Eastern Cape Education MEC admits there are 427 schools with pit latrines in the province

In the past year, the Eastern Cape Department of Education managed to remove only 21 pit toilets from schools in the province, leaving 113,041 learners without appropriate sanitation.

This is among the statistics on the provision of appropriate sanitation to the province’s schools that Education MEC Fundile Gade recently provided to the legislature.

The statistics show a significant decline in efforts to address pit toilets at schools in the Eastern Cape since 2020. In that year, pit latrines were eradicated at 147 schools; 465 schools were given appropriate sanitation in 2021; in 2022, 132 schools benefited from the programme.

Gade said 77 of the schools that still have pit latrines are in the Alfred Nzo district. With its seat in Mount Ayliff (eMaxesibeni) and bordering on KwaZulu-Natal, this district is the smallest and poorest in the province.

Read more in Daily Maverick: No answers for family of four-year-old girl found dead in school pit toilet

Other districts with high numbers of schools with pit latrines are the two OR Tambo Districts; Coastal (around Port St Johns and Coffee Bay) and Inland (around Mthatha) with 55 and 58 schools each, and the eastern part of the Amathole District (covering the central part of the province) with 56 schools.

Gade explained that the replacement of pit latrines is funded by the Education Infrastructure Grant. He said they needed R2.5-billion to eradicate pit toilets at schools in the province but have only received R1.8-billion. 

Read more in Daily Maverick: Nonprofit organisation is leading the charge to flush pit latrines out of South African schools

The Democratic Alliance’s spokesperson for education, Horatio Hendricks, said despite the significant health risks that these toilets pose, and the impact that the lack of proper sanitation facilities has on learners receiving a suitable education, the MEC has revealed that his department plans to eradicate pit latrines at only 50 schools this financial year.

In October 2023, the Office of the Public Protector issued a damning report against several Eastern Cape government departments, including education. 

The report found that the department was guilty of improper conduct in terms of legislation and had failed in its mandate to provide services.

During hearings by the Public Protector, the education department acknowledged that “much work still needs to be done to address schools with pit latrines and schools with insufficient basic services.”

Officials pointed out at the time that 40 sanitation projects were planned for procurement in the previous financial year, but only six were finished and 32 were “under construction”. Gade’s answer to the provincial legislature was given about 12 months later.

But the investigators of the Public Protector’s office were not convinced.

“Notwithstanding the significant strides and commendable improvements made by the [department]… it is evident that basic and essential infrastructure such as ablution and sanitation facilities are still lacking in several schools within the EC province,” the report continued.

A turnaround strategy for the education department was one of the goals of a “crack team” assembled by the province’s premier, Oscar Mabuyane, in October 2023. 

Despite several requests since December last year, Mabuyane’s spokespeople have failed to provide evidence of any work being done on any of the issues highlighted, including education.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Eastern Cape premier claims redeployments are to build a ‘crack team’, but DA says it’s a ‘smokescreen’

The Public Protector’s Office expected feedback on her report and the plans for a turnaround strategy that she ordered in mid-December. 

For the Department of Education, this included: “A report in line with the Eastern Cape Department of Education’s statutory obligations in terms of the Constitution and the South African Schools Act for a ‘detailed refurbishment Project Plan for Loyiso Senior Secondary School and Cancele Primary School under the Alfred Nzo District with clear dates, turn around periods, targets, budgets and deliverables indicating how the upgrading and development of these schools’ infrastructure would be re-prioritised as undertaken by the department.” 

Investigators had described the condition of the toilets at both these schools as “shocking”.

The department was also ordered to provide a report by mid-December to the Public Protector’s office on plans to conduct an audit and develop a medium to long-term plan to address school challenges related to basic infrastructure in the province.

Hendricks said that the deadline set by the public protector has since passed.

“I will be writing to the portfolio committee chair for education, Mpumelelo Saziwa, to ask that the department be called before the committee to account and that the report be provided to the committee. The education department does not have the internal capacity to manage infrastructure development projects,” he added.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Top former officials of Office of Eastern Cape Premier Mabuyane appear in court on fraud charges

Readiness for school year