The family of five-year old Michael Komape, who died after he fell into a pit toilet at school six years ago, says the government needs to eradicate such toilets as soon as possible before more pupils die.
Michael’s father James Komape told Sowetan that his family wants the department of education to replace all pit toilets at schools in Limpopo.
“There are still lots of schools with pit toilets, there are many, hence we call on the department to act swiftly and remove them. I wanted Michael to be the first and last to die in a pit toilet but here we are going back to court to fight against the same thing that killed my son,” he said.
The fight for eradication of unsafe school pit toilets is set to be heard in the Limpopo High Court on Friday with advocacy groups accusing the Limpopo department of education of failing to craft a comprehensive eradication plan six years after a court order was granted in the matter.
Advocacy groups Section27 and Equal Education have approached the court to compel the department to submit a new and consolidated plan that deals with poor sanitation in schools on an urgent basis.
Section27 spokesperson Boitumelo Masipa said the department has been unreasonable and its plans were unconstitutional as it suggested that it will eradicate pit latrines in 2030.
“The poor conditions of toilets in schools in Limpopo continue to pose an imminent threat to the lives, health and dignity of learners. These unsafe pit toilets are responsible for the injury and death of learners, including Komape and seven-year-old Lister Magongwa,” she said.
The protracted legal wrangle emanates from an incident where Komape fell into school pit toilets and died at Mahlodumela Primary School in Chebeng village, outside Polokwane. The Komape family sued the department for R1.4m for damages.
Masipa said since the date of the court order, the department had not been committed to eradicating pit toilets.
Limpopo education head Onica Dederen has argued that some of the issues raised by EE and Section27 are outside the scope of the structural order granted.
In her sworn affidavit, Dederen said that where there are pit toilets in schools, they exist in conjunction with the appropriate sanitation and are not used by pupils.
“The pit latrines are used as a waste disposal for pupils and local communities. Section27 is raising issues of minimum uniform norms and standards, which are not part of the structural order,” she said.
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