EDITOR – It is extremely shocking that 23 years into our democracy there are people in Gauteng who are still using the bucket toilet system.
The residents of L and J informal settlement near Olifantsfontein in Ekurhuleni face inhumane conditions where up to 22 people share one bucket toilet.
The bucket toilet system is undignified, inhumane, unsanitary and a violation of human rights.
Ekurhuleni Mayor Mzwandile Masina, in his State of the City address, promised to deliver basic services to all informal settlements including sanitation, water, refuse collection and electricity.
Mayor Masina must now provide time frames of when these upgrades will take place, as the residents of L and J – and other informal settlements across the Metro, cannot remain living in sub-human conditions.
Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance Paul Mashatile must also hold Mayor Masina to his word.
MERVYN CIROTA,
MPL – DA GAUTENG SHADOW MEC FOR COOPERATIVE GOVERNANCE, TRADITIONAL AFFAIRS AND HUMAN SETTLEMENTS.
EDITOR’S COMMENT – The Tembisan requested comment from Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality. The request for comment was sent on May 9. At the time of going to print, no comment had been received.
