Parliamentary toilet paper torment

There is more paper in the chamber than in the pan

Parliamentarians in South Africa have been caught short by a lack of paper - not for legislative work, but for business of a more personal kind.

MPs and staff throughout the complex of buildings are reporting a drastic shortage of toilet paper.

Those with urgent calls of a non-legislative nature have had to make do with paper towels, or provide their own substitute.

Concerned toilet-goers reported that the supply began drying up several weeks ago.

Various other sanitary products such as rubbish bags and cleaning products are also in short supply.

Instructions

The shortages appear particularly acute in the Old Assembly Wing, which houses most of the press corps.

This is not what was meant by a paperless society

The situation became so severe that a spoof memo appeared in the toilets purporting to be from the parliament's administration advising users how to get the maximum benefit from the minimum number of sheets.

But although the disappearance of a commodity such as toilet paper is distressing, it is just the latest in a series of items to go missing from parliament.

Thefts

One MP left his office to go to the toilet and, while history does not relate whether or not there was any paper there, when he returned to his office a couple of minutes later his lap-top computer had disappeared.

Thefts have been endemic and range from copper off the roof through pictures off the walls to a salami slicer from the kitchens.

Someone even walked out with a historic diamond ring bequeathed to the parliament at the turn of the century.

The exact cause of the shortage of toilet paper has yet to be flushed out.

Relief

It could be due to theft or a fault in the supply chain but a journalist in the parliament told BBC News Online that, once they tried to get to the bottom of the situation, things started improving.

He said once the problem had been publicised, staff were spotted rushing along the corridors carrying large bags of toilet rolls.

But although supplies are flowing again they are not unlimited.

Staff have been instructed to put only one roll in each cubicle.