Soweto residents are furious that they have to pay to use the toilets in the township's recently opened shopping malls.

At the Bara and Protea Gardens malls, shoppers have to pay 50c for the use of the toilets - a price many say leaves them feeling "unfriendly" and "negative" towards the trendy new malls.

A dissatisfied Bara Mall shopper, Margaret Chipete, said she was stopped at the toilet entrance by a woman who told her to pay.

"I thought she was joking, but she insisted and I then realised she was serious. This is insane. Are they saying that because they are situated in the township, we should pay for it?"

Another angry shopper, David Mathe, said the toilet toll was "barbaric".

"Before I go shopping I make sure there won't be any need for me to go to the toilet. Not that I don't have money, but I can't stand the thought of paying," he said.

Lorraine Molepo from the Human Rights Commission said using a mall toilet was "a natural and basic human right".

"On the face of this, it appears to be a violation ... because it means if they don't have money then they can't relieve themselves," she said.

Bara Mall centre manager Petrus Mabe says shoppers pay to use the facility because some break toilet seats and others steal soap.

"When I asked a shopper why she took the soap she said she used it to wash her clothes," he said.

"People compare us to shopping complexes in the suburbs, but in those centres they don't have these problems."

Mabe said the money goes to jobless people who, by arrangement with the mall, keep the toilets clean. He added that the elderly or those desperate for the loo were not turned away.

The management of Protea Gardens Mall refused to comment.

Sunday Times
Publisher: I-Net Bridge
Source: I-Net Bridge