Progress made in eradicating school pit latrines countrywide, says Gwarube
Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube said the government has made significant progress in the eradication of pit latrines in schools.
Gwarube addressed the issue in the National Assembly on Wednesday.
She said to date the Sanitation Appropriate for Education initiative has now completed 3,116 projects.
The department is yet to complete 259 projects by March 2025.
Back in 1997, the School Register of Needs said that there were 27, 864 schools countrywide.
In 2018, the Department of Education initiated a Sanitation Appropriate for Education initiative in attempt to eradicate the pit latrine facilities.
In 2021, the High Court in Polokwane ordered Basic Education Department to eradicate pit toilets following the death of six-year-old pupil Michael Komape.
Komape drowned in a pit latrine at his school in Chebeng Village, Limpopo in 2014.
"Since taking office, I have prioritised strengthening efforts to address the critical issue of unsafe sanitation facilities in our public schools, particularly the continued prevalence of pit latrine toilets and their replacement with safe sanitation infrastructure,' said Gwarube
"The continued existence of pit latrines in our schools poses significant risks to learner’s health and safety and, therefore, requires urgent action,"
"A total of 278 (1%) of schools used bucket toilets. The available information provided to date by provincial departments of education indicates that there are no schools in the country that are still using bucket toilets," said Gwarube.
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