7 July 2026
The Department of Basic Education (DBE) cannot declare victory while there are still learners using dangerous pit toilets in public schools. Equal Education (EE) notes Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube’s announcement that all schools identified under the Sanitation Appropriate for Education (SAFE) Initiative as relying on pit latrines have now had these facilities replaced. While every unsafe toilet replaced represents an important step towards protecting learners’ lives and dignity, it is deeply disingenuous to present this as a milestone in the government’s responsibility to eradicate all pit toilets in South African schools. This milestone has not been reached, and therefore, there should be no celebration of this massive failure on the part of the DBE in this matter.
Pit latrines were formally recognised as unlawful in 2013, following the promulgation of the Minimum Uniform Norms and Standards for School Infrastructure. Under the Norms, all pit latrines were supposed to have been eradicated by 2016. The SAFE initiative began in 2018 after the DBE lost its appeal against Equal Education’s court case to tighten the law of Norms and Standards for public school infrastructure. The President committed to eradicating all pit latrines by 2022. After assuming office in 2024, Minister Siviwe Gwarube stated: “By 31 March 2025, all remaining pit toilets in schools across the country must be eradicated.” The deadline and goalposts for eradication have been shifted time and again without any measure of accountability or consequences enacted against those who have failed to live up to their promises.
The Minister herself has previously acknowledged that the 2018 SAFE audit was incomplete and that schools may have been missed or may have since developed unsafe sanitation needs. In April 2025, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) committed to conducting a new national audit to identify these schools. More than a year later, this audit has still not been published. Without an updated national audit, the Minister and the Department will continue to evade accountability for ongoing rights violations.
But even without an updated national audit, departments are still well aware of schools that are reliant on unsafe and undignified sanitation facilities. The case of Mathukulula High School is one such example. A contractor was appointed in 2024 to eradicate and replace the school’s pit toilets. The contractor abandoned the site after having only laid foundations for a new toilet block. Learners at the school are still reliant on unsafe sanitation facilities, and the school lacks access to clean water on site. No new contractor has been appointed – ostensibly due to budget constraints in the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education. This highlights the absurdity of celebrating the completion of the SAFE programme while still depriving learners of the barest of resources to facilitate their education.
The DBE is aiding and abetting these types of failures in at least three significant ways:
The Minister has accepted budget cuts and restructuring that actively inhibit the realisation of learners’ right to basic education. The School Infrastructure Backlogs Grant – an indirect conditional grant that funded national programmes, such as SAFE, which were dedicated to ending critical school infrastructure backlogs – has been merged into the Education Infrastructure Grant. In real terms, spending on school infrastructure is decreasing. These are not immaterial adjustments. They demonstrate negligence by the DBE and National Treasury in identifying, prioritising, funding, and replacing unsafe sanitation beyond the narrow confines of the outdated SAFE audit.
Secondly, the DBE’s failure to complete a comprehensive, up-to-date national infrastructure audit means that the government continues to plan and budget using outdated information. Learners whose schools were excluded from the 2018 audit remain invisible in official planning, despite their continued exposure to dangerous and undignified sanitation. An outdated database cannot be the basis for declaring success while children remain at risk.
Thirdly, the DBE has weakened the legal protections that should guarantee safe school infrastructure. In 2024, the Regulations Relating to Minimum Uniform Norms and Standards for Public School Infrastructure were amended to dilute the government’s obligations by removing deadlines, reducing accountability, and making it easier for provincial departments to avoid complying with minimum standards. Since entering office, Minister Gwarube has repeatedly promised to reissue and strengthen the Norms, but to date she has failed to deliver.
The right to basic education includes the right to safe, dignified and functional learning environments. That right cannot depend on whether a school happened to appear on a government list compiled eight years ago.
Equal Education therefore calls on the Minister and the Department of Basic Education to:
- Publish a clear, transparent plan, budget, and timeline for replacing every remaining plain pit latrine in every public school, regardless of whether it formed part of the original SAFE audit.
- Immediately commission and publish a comprehensive national audit of school infrastructure, including sanitation, so that the full extent of infrastructure backlogs is publicly known. This should be accompanied by a rigorous, publicly accessible monitoring system for all infrastructure projects to prevent contractor abandonment and ensure continuous progress.
- Strengthen the Regulations Relating to the Minimum Norms and Standards for School Infrastructure to ensure enforceable deadlines and meaningful accountability.
#FixOurSchools
To arrange a media interview, contact:
Ayanda Sishi-Wigzell (Equal Education Communications Manager)
ayanda@equaleducation.org.za