We have 25 000 schools in South Africa; unfortunately, nearly a fifth of them still use pit toilets.
Schools are the heartbeat of our communities; they are there to secure the future of our country.
There is a human cost to this brick-and-mortar challenge that demands our attention.
It demands that every child be free from the indignity that Lumka suffered.
It has been determined that it will cost R10-billion to ensure that every school has safe and clean toilets.
Notwithstanding this high cost, for our part as government, we have committed R3.4-billion to improve school infrastructure and eradicate dangerous pit latrines in our country’s schools.
Our government is deeply pleased that Vodacom will be announcing a commitment this weekend at the Global Citizen Festival: Mandela100 to support the government’s efforts to ensure safe toilets in schools.
Globally, the United Nations estimates that there are currently 2.3-billion people who live without access to adequate sanitation, one billion people who currently have no form of sanitation infrastructure, and 748-million people who live without access to drinking water.
As part of that commitment, South Africa must achieve access to adequate sanitation and hygiene for all.
We have made some progress in providing safe and adequate sanitation: the percentage of households with access to adequate sanitation increased from 62% in 2002 to 80% in 2015.

What do you do when your city is running out of water?
Settlements such as Gugulethu have long been marginalized.
“I don’t know what we’ll do if they stop flowing,” said Richard Ndabezitha, 60, who is living on a $200-per-month government pension.
In upscale parts of the city, bottled water has been sold out for days at a time.
TOP: A borehole is drilled at a home in Constantia, a wealthy suburb of Cape Town, by De Wet’s Wellpoints and Boreholes, a company that has been so overwhelmed by jobs that it had to stop taking on new work until they can catch up with their list.
The water shortage is far from the only example of how Cape Town’s poorest communities have struggled for basic services.
For some of the city’s poorest residents, the other stark reminder of inequality relates to the way water is used.
“They’re using water to fill their pools!” she exclaimed.
“That’s why we don’t have any left.” Still, she added: “If I had a pool, I guess I’d be filling it, too.” About 10 miles away from Gugulethu, in the suburb of Table View, Carsten Hensel, 31, was having a wellpoint installed in his back yard, next to his swimming pool.
Now, we’re able to stockpile water.” As the drought deepened last year, and people began to talk about the possibility of a water shortage, Cloete bought 250 liters of bottled water for about $65, filling a room in his home in the Bothasig suburb.