Judgment in the Limpopo Sanitation Case is a vindication of learners’ rights
17 September 2021
SECTION27 welcomes the judgment of the High Court of South Africa (Limpopo Division) in the Rosina Komape and others v Minister of Basic Education and Others handed down by Judge Muller on Friday 17 September 2021. The court has found in favour of the relief sought by SECTION27.
The judgment is a vindication of the rights of learners in Limpopo to safe and dignified sanitation. It follows a six-year legal battle to ensure that the Limpopo Department of Education (LDOE) and the Department of Basic Education (DBE) eradicates pit toilets in that province.
In 2018, the court handed down a structural order which directed the DBE and LDOE to supply each school in Limpopo with safe and dignified toilets, to conduct a comprehensive audit of sanitation needs – detailing the names and locations of all schools with pit toilets in the province – and provide a comprehensive plan for the installation of new toilets. Since the structural order, the LDOE and DBE have filed two affidavits with the court – on 31 August 2018, and another on 12 May 2020.
SECTION27 returned to the High Court on 6 August 2021, seeking an order, declaring that the LDOE and DBE’s plans were unconstitutional and in breach of the structural order. We requested the court to direct the Member of the Executive Council in the Limpopo Department of Education (“MEC”) to remedy the shortcomings of the plan to ensure that it is constitutionally compliant and file a revised plan in both physical and electronic format with the Court within 45 days. We requested that the Court retain its supervisory jurisdiction in relation to this updated plan.
“We are delighted that the court has recognised the urgent need to eradicate pit toilets in our schools and directed the DBE and LDOE to fulfil the constitutional rights of learners to safe and dignified sanitation,” says Faranaaz Veriava, Head of the education rights programme at SECTION27.
SECTION27 will study the judgment and provide detailed analysis in due course.
SECTION27 wishes to thank Legal Aid for the funding support provided for this case.
Please find the full judgment here.
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For more information, contact: Nontsikelelo Mpulo on 082 782 7143 or mpulo@section27.org.za
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