The Gibeon Village Council in the Hardap Region is moving closer to ending the bucket toilet system.

Sharon Bezuidenhout, Chairperson of the Council, told nbc News that the government has allocated N$335 thousand in the current fiscal year for the construction of sanitation services in the village. 

The funds, she says, will be used to construct septic tanks in the Lukas Stephanus location.

In 2016, the council constructed toilets there. However, due to a lack of a reticulation system in the area, the toilets have become white elephants.

Because of this, she says, some households with no financial means to build their own septic tank drains are forced to make use of bucket toilets.

"We want to get rid of the bucket system. It is not something you want to say on the air, but yes, we are still making use of it. We still have 45 of these toilets that need to be removed once a week at night, so we are planning to build drains in their backyards and have the council come and pump them empty because you can do a lot with N$335 million."

A section in the Lukas Stephanus residential area that is without electricity service is also expected to be connected to the electricity grid before the end of the year. 

She says plans are also afoot to construct a playground for children in the latter location.

Budgetary constraints and the lack of a substantive CEO over the last five years are just two of the challenges that the council has faced.

"Our budget was withdrawn last year due to the negligence of the staff here at the village council. The procurement structure was not in place after the change of acting (CEOs)." 

Bezuidenhout revealed that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Accounts and Finances recently threatened to downgrade the village to a settlement because of unqualified and outstanding financial reports.

To avoid this, she says, the council will enlist the services of an auditing firm to assist with the compilation of its outstanding financial reports.

Bezuidenhout says the good news was that the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development has approved the secondment of a staffer as acting CEO, who is expected to report for duty within the next few weeks.