The Johannesburg council voted on Wednesday - day two of the 21st Extraordinary Sitting of Council - to eradicate bucket toilets.

Councillors agreed to the motion to have a plan in place in the next 60 days to eradicate pit latrines in the current financial year.

This was the third time the motion had been brought to the council, but the first time the government agreed to eradicate pit latrines.

The motion was last heard in March when it was proposed by ActionSA's Vhengani Munyai.

At the time, he said it was "disheartening and inhumane" that, after 29 years of democracy, "residents in the formalised informal settlements within Johannesburg are still subjected to using the bucket toilet system, with no water for residents to wash their hands in observance of good hygiene principles, while other community members are subjected to having to use the wild to relieve themselves".

However, the Government of Local Unity - the name given to the African National Congress/Economic Freedom Fighters/Patriotic Alliance coalition - voted against the motion because they said there was no such thing as bucket toilets.

ANC's Dada Morero said, "The motion was voted against because it referred to a bucket system when we don't have [one] in Joburg. We have VIP toilets [non-flushing chemical toilets that use a tank or pit with chemicals to neutralise odours]; therefore, the motion was not addressing the issue."

Despite this, the council's chief whip, Sithembiso Zungu, and the Speaker, Colleen Makhubele, later acknowledged there were bucket toilets.

Shortly after that, the EFF brought a motion to eradicate the "chemical system", but it took three months for it to reach the council.

Proposing the motion on Wednesday, the EFF said such toilets went against residents' constitutional right to dignity and an environment that was not harmful to their health.

The Democratic Alliance's Alex Christians said it was sad that the motion, which was already approved in April, only got to the council in August.

"The Constitution is clear in terms of rights, especially to dignity and a safe environment."

However, he said the motion was illegal because they could not agree to a budget to eradicate the toilets as it was not included in the City's budget for the current financial year.

"This motion is illegal. When we talk about dignity, people must respect the law too."

One of the counter arguments was that there was the possibility of an adjusted budget, which would come into effect later on in the financial year.