Two Extension 6 families, whose pit toilets collapsed three years ago, were overjoyed when municipal officials delivered portable toilets to their doorsteps, just over a week ago.
Two Extension 6 families, whose pit toilets collapsed three years ago, were overjoyed when municipal officials delivered portable toilets to their doorsteps, just over a week ago.
Mlungisi Hawulana, 75, who lives with his family of 10, said when their pit toilet collapsed three years ago, a municipal official had written down his complaint. Since then, the family had been waiting for a new toilet to be built, putting up with flies and the stench, as sewage spilled over into the yard.
To make matters worse, a gale had since blown down the corrugated iron structure surrounding the pit. When Grocott's Mail visited the family last Monday to see just how bad it was, Hawulana said he had erected corrugated around iron sheets around the toilet, but that wasn't enough to give him privacy.
"Anyone who passes in the street can see me while I'm in there," he said. “The situation is terrible, I don't know what to do anymore.” His neighbour, Thandi Sali, who lives with her aunt, has had the same problem.
“The toilet collapsed in 2007. We reported the problem to the municipality and the clerk there promised that municipal employees would come and have a look at it. “When they arrived, they told us the collapse made it impossible for them to collect the waste,” she said. "The stench was unbearable," Sali said. “We had to ask the neighbours if we could use their toilet when we wanted to relieve ourselves.”
When Grocott's Mail approached Makana Municipality about Hawulana and Sali, spokesperson Thandy Matebese promised to look in their plight. By Friday, the blue portable toilets had been delivered. “We are very grateful for what the municipality has done for us. We won't trouble our neighbours anymore,” said Hawulana.
