The chemical toilet tender in the City of Ekurhuleni has become a political hot potato.
The African Democratic Christian Party (ACDP) is calling for the scrapping of a chemical toilet tender worth billions in the City of Ekurhuleni.
The contracts related to chemical toilets worth around R2 billion in the City of Ekurhuleni have been a matter of concern for councillors following the death of one of the municipality’s forensic auditors, Mpho Mafole, who was gunned down last year after discovering irregularities related to the chemical toilet tender.
Mafole’s audit flagged alleged corrupt procurement processes, including unqualified, “shadowy” companies receiving lucrative contracts, such as Theuwedi Trading Enterprise.
ACDP councillor Palesa Yates told The Citizen that she was shocked to read in the media that a ‘shadowy company’ for which no website could be found has allegedly banked more than R100 million for multiple Ekurhuleni chemical toilet contracts.
“These toilets must be phased out fast; our people need the dignity of proper sanitation,” she said.
What is wrong with these toilets?
Yates believes that these chemical toilets do not provide a dignified solution for thousands of informal settlement dwellers who lack access to proper sanitation.
“The hard-earned rates and taxes of our residents must go towards sustainable service delivery as far as possible. Millions of rands spent on hiring chemical toilets could be repurposed for real bricks-and-mortar structures with water-borne plumbing,” she said.
Yates said the city must stick to its core principles of putting residents first while making service delivery-related decisions.
“According to the CoE [City of Ekurhuleni] website, our mission is as follows: Ekurhuleni provides sustainable and people-centred developmental services that are affordable, appropriate and of a high quality.
“We are focused on social, environmental and economic regeneration of our city and communities, as guided by the principles of Batho Pele and through the commitment of a motivated and dedicated team.”
Shivambu agrees with ACDP
In a recent interview with popular podcaster MacG, Afrika Mayibuye Movement leader Floyd Shivambu revealed that many things had “gone wrong” in the City of Ekurhuleni, alleging that some politicians have an interest in contracts in that municipality.
“There are so many things that Ekurhuleni could have done differently, but because of personal interest, even of people that were in the EFF, a lot of things were not done properly,” he said.
Shivambu said he had raised questions about the City of Ekurhuleni’s 46 000 chemical toilets. He estimated that the city spent around R3 billion on these toilets.
He said he had proposed replacing flushing toilets with chemical toilets because they are safer and more dignified.
“The beneficiaries of the bucket toilets will fight you with everything…I had given a directive that the bucket toilets must go because that is in the manifesto of the EFF. One of the people that we were working with was saying Floyd wants to destroy my business, what are my children going to eat?”
He said he then realised the problem was far deeper, noting that some politicians in Ekurhuleni were “fearful” of getting rid of chemical toilets.
“That is a microcosm of what happens in a lot of municipalities,” he said.
A haven for corruption?
The City of Ekurhuleni has been described as one of the most corrupt municipalities in the country. Various reports reveal that the municipality has become a feeding trough for corrupt politicians, officials and businesspeople.
On Monday morning, the municipality’s City Manager, Kagiso Lerutla, was expected to appear in the Boksburg Magistrate’s Court after his arrest on Sunday on corruption-related charges. He will appear in court alongside municipal police Deputy Chief Julius Mkhwanazi, who was also arrested on the weekend.
Support Local Journalism
Add The Citizen as a Preferred Source on Google and follow us on Google News to see more of our trusted reporting in Google News and Top Stories.