R29m set aside to empty clogged mobile toilets

THE CITY has set aside R29 million to be allocated towards the extension of a contract to empty 15 000 ventilated improved pit (VIP) toilets. This comes after City manager, Sipho Nzuza visited various sites in the KwaMashu area, affected by clogged toilets.

Nzuza was accompanied by the chairperson of the Human Settlements and Infrastructure Committee, Councillor Mondli Mthembu, Head of the Water and Sanitation (EWS) Unit Ednick Msweli and other municipal officials.

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In a statement the city said it will be acting with urgency to ensure the waste removal from VIP toilets located in various wards of the municipality.

“To ensure work is urgently carried out, the City’s Executive Committee approved R29 million to be allocated towards the extension of a contract to empty 15 000 VIP toilets. This includes R6 million which will be used to increase the value of the current contract and a further R23 million which will be budgeted for in the 2018/19 financial year,” said the City.

Weighing in on the matter, speaking at the executive committee meeting last week, eThekwini Mayor Zandile Gumede said: “If this issue isn’t addressed urgently, it will become a violation of the constitutional right to basic sanitation. These flooded toilets pose a serious health threat to the community and have a destructive effect on the environment.”

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Nzuza agreed with Gumede saying during the inspection they uncovered people living in inhumane conditions. “These toilets require immediate emptying to curb the spread of diseases and pollution to the environment.”

The City added that its waste services (EWS) will be embarking on a process of validating and confirming the exact number of toilets to be emptied against the number reported by councillors.

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