Half Of SA’s Municipal Bucket Toilets Are In The Free State

THE latest Statistics South Africa municipal census shows that while there was a slight drop in the number of municipal-supplied bucket toilets in South Africa between 2018 and 2019, more than 42,400 of these units are still in use.

And the number of bucket toilets grew in the North West and the Free State, the latest report shows. The Free State – with less than 5% of SA’s population – has half of all the bucket toilets in the country. 

Ditsobotla municipality in North West and Nketoana municipality in Free State recorded the largest percentage increases, Stats SA reported.

Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo did not supply any bucket toilets in 2019.

While one Free State municipality, Mantsopa, managed to eradicate all the bucket toilets that it had provided to households, 11 municipalities in the Free State provided almost 21,000 bucket toilets.

The latest auditor-general report about municipal finances paints a