Tshwete will, along with the Free State Head of the Department, Tseliso Ntili, walk about the Rosendal Clear Water Pipeline in the Dihlabeng Local Municipality as a part of the visit. When probed about the removal of the remaining pit toilets in the Free State, Ntili said in March that you cannot fully address the removal of pit toilets without focusing on building bulk water infrastructure.

OFM News reported previously that the Northern Cape and the Free State are among the provinces with the highest number of bucket toilets. The report indicates that over 68 000 consumer units in South Africa used a bucket toilet in 2016 and 44% of them were located in the Free State, followed by the Eastern Cape at 33% and the Northern Cape at 15% The report also indicates that the Free State needs millions to eradicate the use of bucket toilets and has been allocated approximately R442,86 million towards its bucket eradication programme for the 2018/19 fiscal year.

Earlier this week, when the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), Julius Malema, was in the province, EFF Provincial Chairperson, Mandisa Makesini, said bucket toilets continue to be a problem in parts of the province. “The people of Meloding in Virginia are still using the bucket system which takes the municipality ten days to collect,” Makesini said emphatically.