Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube has set the end of the financial year in March next year as the target to have pit toilets at public schools eradicated.
Gwarube said she wanted the implementing agents blacklisted for failing to deliver in order to spur up competition.
“Since taking office I have prioritised strengthening efforts to address the critical issue of unsafe sanitation facilities in our public schools. In fact, I have made this a priority in the priorities of the seventh administration to make sure that we eradicate all pit toilets, in particular by the end of this financial year which ends in March because we know that the existence of pit toilets in our schools is not only a danger to our learners but also is an issue of dignity,” she said.
The 1997 schools-needs register indicated that out of 27 864 schools, 278 had bucket toilets, she said.
Another audit conducted on unsafe pit toilets indicated there were 4 700 backlogs in pit toilets in 2018.
“Right now as things stand, according to the audit we have, there are 259 sanitation projects that need to be completed by March,” she said, adding that the affected schools were mainly in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo.
“In my visits to the provinces I make it clear that no province and Department of Education in the provinces should be sending money to treasury when not spending their infrastructure budget when we still have massive infrastructure backlogs.”
One of the big challenges in the eradication of pit toilets was that the implementing agents took way too long to do the projects.
“They are simply not doing enough. One of the things to introduce is competition in the space so that if you work for the government and do not fulfil what you are meant to do, you are blacklisted.”
Equal Education Law Centre senior attorney Tarryn Cooper-Bell said it was disappointing that the department has still not eradicated pit latrines in schools across South Africa.
“While we acknowledge that progress has been made, it has been slow and insufficient with the DBE already missing the original deadlines they set themselves of 29 November 2016 to eradicate pit latrines in schools,” Cooper-Bell said.
She said in terms of the Minimum Uniform Norms and Standards for Public School Infrastructure amended in June 2024, pit latrines were not allowed in schools.
“However, in terms of the DBE’s own data as of 3 July 2024, there are still 1 770 schools in South Africa with pit latrines and 287 schools across the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and Limpopo with pit latrines as their only form of sanitation.
“This violates the fundamental rights of learners and staff at these schools and is unacceptable 30 years into democracy.”
Regarding the planned blacklisting on underperforming implementing agents, Cooper-Bell said there already existed mechanisms that can be utilised by the department to hold contractors and implementing agents accountable.
“These processes have been systemically underutilised by the DBE with many underperforming and non-performing contractors and implementing agents not being held accountable for their failures,” she said.
Cape Times