/ 19 November 2024

World Toilet Day: ‘Eliminate pit latrines from public schools in SA’

Pit Latrine1
Pit latrine toilets at a school.

Every 19 November, the United Nations encourages governments and the private sector to address the global sanitation crisis. It relates to target 6.2 of the UN’s sixth sustainable development goal: safe toilets for all by 2030. According to the UN, about 3.5 billion people do not have access to safe sanitation facilities, with 419 million defecating in the open.

This year’s theme for World Toilet Day is Toilets: A Place for Peace, an apt one when considering the state of toilets in South Africa’s public schools — more than 3 900 illegal pit toilets are still in use, according to Amnesty International South Africa. 

The UN estimates that “unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene are responsible for the deaths of about 1 000 children under five every day”. While there has been a decrease in the number of children in South Africa dying in pit toilets at schools, the fact that they are still used does not reduce their danger. 

The elimination of pit toilets in public schools has been an ongoing battle. In 2013, they were banned from schools, as detailed in the department of basic education’s Minimum Uniform Norms and Standards for Public School Infrastructure, and were meant to have been removed and replaced by 2016. It is now 2024, and all the deadlines set by the department — in 2016, then 2020 and then 2023 — have been missed. The latest promise from the department is that pit toilets will be eradicated by 2025, but their previous inaction indicates a dearth of political will to attend to this critical issue. 

Forming partnerships is a possible solution to ensuring that there is safe water and good sanitation in schools. University of Pretoria (UP) students are involved in community initiatives at schools as they relate to water and sanitation. Through these projects, students are encouraged to be a voice for the marginalised and to work towards bridging the divides faced by learners.

A UP social work student’s 2020 Blue Drop initiative is one such example. This project was implemented at Sjambok Primary School in Erasmus near Tshwane to provide learners with clean water by placing water dispenser containers made of recyclable material in every classroom. In 2023, the Future Africa Research Leader Fellowship (FAR-LeaF) programme at UP contributed to a study that explored community participation in water and sanitation delivery in the Mantsopa local municipality in the Free State which included schools. 

Another effective partnership is one forged by public-benefit organisation Breadline with the private sector. Their Flush Challenge campaign aims to change the lives of 120 000 children in 240 schools by installing 4 000 safe toilets. They recently installed 66 eco-friendly, low-flush Envirosan toilet systems, 18 urinals and handwashing facilities at primary schools in KwaZulu-Natal. Feedback from the public school beneficiaries demonstrate that they have experienced improved privacy and dignity, are able to drink water when they are thirsty, have no fear of falling into a pit toilet, and do not have to wait in long queues during break times to use bathroom facilities. 

South Africa does not lack policies to address the issue of pit toilets. The National Sanitation Policy (2016) provides guidelines and support to municipalities for sanitation service delivery and to eradicate pit toilets. The Sanitation Appropriate for Education (SAFE) initiative directly addresses sanitation problems in schools. Its main objective is to replace basic pit toilets with appropriate sanitation in accordance with the norms and standards for infrastructure in public schools. Policies do exist — we just need to push for their successful implementation and ensure that there are budget provisions for resources to realise these existing policies.

We need to form more partnerships, generate more funding and improve the management of sanitation in schools, in service of creating a more equitable and peaceful future for children in public schools in South Africa. 

Elmien Claassens is a lecturer in the Department of Social Work and Criminology at the University of Pretoria.