9 July 2026
Residents estimate that about 200 toilets were built in Ward 17 near Mthatha before work stopped. They say many collapsed within months of being built. Photos: Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik
Piles of building material purchased for a sanitation project near Mthatha have been abandoned for nearly two years, while dozens of households remain without toilets. The OR Tambo District Municipality has failed to explain why the project was stalled.
According to residents, the project, started in 2022, was to provide hundreds of toilets to households in Ngquqa and surrounding villages. But the contractor abandoned the site in December 2023 after residents complained to the municipality about poor workmanship.
Residents estimate that about 200 toilets were built before work stopped. Many of them have since collapsed.
Unused concrete slabs and other construction materials remain scattered across the area. GroundUp saw some of the concrete slabs being used as fencing.
The building material abandoned by the previous contractor has been left scattered across the ground for years.
Community leader Xolani Neli said residents had reported the poor workmanship to the OR Tambo District Municipality, expecting the defects to be fixed. “Instead, the contractor abandoned the project, leaving about 80 households without new toilets, while close to 200 were also waiting for their collapsed toilets to be fixed,” he said.
Neli said municipal officials had visited the community shortly after GroundUp sent questions about the toilet project. Officials had promised that households without toilets would get building materials and broken toilets would be rebuilt.
“We also asked about the material lying on the ground for so long and. They told us the material would be used to rebuild the broken toilets,” said Neli.
“But we are still waiting.”
GroundUp sent detailed questions to OR Tambo District Municipality spokesperson Ncebakazi Kolwane on 7 May. We asked why the contractor had abandoned the project, whether the initial contract had been terminated, how much had been spent to date, and when the project would be completed.
Despite repeated requests over several weeks, Kolwane did not respond. Municipal manager Basil Mase also failed to respond.
Ward 17 councillor Makaba Makaba was asked about the project but declined to comment.
