SA School Infrastructure

• Schools on the Sanitation Appropriate for Education (SAFE) Initiative list

  This dataset contains 3,230 schools on the Sanitation Appropriate For Education (SAFE) initiative. The SAFE initiative was launched by the Department of Basic Education in 2018 to fast-track the eradication of basic pit toilets from South Africa's public schools and identified 3,372 schools. This dataset, which was compiled from two separate lists shared by the department of basic education in parliament, is currently 142 schools short of the full 3,372. Working on completing the full list is ongoing.

  DS0244 Education educationpit toiletsschoolssouth africa
  Geography: South Africa Period: July 2025 Source: Department of Basic Education (South Africa)

  Last updated: 24 July 2026

• Schools with basic pit toilets only

  Basic pit toilets are illegal in South African schools and should have been eradicated by 31 November 2016. This datasets shows a provincial breakdown of the number of schools with basic pit toilets only. The data is sourced from the Education Facility Management System (EFMS) and its predecessor, the National Education Infrastructure Management System (NEIMS). The EFMS stopped reporting schools with only pit toilets in 2024.

  DS0237 Education pit toiletsschoolssouth africa
  Geography: South Africa Period: 2014-10-23 to 2024-07-03 Source: Department of Basic Education (South Africa)

  Last updated: 31 July 2025

  Charts
  • CH0157 Schools with basic pit toilets only
• Schools with pit toilets, not necessarily as the only form of sanitation

  The number of public schools that have basic pit toilets broken down by province. Note that some schools may have appropriate sanitation as well as basic pit toilets that have yet to be removed. Basic pit toilets are 'illegal' and should have been replaced with appropriate forms of sanitation by 30 November 2016. This information comes from the Education Facilities Management System (EFMS) and its predecessor the National Education Infrastructure Management System (NEIMS). NEIMS was replaced by EFMS in 2023.

  DS0341 Education educationpit toiletssanitationschoolssouth africa
  Geography: South Africa Period: 2013-10-14 to 2025-08-08 Source: Department of Basic Education (South Africa)

  Last updated: 21 March 2026

  Charts
  • CH0114 Public schools with pit toilets
• Schools with pit toilets not on SAFE list

  This dataset contains 447 public schools that have pit latrines as at 31 July 2025, according to information supplied to parliament by the Department of Basic Education in January 2026. These are schools not covered in the SAFE Initiative programme, according to the DBE. However, 17 schools in this list are on the SAFE Initiative list.

  DS0396 Education educationpit toiletsschoolssouth africa
  Geography: South Africa Period: 2025-07-31 Source: Department of Basic Education (South Africa)

  Last updated: 12 August 2026