No toilets: Pupils forced to use bushes

MORE than 100 000 pupils in the Eastern Cape face life-threatening, unhygienic conditions.

This as the provincial education struggles to eradicate pit toilets at schools.

At some schools, pupils face the harsh dilemma of relieving themselves in nearby bushes, where they are extremely vulnerable.

Eastern Cape Education MEC Fundile Gade revealed that based on 2023 enrolment figures, 113 041 pupils at 427 schools across the province still use pit toilets. "The department only plans to eradicate pit latrines at 75 schools this financial year," he said.

In a report tabled in the Eastern Cape legislature, the Public Protector found that the provision of basic education by the department is at risk of being compromised by the lack of proper school infrastructure or facilities.

The Public Protector stated that it is evident that basic and essential infrastructure, such as ablution and sanitation facilities, are still lacking in several schools and instructed the department to conduct an audit and develop a medium to long-term plan to address school challenges related to basic infrastructure.

DA MPL Horatio Hendricks said if pupils are lucky enough to live nearby and teachers are lenient enough, they may be allowed to go home to relieve themselves, but this significantly disrupts their learning.

"These toilets have proven to be death traps, especially for younger pupils as seats for pit toilets are often not sized for them and they can easily fall through into the pits below. Of the 427 schools listed, 141 are primary schools," he said.

Hendricks said drastically cut budgets for repairs and maintenance for these schools make it near-impossible to maintain pit latrine facilities, resulting in overflowing and smelly toilets that pose a health risk to pupils and teachers.

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"Clearly, the education department doesn't have the internal capacity to manage infrastructure development projects," he said.

At Mampondo Primary School in Sicwenza outside Flagstaff, eight teachers share two pit toilets with 135 pupils.

School governing body chairman Siyabonga Ndlala said: "These toilets were built in 1990. We've tried every way possible to have the toilets built and we are now tired.

"A six-year-old pupil fell into the toilet last month. Other pupils acted quickly and called the principal while others pulled the six-year-old kid out of the pit toilet."

In KwaGcina Village in Cofimvaba, pupils at Gcina Senior Primary School relieve themselves in an open field as there are no toilets at the school. School Governing Body chairwoman, Nowelcome Mgqebisa said the school was built in 1980.

"Pupils and teachers used pit toilets built by the parents, but the toilets got old and had to be destroyed. Two years ago, parents said the department hired a contractor to build toilets at the school. But they say the contractor was only on site for a few days before abandoning the project," she said.

Provincial Education spokesman, Malibongwe Mtima said Mampondo primary is not on the Sanitation Appropriate for Education (SAFE) school list. "We will investigate why the contractor abandoned the site," he said.

Mtima added that a donor has assessed Mampondo with the intention to provide new toilets to the school. "This is because it was prioritised for years as part of the District Development Model (DDM) planning," he said.