After her party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), for years slammed the government for delaying the process of eradicating pit latrines, Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube says the deadline is not important, but children’s safety and good infrastructure is crucial.
Gwarube was speaking to journalists in Limpopo on Friday where she was handing over newly built toilets.
This is part of the department’s continued efforts to ensure that learners and teachers have access to safe and dignified sanitation in schools.
The deadline for the eradication of the pit toilets was supposed to be in March.
In 2018, a safe initiative was launched to identify the backlog of sanitation projects that need to be cleared.
“Now I want to make it clear that this is not just about a deadline that we need, simply because the president has set us a deadline.
“This is important because we know that even in this province, a child like Michael Komape died and the issue is about the dignity of children and teachers, but it's also about the safety of children,” she said.
The issue of pit toilets received attention after the death of Michael Komape, a young learner from Limpopo who fell and died in a pit toilet.
A similar incident happened in 2018, in which Lumka Mketwa, a five-year-old learner at Luna Primary School in the Eastern Cape, fell into a pit toilet and died.
Again, in the Eastern Cape, in 2017, Siyamthanda Mtunu died after the walls of a toilet collapsed on him at Dalasile Primary School.
Provinces like the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), Mpumalanga as well as Limpopo are among those facing the issues of pit toilets.
The DA has been on the government’s neck about the issue of eradicating pit toilets over the past 30 years.
However, Gwarube said she was impressed with the progress made so far in trying to ensure that schools were safe despite the challenges.
These included the financial constraints around implementing agents and contractors to get the job done.
“So, I'm proud of the work that the province is doing … this is some good work,” she said as she was standing outside the new toilets.
Gwarube clarified that even when they reach the 100 percent target to eradicate pit toilets, this does not mean there will be no toilet in existence.
“This is why provinces have to consistently be aware of schools that need infrastructure attention.
“And so, we are going to continue. It doesn't stop, it’s a moving target, but we're not going to stop until the job is done,” she added.
IOL