South Africa has one of the most progressive legislative and policy frameworks for
water services in the world, which includes a constitutional right to water and a
national Free Basic Water policy (COHRE, 2008). However, the stark reality is that
although South Africa has these progressive policies, the sanitation challenge still
needs to be overcome. The growing sanitation backlog and the eradication of the
bucket system has become a difficult and emotive topic. Many South Africans live in
extreme poverty and in informal settlements which do not have adequate sanitation
available. Generally, within these informal settlements, households are forced to
share toilet facilities, and to walk far distances as the toilets are poorly located, badly
maintained and users of these toilets are exposed to danger and violent crimes. This
study explores perceptions of the users of ‘porta potty’ toilets in Jim Se Bos informal
settlement in Phillipi, Cape Town. Understanding the users’ socio‐cultural perceptions
of the porta potty toilet will contribute to future policy making, as the information can
be used to improve the future roll‐out of the technology in order to make it more
acceptable.