Residents of the One Nation informal settlement in Windhoek have expressed anger over the lack of water and dysfunctional toilets, forcing them to use nearby bushes, when nature calls.

The City of Windhoek constructed these public toilets and taps in 2021 and residents were happy that their problems have been solved.

However, they say the taps were broken and toilets only worked for the first four months, as they are not being cleaned and get very full in a very short period of time.

This results in overflowing human feces out of the drains which causes an unbearable smell.

An affected community member, Beata Nelongo ya Iiyambo said they were happy, they were assisted with toilets, however, they have not helped them at all and these toilets have put them in so much trouble. She said the toilets have a septic tank and when the tank gets full, human feces starts overflowing on the pipes.

Another affected community member, Pinier Iita said the taps used to operate free of charge and then later started operating with the cards just like that off the electricity but the problem they have observed since last year is that the meter inside the water box gets stolen. 

In response to this, the City of Windhoek's Spokesperson Harold Akwenye reiterates that the vandalism of the infrastructure will compound the situation.

"It is purely due to vandalism, people that are entrusted to look after their own infrastructure that they were given by the municipality are the same people who vandalize it by stealing the water pipes and the taps and they run to the city to come repair or to come to replace those taps and pipes."