The new basic education parliamentary committee chairperson is striving for speediness in tackling the longstanding issue of dangerous pit toilets in South African rural schools - a problem that has perpetuated unsanitary conditions for years.

After nearly a year since a petition against pit latrines was handed to the parliamentary portfolio committee on basic education to consider, MPs have requested that the process to eradicate pit toilets be fast-tracked in KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and the Eastern Cape.

This was discussed in the legacy report meeting before the committee on Tuesday.

The 44-page report said the previous sixth parliamentary committee had been approached by Yongama Zigebe, a leader in the Ngovu Change social justice movement in July 2023, with a petition calling for the minister of education to eradicate pit latrines in public schools countrywide by November 2024.

Zigebe is also secretary-general of the United Democratic Movement (UDM).

Zigebe submitted the petition with more than 5,000 signatures, following former Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga's remarks in March 2023 that pupils at 3,398 schools still use pit toilets to relieve themselves.

In the House on Tuesday, the newly elected chairperson of the portfolio committee, Joy Maimela, highlighted the need to work on previous petitions on the legacy report which she presented on.

The report details the recommendations of members - around the prioritisation of infrastructure and eradication of pit toilets - and highlights the department's...