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Recently appointed water & sanitation minister Jack Bloom has called for municipalities to phase out the long-term use of chemical toilets in informal settlements, arguing that they are costly to maintain and have become vulnerable to corruption.His comments come as chemical toilet contracts worth about R1.8bn in the City of Ekurhuleni remain under investigation over alleged procurement irregularities.At the handover of three Myloo dry sanitation units to elderly residents in Refilwe, Cullinan, donated by Amalooloo as part of its Mandela Day corporate social investment programme on Friday, Bloom said municipalities should replace chemical toilets with lower-cost, waterless sanitation systems.“The long-term use of chemical toilets in informal settlements is inappropriate and expensive and should be replaced by better waterless sanitation at lower cost,” he said.Chemical toilets were intended as temporary sanitation solutions for emergencies, construction sites and public events, but had become a permanent feature in many informal settlements despite their high maintenance costs and maintenance requirements, Bloom said.He likened what he described as the “chemical toilet mafia” to the so-called water tanker mafia, saying both profited from the failure of public services.“The chemical toilet mafia in Ekurhuleni and elsewhere should be fought relentlessly. It is as bad as the water tanker mafia in profiting off the misery of poor people.”Bloom said Ekurhuleni spent R665m on 46,322 chemical toilets last year, equivalent to about R14,500 per toilet.“Many of these toilets are unusable and not cleaned regularly. It’s a scam and it’s not limited to Ekurhuleni.”He said the investigation into Ekurhuleni’s sanitation contracts highlighted broader concerns about governance and procurement. Bloom referred to the murders of forensic investigator Mpho Mafole, who had reportedly flagged irregularities linked to the tenders, and investigator Simnikiwe Mapini, who was killed in December 2023 while probing the contracts.Bloom also drew parallels with the murder of whistleblower Babita Deokaran, who exposed corruption linked to Tembisa Hospital.“It reminds me of Babita Deokaran, who was assassinated because she exposed the R2bn looting at Tembisa Hospital,” he said.He pointed to findings by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) that a R2.5m contract for chemical toilets at KwaZulu-Natal schools in 2020 had been awarded without competitive bidding, saying the case illustrated wider procurement failures.Bloom said municipalities should replace chemical toilets with dry sanitation technologies that are more sustainable and less costly to operate over the long term.“I am going to make it my personal mission to get municipalities to cancel corrupt chemical toilet contracts and replace them with better waterless toilets at lower cost.”He said ending what he described as the “chemical toilet mafia” would improve sanitation services while reducing opportunities for corruption in municipal procurement.Concerns over chemical toilet procurement are not new. In 2020, the SIU investigated a R2.5m contract awarded by the KwaZulu-Natal education department for chemical toilets at schools. The Special Tribunal later set the contract aside after finding it had been awarded without a competitive bidding process.
