No toilets and not enough water in struggle hero’s birthplace

Residents have no choice but to dig and build pit toilets themselves, said 74-year-old Mildred Hlongwa. Some of these toilets are built of mud; some are made of wood and old metal.

Hlongwa said other people without toilets relieve themselves in plastic bags and throw these anywhere.

“Not all of us are able to build toilets ourselves. There are other families that don’t have toilets. The reasons for not owning a toilet differ. Some don’t have the material to build one and some people are lazy. There is a problem with those who don’t have one. They use plastic bags as toilets and they throw them anywhere. Sometimes one would wake up and find the plastic bags full of faeces lying in the yard. If they are not lying on the yard you would find that small puppies have torn the plastic bags and that is how the whole area ends up smelling. There are faeces everywhere. Sometimes we come across these plastic bags on the main road. People just throw them on the main road at night and no one cares,” said Hlongwa.

Residents say the area is the birth place of struggle icon Moses Mabhida. He was the leader of the South African Communist Party from 1978 until his death in 1986. (Wikipedia gives his birthplace as 12.5kms away in Thornville.)

His house is in Slangspruit. Resident Nompilo Makhaye says, “The area has never been developed and the situation is worsening. We had hoped that since we are in the area where Mabhida was born, we would be taken into consideration. We thought that would be to our advantage but unfortunately it’s the opposite. We have four families using one toilet and that is not healthy. The toilets smell because we dig holes that are not shallow enough. They last for a period of less than a year.”

The water supply is also a challenge that is facing Slangspruit residents, said Hlongwa. “There is only one tap that supplies water for the whole community. There were three taps that served the whole community but the other two are not working anymore. All the residents in this area use that one tap and it’s not easy. The ward councilor is aware of the matter but we don’t see him solving the problem. There are local government elections next year and they are expecting our votes. I am already a beneficiary of the government pension. Whether I vote or not, is not important. I am not going to waste my vote. I haven’t reaped anything from voting,” she says.

Ward councilor Bongani Dlomo said he is aware of the problems the area is experiencing including the toilets. He said the Msunduzi municipality is busy sorting out the land issue in that area.

“The land doesn’t belong to the municipality. Most of the people who are living there are tenants. At the moment we are trying to locate the land owners so that the municipality buys the land from them. Those we have located have agreed to sell the land to the municipality. Once we have done that, then the municipality will be able to provide services,” said Dlomo.

With the issue of water he said the residents have a habit of breaking the taps.

“We have had numerous occasions where we have fixed the taps. Once they have done that, they encounter a lot of water wastage. The taps leak and water runs into people’s houses and on the main road. That damages the road and it results in the shortage of water. This matter will be sorted out but unfortunately we cannot say when since we are still searching for other land owners. Some of them have died and that delays our search,” added Dlomo.