Durban — The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education says it aims to replace all basic pit toilets with appropriate sanitation in accordance with the norms and standards for school infrastructure in KwaZulu-Natal.
This comes after the Daily News reported on sanitation issues facing Saphumula Secondary School after the department allegedly demolished the school’s toilets to rebuild them.
In a statement on Wednesday night, the department said that some schools have faced issues regarding appropriate sanitation facilities for many years and this has sometimes resulted in learners, unfortunately, getting exposed to health hazards risking their lives due to inappropriate sanitation facilities, like pit toilets.
“The Department of Education is currently building new sanitation infrastructure at Saphumula Secondary School.
The project is at 95% completion and construction was delayed due to the contractor being off-site. The current status is that, after the intervention by the Infrastructure Section from the Head Office, the contractor has returned to the school from September 13, 2022.”
“A meeting was held involving the circuit manager, the contractor and the principal of Saphumula Secondary School. At this meeting, the contractor pledged to complete all outstanding work by September 30, 2022. The contractor has also delivered materials including the doors for the toilets to the site,” the department explained.
It said that in the interim, head office infrastructure has terminated the previous defaulting supplier of chemical toilets and appointed a new service provider to provide chemical toilets until the permanent structures are complete.
“The new service provider has delivered brand new chemical toilets to the school which will be serviced on a weekly basis. We further wish to confirm that the school is fully functional,” the department said.
It said that it reiterated its stance that schools are no longer supposed to have inappropriate toilets.
Lack of access to proper sanitation poses a huge barrier to education. The availability of clean, safe and accessible toilets can encourage children, especially girls, to go to school and remain at school, the department said.
On Tuesday, IFP KZN spokesperson on education Thembeni Madlopha-Mthethwa questioned when toilets will be built at the school.
Madlopha-Mthethwa said the IFP in the KZN legislature is horrified by the blatant disregard for human dignity that is taking place at the school.
The Daily News had reported that maggots, flies and the smell of faeces have become a norm for the pupils and teachers.
Madlopha-Mthethwa said that during the 2022/23 financial year, the KZN Department of Education received a budget allocation of R57.5 billion.
“The question remains: Why have toilets not been built at Saphumula Secondary School, as there is clearly a budget available? It is disgusting and embarrassing that in a democratic country like ours, we still have teachers and learners who must relieve themselves in snake-infested bushes behind classrooms. This is yet another testament to the laissez-faire approach to leadership by the KZN Department of Education,” Madlopha-Mthethwa said.
She said that the IFP believes that school sanitation and a child’s education are inextricably linked.
“The IFP calls upon the KZN MEC for Education, Mbali Frazer, to tell the public why teachers and learners have been subjected to this inhumane and degrading environment for almost three years? When will the toilets be built? We urge the MEC to intervene immediately, as these unhygienic conditions are further responsible for water-borne diseases, which can cause large-scale diarrhoea and other illnesses among children,” Madlopha-Mthethwa said.
The Daily News reported that when the rebuilding process began, the school of about 400 pupils was provided with four mobile toilets which were initially treated once a week, but that has reportedly stopped. However, due to no servicing, the toilets have become full, and smelly with live maggots inside and outside for almost three years.
This has led the pupils and teachers to seek toilet usage from neighbouring households or relieve themselves in the bushes, behind the toilets and classrooms.
During a Daily News visit to the school on Friday, the team was greeted by the smell of excrement before entering the school premises while a number of pupils were holding food dishes and eating from the school nutrition programme. Some ate as quickly as they could with their hands blocking their noses; others tried to find spots that were less stinky.
The team walked around the school while conducting interviews. There were pieces of used toilet paper everywhere behind the classrooms, also next to the unfinished toilets and mobile toilets.
Daily News