South Africa: Open toilets symbolise lack of delivery

The so-called 'cabriolet' became a powerful symbol of failed service delivery ahead of local government elections last week. 'There is nothing more powerful than the image of a woman sitting on a toilet without an enclosure,' said Judith February, head of the political information and monitoring service at the Idasa democracy institute. 'Those are very powerful images and they show the lack of compassion there is when politicians are simply not listening to people. It’s a graphic description of local government failure.'