Alexandra’s toilet woes worsen

Community activist Themba Mavundla has come out guns blazing with accusations of alleged incompetency against toilet company Supreme Toilets.

Supreme Toilets was awarded a tender by Johannesburg Water to supply the community of Alexandra with portable toilets in 2016. Mavundla said the company supplied 1 300 portable toilet units in Alexandra but they were not being thoroughly cleaned.

“They come remove the plastic at the back of the toilets, then the employers just wipe. They do not do thorough cleaning. They do not sanitise the toilet seats, the door handles, nothing. Those toilets are infested with germs and it is concerning especially with Covid-19 infection cases rising,” claimed Mavundla.

A woman (name unknown) who is a resident on London Road said she cleaned the toilets after the employees of Supreme Toilets had done so because she did not want her children and those around her to get sick.

The woman claimed that most of the toilets were in a bad state and needed proper care and maintenance, something they have not seen happen in the five years that Supreme Toilets had provided the toilets.

“We need [Supreme Toilets] to show care for the people that rely on these toilets every second of the day. We need them to care for our well-being and hygiene. They, themselves, would not use these toilets if asked to do, yet they expect the elderly and children to continue using them when it is unsafe to do so,” said Mavundla.

Mavundla alleged over and above the unsanitary toilets, Supreme Toilets owner Obakeng Nonyane had not kept to his word and hired the people of Alex to clean the toilets. “The bylaws say that a company from a different township must empower the people of the township they are providing a service to. Obakeng has not done that, he needs to hire only 30 per cent but he cannot.”

“He promised that he will give back to the community but every time we arrange a meeting or call him, something is happening with him. It’s either he is busy and cannot make it or he is sick. These days, he does not even take our calls,” alleged Mavundla.

Mavundla added that they were tired of Nonyane and his apparent lack of responsibility for the dirty toilets. “Ever since the lockdown started, he has not provided food parcels or anything of that sort to the community. Some of us have had to go deep into our own pockets to provide for the families that are in need. What is he doing for this community expect doing what he does best, nothing,” he alleged.

Nonyane dismissed all of the allegations levelled against him by Mavundla. “The toilets are monitored by Johannesburg Water [JHB Water] and we have not had a complaint from them. JHB Water is the first point of contact for us. If there was anything wrong with the toilets, JHB Water would let us know and we would fix it.

“They tell us about repairs, which we do all the time, and damaged toilets. Sometimes you find that the toilet is hit by a car, then the whole toilet will need to be replaced, but if it’s the toilet door, we just replace the hinges. Everything we do is in conjunction with Joburg Water,” he said.

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, Nonyane said they have bought employees masks, gloves and encourage them to use sanitisers all the time.  Nonyane claimed that his employees did clean properly and made sure to sanitise the toilets whenever they cleaned. “JHB Water has hired inspectors that are on the ground. We have been penalised in the past for not adhering to the rules and regulations of our contract. These rules have been enforced and we need to stick by them or else we don’t get paid.”

Nonyane did, however, admit that the toilets were not in perfect condition but ‘we have systems in place to make sure that they adhere to the health standards’.

He said his company did give back to the community and they were in partnership with the Bombani Shelter for Abused Women and Children where they provide food parcels and other things they may need assistance with.

Regarding not empowering the people of Alexandra, Nonyane claimed his company did have people from Alex working for them.

Somas Govender, the tender procurement manager for JHB Water, was unable to be contacted. The story will be updated should he get back to us.

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https://www.citizen.co.za/alex-news/117307/trying-bid-government-tender-involved/