sanitation facilities, some of which serve as many as 19 people at a time.
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It said its mandate would only extend to the issue if the affected properties belonged to the municipality, and added that it is further constrained by an existing court order barring it from carrying out any development work in Alexandra.
Democratic Alliance chairperson in Ward 76 Bongani Cindi raised concerns about the sanitation issue. “We have many families using one toilet, and it’s been like this for a long time. It is not only starting to happen to today. It’s been about seven to eight years.”
He said, in 17th Avenue, at least 50 people share a single toilet. This was confirmed by residents, who identified the toilet as their source of anxiety, not just around convenience, but also around health and dignity.
Previously, a resident on 18th Avenue, Princess Ndlovu, shared that she shares a single working toilet with more than 10 others in her yard. She noted that the arrangement raises fears that an infection carried by one user could easily spread to the rest of the group.
The problem is even more pronounced on 19th Avenue, where at least 19 residents in one yard depend on a single toilet, and next door, resident Tryphinah Mofokeng said they share a single toilet with 15 people.
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Beyond the health risks, some residents described the loss of privacy that comes with such crowding. Now, residents’ hopes for an adequate number of sanitation facilities to address what they describe as a threat to both health and dignity have been dealt a heavy blow, as the responsibility to address the matter now lies with them. “We are going around the ward asking people to sign the petition. We want to hand in the petition of toilets,” Cindi said.
He said that the petition will be submitted to the department of human settlements for relief.
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