Just over a month after a resident of Taiwan informal settlement was trapped inside a communal flush toilet when it toppled over, another resident broke her leg while trying to use one of the toilets.
Image: Sibusiso Mdlankomo
Residents of Taiwan in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, say most of the toilets there are old and no longer stable.
Nolundi Philiso says when she entered the toilet last week she slipped and her leg slid into a hole between the ground and the toilet.
“I was in so much pain and could not stand or walk. I was helped by other residents and taken home,” said Philiso.
At the clinic she was told her leg was broken. She is now living with her aunt until her leg is operated on.
“The doctor says they will have to put in screws in my leg because it is damaged,” she said.
“I have been living in Taiwan for about a year and the toilets have always been like that, loose. But we have no other alternative, we have to use them,” said Philiso.
GroundUp reported in September how Vuyiswa Nofuma was trapped in a toilet, also in Taiwan informal settlement, when it fell over with her inside.
Community leader Thandi Jolingana said the toilets had still not been fixed by the city of Cape Town though problems had been reported “countless times”. Philiso, on the other hand, told GroundUp that she had not reported her incident to the city.
