Child’s tragic pit toilet death prompts action
New toilets were donated for the rural school near Bizana.
The mother of five year old Lumka Mkhethwa who drowned in faeces in a pit toilet at Luna Primary near Bizana still recalls the devastating day she lost her daughter.
Since Lumka’s death, her family has been left grieving since the incident took place in March.
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Mandiswa Mkhethwa was speaking after the MTN Foundation installed 29 new toilets at the school recently.
Despite having recently given birth to a baby boy, the distraught mother said she had still not come to terms with her daughter’s tragic death.
“When Lumka did not come home that day, her father and I waited, at first thinking that maybe she had taken the wrong transport home, but that was not the case.”
According to Mrs Mkhethwa, police had later arrived to break the horrific news.
The grieving mother said she would never fully recover from the trauma.
“At times I wake up and realise I have no one to prepare for school, or clean up after. Sometimes it gets so difficult that I wish it was me who died in that toilet.”
To prevent further tragedies of this nature, the MTN Foundation installed proper toilets at the school.
The foundation’s spokesman, Jacqui O’Sullivan, said the organisation was very proud to have been able to assist in providing pupils at the school with dignified and safe toilets.
“We hope others will join us in making sure all our children have appropriate sanitation.”
Eastern Cape provincial spokesman, Sonwabo Mbananga said the department was glad that the private sector understood that government could not fight this alone.
“The provincial government is concerned by the death of Lumka due to inadequate sanitation. We need to turn around the profile of the poverty-ridden Eastern Cape and the lack of infrastructure to ensure that schools in the province produce well-performing children,” said Mr Mbananga.
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