The Demographic and Socioeconomic Factors Associated With Access to Toilet Facilities in South Africa: The Case of eThekwini Municipality and the City of Cape Town

The current study examines the relationship between the demographic and the socioeconomic characteristics of household heads and their access to toilet facilities in eThekwini Municipality and the City of Cape Town, South Africa. Utilizing data from the 2019 General Household Survey, we employed chi-square statistics and logistic regression analysis to explore the connections between dependent and independent variables and to highlight factors that contribute to access to toilet facilities. The findings reveal a significant correlation between gender, population group, age, education, and economic status with access to toilet facilities in both eThekwini Municipality and the City of Cape Town. Furthermore, the results underscore the disparities in access to improved toilet facilities influenced by demographic and socioeconomic factors. These findings pose the need to address and alleviate the imbalances in access to essential services such as toilet amenities. Targeted interventions by local governments to provide improved toilet facilities for all could significantly enhance public health and restore dignity to residents in these metropolitan areas, and the country as a whole.