Minister says school pit latrines will be mostly eradicated by June

Pit toilets at a school in South Africa.

2 minutes

Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube says the remaining pit latrines that are yet to be done away with could be entirely removed by June this year.

Gwarube was visiting schools in Limpopo’s Vhembe district to monitor progress in constructing safe latrines. The President’s SAVE programme identified over 3 000 schools that needed safe toilets by the 31st of March this year.

Gwarube says her department will continue to clear the backlog in eradicating pit latrines, despite challenges faced with donors and the construction mafia disruptions.

“So, some of them will be completed now in April, some of them next month. But by June, 98% of the entire backlog would have been completed. Then what is remaining was some of our donors’ funded projects. But some of our donors were not able to fulfil some of those projects. So, what we have done, we have taken those projects and allocated them to the provinces. To say let’s complete the projects because, ultimately it is our constitutional responsibility to make sure that children are safe in their schools. And when they go to school, they go to school to be safe and in a dignified way” Gwarube said.

[WATCH] Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube reaffirms the department’s commitment to eliminating pit latrines at schools. She is visiting Limpopo’s Vhembe district to monitor the progress of safe latrine construction. Pimani Baloyi reports from Ludane Primary School. pic.twitter.com/T0rhuBl84s

— SABC News (@SABCNews) April 4, 2025