Fumbled toilets project leaves Northern Cape residents still using buckets

CAMPBELL - In the Northern Cape farming town of Campbell, nearly 200 families are still suffering the indignity of using buckets to relieve themselves because of a fumbled multi-million rand toilet project.

The situation is dire when it comes to sanitation in Campbell.

According to the 2022 census, the Northern Cape has the highest proportion of households still using bucket toilets at 4.5%. In the Siyancuma local municipality, where Campbell is located, it’s 9.6%. And the proportion of households using pit toilets here is similar at 9.7%.

The community says the installation of 189 new flushing toilets some ten years ago, gave them hope that an end to their battle for the most basic of amenities was in sight.

But all these years on, they have still not been piped.

The Department of Water and Sanitation says because the town does not have "conventional waterborne infrastructure such as a wastewater treatment works", the plan was to design large conservancy tanks around the settlement as a pilot for phase one.

"Depending on the success thereof, the remainder of the town would have followed a similar model. However, the conservancies were not constructed by the end of the financial year, since the contract was not extended as a decision by the department.

"The department opted to request the Housing Development Agency to complete some, however, the Minister of Water and Sanitation requested that the project be handed back to the Department for implementation in 2021."

In the meantime, R57 million has been spent on toilet structures, plumbing and furniture, reticulation with manholes, and engineering designs so far.

Resident Harold Olyn says all the stalls are good for at the moment is extra storage space. He keeps tools in the stall that was put up on his property.

"We’re still using the bucket system," he says, "[and] we don’t feel good about it."

The department says it’s not given up on the project, and that they are still working on completing it. And Northern Cape Premier Zamani Saul last year announced a R120 million project to replace the town’s bucket and pit toilets, which the department says members of this community will benefit from.

'LIVING IN RUBBISH'

Johannes Younger, a mechanic who has lived here all his life, does not believe the situation will improve any time soon, though.

"We’re living in rubbish for a while now, so I don’t believe anything will change for the better with regards to these toilets," he says.

The community hopes the upcoming elections will finally see the tide turn.

Martha Olyn was upgraded from a bucket to a pit toilet a few years back, but says it began attracting pests and making her ill so she has now once again reverted to using a bucket.

Younger, meanwhile, says over and above the pests and hygiene issues, the pit toilets sitting atop a tall brick base and accessed by a set of small stairs also present a challenge for the community’s elderly.

"We’ve all had a problem with them. There are people who are older than me who have issues with their legs that have higher toilets than this. You can see how high it is to climb to access these toilets," she said.

Olyn says she will be voting but isn’t convinced it will make a difference.

"Maybe elections will bring change. But we’ve always been promised that we’ll get toilets and I don’t know what else. And those promises never become a reality," she says.

Younger, meanwhile, says they are desperate for change.

"And I believe it will come, it’s just the leaders that we have here that people vote for. The Constitution that was put together is a Constitution you can live well with. It accommodates everyone, and I’d really like to see that whoever comes in as the next president wants to come and do good, and at least get rid of these toilets. I mean, there’s so many of them," he says.