Minister of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mchunu, has announced his plans to finally deal with the challenges of the bucket system in central South Africa.
While tabling his R40,291 billion budget for the 2023-’24 financial year in the National Assembly on Tuesday 16 May 2023, Mchunu said his department is working on norms and standards for water sanitation services to address the long-standing issue of the bucket eradication programme, particularly in the Northern Cape and Free State.
Recently, Northern Cape residents revealed that Pabalelo Township in Upington is still subjected to using pit toilets. A resident who has been residing in Pabalelo for some time, Caroline Irion, said promises were made to them that the bucket system will be eradicated, however, the promise is still unfulfilled.
While the chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, Itumeleng Ntsube, said the bucket system remains a major concern in Free State municipalities such as the Mangaung Metro and Masilonyana. Ntsube said his grandmother – who resides in Botshabelo – still uses a pit toilet, adding the buckets don’t get serviced in time and this has various negative consequences.
Mchunu said progress has been made to deal with the challenges of the bucket system in their programme, apart from one project in the Northern Cape and eight projects in the Free State. These will be completed during the current financial year.
“In reality, the programme will not ‘eradicate’ buckets because municipalities are continuously initiating new bucket systems in informal settlements. To address this, the department has developed a National Sanitation Framework, which has recently been approved by the cabinet. In terms of the Framework, the department will issue revised norms and standards for sanitation services under the Water Services Act, which will make it clear that it is unacceptable for municipalities to implement the bucket system. Our planned amendments to the Act will also enable the department to regulate and ensure adherence to these norms and standards”, he said.
