Eastern Cape – In Masibulele informal settlement 20 families are forced to share one pit toilet. This informal settlement is located next to Mount Ruth train station in Mdantsane, Eastern Cape.
This informal settlement is divided into 2 sections, section A and B and it has about 300 shacks.
People have been living here for more than 20 years now, there is no electricity but there are illegal electricity connections. The unemployment rate is very high some families share a one room shack.
Section B has about 100 families but they share 5 pit toilets. These pits toilets are built by the Masibulele informal settlement residents.
One of the community members said 3 years ago he spent the whole week digging his own toilet.
This toilet is located not far from his shack, but his family is not the family using this toilet some of the families also use it.
He also said that every week he spent R200 to buy a 5l of chemicals needed for the pit toilet he built.
The community leader said that because these toilets are self built some of them are not strong they fear that an elderly person or a child might fall inside one day. They also fear that women might get an infection from these pit toilets.
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