Contrary to reports the pit toilet crisis in schools has not been fully resolved. It took seven years to replace pit toilets at the 3,373 schools across the country through a programme called the Sanitation Appropriate for Education (SAFE) Initiative. But, in January, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) revealed to parliament that at least 400 more schools, that were never identified by SAFE, are still using pit toilets. These are the red dots on the chart, and appear concentrated in KZN and the Eastern Cape.

Keeping track of schools with pit toilets is complicated. There are multiple lists which don't tally, or have duplications and omissions.