Teachers and pupils from a Mpumalanga school run the risk of contracting diseases if they continue using the overflowing pit latrines and waterless toilets they are forced to use.
About 1 000 pupils at Lilanga High School in Diepdale village near Mayflower are reportedly using two overflowing pit toilets, while 29 teachers are said to be using two waterless toilets and had to carry buckets of water when they want to use the facility.
Mpumalanga school forces 1000 pupils to share two pit toilets
Education specialist Hendrick Makaneta said what was happening in the school was a violation of pupils’ right to basic education.
“Forcing about 1 000 pupils to rely on two overflowing pit toilets is a health hazard. It exposes them to disease.
“Despite many years of commitments made by the department of basic education, the persistence of such conditions shows that something has gone wrong.”
Poor planning and weak oversight have led to slow implementation of sanitation programmes like the Safe initiative, Makaneta said, adding historically disadvantaged schools continue to bear the brunt of this neglect.
“It raises serious constitutional concerns, particularly regarding the right to dignity. It may also warrant an investigation into whether there has been negligence by the relevant authorities. The government should put in place strong measures to resolve the issue.”
Prof Kathija Yassim, head of the department of education leadership and management at the University of Johannesburg, said pit latrines remain in some schools primarily due to historical underfunding and slow infrastructure upgrades, especially in rural areas.
Pit toilets remain because of historical underfunding
“To address this problem, the government needs to accelerate the construction of flush toilets or safe eco-sanitation alternatives, with priority given to schools with the youngest pupils who are most at risk.”
Some pupils allegedly ask neighbours to use their toilets, while others go into nearby bush.
Annerie Weber, DA member in the Mpumalanga legislature, said this has been happening since 2007.
“The DA has seen documents proving that the school has written countless letters to the Mpumalanga departments of education, public works, circuit managers and local councillors since 2015, asking for help, but they are still ignored.
“In 2020, the Mpumalanga government appointed its public works department – with a R1.6 million budget from provincial human settlements – to renovate and upgrade the Lilanga High School, but nothing was done.”
Weber said the party would write a letter requesting the SA Human Rights Commission to intervene.
School facing water scarcity – dept
Mpumalanga department of education spokesperson Gerald Sambo said the school was in an area experiencing persistent water scarcity and to mitigate this, the local municipality supplies water at least once a week.
“The school has six 15 000l water tanks, with an additional tank recently donated by the Chief Albert Luthuli municipality. Efforts have been made to improve water reticulation systems.
“A borehole was installed but is not viable due to low water levels. We constructed waterborne ablution facilities in 2018, but these were vandalised, necessitating the use of pit latrines, comprising five for girls, three for boys, and one each for male and female staff,” Sambo said.
“Interventions are underway to restore and improve these facilities.”
A Grade 1 pupil fell into a pit toilet at Mogogelo Primary School in the North West province recently and was rescued by fellow pupils.
