Unecebo Mboteni who died after falling into a pit toilet at his pre-school in Unit 6 in Mdantsane, Eastern Cape, two years ago. Amnesty International SA is calling for Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres such as Unecebo's to be included in audits and plans going forward for the eradication of school pit toilets.
Amnesty International has welcomed the completion of the 2018 Sanitation Appropriate for Education (SAFE) Initiative backlog of school pit toilets announced this week, but called for a comprehensive updated audit of all remaining schools still using these toilets, including Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres.
The global human rights organisation said the eradication of pit toilets in the schools listed under the SAFE Initiative was “an important step towards the fulfilment and protection of learners’ rights and safety”, but more needed to be done. It pointed out that some schools were “skipped” and the ECD centres were not included when the 2018 audit was conducted.
“While we welcome this long overdue development, there are many schools still using pit toilets which have not been accounted for,” Executive Director of Amnesty International South Africa Shenilla Mohamed said in a statement.
