South Africa: Cathcart Families Left With Full Pit Toilets for a Year

What the report says

Residents of Ndlovini informal settlement in Cathcart, in South Africa’s Eastern Cape, say their pit toilets have been full or blocked for more than a year, forcing some people to use open fields or dig their own latrines. The report, published by GroundUp and distributed by AllAfrica, says the settlement has more than 500 homes and that sanitation problems have affected both older pour-flush toilets and newer VIP units installed in 2023.

Amathole District Municipality says it is working on a response. Municipal spokesperson Sisa Msiwa said officials inspected the toilets to decide how to empty them and that the municipality is in the process of appointing a service provider to help. Community leader Buyisile Booi said residents have repeatedly asked for the toilets to be emptied, but were told at different times that a municipal truck had broken down or would be sent later.

The article says the sanitation project has struggled with practical problems, including limited water for flushing and some toilets being built on wet ground. A former project liaison officer said that contributed to pits filling up quickly. GroundUp also reported that a 2025 ADM update put the number of VIP toilets installed at 1,250, against a backlog of 1,496 across the wards, while funding had run out and the municipality was seeking more support. The situation highlights persistent basic-service gaps in the area.