Pit latrine and septic tank tragedies:

A young child's death in a septic tank has sparked further calls for a new national audit of sanitation in schools

- Sheree Bega

Last month, Avethandwa Kunene, 6, a Grade R learner at Umzila Primary School in Dannhauser, KwaZulu-Natal, drowned after falling into an underground septic tank at his school.

For Ferrial Adam, the executive director of WaterCAN, a water and sanitation civic activism nonprofit, the child's death was yet another preventable tragedy caused by unsafe sanitation infrastructure.

"It makes no difference if a child dies in a pit latrine or a septic tank at school," she said. "Both show the same truth: South Africa still does not have safe sanitation. An open septic tank is as deadly as a pit toilet - both are the result of neglect."

She noted that the septic tank had not been properly cordoned off or secured. "These deaths are preventable, yet they keep happening. The government must act now to make sanitation safe and dignified for every child."

KwaZulu-Natal basic education department spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi confirmed that Umzila Primary does not have pit toilets but rather septic tank ones.

"The child fell into the septic tank while playing with a tyre. The teacher, security and a community member tried to rescue him, but when paramedics arrived, he was declared deceased," he said.

"No one sends the child to school to perish but everyone, when preparing the little soul in the morning, always expects him or her to come back. Our prayers are still with the family as we understand the pain that they are enduring."

WaterCAN has long warned that inadequate sanitation in schools is a national crisis, with pit latrines, collapsing infrastructure and unsafe wastewater systems posing deadly risks.

"No child should lose their life because a school cannot provide safe sanitation," Adam said. "Water is a human right and access to safe sanitation is dignity. How many more children must die before the government treats this with the urgency it deserves?"