Hope pit latrines are out for good

The news that the department of basic education is working against time to ensure pit latrines are eradicated and replaced with proper sanitation facilities in schools, is most welcome.

Just seven months ago, in September last year we reported that more than 3,000 schools across the country still had pit toilets, risking pupils’ lives.

At the time, the SA Human Rights Commission that was threatening to take legal action against six education MECs over the issue, said there were more than 3,000 schools with pit latrines, 253 with no water while 248 had no sanitation at all.

Learning this was the case eight years after five-year-old pupil Michael Komape died in a pit toilet in a Limpopo school, showed the department’s lack of care. The Grade R pupil died when the toilet he was using collapsed and he fell into it on January 20 2014.

Sadly, four years later another pupil, Lumka Mketwa, also died when she fell and drowned in a pit latrine at a primary school in Bizana, Eastern Cape.

There is finally hope as department officials told parliament last week that the building of toilets at 1,945 schools was in its final stages. They were also rushing to ensure the remaining 1,549 schools have proper sanitation facilities by next March , our sister publication Sunday Times Daily reported.

Deputy director-general for infrastructure in the department David van der Westhuijzen said the construction was happening under the Sanitation Appropriate for Education project launched in 2018.

He said Treasury had recently informed them that it would discontinue the school infrastructure backlogs grant by the end of March 2023, hence the rush to build. The grant, at R2.4bn for the current financial year, funds SAFE projects and others.

The lack of water and proper sanitation at schools is a breach of the rights of pupils and staff to basic education, life and access to water, as enshrined in our Constitution.

While eradication of pit toilets has been slow, the project is anticipated to be complete a decade after little Michael’s death. It is still good news that it is finally going ahead because it will save lives in 3,000 schools.

We are pleased with the development and hope the next announcement will be about the completion of the project early next year.