On the edge of a dwelling at Fransfontein in the Kunene region is a mud house.
Contrary to the a esthetic exterior of the mud house, its interior is a stark reminder of the reality many residents here face.
The mud house is where a family of six heed the call of nature.
Inside, in one corner of the structure, is an old chair.
An old, empty 20 litre cooking oil drum is fitted under the chair.
The result – a makeshift toilet pot.
This is what Adolfine Somses and her family are using to relieve themselves.
“We would even prefer a pit latrine as we cannot live like this any more. What we really need is a flush toilet,” Adolfine says.
The Somses family, like many residents of Fransfontein, still make use of bucket toilets to heed the call of nature some 30 years after independence.
Another family member, Nesley Somses (29), says the toilets pose health risks.
“I use the bushes to relieve myself rather than that toilet,” she says.
She says her family lives in fear of Covid-19 as they are battling access to clean drinking water.
Adolfine told her family fetches water from a neighbour who was able to pay the Fransfontein settlement office N$60 for a water connection at his house.
She says if Covid-19 strikes Fransfontein, many people’s lives will be at risk.
Social distancing is not something they can practise due to overcrowded shacks, she says.
“Six of us reside in a small mud house,” Adolfine says.
Another resident, Mona !Hoaes, told bucket toilets sometimes cause infections and rashes among women.
“These toilets are unhygienic for us women. Besides that, flies are everywhere inside the toilets. The flies will be in the toilet and the next moment they will be on your food,” !Hoaes says.
John /Aib, another resident, says the settlement was promised flush toilets years ago, but nothing has come of it.
According to locals, the bucket toilets are emptied twice a week by the Fransfontein settlement office.
Mckay Losper, a community activist, told the newspaper the lack of proper ablution facilities at the settlement is of big concern.
“Even if you live in an informal settlement, the bucket system is not a hygienically acceptable alternative. We are all equal and it is totally unacceptable to treat people differently because of their social status,” Losper says.
Senior public relations officer at the Kunene Regional Council, Tuli Pandeni, says the council has allocated a tender worth N$3 million for the rehabilitation of the sewerage network at the Fransfontein informal settlement.
Pandeni says the tender, which was allocated to Windhoek Consulting Engineers in 2018, is still in the first phase and is expected to run until 2021.
She says phase one consists of the rehabilitation of sewer lines and the renovation of sewer ponds, while phase two will kick-start the process of connecting the sewer line to individual households.
