Engen commits R2.5m to eradicating pit latrines in SA schools

The official launch of SAFE took place on 6 February this year at Madima Primary School, Saulspoort (Rampipi Section), Modderkuil in the North West province.

Builders drawn from the community helped transform the school’s ablution facilities, which now include new bathroom facilities, including ten toilets and six basins for the girl’s bathroom, as well as four toilets, six urinals and three basins for the boy’s bathroom.

Attending school with dignity

“When government called on corporate South Africa to help provide safe and appropriate sanitation, we wanted to do our part and help spare young South African’s the indignity associated with using pit latrines, as well as eradicate any future danger,” said Engen's head of transformation and stakeholder engagement Unathi Magida.

As part of government’s private sector partnership programme, and in collaboration with the Department of Education, rural and township primary schools in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and North West provinces were identified for modern sanitation upgrades.

“Access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation is a right, not a privilege,” contends Magida. “This is why supporting the SAFE school sanitation initiative is so important for Engen.

“Not only will dignified, age-appropriate sanitation facilities improve learner’s health and safety, it will also enable them to focus on their studies, and attend school with dignity,” she concludes.