DIMBAZA, Eastern Cape – Eight years after the Department of Basic Education identified thousands of schools with unsafe sanitation, it says every school included in its 2018 audit has now received safe and appropriate toilet facilities.

Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube announced the milestone during a visit to Dimbaza Primary School in the Eastern Cape on Monday, 6 July.

She said all 3,372 schools identified through the 2018 Sanitation Appropriate for Education (SAFE) Initiative audit have now been provided with new sanitation facilities.

The SAFE Initiative was launched after the deaths of learners including Michael Komape, Lumka Mkhethwa and Langalam Viki brought national attention to the dangers of unsafe pit toilets at schools.

According to the department, the programme has benefited more than three million learners and over 48,000 teachers.

“The completion of the SAFE Initiative has changed the daily reality of millions of learners and thousands of teachers,” the department said.

It added that more than 48,000 teachers now work “in healthier and more dignified environments” as a result of the programme.

The department also shared the experiences of learners and teachers who have seen the impact of the upgrades.

Ayama Willem, a learner at LF May Primary School, said she no longer worries about using the toilets at school.

She recalled being afraid to use the old pit toilets because snakes were sometimes found inside, allowing her to “focus on learning instead of worrying about her safety” after the new facilities were built.

According to the department, the new toilets had “restored dignity” to teachers who dedicate their lives to educating South Africa’s children.

Gwarube expressed that the announcement does not mean pit toilets have disappeared from every school in the country.

“The announcement confirms the successful completion of the backlog identified through the 2018 SAFE Initiative audit and does not suggest that every pit toilet in the country has disappeared,” she said.

Gwarube noted that some schools may have developed sanitation challenges after the original audit, others may have been unintentionally omitted, while some communities have retained old pit toilet structures despite receiving new facilities.

“The provincial education departments must now identify and address any remaining sanitation challenges with urgency,” she said.

Although the sanitation programme has reached an important milestone, Gwarube said South Africa’s wider school infrastructure challenges remain.

She said the country still faces an infrastructure backlog of more than R120 billion. Many schools still need classrooms, libraries, laboratories, fencing and other essential facilities, while vandalism, natural disasters and limited provincial budgets continue to delay progress.

“The completion of the SAFE Initiative must now be protected through proper maintenance, community ownership and provincial oversight, so that the facilities built through this programme remain safe, clean and functional,” Gwarube said.

She also called on communities to help safeguard school infrastructure.

“Every classroom, sanitation facility and school preserved is an investment in the community’s future,” she said.

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