Articles 

This blog details the different struggles many communities in South Africa experience when it comes to the lack in basic water and sanitation in their areas and how these issues have been made worse with the rise of Covid-19. 

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The pandemic has shown the need for people to be in clean, hygienic and isolated environments so as not to contract the Coronavirus. However, the reality is that a lot of South Africans do not live or can afford to live under these conditions as township and rural circumstances don’t afford such luxuries to the people in these areas. These are the South Africans that do not have access to their own personal or private bathroom facilities and share local water sources and toilets like latrine pits.

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Many poor or disadvantaged communities within the country are still using the bucket system which raises major health risks as pit latrine toilets can become a breeding ground for harbouring diseases and bacteria. And it is these types of facilities and lack of infrastructure that exist in the poorer communities, especially in South Africa’s education systems. There are hundreds of schools across the country that lack basic water and sanitation infrastructures while classrooms are often small and confined containers that must squeeze up to 80 pupils. Schools that lack proper toilet facilities make use of unsafe and unsanitary latrine toilets and in some cases have laminated access to water. 

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In an environment that doesn’t already contribute to a healthier and cleaner way of living, how are people who have no choice but to live under such circumstances supposed to survive the Covid-19 pandemic. 

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These articles look to answer such questions.