Toddler’s body retrieved from pit toilet in Limpopo
The body of a three-year-old boy, who was last seen by his uncle on Sunday, was yesterday morning dug out near a pit toilet.
The Limpopo police commissioner, Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe, calls on parents to be cautious and practice extra care when they look after their children.
Hadebe’s appeal follows yesterday’s retrieval of a three-year-old boy’s body from a pit toilet in the Tshino Nditwanin village, located in the Vuwani policing area.
According to police spokesperson Colonel Malesela Ledwaba, the boy was last seen by his uncle on Sunday morning between 07:30-08:30.
“His disappearance led to his parents reporting the matter to the police. The hard-working Search and Rescue Unit were joined by the K9 Search and Rescue team, the provincial search and rescue unit, emergency medical services and the local police who started with a search operation which culminated in this horrific discovery,” a statement reads.
Ledwaba says the team conducted a search in the vicinity of the pit-toilet inside the yard of the victim’s parents.
“Our members dug near the pit toilet and the body was subsequently found and handed over to the local police.”
Hadebe adds that incidents like this can only be avoided if parents exercise caution and care.
The dangers of pit toilets have been a major concern in the province – so much so that the provincial education department was instructed to eradicate such toilets at schools.
Pit toilets issue in Limpopo
Section27 – a public interest law centre – has been on the frontline of the battle against pit toilets, particularly at these schools.
In the judgement handed down in Komape v Minister of Basic Education & Others, the judge said: “The replacement of pit toilets is a national emergency and must be treated accordingly,” and instructed the Limpopo Department of Education to provide interim measures to address provincial schools’ urgent sanitation needs.
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