REFILWE MEKOA
The bucket system in the Setsoto Municipality is still in use though funding was allegedly awarded for the eradication thereof.
According to Municipal Manager Tshepiso Ramakarane, funds were made available in 2006 but nothing was done with it. Ramakarane says the municipality, which includes the towns of Ficksburg, Clocolan, Marquard and Senekal, needs R300 million for the eradication of the bucket system. He was addressing the Free State Legislature in Bloemfontein this morning.
Currently 11 000 households use the bucket or VIP toilet systems.
“We have upgraded a waste treatment plant, installed a sewer network, pump stations and house connections. We have also dealt with issues of water provision because as you migrate from buckets to full water bond sewer you need to make sure that there is enough water,” he says.
Ramakarane says a court case is pending on the initial money that has allegedly disappeared.
