The Democratic Alliance says Minister of Water Affairs and Sanitation Nomvula Mokonyane must be summoned to Parliament to explain why the date set by her department to eradicate all bucket toilets in formal areas has been pushed back again.
“The two prior postponements saw December 2015 set down as a clear‚ workable target. It has now been pushed back by another three months‚ to March 31‚ 2016‚” DA spokesperson on water affairs and sanitation Nosimo Balindlela said.
“This is at the expense of the dignity of the thousands of South Africans who already live in extreme poverty. South Africans deserve better‚” she added.
She added: “It is indeed telling that despite the department revising the number of bucket toilets in formal areas‚ as of 20 October 2015‚ the department has managed to replace only 15‚544 of the outstanding 57‚329 toilets. In addition‚ according to the Annual Report‚ not one of the 92‚000 bucket toilets in informal areas were replaced.
“This could be explained by the department's poor management and leadership. According to the 2014/15 annual report‚ the department underspent its budget by 15% in the year under consideration - only managing to spend 35% of the National Sanitation Service Programme’s allocation‚ leaving more than R700 million unspent.”
Balindlela noted that in the Western Cape where the DA governed the last recorded figures showed only 223 bucket toilets in informal settlements and zero in formal settlements for the City of Cape Town.
RDM News Wire.
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