NATIONAL NEWS - Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga on Monday called for an urgent meeting with provincial MECs of education and heads of departments to discuss school infrastructure and find ways of accelerating the eradication of unsafe ablution facilities.

This follows the death of a five-year-old who fell into a pit toilet at the Luna Primary School in Bizana‚ Eastern Cape. The body of Lumka Mkhethwa, also known as Viwe Jali, was found on Tuesday inside the latrine a day after an extensive search by residents and police with sniffer dogs.

A similar incident happened at a school outside Polokwane in 2014 where five-year-old Michael Komape drowned in a pit toilet.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Friday that he was “appalled and saddened” by Mkhethwa’s death.

Ramaphosa then directed Motshekga to conduct an audit of all learning facilities with unsafe structures‚ especially unsafe ablution facilities‚ within a month, and to present him with a plan to rectify the challenges‚ as an emergency interim measure while rolling out proper infrastructure‚ within three months.

Motshekga’s urgent council of education ministers will discuss addressing school infrastructure holistically in-line with this directive from Ramaphosa.

In a statement, Motshekga said she had received a report from the District Education office in the Eastern Cape following Mkhethwa’s tragic death. She said that she was “deeply saddened and regrets the tragic loss” of such a precious life in such horrendous circumstances.

Read more on the Caxton publication, The Citizen.