Petition to eradicate pit toilets in schools!
Pit toilets in schools have claimed the lives of far too many children. Schools should not be graveyards. Sign this petition to force the ANC government to eradicate pit toilets in schools.
Four-year-old Langalam Viki died in her school’s pit toilet more than a decade after the ANC government first announced its Accelerated Schools Infrastructure Delivery Initiative (ASIDI) in 2011 to eradicate unsafe infrastructure from schools.
In 2018, a further initiative, Sanitation Appropriate for Education (SAFE), had to be launched after ASIDI failed to meet its 2016 deadline. Since then, the Department of Basic Education has continually moved and extended its targets to ensure safe sanitation facilities at schools. In fact, in 2021/22, an additional 622 schools with pit toilets were identified.
In his 2022 State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Ramaphosa announced yet another programme to eradicate pit toilets and unsafe school infrastructure. This programme was never mentioned again.
Provinces do not take the problem seriously. The Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga had to return R100 million and R312 million of their school infrastructure grants to the national Department because they failed to spend the money.
When the budget is spent as intended, projects are on average delayed by 27 months and cost up to three times more than what was budgeted for.
Please sign the petition to force the ANC government to make South African schools safe by eradicating pit toilets as a matter of urgency.
16464 needed to reach 20000
Four-year-old Langalam Viki died in her school’s pit toilet more than a decade after the ANC government first announced its Accelerated Schools Infrastructure Delivery Initiative (ASIDI) in 2011 to eradicate unsafe infrastructure from schools.
In 2018, a further initiative, Sanitation Appropriate for Education (SAFE), had to be launched after ASIDI failed to meet its 2016 deadline. Since then, the Department of Basic Education has continually moved and extended its targets to ensure safe sanitation facilities at schools. In fact, in 2021/22, an additional 622 schools with pit toilets were identified.
In his 2022 State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Ramaphosa announced yet another programme to eradicate pit toilets and unsafe school infrastructure. This programme was never mentioned again.
Provinces do not take the problem seriously. The Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga had to return R100 million and R312 million of their school infrastructure grants to the national Department because they failed to spend the money.
When the budget is spent as intended, projects are on average delayed by 27 months and cost up to three times more than what was budgeted for.
Please sign the petition to force the ANC government to make South African schools safe by eradicating pit toilets as a matter of urgency.