McKenzie vows to eradicate bucket toilets in first 100 days in office or resign

CAPE TOWN - Newly-elected Central Karoo mayor Gayton McKenzie says he will eradicate bucket toilets in the region within his first 100 days in office.

“My most urgent task as district mayor is the eradication of the bucket system. I will make sure no one continues to suffer the indignity of using a bucket toilet, ” he said on Wednesday.

“We will start within 14 days and complete it before I give my 100 days in office speech, failing this means I must resign.”

McKenzie was sworn in as Central Karoo District Municipality (CKDM) mayor on Monday.

Among promises made to communities, McKenzie said he will not draw his salary or claim any of the benefits to which he is entitled as Mayor.

“I will donate 100% of my salary. I don’t want mayoral cars, they should be sold and ambulances bought.

I came with my own bodyguards paid for by me, the police should go do police work. I will never claim a cent in petrol or flights. The taxpayer looked after me in jail, I am free now,” he said.

McKenzie’s election has been met with mixed reaction from opposition parties who claimed voters of the Central Karoo will bear the brunt of the decision.

“We will work on the ground to galvanise and agitate communities to rise against these opportunistic tendencies that squander the development prospects and the overall future of central karoo,” the SACP said on Tuesday.

A Karoo community activist said they fear the possibility that McKenzie was looking for "power and business in their towns".

“We will wait and see, we will wait for him to deliver what he promised in his speech.”