March 9, 2004
By Ndaba Dlamini
VISITING a public toilet in Joburg's inner city will be a lot more pleasant in the future, when funding is made available later this year to upgrade the existing facilities.
A proposal by the City's Corporate Services Department to spend some R5-million refurbishing 29 toilets in and around Johannesburg has been approved by the City Council and funds will be made available from the 2004/2005 budget.
The project will involve a total refurbishment of existing facilities and the addition of new facilities in "hot spots" identified by a task team of representatives from various City departments.
An investigation by the Corporate Services Department of 29 inner city toilets showed that 12 needed to be upgraded as a matter of urgency. The other facilities were still under evaluation.
The investigation found some of the existing public toilets had too few toilet pans and urinals that were too small, doors that did not provide privacy for the users, and a lack of equipment such as toilet paper.
The team also found that facilities were inadequate for the number of people using them. "This number," according to the director of the facilities management and maintenance unit for Corporate Services, Gowrie Sunker, "has been increasing over the past two years and has led to a strain on our resource." Currently more than 2 200 people used the facilities daily, he added.
"The increasing number of patrons over the last two years has led to a high demand for public facilities in the city, especially in areas where there are a high number of immigrants," said Sunker.
The task team also found there were several areas in the inner city that did not have public toilets, which led to people using nearby alleyways. These lanes or "hot spots" had become health hazards, characterised by a strong stench.
"Hot spots" included the lane between Biccard and Reserve streets, between Jorrisen and De Korte streets - both in Braamfontein - and Wanderers Street between Noord and De Villiers streets, Edith Cavell Street between Plein and Bree streets and the corner De Villiers and King George streets, all in the CBD.
The Corporate Services Department plans to build public toilets in these "hot spots". The plans call for the provision of ablution facilities to be placed "at major bus and taxi boarding and drop off points" and along lanes in Hillbrow and in areas where the homeless live. Stand-alone urinals will also be constructed "along every block in the inner city".
When asked what they thought, commuters travelling through the inner city commended the refurbishment plans.
The women's toilet in Gandhi Square is one of the facilities to be refurbished. Johannesburg High Court worker, Terrtia Selamolela, said the upgrade was long overdue. "These toilets were clean a long time ago. They are not so neat now. Health inspectors should do their job to ensure a high standard of hygiene," she said. "Toilet paper and soap should be made available. We would gladly pay a fee to use these facilities."
The two toilets on either side of Gandhi Square will cost R110 000 each to refurbish. Currently they have poor lighting and no facility for disabled users. According to the plans, each toilet will have wheelchair access, look "aesthetically pleasing" and have disposable dustbins, soap dispensers, hand driers and new lighting fitted.
The two male toilet buildings in Gandhi Square will also be upgraded at a cost of R170 000 each.
Simon Moleleka, a visitor from Welkom, praised the cleanliness of the Pritchard Street public toilet, but recommended that tissue paper be made available to avoid blocked toilets. "People tend to use any kind of material if there is no toilet paper and this impacts on the hygienic standards of these toilets," he said.
Budgetary constraints had limited the ability of the department to maintain many of the inner city toilets, according to the Corporate Services Department report. It will cost R770 000 for the current year to maintain a high level of cleanliness in the existing facilities. After the refurbishments, including the building of new facilities, an additional amount of R1,5-million will be needed to keep the toilets clean.
Another issue highlighted in the Corporate Services Department report was that of security. Plans include setting up security measures to safeguard against theft and vandalism. Each facility will be fitted with alarm systems attached to an armed reaction unit. Installation and monitoring of the alarm systems will cost over R180 000 a year, with full time guards costing the department some R1,4-million a year.
Currently, very few facilities in the inner city have measures in place to prevent vandalism and theft. Referring to the lack of security at the toilets on the corner of Esselen and Edith Cavell streets in Hillbrow, Nelson Tivane from Mozambique said public toilets were often a target for muggers. "Security should be stepped up, especially during late afternoons and weekends when there are not many people around, to prevent patrons from being robbed," he said.
The project is expected to take about nine months to complete and the toilets will remain closed while work is being done, Sunker said.
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