#EndPitToilets: Limpopo

Dear Editor

Yesterday, the DA continued its #EndPitToilets campaign in Limpopo at the Nkota Secondary School where 209 learners and 18 staff members have to share 10 pit toilets. None of these toilets have ever been maintained by the Department of Basic Education (DBE). (See photos here and here )

Despite the community making the most of the school’s steady water supply and donating two flush toilets for the personnel, and a donation of Enviro Loos by the National Lottery, the learners are still heavily dependent on the pit toilets for their sanitary needs.

Nkota needs to be prioritised through the Accelerated Schools Infrastructure Delivery Initiative (ASIDI) or Sanitation Appropriate for Education (SAFE) Initiatives.

Nkotsane Primary School’s 322 learners are lucky enough to have Enviro Loos installed at the school, but the Department has failed to demolish the old pit toilets which continues to pose a serious danger. (See photos here, here and here)

Learners are also crammed into classrooms built in the 1980’s and meant for classes half their size. We saw 47 grade 7 learners using a class meant for 20 learners at most.

At the Mogadime Secondary School, roughly 250 learners, including disabled learners, rely on Amalooloo toilets, which have fortunately replaced the pit toilets, although the school does suffer without a reliable water supply. (See photos here and here).

Of the 25 other Limpopo schools the DA has done oversights at since the start of the year, only five does not have pit toilets. And the Department has only been in contact with six schools to upgrade their sanitation facilities and eradicate the pit toilets.

Research has shown that hygienic and safe infrastructure plays a major role in learners’ motivation to receive an education and their results. We must commend the strides already taken, but much more needs to be done.

Regards

Baxolile ‘Bax’ Nodada MP
DA Shadow Minister of Basic Education