Collapsing Pit Toilets Replaced at Esikhotho Primary Before Tragedy Struck

Photo Credit: Breadline Africa

Going to the toilet was a terrifying daily experience for the 250 learners and staff at Esikhotho Primary School. However, thanks to a plea for help that didn’t go unnoticed, they now have access to safe, private and dignified sanitation.

KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (30 September 2026) – For 250 young learners at Esikhotho Primary School near Efaye, going to the bathroom wasn’t just a basic daily routine – it was a terrifying experience. Every school day, children walked up to pit toilets where cracked concrete slabs and collapsing walls threatened to give way beneath their feet, leaving openings large enough for a small child to fall through.

The toilets had no doors or locks, no running water or soap, no handwashing facilities and no provision for sanitary pad disposal. Children and staff living with disabilities had no accessible options, while the school’s 15 dedicated teachers had no toilets to use at all.

School leaders had raised the alarm, and official inspectors confirmed the glaring danger. Yet, despite the known risk, funding wasn’t available, leaving teachers and parents to worry every single day that a child might be severely hurt.

But help and relief finally found their way to this school community through a compassionate collective effort. Supported by Glencore International, Paymentology, and generous individual donors, Breadline Africa stepped in before tragedy could strike. Partnering with Envirosan, they designed and installed safe, dignified sanitation specifically suited to the school’s limited water supply – restoring peace of mind, health, and decency to the daily lives of Esikhotho’s children and teachers.

Esikhotho Primary now has 17 safe sanitation facilities, including low-flush toilets, waterless urinals and an accessible toilet. Dedicated facilities have also been provided for the Grade R block, giving the school’s youngest children age-appropriate toilets close to their classrooms.

The project also included new handwashing facilities and the demolition and safe closure of the old pit toilets – an important part of ensuring that the previous facilities no longer pose a danger to children.

Breadline Africa CEO Marion Wagner said the project demonstrated what could be achieved when funders, implementing partners, schools and communities worked together around an urgent need.

“These toilets were not simply unpleasant or undignified – they had become dangerous. Children were using facilities with cracked slabs and collapsing pits because they had nowhere else to go.

“We are enormously grateful to Glencore International, Paymentology and the individual donors who made it possible for us to act before that danger became a tragedy, and to Envirosan for working with us to deliver a solution suited to the school.
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“No child should have to fall into a pit before we decide that a school toilet is unsafe.”

The project also created temporary employment for five people from the surrounding community during construction. The school governing body subsequently wrote to Breadline Africa praising their dedication and noting that involving local people in the project had helped create a sense of ownership of the new facilities.

One school among many

A toilet can easily be described as infrastructure. For a child, it means something much more immediate. It means being able to go to the toilet without being afraid. It means privacy and dignity. And for a young girl it can mean being able to stay at school rather than going home.

Esikhotho Primary is the 54th school where Breadline Africa has replaced unsafe pit toilets since launching its dedicated school sanitation programme in 2023. Across these schools, more than 18,700 learners and staff have gained access to safer sanitation.

But the need remains significant. Breadline Africa has received applications from schools across South Africa where children continue to use unsafe and undignified pit toilets.

“The frustrating thing is that in many cases these conditions are already known,” Wagner said.

“Schools have reported them. Inspections have taken place. The need is visible. The challenge is turning that knowledge into action quickly enough.”

Wagner added that Esikhotho shows what can happen when the pieces come together.

“Funding was provided, the facilities were designed around the school’s circumstances, local people were involved in the work, the old pits were safely closed, and the school has taken responsibility for looking after what has been built.”

The Esikhotho school governing body summed up the impact in a letter to Breadline Africa:

“Appropriate sanitation is not just safety; it is about restoring dignity. You have flushed our pits away.”

The school says its learners are proud of their new facilities and eager to attend school.

For the children at Esikhotho, the danger of the old pits is now gone. The challenge is ensuring that thousands of other children still facing unsafe sanitation do not have to wait for a tragedy before their schools receive the same attention.