School water and sanitation crisis drags on as DBE balks at national deadline

More than 3,000 public schools still lack reliable access to running water and adequate sanitation that meets the minimum norms and standards for public school infrastructure, and the national education department will not set a deadline to address this.

This is according to a parliamentary reply from Minister of Basic Education Siviwie Gwarube. Using provincial reports, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) said 1,366 schools rely on mobile tanks or other temporary water supplies, while 2,295 schools require replacement or upgrading of sanitation facilities that “do not meet the minimum norms and standards.” Taken together, that means 3,661 schools are identified as needing water or sanitation interventions.

KwaZulu‑Natal accounts for 1,498 affected schools (40.9% of the national backlog), followed by the Eastern Cape with 1,028 schools (28.1%) and Limpopo with 595 schools (16.3%). Mpumalanga has 230 schools (6.3%), North West 148 (4.0%), the Western Cape 69 (1.9%), the Free State 42 (1.1%), the Northern Cape 26 (0.7%) and Gauteng 25 (0.7%).

The non-ring-fenced billions

The DBE confirmed the Education Infrastructure Grant (EIG) for the 2026 Medium‑Term Expenditure Framework totals R49.954-billion. That sum is divided across three years – R16.257-billion in 2026/27, R16.590-billion in 2027/28 and R17.106-billion in 2028/29. KwaZulu‑Natal receives the largest provincial share in 2026/27 (R3.019-billion), then the Western Cape (R2.622-billion) and the Eastern Cape (R2.319-billion).

According to the reply, the EIG is designed to support the broader public school infrastructure programme, including the provision, maintenance, upgrading and replacement of infrastructure.

“It is not ring-fenced only for water and sanitation backlogs, as provinces must also address other urgent infrastructure needs within available budgets,” read the reply.

Additionally, the department clarified that it did not itself implement provincial school infrastructure projects as provincial education departments were responsible for planning, procuring and implementing school infrastructure projects, including water and sanitation projects. This was in accordance with their provincial infrastructure plans, the applicable grant framework and the regulations relating to minimum uniform norms and standards for public school infrastructure.

The department said timelines for individual projects would vary because they depended on multiple factors at the provincial and site level, including verified condition assessments, the availability of funds within provincial budgets, procurement processes and local site conditions such as terrain or access to municipal networks.

For that reason, the DBE declined to set a single national deadline to eradicate the backlog, stating that it would “not be responsible” to promise a date that was not grounded in verified provincial plans and budgets.

“While the eradication of public schools without reliable water and compliant sanitation remains a priority for the sector, it would not be responsible to provide a single national deadline that is not grounded in the verified provincial implementation plans and available budget,” read the reply.

The department added that it would continue to monitor provincial implementation and compliance through the established sector infrastructure monitoring processes.

“Provinces are expected to prioritise schools that do not have a reliable water supply or compliant sanitation. This includes the drilling and equipping of boreholes, the installation of water-storage infrastructure, connection to municipal water supply where available and the provision of temporary water tankering where required pending permanent solutions,” read the reply.

Budget constraints hamper Eastern Cape targets

Responding to questions, Eastern Cape Department of Education spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima said that due to budget shortages, the department would address only 131 schools, with a budget of R359.6-million, to be completed by the end of the 2026/27 financial year.

Explaining the department’s operational capacity, Mtima maintained that its existing systems were working effectively, highlighting the adjustment of punitive measures in implementing agent service delivery agreements, the augmentation of the infrastructure unit with additional staff, a strict procurement planning regime with contract concurrence control, the implementation of a payment tranche system for agents, and the close monitoring of projects supported by provincial monitoring and evaluation units.

Yet, despite the provincial department’s defence of its systems, the devastating real-world consequences of unfinished sanitation infrastructure surfaced last week. The department is mourning the passing of Ungentanto Yena, a young learner at Khulangolwazi ECD Centre, who tragically drowned in the facility’s unfinished pit toilet.

Khulangolwazi ECD Centre is a newly established programme that recently entered the ECD Mass Registration pathway under a “Bronze” registration status. The department clarified that Bronze status does not constitute full registration, but indicates that a centre has been identified and is receiving support to progress toward full compliance with infrastructure, health and safety requirements.

While the department noted it would work alongside the Mhlontlo Local Municipality to help the facility move toward full compliance, officials stressed that the circumstances surrounding the drowning were still under investigation, noting it would be premature to apportion responsibility before law enforcement concluded its processes.

Expressing condolences to the bereaved family and the community, MEC Fundile Gade committed to a thorough investigation.

“We have activated our psychosocial services to provide trauma counselling and debriefing to the family and the centre. Since our learner died in this facility, we commit to investigating the circumstances that led to the death.”

Daily Maverick sent questions to provincial education departments in KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo, as well as the national DBE, for further comment on the broader backlogs. At the time of publication, no responses had been received. Along with the Eastern Cape, the three provinces collectively account for more than 85% of the country’s total school infrastructure backlog.

A 10-year backlog with ‘no deadlines’

Masechaba Ntsane, deputy chairperson for Equal Education (EE), said Gwarube’s refusal to commit to a national deadline was ‘highly concerning’, as it directly contradicted EE’s core advocacy position that the norms and standards regulations contained legally binding deadlines that the government had repeatedly missed.

“We have consistently demanded that the norms deadlines remain concrete to ensure that they can be used as a mechanism for accountability. However, all previously set deadlines have been missed. The DBE cites that the current WASH (access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene) backlog is 3,661 schools, it is now more than 10 years of the persistence of this backlog. The removal of deadlines in the norms has further exacerbated the situation because we have no deadlines to hold the government accountable to,” she said.

Ntsane said the reinforcement of deadlines continued to be a problem, more than the deadlines themselves, as EE has repeatedly demanded that provinces meet their own deadlines even after they pass.

To prevent provinces from diverting these non-ring-fenced funds, Ntsane called for a strict regulatory framework rooted in legal obligation, transparency, and consequence management.

She said this mechanism would force provincial departments to submit legally binding, time-bound implementation plans with specific water and sanitation targets — effectively restoring teeth to the country’s disarmed norms and standards regulations. Furthermore, EE is demanding standardised penalty mechanisms to punish provincial authorities and contractors who underspend or miss deadlines.

To ensure compliance, Ntsane proposed a social accountability model driven by independent community audits and public tracking via the safeSchools.gov.za app, which would expose neglected schools and make it impossible for provincial education departments to ignore the ongoing crisis. DM