South Africa: Or Tambo Municipality Dodges Questions On Failed Toilet Project

9 July 2026
GroundUp (Cape Town)
By Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik and Yamkela Ntshongwana

A project to build hundreds of toilets near Mthatha has been stalled since 2023

  • A project to build toilets for hundreds of households in Ngquqa and surrounding villages under the OR Tambo District Municipality has been stalled since December 2023.
  • Residents estimate that about 200 toilets were built before the contractor abandoned the site.
  • They say many collapsed within months of being built.
  • The municipality has ignored GroundUp's questions.

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.

Follow us on WhatsApp | LinkedIn for the latest headlines

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.

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.

Read the original article on GroundUp.

Tagged:
Copyright © 2026 GroundUp. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.

AllAfrica publishes around 600 reports a day from more than 90 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.