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Pit latrine shame has plagued us for decades

Pit latrines are possibly SA education’s biggest embarrassment and an indictment not only of the schooling system, but also the dignity of those forced to use them.

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A file photo of a pit latrine at a school in East London. A five-year-old boy spent an entire night dazed and unconscious, lying at the bottom of a dark and cold pit latrine toilet after he was assaulted and dumped inside, allegedly by a relative.
A file photo of a pit latrine at a school in East London. A five-year-old boy spent an entire night dazed and unconscious, lying at the bottom of a dark and cold pit latrine toilet after he was assaulted and dumped inside, allegedly by a relative. A file photo of a pit latrine at a school in East London. A five-year-old boy spent an entire night dazed and unconscious, lying at the bottom of a dark and cold pit latrine toilet after he was assaulted and dumped inside, allegedly by a relative. Picture: MARK ANDREWS/ FILE

Pit latrines are possibly SA education’s biggest embarrassment and an indictment not only of the schooling system, but also the dignity of those forced to use them.

And no, this is not a democratic SA problem. It is an issue that goes back decades.

On June 20 1978, this newspaper ran an article with the headline “Pupils fear school’s pit latrine”.

In that article, concerns were raised about the situation at Albatros Primary School in St Albans where pupils, afraid of falling into pit latrines, refused to use them.

The principal at the time, Christo Swart, wrote to the Port Elizabeth School Board after a school board meeting, saying the pit latrines  were “unhygienic and unsuitable for the children”.

An article in 1978 indicates that pit latrines at schools have been a problem for decades
BAD NEWS: An article in 1978 indicates that pit latrines at schools have been a problem for decades Picture: The Herald

And for many schools across the country, particularly in the most destitute areas, pit latrines remain a reality more than 40 years later — and a death trap.

Over the years, we have read about countless children dying after falling into these latrines — Lumka Mketwa, 5, and Michael Komape, 5, just two of them more recently.

So when, in 2021, we read about a school principal allegedly lowering an 11-year-old pupil into a latrine to search for a dropped smartphone — leaving the child covered in faeces — we cannot help but be shocked and angered by his actions.

It is alleged the principal — who has since been suspended and arrested on child abuse charges — asked other older pupils to dig through the faeces in search of the phone.

He then approached the 11-year-old and promised him R200 if he could recover the phone.

The child was given gloves, taken out of his uniform, and a rope was tied around his arms and he was lowered by other pupils into the toilet.

A community member who recorded the incident and went to the school to ask what had happened said the child “was knee-deep in the faeces and he used his own hands to search for the phone, with faeces going even above his hands and to his elbows”.

He said the child was traumatised by the incident and had broken down because he had been mocked by his peers about the ordeal.

The phone was not recovered.

Now while we welcome the suspension and  charge, we believe the principal should also face charges of crimen injuria for injuring this young child’s dignity — after all, he is not a pig to be rummaging around in dirt, much less the faeces of others.

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