The Department of Basic Education's failure to eradicate pit latrine toilets in public schools across the country has once again been cast into the spotlight after Oratile Diloane succumbed to injuries he sustained when he fell into a pit toilet when he was only five years old.

Listen to this article 7 min Listen to this article 7 min 'This is painful. It is painful to look at your child, knowing you are just waiting for the call that he has died. Every day, I just had to wait, knowing that there was nothing that I could do for him. It is very painful. You will never understand the pain. His brain was damaged, and at the end, the only way my child could eat was through a tube."

These were the heart-wrenching words of Refiloe Dilaone as she shared the news that her child, Oratile Diloane, had tragically died over the weekend, eight years after falling into a pit latrine.

advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove adsIn May 2016, when Oratile was only five years old, he was playing with his friends at school when he fell into a pit toilet, Diloane told Daily Maverick. When the incident happened, the anxious mother was told nothing; a young Oratile was just dropped off at her house as if nothing had happened.

In reality, after falling into the uncovered toilet, Oralite was rescued from the pit by a maintenance worker who used a rope to pull the...