Johannesburg- The school children of Limpopo will finally be granted some dignity after the Polokwane High Court ordered the government to get rid of pit toilets soonest rather than 14 years.
Equal Education (EE) and the Equal Education Law Centre (EELC) said in a statement that they welcomed the judgment.
Judge GC Muller said the proposed period of 14 years by the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, and the Limpopo Department of Education, to fix the problem, simply because of a tight budget was unconstitutional.
“The proposed 14 year period is unduly long. The rights of the children who are attending school presently are being ignored.
They are in constant danger when attending school and when they are compelled to utilize these dangerous toilets, some of which also do not afford adequate privacy.
The dignity of many learners is seriously impaired when they have to use these facilities.
It cannot be countenanced. Another unfortunate tragic death of a child at school, due to dangerous pit toilets will be a catastrophe which should be avoided at all costs,” reads the court judgment handed down on September 17.
The court said that, while financial constraints are the reality facing South Africa at the moment, the department still has a duty to ensure that there is enough money for building school toilets.
“We proposed to the court that it consider appointing a Special Master – an independent person who is appointed by and reports to the court, to assist the court by making sure that what it orders is actually implemented.
While our request for a Special Master was not granted in the judgment – because the court saw an intervention like this as a last resort – it is encouraging that Judge Muller has ordered the DBE and LDoE to file a new plan within 90 days from now,” reads the statement by EE.
The DBE and LDoE must also submit detailed progress reports to the court every six months until the plan is fully implemented.
The new plan must include a list of all the schools with plain pit toilets in Limpopo – including schools with only plain pit toilets, schools with plain pit toilets as well as other forms of sanitation, and schools with unused plain pit toilets that are not yet demolished, a new deadline and a detailed justification for this deadline as well as a detailed budget for the implementation of this plan, including steps taken to secure more money.
Section 27, the public interest law center conducted a survey of 86 schools in Limpopo and found that a total of 41 schools had unlawful pit latrines.
Meanwhile, a national government audit of schools in 2018 found that almost 4000 schools had only pit latrines available, while another 3040 had schools with adequate toilets but also pit toilets on their premises.
Michael Komape was only five when he drowned in a pit toilet at Mahlodumela Primary School in Limpopo in January 2014. Two months later a learner in the Eastern Cape, Lumka Mkhethwa, also five years old, drowned in a pit latrine at Luna Primary.
School Sections 27’s record show that Seven-year-old Lister Magongwa died in 2013 after the walls of a toilet collapsed on him at Mmushi Primary School in Limpopo.
Five-year-old Oratilwe Dilwane fell into a pit latrine in 2016 at Tlhotlheletsang Primary School in North West province.
He swallowed excrement and was severely injured and six-year-old Siyamthanda Mtunu died in 2017 after the walls of a toilet collapsed on him at Dalasile Primary School in the Eastern Cape.
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