MEDIA RELEASE

18 MARCH 2025
MINISTER OF BASIC EDUCATION TO HANDOVER NEWLY BUILT
TOILETS AND INSPECT PROGRESS ON ERADICATING THE SAFE
INITIATIVE BACKLOG IN THE EASTERN CAPE SCHOOLS
The Minister of Basic Education, Ms. Siviwe Gwarube, will be in the Eastern Cape on
the eve of Human Rights Day to oversee efforts to ensure that learners and teachers
have access to safe and dignified sanitation in schools.
The Minister will hand over newly built toilets at Ntlukuhla Junior Secondary School
in Mthatha and Nombizo Primary School in Tsolo before going to inspect
construction progress at Emarhambeni Junior Secondary School in Qumbu. This
is part of the Minister’s commitment to be on the ground during the final phase of the
eradication of pit latrines in schools that remain on the SAFE Initiative backlog list.
This visit underscores her department’s commitment to upholding the human rights of
every child to a safe learning environment. The Minister’s programme will commence
at Ntlukuhla Primary School in Mthatha.
Members of the media are invited to attend the School Visits as follows:
Date: 20 March 2025
Venue: Ntlukuhla Primary School, Mthatha, Eastern Cape
Time: 08:30
Media RSVPs and Enquiries contact: Lukhanyo Vangqa: Media Liaison Officer –
066 302 1533
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF BASIC EDUCATION
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