You would have expected that, 27 years into democracy, some of the basic service issues like the absence of decent sanitation would be a thing of the past.
Yes, the mushrooming of informal settlements in urban areas is adding to the backlog.
Thousands of people are still using the degrading bucket toilet system in Nelson Mandela Bay as, for them, having flushing toilets is still a pipe dream.
This has led to the municipality embarking on the alleged illegal and irregular awarding of toilet tenders in recent years.
The Special Investigating Unit and Hawks are investigating how HT Pelatona Projects, a Free State company, was given a R24m toilet tender that was meant to see 2,000 toilets built in the Bay.
And now another toilet tender scandal has rocked the Bay, with mayor Nqaba Bhanga calling for an internal investigation to ascertain where due processes were followed when Ezamantlane Trading Enterprise and Bahlaphing Consulting were awarded tenders to provide chemical toilets through deviating from normal processes.
Why the city deviated from supply chain management processes is still unclear, as it does not appear the chemical toilets were urgently needed — not a single one has been delivered to date.
Bhanga has said if there are any merits to the fraud and corruption allegation, the municipality would have to launch a forensic investigation into the awarding of the two tenders.
At least this shows the matter is being taken seriously enough.
But “we will investigate” seems to be politicians’ default setting with little or no consequences after probes have been wrapped up.
If the coalition government wants to earn the “coalition of good governance” label it has given itself, it has to crack down on wrongdoing and ensure those responsible for irregularities do not escape with a slap on the wrist.
The culture of impunity has to end.
Though it won’t be done overnight, the long-overdue eradication of the bucket toilet system will be welcomed by all — except those who benefit from providing temporary solutions like chemical toilets.
Hopefully we will not wait for another 27 years before we have zero bucket toilets.
HeraldLIVE