The Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube, together with the Eastern Cape MEC for the Department of Education, Fundile Gade, visited three schools last week to hand over newly built toilets as part of efforts to eradicate the legacy of unsafe pit latrines.
The schools they visited were Ntlukuhla Primary School in Mthatha, followed by Nombizo Primary School in Tsolo, and eMarhambeni Primary School in Qumbu. During her visit, Gwarube re-emphasised that appropriate sanitation structures are not only a matter of safety but are intrinsically linked to a learner’s right to dignity.
“No child should have to choose between education and safety. The eradication of pit latrines is a human rights imperative, and we remain firm in our commitment to ensuring that all schools have appropriate sanitation. It was very encouraging to see the kind of innovation and building that had been done in these schools,” she said.
She added that this is a water-based solution because the area of the O.R. Tambo District is largely rural, and there is no running water. However, Mvula Trust, as their implementing agent, has done well to ensure that this space is dignified and safe. She said they were able to inspect some of the facilities here.
Gwarube further explained the significance of sanitation, noting that as they approach Human Rights Day, sanitation is not just about providing proper facilities but also about ensuring safety and dignity for both learners and teachers.
“It is truly encouraging to see the progress the province is making, especially considering its history of struggling with infrastructure issues. MEC Gade has particularly focused on addressing the more than 200 pit toilets in this district, and they have already cleared about 170 of them. This is significant progress,” she added.
Gwarube also mentioned that there will be a deadline for clearing all pit latrines across the country.
“I will be in a position to provide a status update in the first week of April on the progress made in clearing the 2018 backlog,” she said.
She confirmed that there had been challenges that prevented the fulfilment of the promise to eradicate all pit latrines in public schools by the end of March. According to her, some villages had to be provided with water-based solutions as the first challenge.
Another challenge, particularly in rural areas, is that schools built in rural communities are becoming problematic as families migrate to urban areas.
“As a result, with limited resources, we must decide whether to continue investing in schools where there are no children, while urban areas face high pressure. These are some of the challenges we face, but we are not sitting idly by. While this school, for example (Nombizo), requires some infrastructure upgrades, they were able to address the issue of sanitation. As for the deadline set by President Cyril Ramaphosa for March 31, 2025, we will provide a comprehensive update in the first week of April, once we have gathered information from all provinces.
“Regardless of the status in each province, we will ensure the eradication of pit toilets. If some toilets remain incomplete by the end of the financial year, we will indicate when exactly they will be completed.”
MEC Fundile Gade said that without Gwarube’s intervention, they would not have made the progress they have.
“Remember, the infrastructure budget does not accommodate the backlogs we had. We deeply appreciate her intervention in addressing these backlogs. Currently, we are dealing with a 72 billion backlog in infrastructure costs. We are planning on restructuring the process of the Education Government system, meaning we may not have to spend the full 72 billion,” said Gade.
He added that he was pleased that key human rights issues, such as pit latrines, are being addressed and removed from the system.
“We are currently at 93-94% completion, with a small percentage that may overlap beyond March 31. Gwarube will collect data and provide clarity on what must be done.”
The Chairperson for the School Governing Body (SGB) of Nombizo Primary School expressed gratitude for the department’s assistance.
“We are happy about the improvements made, which will restore the dignity of our children. Even though the department has helped us with pit latrines, our school still needs further construction. We are hopeful that Gwarube’s visit will bring about more positive changes,” said Dlungana.
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