Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina has handed over completed sanitation facilities to indigent households in Ngobi village, in Moretele Local Municipality, in the North West.
The sanitation facilities were handed over on Sunday as part of the build-up to World Toilet Day 2024.
Celebrated annually on 19 November, World Toilet Day aims to inspire action to tackle the global sanitation crisis and reach the 3.5 billion people still living without safely managed sanitation.
Established by the World Toilet Organisation in 2001, World Toilet Day was made an official United Nations Observance in 2013.
The sanitation facilities handed over form part of the R50 million Rural Sanitation Project that is being implemented by the Moretele Local Municipality through funding from the Department of Water and Sanitation to ensure that the municipality fulfils its constitutional responsibility of providing dignified sanitation.
Majodina handed over ventilated improved pit (VIP) toilets to vulnerable groups, including a family with an elderly person and a family with a member with disability.
Through the department's Water Services Infrastructure Grant (WSIG), Moretele Municipality has constructed and completed 1 865 VIP toilets for residents in Ward 1 (Phidile village), Ward 6 (Swaartdam village) and Ward 7 (Ngobi village).
The project was funded for implementation over two financial years (2023/24 and 2024/25).
During her engagement with community members following the handover, Majodina said the department, through its infrastructure programme, is committed to supporting Water Services Authorities to ensure that people have access to water and sanitation services.
She said the department has also provided support to Moretele Municipality over the years in an attempt to alleviate its sanitation backlog and to give dignity to residents.
"The Department of Water and Sanitation takes sanitation very seriously and through its infrastructure programme, it is committed to supporting Water Services Authorities to ensure that people have access to water and sanitation services for the betterment of their lives.
"The department focused on the needs of women and girls, as required by Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6.2 (the target for sanitation and hygiene), which states that countries should pay special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations," Majodina said.
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While a waterborne sanitation system is still an aspiration for most communities, Majodina said that dry on-site sanitation, in the form of VIP latrines, presents alternative safe sanitation solutions in areas with geographical and resource constraints, water resources and climate change, including the availability of infrastructure.
As the country joins the globe in celebrating World Toilet Day today 19 November, the department said it will create awareness of the daily struggles for proper sanitation faced by approximately 2.5 billion people world-wide.
This year's World Toilet Day will be observed under the theme: 'Toilet - A Place for Peace'. The theme focuses on the fact that for billions of people, sanitation is under threat due to conflict, climate change, disasters and neglect.
It also calls on governments to ensure that sanitation services are resilient, effective, sustainable and accessible to everyone, and shielded from destruction. Therefore, more investment and better governance of sanitation is critical for a fairer and more peaceful world.
