Toilets such as this one at an Mqanduli
When I started my own schooling in grade 1 at a so-called Indian public school in Lenasia in the late 1970s, the conditions of the toilets at my school were so poor that pupils avoided entering and using the cubicles in them. Instead, they would relieve themselves on the floor outside the cubicles, near the basin area. This made navigating the use of the toilets very tricky – especially for a six-year-old.
One day, I slipped and fell on the excrement. Feeling humiliated and dirty, I threw away my socks and shoes and instead of returning to my class I walked home by myself, barefooted. The result was that for the three years I spent at this school, I avoided the toilets except in the most desperate of circumstances.
Sadly, almost 20 years into our constitutional democracy, similar and often worse narratives of indignity involving unhygienic and unsafe toilets persist for many pupils and communities in the country.
There has been the saga of the unenclosed toilets in the communities of Makhaza in Khayelitsha in the Western Cape, and in the Rammulotsi township in the Moqhaka Local Municipality in the Free State. The Western Cape High Court in the Makhaza case and the South African Human Rights Commission in both cases found that the unenclosed toilets in these communities violated the rights to dignity, privacy and a clean environment.
The relevant municipalities were asked to enclose or rebuild existing toilets. A few weeks ago, however, the commission was forced to subpoena the Moqhaka Local Municipality for reneging on its obligations to rebuild the toilets in the Rammulotsi township – but officials from the municipality failed to pitch.
The civil society organisation Equal Education has been hosting public hearings in four provinces on the draft document entitled Regulations Relating to Minimum Norms and Standards for Public School Infrastructure that Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga published in January.
Upgrading sanitation
One of the things that struck me during the hearings was how pupil after pupil described the poor state of toilets at schools, and how badly these conditions affected their lives: "the toilets are always blocked"; "there is one working tap for 1000 learners"; "the toilets really stink".
But recent moves to upgrade sanitation at public schools in Limpopo are heartening. Towards the end of last year, Section27 – the rights organisation that last year instituted the Limpopo textbook court case –initiated a case requiring the government to upgrade sanitation facilities at schools across the province.
Acting on behalf of the National Association of School Governing Bodies and the school governing bodies of 11 schools in Limpopo, Section27 alleged that:
- The toilets at all of the complainant schools are pit toilets;
- Many of the toilets are old and dilapidated. Some have collapsed and cannot be used, or are under the threat of imminent collapse and pose a danger to pupils;
- Many of the schools have insufficient toilets. This means that pupils have to line up for extended periods to relieve themselves, or miss class time to go elsewhere;
- The toilets are not designed for use by such high numbers. Waste cannot be disposed of efficiently and the toilets are unhygienic. The floors and surrounding areas are soiled;
- At some schools, the pit toilets are so full that pupils relieve themselves in bushes or walk home to use toilets and so miss classes;
- Many of the toilets do not have seats, risking the spread of disease;
- Many of the toilets do not have doors, so pupils are not afforded any privacy;
- Many of the toilets do not have facilities for pupils to wash their hands. Although some schools have taps, these are not necessarily near the toilets or their water supply is unreliable; and
- The toilets are poorly maintained and basic requirements for personal hygiene such as toilet paper or soap are not provided.
Section27 alleged that these conditions have a severe effect on the health of pupils. In some instances, the lack of adequate sanitation facilities has contributed to pupil absenteeism, particularly among teenage girls who stay home from school for up to a week every month because they cannot manage their periods effectively at school.
The government's response to this has been to develop a "plan" for upgrading sanitation facilities at Limpopo schools, in terms of which 215 of them will receive new sanitation facilities by June 30. The toilets that will be installed at these schools are called "ventilated improved pit latrines", which are appropriate for rural settings that do not have sufficiently reliable water supplies for a water-based sanitation system.
The plan also includes providing schools with adequate washing facilities. Dilapidated and structurally unsound toilets at schools will be demolished to remove the danger of buildings collapsing.
Early reports are that construction at some schools has already begun. In addition, the department of basic education has committed itself to a broader plan to address the sanitation needs of all of the schools in Limpopo, 80% of which are still using basic pit toilets that are unhygienic and unsafe.
The government's swift, constructive and appropriate response to the sanitation issue resulted in this case not going to court. This response is in stark contrast to the denialism, resistance and lack of co-operation apparent for most of last year during the textbook fiasco in Limpopo.
Acceptable standards
Doubtless, the government has learnt its lesson and would rather avoid a repeat of the public outcry that happened last year. The unyielding mobilisation and rights-based advocacy in Limpopo therefore continues to bear fruit beyond the textbook case.
At the same time, it must be noted that although a plan now exists for Limpopo, adequate sanitation in public schools continues to be an issue. Nationally, there are still 913 school with no toilets at all, and 11 450 schools that continue to use plain pit latrines, many of which are in a state of disrepair that mirror those described by Section27. Sanitation conditions are also seemingly worse in the Eastern Cape and in KwaZulu-Natal than elsewhere.
A 2009 World Health Organisation publication entitled Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Standards for Schools in Low-Cost Settings recommended an effective policy environment to ensure acceptable standards in all schools. The weaknesses of Motshekga's draft infrastructure regulations are now well documented, and these are nowhere more apparent than in sanitation. The draft, open for public comment until the end of this month, simply makes vague reference to requiring that a school be provided "with adequate sanitation facilities that promote health and hygiene standards".
By contrast, this draft's 2008 predecessor document and the non-binding 2012 guidelines specified the number of toilets and basins a school ought to provide based on the staff, pupil and gender requirements. The guidelines also stated that "plain pit and bucket toilets" ought not to be allowed in schools because they render a school "nonfunctional".
The Limpopo plan accords with the specifications set out in the previous documents. It would be a step in the right direction if the specifications were adopted in the finalised regulations and the nebulous content of the current draft was ditched on the basis that it is unacceptable.
Faranaaz Veriava is a human rights lawyer. She writes a monthly column in these pages on the right to basic education