Gauteng had the highest number of households with flush toilets, with 2 652 168 or 98% of households; followed by the Western Cape with 1 263 137 households or 104% of households. The figure of 104% and other figures above 100% are due to double counting of flush toilets. KwaZulu-Natal had the highest number of households using dry toilets with 237 923 or 11% of households, followed by the Eastern Cape with 92 290 or 6%. Limpopo had the highest number of households using pit toilets with 784 144 or 66%, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 747 340 or 33% of households. KwaZulu-Natal had the highest number of households using chemical toilets with 16 501 or 1% of households, followed by Gauteng with 13 219 or 0.5%. Free State had the highest number of households using the bucket system with 101 758 or 13% of households, followed by the Eastern Cape with 43 688 or 3%. The Eastern Cape had the highest number of households without any toilet facilities with 373 106 or 13% of households, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 224 340 or 10%.

The provision of adequate sanitation facilities is a responsibility of local government according to the Constitution. Part B of Schedule 4 of the Constitution states that local government is responsible for water and sanitation services limited to potable water supply systems and domestic waste-water and sewage disposal systems. Therefore, it is significant to note the differences in sanitation facilities by municipality.

Some 1 041 991 or 99% of households in the City of Johannesburg had flush toilets, followed by the City of Cape Town with 837 018 or 108%. The Alfred Nzo District Municipality had the fewest least with 6 131 or 7% of households having flush toilets. The eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality had the highest number of households using dry toilets with 79 359 or 10% of households, followed by the O R Tambo District Municipality with 40 625 or 12%. Some 234 330 or 67% of households in the Ehlanzeni District Municipality used pit toilets, followed by the Bojanala Platinum District with 201 079 or 60% of households. There were more households in the Ehlanzeni and Bojanala Platinum Districts using pit toilets than any other form of toilet facilities. The City of Johannesburg had the highest number of households using chemical toilets with 9 553 or 1% of households, followed by the uMgungundlovu District Municipality with 4 362 or 2%. There were 40 524 households or 21% of households using the bucket system in the Lejweleputswa District Municipality, followed by the Southern District Municipality with 30 854 or 11%.

There were some 1 023 855 households, or 2% of households in South Africa without any toilet facilities in 2007. The City of Cape Town had the highest number of households without toilet facilities among the metropolitan municipalities, with 31 943 or 4%; followed by the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality with 20 962 or 3% of households. Among the district municipalities, the O R Tambo District Municipality had the highest number of households without any toilet facilities with 144 884 or 42% of households, followed by the Amathole District Municipality with 110 119 or 26% of households, both municipalities are in the Eastern Cape Province.

The municipal outreach project aims to provide extensive research, such as that used in the above analysis, to municipalities covered by the Municipal Outreach Project. This will be done by means of publications, the project website, and workshops. A monthly publication called Fast Facts for Local Government (F3LG) is sent to local councillors, officials, and development organisations in the eight municipalities covered by the project. A weekly newsletter is posted on the project website on Fridays, and e-mailed to project beneficiaries. The annual South Africa Survey, published by the Institute, will be posted to municipalities and extracts posted on the project website.

Workshops will take place during the course of the project in each of the eight municipalities. The first will be the Major Urban Poverty Challenges Identification (MUPCI) workshops which will take place during 2009, and will be designed for elected councillors and officials to identify what they see as the major poverty challenges facing their constituents. The Urban Poverty Intervention (UPI) workshops will take place during 2010, and will explore policy interventions appropriate to the challenges identified in the MUPCI workshops. The Anti Poverty Intervention Implementation Proposals (APIIP) workshops will take place during 2011, and will formally propose the policy interventions identified in the first two years.

 

Municipal councillors and officials, as well as development organisations working within these municipalities, are encouraged to participate in this pioneering initiative to combat poverty in South Africa's major urban districts.

-Nthami Kgafela