Refilwe Diloane, 46, shows a picture of a new building at the Tlhotlheletsang Primary School covering the pit latrine in which Oratile Diloane fell in a pit latrine reporting several permanent physical and mental harms in 2016, in Kanana township, in a rural area of the North West Province, on June 20, 2023. – Oratile Diloane was just five when he slipped into a hole full of human waste, and rescued by a gardener using rope.
He may have survived drowning, but the injuries suffered at his pre-school in May 2016, left him severely brain damaged.
Pit toilets are open latrines, typically consist of a concrete slab on the ground with a drop hole that is at least three metres (10 feet) deep.
They are common in rural, with over 3,300 schools in South Africa using similar rudimentary latrines, according to government. (Photo by Luca Sola / AFP)