It is shameful that the chemical toilets provided to the residents of Winnie Mandela and Madelakufa Extension 2 informal settlements in Tembisa by the City of Ekurhuleni are not being regularly maintained.
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During the DA oversight inspection today, we were shocked to see the state of these chemical toilets.
The toilets are dirty and some are broken and have not yet been fixed.
The communal toilets are non-functional and there are sewer blockages with raw sewage flowing into the streets.
The residents claim that these chemical toilets are only serviced once a week instead of twice a week.
The toilets are not sufficient for all the residents in Madelakufa Extension 2 ,as there are 530 chemical toilets instead of the required thousand.
20 people are sharing one toilet which poses a health risk.
Even though these chemical toilets were meant to replace the inhumane bucket system, it is alleged that this tender has been used as a looting system to siphon money from the municipality.
According to an AmaBhungane investigation, the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality has spent R1.9 billion on these chemical toilets over three financial years from 2017 to 2019.
The Ekurhuleni Mayor, Mzwandile Masina told the media yesterday , that R872 million has been spent on chemical ‘tender toilets’ and that the number of chemical toilets have increased from 9000 in 2014 to 39000 in 2019.
However, the report that Masina handed to the media during his briefing indicates a 2 billion expenditure over the past three years.
I will table questions in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature to get a break down of expenditure and the number of toilets in each area per financial year.
I will report this chemical ‘tender toilet ‘ matter to the Special Investigate Unit (SIU) to investigate and to conduct an audit.
Should it be found that there was corruption in the procurement of these chemical ‘tender toilets’ then those implicated must face the course of the law.