Open toilets: Minister Sexwale in dereliction of duty

The Democratic Alliance (DA) will question Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale in Parliament on why he failed to ensure that open toilets would be enclosed by the Moqhaka municipality (Viljoenskroon) in the Free State.

Minister Sexwale was ordered by the Human Rights Commission (HRC) nearly a year ago to make sure his Department sets out concrete steps to enclose the toilets "with urgency". 

The HRC found that residents' rights to "dignity, privacy and a clean environment" were violated by the state of sanitation in the Rammulotsi township and surrounding areas.

I visited the area this week. Thousands of people are still being affected by the lack of proper sanitation. I witnessed how grandmothers and children were forced to use toilets covered with black rubbish bags for privacy. 

In nearby Brickfields, I saw how hundreds of residents are forced to make use of one starkly open toilet in the middle of a field. The same toilet is also linked to the only source of drinking water for the entire community.

Minister Sexwale needs to man up and take responsibility for the open toilets in Rammulotsi.

Despite the HRC order, Minister Sexwale failed to act on the municipality's disregard for the community at every stage over the past year:

·         Minister Sexwale chose not to intervene when around 150 toilets had to be taken down in August because of poor workmanship.

·         No intervention was made when the same contractor was re-appointed to do the same job all over again after failing to enclose the toilets the first time around.

·         Proper monitoring of the municipality's progress was not done even as the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) refused to fund the closing of the toilets on no less than four occasions owing to problems with the workmanship.

Good governments respond to delivery problems when they are detected and rectify any mistakes that were made. Bad governments allow these problems to continue at the expense of the health and dignity of entire communities.

Minister Sexwale must have his day in Parliament to account for this careless approach toward the residents of Moqhaka municipality. 

More importantly, he must make a binding commitment to the people of the Free State that the sanitation problem in the townships of Viljoenskroon, Kroonstad and Marabastad will be fixed immediately.

Statement issued by Stevens Mokgalapa MP, DA Shadow Minister of Human Settlements, March 14 2012

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