Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube. Picture: Gallo Images/Ziyaad Douglas
Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube has stressed that eliminating pit toilets in public schools is a top priority for her department this financial year, citing the significant risks they pose to pupils.
Gwarube was responding to questions from Members of Parliament (MPs) during a National Assembly plenary hybrid sitting on Wednesday.
During the Q&A session, the minister highlighted that there are currently 259 “sanitation projects” underway to address this issue, a substantial decrease from the 4 700 pit toilets reported across South Africa in 2018.
“We don’t, as far as we know, have bucket toilets in schools anymore. What we do have though is pit toilets in our schools.
“The audit that we had indicates that there are 259 pit toilets that are still left in the country. The biggest problems that we face are in the Eastern Cape and in Limpopo.
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“We have a strategy to make sure we are supporting those provinces, not only in spending the infrastructure budgets, but also making sure they clear the backlog as quickly as possible,” Gwarube told MPs on Wednesday.
She emphasised that provincial departments should refrain from returning funds to the National Treasury and instead direct the money towards school infrastructure projects.
The minister further indicated that the Department of Education has set a deadline of March 2025 to get rid of pit latrines.
“This is a continuous project. You can’t say your backlog was over 4 000 pit toilets then and simply say well now we are done.
“Once we have cleared that backlog, we have to continuously do an audit to make sure that our schools remain safe so that we can see if there are new pit toilets that are erected.
READ MORE: ‘Pit toilets here to stay’: Limpopo misses deadline to provide safe sanitation – again
“And we can make sure that those pit toilets have been closed, they have been sealed and proper sanitation is in our schools. This is something we cannot lose track of,” she continued.
According to the Education Facility Management System (EFMS) report released on 3 July 2024, there are 1,770 operational public schools nationwide that still have both “appropriate” facilities and pit toilets.
The pit toilets at these schools are yet to be demolished.
The EFMS report further states that 287 public schools across the country only use pit latrines.
Meanwhile, Gwarube also expressed frustration over the slow expenditure of funds, noting that despite the money being spent, delays in some infrastructure projects have hindered progress.
“Our big challenge is implementing agents who take way too long to do these projects. They are given the contract to go and clear backlogs and they are simply not doing enough.
“One of the things I would like to do is introduce competition into this space so if you do work with the government and you do not fulfil what you are meant to do; then you will get blacklisted.
“It’s not good enough for us to keep on using the implementing agents who are not doing the work that they are meant to do and then we must come and account, yet we have already paid for the work to be done.”
READ MORE: Mpumalanga makes progress in removing pit toilets before next financial year
The minister further remarked that those managing the projects have been “slacking off”, knowing they can rely on government contracts for years, regardless of the subpar quality of their work.
“Honourable [Mmusi] Maimane talks about poor infrastructure and workmanship; and it’s a big problem because you are spending billions of rands, essentially building things that are going to break in a couple of years’ time.
“That’s why I do want to emphasise that with the work that I am doing with the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure that we do introduce competition in the space.”
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