Pit toilets from the 1980s are still in use at this Eastern Cape school

The pit toilets at Betshwana Primary School in eMaxesibeni (formerly Mount Ayliff) in the Eastern Cape were built in the 1980s. Photos: Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik.

• Teachers and 200 learners at Bhetshwana Primary School still use dangerous pit toilets from the 1980s.
• The Eastern Cape school has waited 25 years for new facilities, after two contractors abandoned building projects in 2016 and 2018.
• Four prefab classrooms burnt down in December, leaving just four classrooms and two leaking mud structures.

Teachers and 200 learners at Bhetshwana Primary School in the Eastern Cape are using pit toilets built in the 1980s.

According to parents, the school in eMaxesibeni (formerly Mount Ayliff) has begged the provincial education department to build toilets and new school buildings for the past 25 years.

A prefab block of five classrooms burnt down in December. The school is left with four prefab classrooms for five grades (grades four and five share). There are also two mud structures built by parents in the 1980s. One is used for grades one and two. The other, also damaged by the fire, the cause of which remains unknown, was repaired by parents but now leaks. It is used for a crèche and grade R. There is a dilapidated brick administration block with a reception area, staffroom and a principal’s office, built using parents’ donations in the early 1990s.

School governing body (SGB) chairperson Sithembiso Jekwa said no officials visited the school after they reported the fire months ago.

The only toilets are pit toilets, some built in the 1980s, in poor condition with seats supported on precarious planks. Girls have stopped using their toilets, and use an open field or the boys’ toilets.

SGB member Nontsebenzo Jakuja said the school is the only one in the area. She said teachers accompany each other to the toilet as they fear it will cave in.

Jekwa said contractors arrived in 2016 to build a new administration block and classrooms. But they never started and left without explanation. In 2018, other contractors arrived to build a creche and foundations for classrooms and toilets.

“That came as a surprise to us because we were still waiting for the first contractor,” said Jekwa. “Unfortunately, they also disappeared after they promised to return to us with answers.”

“We got nothing from the department but empty promises. Now, they are not promising anything, they are just quiet,” he said.

A ten-year-old learner told GroundUp, “The classrooms are bad. They are leaking and when it is windy, they shake. I always fear the wind might blow them away.”

“Our toilets are not in good condition and I always fear that one day they will fall while there’s someone inside,” he said.

Eastern Cape Department of Education spokesperson Vuyiseka Mboxela has not replied to our questions for three weeks, despite numerous requests.

School governing body chairperson Mkhize Jekwa shows GroundUp the prefab building damaged by fire.

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