DA to go to court to eradicate pit toilets

The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Tuesday said it will start legal proceedings to force the government to eradicate pit latrines in South Africa.

On Tuesday the DA visited the family of four-year-old Langalam Viki, whose dead body was found in a pit toilet at a school in Glen Grey, Eastern Cape, last week.

‘Little progress’ in eradicating pit toilets

“No child should have to meet this fate in South Africa almost 30 years since the dawn of our democracy,” said DA leader John Steenhuisen.

Steenhuisen, along with DA Eastern Cape provincial leader Andrew Whitfield, DA shadow minister for basic education Baxolile Nodada, DA shadow MEC for education Edmund Van Vuuren, and DA North East Cape constituency head Sanele Magaqa, also visited Mngcqangele school, where Viki died, to assess the sanitation facilities.

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The DA said the government has consistently “shown little to no progress” in ending the use of pit toilets in the country.

DA to start litigation proceedings

Steenhuisen said although a high court judgment in 2021 ordered the government to remove all pit toilets in Limpopo, this judgment co8ld not be used in other provinces. The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has also not yet filed its papers after saying it would take legal action, he added.

“In consultation with our lawyers, the DA will be starting litigation proceedings to find the quickest and most effective means to instruct governments across the country to erect proper sanitation facilities for all school children as a fundamental human right,” said Steenhuisen.

The DA will also ask civil society organisations, public advocacy groups, and non-governmental organisations in the education sector to help it build a case against the government.

“The drowning of our children in pit toilets goes far beyond a human rights violation – it is a horror that no South African should ever be forced to contemplate,” said Steenhuisen.

ALSO READ: Tool to be launched to monitor eradication of pit toilets in Limpopo schools

The DA accused the African national Congress (ANC) of failing to build proper toilet facilities at schools because of education budgets being cut to bail out state-owned enterprises and “billions being lost to corruption”.

“We cannot commemorate Human Rights Day until every child has access to safe and dignified sanitation in schools,” Steenhuisen added.