One bucket toilet for 22 people in Ekurhuleni a human rights violation

8 May 2017

The DA will write to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) to investigate the sanitation situation at the L&J informal settlement in Ekurhuleni.

A news report today revealed a case where one bucket toilet that must be used by 22 people in the L&J informal settlement. This is but one example of the gross shortage of service delivery that this community faces.

Shamefully, municipal workers reportedly mock the situation by saying that residents ‘eat a lot’ when the limited toilets become full. This only adds insult to injury.

Service delivery and sanitation concerns are not limited to toilet facilities. Residents also have to make use of communal water tanks in which they have reportedly found rats, baby diapers and old rags. This, coupled with the dump sites at the settlement, poses a serious health risk. The DA Councillor in a neighbouring ward in Ekurhuleni has been working tirelessly to ensure access to basic sanitation. Cllr Derek Thompson has secured a contract with a private company to deliver portable toilets to those in need.

The Gauteng Human Settlements MEC, Lesiba Mpya, has promised to meet with the community to hear their concerns, however, he failed to meet his engagement. It is clear that the L&J community has been neglected by an uncaring ANC government. The ANC is too busy furthering its own interests to care about the needs of the most vulnerable.

We call for urgent intervention by the SAHRC as the basic sanitary needs of an entire community is being entirely ignored. The DA will continue to do all it can to realise the constitutional rights to access to basic services such as water and sanitation.

Issued by Graham Gersbach, DA Ekurhuleni Constituency Head, 8 May 2017