Section 27 wins court battle against Basic Education over pit toilets
The Limpopo High Court ruled in favour of Section27 on Friday in a bid to declare the Department of Education’s plans for pit toilets as unconstitutional.
The advocacy group has been locked in a court battle with the department since the death of 5-year-old Michael Komape, who died after falling into a pit toilet at a Limpopo school in 2014.
In 2018, the High Court handed down a structural order directing the department to issue plans on how it will supply each school in the province with safe and dignified toilets.
Both the Basic Education Department and the Limpopo Education Departmentresponded with affidavits on their plans.
But the plans weren’t given a stamp of approval, with Section27 seeking relief over the plans it deemed unconstitutional.
“The judgment is a vindication of the rights of learners in Limpopo to safe and dignified sanitation. It follows a six-year legal battle to ensure that the Limpopo Department of Education and the Department of Basic Education eradicates pit toilets in that province,” the group said in a statement.
“We are delighted that the court has recognised the urgent need to eradicate pit toilets in our schools and directed the DBE and LDOE to fulfil the constitutional rights of learners to safe and dignified sanitation.”
Section27 is still expected to study the full judgment.
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