Ramaphosa informal settlement residents forced to use buckets and pit latrines

JOHANNESBURG - Some residents at the Ramaphosa informal settlement in Vereeniging have been forced to use buckets and pit latrines to relieve themselves despite having portable toilets in their homes.

However, the mobile toilets haven’t been emptied or cleaned in months.

The sanitation crisis began when the Gauteng government stopped funding the programme that serviced the ablution facilities.

READ: Gauteng govt defends itself amid ongoing sanitation crisis in Emfuleni Local Municipality

However, despite being informed ahead of time to take over the programme, the Emfuleni Municipality says it doesn’t have the financial resources.

A community that once pushed for dignified sanitation facilities now finds itself disgusted by the very mobile toilets that government provided.

In one of the homes, EWN finds Vuyolwethu Mjodo clad in an ANC t-shirt bearing the face of the man who their informal settlement is named after.

Mjodo sits on a 5 litre bucket enjoying a sugar cane, ironically, he said the same bucket doubles up as a makeshift toilet for his little girl.

"I use these filthy toilets as they are with a cigarette in my hand, but I’ve stopped my daughter from using them. She uses this bucket now, and we dispose of the waste right here in front of our door."

The Emfuleni Municipality said it’s working on a plan to address the sanitation crisis in the community.