The ANC applauds the launch of a campaign to make ablution facilities in schools safer
N Gina
The ANC welcomes the launch of the Sanitation Appropriate for Education (Safe) initiative by President Cyril Ramaphosa, at the Sheraton Hotel in Pretoria on Tuesday, 14 August 2018.This initiative is aimed at encouraging collective action to save lives and restore the dignity of tens of thousands of our nation's children as demanded by our constitution.
Given the overwhelming scale of backlogs and the current state of the economy, it became clear that government are not able address this important basic human right without assistance from the private sector. Therefore, this SAFE initiative was launched.
The ANC firmly believes that the SAFE initiative will spare generations of young South Africans the indignity, discomfort and danger of using pit latrines and other unsafe facilities in our schools.
We are of the view that schools should be places where children must be safe, supported, nurtured and empowered. Thus the ANC is pleased with the immense response from the private sector and is humbled by many more who pledged their commitment to assist. The ANC is thus making an urgent plea to other business communities to assist in order to make the SAFE initiative a success. In the year in which we honour former President Nelson Mandela and celebrate the centenary of this global icon, who valued education above all else, this will be a fitting tribute to our beloved former Statesman to eradicate pit latrines and restore dignity to South African children in his honour.
I thank you
