Tebogo Msimanga |
The Democratic Alliance says it is clear that neither the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, nor her Department (DBE) is willing to accept responsibility for the danger unsafe pit toilets still pose to learners at schools across the country.
DA DA Shadow Minister of Basic Education Baxolile Nodada said once again, Minister Motshekga has tried to twist the circumstances of 4-year-old Langalam Viki’s tragic death. “At a media briefing on Monday, she claimed that Mcwangele Junior Secondary School (JSS) – the school that Langalam attended and where she died – had been provided with pit toilets that conformed to the Minimum Norms and Standards, so-called ventilated improved pit (VIP) latrines. And that Langalam’s body was found in the tank of a senior toilet, not the age-appropriate toilet that she should have used”.
Nodaba said had Minister Motshekga visited the school, as the DA had done, she might have known that the toilets where Langalam was found, are the only ones available at that school.
Nodaba added that the Minister herself would certainly not deign to use those toilets, nor would she allow her children and grandchildren to use them. Yet Langalam had no other choice but to use these pit latrines, and her classmates, teachers and the other learners are forced to continue using facilities where their friend horrifically died knowing that any one of them could be next.
“While the DA welcomes the police investigation into the circumstances of her death, we will not allow the Department to use it as a diversion from its own failings at Mcwangele Junior Secondary School.”
