Police have opened an inquest docket after the body of a 4-year-old girl was found in a pit toilet at an Eastern Cape primary school.

The body was discovered in the pit toilet of a school in Glen Grey on Tuesday after the child failed to return home on Monday, said police spokesperson Warrant Officer Majola Nkohli.

The alarm was raised on Tuesday morning when the child’s mother went to the school to enquire about her whereabouts, as she had not returned home the previous day, said Nkohli.

“A preliminary investigation led to the discovery of the learner’s body in one of the school’s pit toilets. Members of the SAPS Search and Rescue team retrieved her body,” said Nkohli.

“The circumstances surrounding the incident form part of an investigation. Police have opened an inquest docket.”

News24 previously reported that, according to the 2021 National Education Infrastructure Management System report, more than 1 400 schools in the Eastern Cape had pit toilets.

Over the last decade, a number of children have died in pit toilets.

In December, the body of a 3-year-old boy was found in a pit toilet in a village outside Vuwani in Limpopo.

In 2018, a 5-year-old girl died after falling into a pit toilet at Luna Primary School in Bizana in the Eastern Cape.

In 2014, Grade R pupil Michael Komape died at Mahlodumela Primary School in Limpopo when he fell into a pit toilet.

Amnesty International says there is a lack of political will to eradicate pit toilets in schools.

Campaigner at Amnesty International South Africa, Sibusiso Khasa says there are nearly 3 000 public schools that still have basic pit toilets.

”If you look at the fact that the Department of Basic Education last year proposed regulations that they are trying to remove the deadlines in terms of the minimum norms and standards. So, that shows you that there is a lack of political will.”

“Also, if you look at the history of how the department has been sort of spending money in terms of school infrastructure, you find that there has also been underspending in some cases,” adds Khasa.

With: News24