Mayor blames residents for pit latrine woes

"They are the ones who throw in hard objects like metals and blankets in the pit latrines which end up blocking the pipes and damaging the vacuum tankers as they vacuum the toilets," Gaborone mayor, Veronica Lesole said.

Lesole stated that they have held meetings in the SHHA areas to educate the public about not dumping certain objects in the pit latrines. "It is not failure on our part because the breakdown of the vacuum tankers is beyond our control and the residents have contributed to the breakdown themselves," she said. She indicated that the situation in the SHHA areas has forced the council to outsource services for emptying pit latrines. "The invitation to tender has been submitted to the government gazette which has gone for print as we speak. If it was failure on our part to arrest the situation, we would not be running around calling for tenders," the mayor said.