According to the Domestos 2021 School Toilet Report, up to 91% of children in South Africa lack access to functional toilets at school. This problem is worsened by water scarcity, which contributes to ‘toilet loss’—a situation characterised by the widespread neglect and improper maintenance of school toilets. To address this issue, Baby Soft® has joined Domestos and the Department of Basic Education in their partnership to conduct a baseline audit to understand the extent of the problem. The release of the results marks the launch of their joint UNSTOPPABLE TOGETHER campaign, aimed at the maintenance of school toilets to enable safe, clean, and usable sanitation facilities.
Audit reveals a critical gap in access to sanitation
The baseline audit surveyed 300 schools in the Eastern Cape, which currently serve just over 101,000 learners aged 5 to 14 years old. The audit revealed that the majority of schools in rural districts, like the Eastern Cape, make use of ventilated improved pit (VIP) toilets. The use of these toilets is currently the most effective way to circumvent the issue of water scarcity in the region, as currently, only 57% of schools have access to a single water supply.
Only 24 of the 300 schools surveyed currently have at least one cubicle in their facility, with VIP toilets accounting for 69.5%, flush toilets accounting for 18.5%, and pit latrines accounting for just under 12% of the total count. It was also found that only 27 out of 300 schools currently have a cleaning toolkit that includes all three essential components, namely bleach, overalls for cleaners, and other Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as masks and gloves.
This, as Baby Soft® Brand Manager, Siyolise Shinga explains, “represents a significant gap between the current and ideal situation and highlights the importance of partnerships between the public and private sectors in addressing this critical issue. Being clean is a feeling that everyone deserves, and having access to proper hygiene and sanitation is one way of how we can make this vision a reality to empower our learners.
As we move forward with the UNSTOPPABLE TOGETHER campaign, we are confident that by equipping more schools with the supplies and tools they need to maintain safe and hygienic toilet facilities, we can help curb the negative effects of toilet loss. This, coupled with training and an educational drive provided during the campaign period, will help us achieve this objective and raise the much-needed awareness of these issues.
None of these efforts would be possible without the ongoing support of the South African consumers who support Baby Soft® and Domestos in their mission to make a tangible difference in the lives of school children and society at large. We wish to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone involved in helping us make this positive impact.”
