652 South African Schools Still Have Pit Toilets, Most Cases Found in Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal

• 652 South African schools still only have access to pit toilets, the Basic Education Minister confirmed
• The Eastern Cape (EC) and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) account for over 500 of the schools that still use the outdated toilets
• Minister Siviwe Gwarube is aiming to eradicate pit toilets from all schools by the end of March 2025

It’s 30 years into democracy, and pit toilets in local schools are still a significant problem. Despite numerous promises over the years to eradicate the outdated toilets, the problem remains.

The Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube recently revealed that 652 schools in the country still use pit toilets.

Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal lead the way

The minister confirmed that the problem remains in just four provinces.

Mpumalanga and Limpopo have the fewest schools still using pit toilets. The problem provinces are the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, which account for over 500 affected schools.

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EC has 405 schools, while KZN has 170 schools with pit toilets. Limpopo has 37 affected schools, while Mpumalanga has 40 schools. The other provinces in the country have already eradicated unsafe toilets.

President’s SAFE initiative makes a difference

While pit toilets in schools remain an issue, the number of schools with the problem has drastically been reduced.

In 2018, there were over 4,707 schools with pit toilets. That number has since fallen following the implementation of the Sanitation Appropriate for Education (SAFE) initiative.

The initiative was started by President Cyril Ramaphosa in August 2018 following reports of children drowning in outdated toilets. Numerous cases have been reported over the years of youngsters tragically losing their lives after falling into the toilets.

The Basic Education Department has promised that the problem will be eradicated by the end of March 2025.

DA unhappy with Basic Education Department

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Earlier in the year, Briefly News reported how the DA were unhappy with the Basic Education Department.

The party complained to the SA Human Rights Council about the department and the then-minister Angie Motshekga.

Their complaint came after three-year-old Unecebo Mboteni drowned in a pit toilet at a crèche.

Source: Briefly News