Pit Toilets: Eastern Cape Parents Take Matters Into Their Own Hands

• The Eastern Cape has 427 schools that still use pit toilets, and the province’s education department says at the current pace it could take ten years or more to eradicate them.
• Considering this and and the danger that pit latrines can pose to learners, parents at some schools have started to build toilets themselves.
• About 80% of Eastern Cape schools have sanitation issues, according to the Save Our Schools organisation, with unsafe toilets, unreliable water supply, and poor infrastructure.

During his State of the Province Address in February, Premier Oscar Mabuyane said 427 schools in the Eastern Cape still use pit toilets.

Velani Mbiza-Gola, spokesperson for MEC Fundile Gade, said it would cost R3.6-billion to eradicate all the pit toilets. But, he said, the province received R354-million from the national department for sanitation projects for 2026/27 year, which is not nearly enough. He said the department planned to eradicate 300 toilets in 66 schools this year.

“At the current pace and funding levels, it could take ten years or more to clear the backlog,” he said.

The department is therefore prioritising larger schools, meaning smaller schools could remain without proper toilets for years.

Parents step up

In the light of this, parents are taking matters into their own hands.

At Good Hope Primary in Cofimvaba, parents started building toilets in November for the school’s 200 learners currently using broken pit toilets or the bush. According to parent Phamela Nyembane this was after learning that the department had no immediate plans to assist.

Each parent was asked to contribute at least ten bricks, and community members volunteered to help with construction. They have dug holes, but still need sand and cement, said Nyembane.

When GroundUp visited the school, we saw learners accompanying each other to the bush.

“The area is not safe, and we always fear for the children,” said Nyembane.

Grade five learner Iviwe Bloom said the situation is especially dangerous for girls. “I am afraid to relieve myself at school,” she said.

When it rains, learners use broken toilets which have no doors and which they fear could collapse at any time.

At Betshwana Primary School in Mount Ayliff, learners and teachers still use toilets built in the 1980s. The school also lacks classrooms after five were destroyed by a fire in December 2024.

According to school governing body member Nontsebenzo Jakuja, a contractor visited the school in 2016 and promised to build toilets but never returned. Parents have managed to build classrooms for grade R and grade one.

Provincial education spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima said the school is on the district list for sanitation upgrades but no assessment had yet been conducted.

He said the school is also on a list of schools damaged by fire.

Save Our Schools (SOS) chief executive Shelley Humphreys said about 80% of schools in the province have sanitation issues, including unsafe toilets, unreliable water supply, and poor infrastructure.

The organisation has been working with partners to install sanitation systems in rural schools and has invested over R1-million in direct funding.

In December 2024, SOS, Amalooloo and Concor installed 12 toilets at Mampondo Primary in Flagstaff after GroundUp reported that a learner there had fallen into a pit toilet.

Humphreys said they are currently working through a list of 23 rural schools still using illegal pit latrines.

“A new project in Lusikisiki will be completed in April at Babheke School,” she said. “We are hopeful that the current funders will support the rest of the schools after successful implementation.”

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