I often joke that one of the best things journalism bequeathed to me was a strong bladder.
I could spend an entire day in the field, drink a reasonable amount of fluid and hold it all in until I returned to the office or home.
Silly and unhealthy, I know, but I could not, and still find it difficult to, use public toilets.
I was reminded of this by the Basic Education Department saying yesterday it would take (hopefully) until the end of next year to eradicate pit toilets at schools. “Hopefully” because the department has repeatedly extended the deadline to complete the task.
It incenses me that 350 000 pupils and 13 000 teachers are still using pit toilets at nearly 1 000 schools in KZN.
The situation is far worse in the Eastern Cape, where 2 236 schools are using long drops, and 200 have no sanitation facilities at all.
This is a matter which concerns the children’s dignity, health and, as some have found to their cost, their physical safety.
I find it unconscionable and downright flabbergasting that this situation persists nearly 30 years into democracy.
How does the Basic Education Minister sleep knowing that thousands of children under her care must relieve themselves in bushes or in the open on a daily basis? Has she considered the plight of menstruating pupils?
Our children deserve better than to be subjected to the incompetence and indifference exhibited by those purporting to have their interests at heart.
The Independent on Saturday