DESPITE Buffalo City Metro being aware of the state of ablution facilities at the Beacon Bay Taxi Rank, they have not been able to do anything to fix the problem.
Speaking to the GO! last week, taxi driver Masikhumbule Baliso said the state of the public toilets has been like that for the past four to six months. When they approach the BCM-employed cleaners about it, they are told to mind their own business.
“They [BCM workers] tell us to go and drive taxis and stay out of their jobs. We can’t live like this. This is unhygienic.”
The taxi drivers showed the GO! reporter where they urinate – a grass area by the fence at Spargs Supermarket in Beacon Bay. The grass has turned brown because of this.
“We also used to go to the petrol station to relieve ourselves, not anymore because they make us pay R2 now. The KFC here always says we have to buy first before we can use the toilet, this is why we have resorted to urinating outside here,” another taxi driver Banele Phillips said.
In one of the toilets, there was faeces, others were blocked and dirty, showing they haven’t been used in a very long time.
Phillips alleged that the two BCM employees who are meant to clean both the ladies and gents toilets, use the cubicle for the disabled persons for cooking.
“They get here in the morning and leave before 12 midday, they never attempt to clean,” he said.
Asked about this, BCM spokesman Samkelo Ngwenya said BCM is aware that the ablution facilities at the taxi rank have not been in a good state due to vandalism.
“The iron door, pipes and the urinal in the men’s toilet have been removed resulting in people relieving themselves on the floor. Money has been allocated and a service provider has been appointed to fix public toilets in the coastal region starting from [East London] town to Gonubie,” he said.
