Four-year-old found dead inside school’s pit toilet

Tragedy struck in Glen Grey (Eastern Cape) this week as the lifeless body of a four-year-old girl was discovered inside a pit latrine at a primary school in the Vaalbank Administrative Area.

While it is still unknown how the child ended up dead or even in the pit latrine, police are investigating and have registered an inquest following the child’s death.

According to police spokesperson, Warrant Officer Majola Nkohli, the child had disappeared on Monday, 6 March 2023 during school hours.

Nkohli said that it was the following day, on Tuesday 7 March 2023, that the mother of the four-year-old girl made her way to the school to enquire about the child’s whereabouts, after she did not return home from school the previous day.

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“A preliminary investigation led to the discovery of the learner’s body in one of the school’s pit toilets.

“Members from SAPS Search and Rescue retrieved her body. Circumstances surrounding the incident are forming part of the investigation.  Police have opened an inquest docket,” Nkohli said.

SA’s pit latrine problem

This is not the first incident of a child dying in a pit latrine.

An Amnesty International South Africa’s report revealed that in the Eastern Cape, almost 44% of schools use pit toilets as their primary ablution facilities.

The organisation also revealed that the current government data shows that 5 167 schools in the country do not have proper ablution facilities and still use pit toilets.

These incidents have caused widespread outrage and highlighted the dire need for improved infrastructure and safety measures in schools located in underprivileged areas.

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In Polokwana last year, the body of a three-year-old boy was retrieved from a pit toilet in Polokwane, two days after he went missing.

Prior to this incident, a 5-year-old boy named Michael Komape drowned in a pit toilet at his school near Polokwane.

Last year, the South African Human Rights Commission reported that many schools in KwaZulu-Natal are still reliant on pit toilets and poor ablution facilities.

 Additional reporting by Andile Sithole