Amnesty SA calls for fresh audit as Gwarube says 2018 pit toilet backlog has been cleared

Amnesty International South Africa has welcomed the department of basic education’s (DBE) clearing of the 2018 pit toilet backlog but warns thousands of pupils may still be using unsafe toilets excluded from the programme.

This follows basic education minister Siviwe Gwarube’s announcement on Monday that all 3,372 schools identified through the 2018 Sanitation Appropriate for Education (Safe) Initiative audit have now been provided with safe and appropriate sanitation facilities.

Amnesty International South Africa said the eradication of pit toilets at schools covered by the Safe initiative was an important step towards the fulfilment and protection of pupils’ rights and safety.

“While we welcome this long overdue development, there are many schools still using pit toilets which have not been accounted for,” the organisation said.

It called on the DBE to conduct an updated audit of all schools still using pit toilets, including those not covered by the Safe initiative and early childhood development centres.

It also urged the department to outline clear timelines for removing remaining pit toilets.

Some schools may have developed sanitation problems after the 2018 audit; others may have been left out of the original assessment, while some communities have kept old pit toilet structures despite receiving new facilities

—  Siviwe Gwarube, basic education minister

“The presence of pit toilets in any school violates pupils’ rights to health, sanitation, education, dignity and, in some cases, life,” it said.

Speaking during a school sanitation visit at Dimbaza Primary School in the Eastern Cape, Gwarube said all 3,372 schools identified in a 2018 audit in all provinces — except Gauteng and the Western Cape, which did not identify any pit latrines in that audit — have now been provided with safe and appropriate sanitation facilities.

She said the announcement applies only to the backlog identified in the 2018 Safe Initiative audit and does not mean every pit toilet in the country has been removed.

“Some schools may have developed sanitation problems after the 2018 audit; others may have been left out of the original assessment, while some communities have kept old pit toilet structures despite receiving new facilities,” she said.

According to Gwarube, the programme has benefited more than 3-million pupils and more than 48,000 teachers by providing safer and more dignified sanitation facilities.

She said South Africa still faces a school infrastructure backlog of more than R120bn, with many schools needing classrooms, libraries, laboratories, fencing and other essential facilities.

Provincial education departments should urgently identify and address any remaining sanitation challenges.

While we welcome this reported progress, we are concerned that the accuracy of the 2018 audit data has previously been disputed and is outdated

—  Section27

“The natural disasters, vandalism and limited provincial budgets continue to put pressure on infrastructure delivery. I urge communities to help protect school infrastructure,” said Gwarube, adding that every classroom and sanitation facility preserved is an investment in the country’s future.

Human rights organisation Section27 welcomed Gwarube’s announcement that the backlog of pit latrines identified through the Safe Initiative audit has been addressed, albeit late. It showed the department’s commitment to the project, and the eradication of unsafe pit latrines was an important step towards protecting pupils’ rights to dignity, safety and basic education.

“While we welcome this reported progress, we are concerned that the accuracy of the 2018 audit data has previously been disputed and is outdated. Our work has focused on monitoring sanitation interventions in schools in Limpopo, where we continue to track the replacement of pit latrines and engage with affected schools and communities,” Section27 said.

“While we are happy with the eradication of pit latrines in P1 schools, we remain concerned with the progress of P2 schools, and we will continue to monitor the progress.

“We therefore call on the department to conduct a new national audit to establish the current state of school sanitation, identify any remaining unsafe pit latrines, and ensure that no learner is left behind.

“We encourage continued transparency and independent monitoring to ensure that no learner continues to rely on unsafe pit latrines and that any schools outside the scope of the 2018 Safe Initiative audit are also identified and provided with safe sanitation.”

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