schools
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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.
Last updated: 24 July 2026
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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.
Last updated: 31 July 2025
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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.
Last updated: 12 August 2026
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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.
Last updated: 21 March 2026
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This data contains the average number of children who received meals per financial year through the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) in public schools in South Africa and the nine provinces. The programme aims to reach children attending public schools located in lower socioeconomic areas (or quintile 1 - 3 schools). Note: the data is patchy and incomplete because there is no one source. The NSNP produced annual reports up to 2013/2014. After that information on the number of children reached per year was not published in one place or consistently. The information from 2014/2015 onwards was extracted from the annual reports of the Department of Basic Education, the provincial education departments and, in the case of 2025/2026, a presentation by the NSNP presented in parliament. Caution: The provincial data extracted for 2015/2016 from the provincial annual reports does not add up to the South African total extracted from the DBE annual report.
Last updated: 14 August 2026
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This dataset contains the number of public schools per financial year where children were fed through the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) in South Africa and the nine provinces. The NSNP aims to reach public schools located in lower socioeconomic areas (or quintile 1 - 3 schools). Note: the data is patchy and incomplete because there is no one source. The NSNP produced annual reports up to 2013/2014. After that information on the number of schools reached per year was not published in one place or consistently. The information from 2014/2015 onwards was extracted from the annual reports of the Department of Basic Education, the provincial education departments and, in the case of 2025/2026, a parliamentary presentation by the NSNP in parliament.
Last updated: 14 August 2026
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