New dignified toilets for Zamimpilo
The two ablution facilities consist of 12 toilets for the women, 8 toilets for men with an additional 4 urinals, wash basins inside and outside of the facility.
On January 29, the Executive Mayor Herman Mashaba was joined by the MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Services, Nico de Jager, and the Johannesburg Water COO, Derrick Kgwale, in handing over two ablution facilities to the Zamimpilo Informal Settlement.
The two ablution facilities consist of 12 toilets for the women, 8 toilets for men with an additional 4 urinals, wash basins inside and outside of the facility.
MMC de Jager said: “We will see 1500 people benefiting from this project, now bearing in mind that we have a backlog at the City of Johannesburg (COJ) of roughly 12 billion rand in terms of new infrastructure and the refurbishment of infrastructure.
“It is absolutely critical that when we hand this project over that as the community, you must remember that this belongs to you, therefore it is your responsibility to look after. COJ Water will supply security as well as a contractor that will be cleaning the facility, it will be the community that will get employed. This is 4 million rand well spent to bring dignity to our people.”
According to the MMC, another 4 facilities that will be launched in a few months’ time. Mayor Mashaba had addressed a number of issues in his 15-minute-long keynote.
The Mayor said: “Today is a day filled with mixed emotions and I encounter this situation on a daily basis. On days when you need to celebrate but I feel like there isn’t much to celebrate. Yes, we got new facilities that are going to give you the dignity but one thing that I can guarantee is that you deserve better.
“We cannot let our people live under these conditions forever, we are looking at 25 years of living like this. I cannot celebrate while our people live like this and we are giving them toilets, however, it’s a short-term arrangement. I have mixed emotions.”
The ward councillor Basil Douglas gave a vote of thanks and handed the stage to Thulani Mdluli who has been a resident in the informal settlement since 1998 and is the chairman of the committee of Zamimpilo.
Mdluli said with regards to the toilets: “We are thankful for the toilets because we lived a long time without toilets. The leaders of Zamimpilo are happy.
“The other toilets you brought were installed by people that didn’t even know what they were doing, they had no paperwork as well. Those people were not even well equipped. People using the toilets suffered because there was nothing like boots or gloves, they could use inside the toilets.”
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