A quarter of residents still don’t have access to a municipal provided toilet

The Asivikelane Sanitation report surveys 5,308 residents in 202 informal settlements across eight municipalities (PDF, 2.15MB). The research finds that 24% lack access to a municipal toilet, including 6% with no toilet at all and 16% using pit toilets. Only 10% have their own flush toilets, while most rely on communal or temporary options such as chemical toilets. Conditions are worst in Mangaung, where no residents have metro-provided toilets, and in Tshwane, where over a third are similarly affected. Awareness of municipal plans is very low, with only 6% of those without flush toilets knowing of any plans to provide them, highlighting persistent sanitation inequalities and accountability gaps that continue to undermine health, dignity, and safety in informal settlements, and pointing to the urgent need for accelerated, transparent, and people-centred sanitation delivery by municipalities.

Abstract based on original source.