Cape Town - Away from the sewage-flinging protesters, for many citizens of Cape Town portaloos have been an everyday reality for a long time and not a tool meant for making a political statement.
Portaloo toilets are two white buckets placed one on top of the other. The top bucket has a hole that acts as a toilet seat and the bottom holds the sewage.
Between the buckets is a lever for flushing. Before pulling the lever water needs to be poured in the bottom section first.
Noliyema Hlela, of Nkanini in Khayelitsha, has been using a portaloo for the past three years.
She leaves their portaloo outside for sanitary reasons and because there is no room for it in their two-room shack.
“How do I put it inside the house, when someone who is in the kitchen can see and smell it?”
She tries to not use it during the day lest someone sees her, so she mostly uses it at night.
“Sometimes at night my four-year-old child needs to go to the toilet because of diarrhoea. We are not happy with these things, but we don’t have a choice.”
A neighbour, Phatiswa Hlelingane, said she was happy with the toilets and that they served their purpose.
“They help me because my children don’t have to dig holes to relieve themselves and they are clean,” she said.
Hlelingane explained that the sewage was collected three times a week by the city and that diminished the odour.
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