There are still over 1,700 schools in South Africa where illegal plain pit toilets are in use, displaying a continued disregard for the basic human rights of learners. These pit toilets not only violate the right to sanitation, which is enshrined in the Constitution, but also the right to health, education, dignity, privacy, and in some cases pose a serious risk to the right to life.
Sadly, in April 2024, yet another child, three-year-old Unecebo Mboteni, drowned in a pit toilet. Meanwhile, just over a million children in South Africa continue to be exposed to physical and health risks on a daily basis.
The Department of Basic Education has repeatedly moved the deadline for eradicating plain pit toilets which would ensure that all schools have proper and safe sanitation facilities. It now plans to eradicate these pit toilets by March 2025. We need to continue putting pressure on the government to ensure that they do not miss yet another deadline while the country’s children continue to pay the price.
Sign the petition. Keep the government accountable for eradicating illegal plain pit toilets from all schools in South Africa by the end of 2024.
*Figures were updated on 4 September 2024, based on information provided by the Department of Basic Education in its Education Facility Management System (EFMS) Report. Of a total of 22,511 school sites, 1,770 schools still use pit toilets (one site can have more than one type of ablution facility; 287 schools have pits only, down from 728 in 2023). This is a decrease from 3,932 schools which still had pit toilets in 2023.
