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Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube told Parliament on Tuesday that a great deal of progress had been made in eradicating the 3,372 pit toilets at schools around the country.
Gwarube briefed the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) on Tuesday.
Gwarube set the department a deadline of 31 March to eradicate all pit latrines.
"I am pleased to report that, to date, the DBE has advised that approximately 93% of all identified pit latrines have been replaced under the SAFE initiative,” the minister told MPs.
"This number is expected to increase in the coming weeks as the DBE works closely with its implementing agents and donors to complete the balance of identified sanitation projects.
"I will report on this in greater detail in early April once the DBE has determined the status of all SAFE projects as of 31 March 2025."
The move to eradicate the pit latrines follows the deaths of several children in Limpopo and the Eastern Cape.
In 2021, the Limpopo High Court ordered the Limpopo Department of Education to replace all pit toilets at public schools in the province following the death of five-year-old Michael Komape, who died in January 2014 after he fell into a dilapidated pit toilet at his school in Chebeng Village.
