Cape pupils trapped in unsafe school conditions

RUN-DOWN:  Broken classrooms, pit toilets and lack of electricity are exposing learners at two Eastern Cape schools to daily health and safety risks, raising urgent questions about dignity, infrastructure and accountability…

By Chris Gilili

Broken floors, pit toilets and a lack of electricity are exposing pupils and teachers to daily health and safety hazards at two schools near King William’s Town in the Eastern Cape.

At Lukhozi High School in Zihlahleni Village, pupils study in crumbling mud-brick classrooms with broken windows, damaged floors and too few toilets. About 32km away in Zwelitsha, conditions at Nonceba Secondary School are no better, with the school having been without electricity since September 2025.

School communities say these conditions are not only disrupting teaching and learning, but also undermining the health, safety and dignity of both learners and staff.

At Lukhozi, only five classrooms are usable for about 280 learners. There are just two pit toilets for boys and two for girls, while teachers have none of their own.

School Governing Body chairperson Mnoneleli Mazibukwana says the school has been in poor condition for years.

“Can you imagine studying in the cold, with broken windows? This affects the learners’ and teachers’ health,” he says. “There is nothing healthy about breathing the smell of urine and animal dung every morning.”

A former learner at the school, Mazibukwana says it is painful to watch its continued deterioration.

He adds that classroom floors have been broken since 2022, forcing learners and teachers to jump over damaged sections just to move around.

“In 2014, two teachers were injured because of the broken floor. They still bear the scars,” he says.

The school, built by parents using mud bricks in 1976, was further damaged by heavy rains in 2022, with roofs affected and some structures swept away.

“The Department of Education promised us two prefab classrooms long ago,” he says. “A contractor started groundwork but left within a month. Only after three years were prefabs delivered in January, and construction began last month.”

Mazibukwana says the school is not properly fenced and has no cleaners, forcing learners to sweep animal dung from the grounds before classes begin.

“Sometimes, during lessons, a horse will just appear through the window,” he says. “All these things disturb learning. Yet we still expect great results from them.”

The problem is not isolated. In nearby Zwelitsha, residents say Nonceba Secondary School has been without electricity since September 2025.

Advocacy group Equal Education says that when the 2026 school year began, learners returned to dark classrooms with broken doors, damaged ceilings and holes in wooden floors.

“Most schools in the township are in such conditions and have been like that for years,” says resident Sino Ndindwa.

Ndindwa says Nonceba has been vandalised since the early 2000s, with little done to repair the damage. In some cases, parents have had to donate classroom doors.

“I’ve seen multiple officials visit the school, but nothing is done,” he says.

Norms and standards

Equal Education says conditions at both schools fail to meet government norms and standards for school infrastructure.

“Not only is the environment at Nonceba not conducive to teaching and learning, but it also risks lowering learner morale,” says Ona Matshaya, the organisation’s head of organising in the Eastern Cape.

“Conditions at Lukhozi High School are dire and not conducive to education.”

The organisation adds that schools like Lukhozi continue to wait years for safe infrastructure, even when contractors are appointed.

A 2025 South African Human Rights Commission report on sanitation in Eastern Cape schools warns that unsafe sanitation violates learners’ rights to dignity, safety and a healthy environment. It notes that pit toilets pose “substantial risks to health, safety and the environment.”

Court ruling

In a landmark 2018 judgment, the Bhisho High Court affirmed the state’s duty to provide safe and adequate school infrastructure, including classrooms, water, sanitation and electricity.

Yet years later, school communities say some schools in and around King William’s Town still fall far short of these standards.

The ruling followed years of campaigning over unsafe infrastructure, including schools built from mud, wood and asbestos, and cases where poor sanitation endangered learners.

Health-e News sent questions to the Eastern Cape Department of Education more than three weeks ago regarding conditions at both schools, delays in infrastructure upgrades and the lack of electricity at Nonceba. No response had been received by the time of publication.

School communities say urgent intervention is needed to restore safety and dignity. They want assurances that learners and teachers will no longer be expected to work and learn in hazardous conditions. Despite these challenges, Lukhozi High School achieved a 97.6% matric pass rate in 2025, with 144 distinctions from 244 learners—placing it among the top-performing schools in the Metropolitan East district. – Health-e News