Teachers at Mangelengele Primary School near Tsomo in the Eastern Cape are telling young pupils to use the school field instead of the toilets, which they say are no longer safe.

The school, in Mahlubini, was built around 1960 and the toilets were built in 1991, according to the principal, Nocwaka Nkukhwana.

There are 70 pupils from grade R to grade 7, and six staff members.

When GroundUp visited the school, the condition of the toilets was bad. Seats were broken, the zinc sheets had holes and, mostly, the pits were full. Only two of these toilets are still in use, one for the teachers and one for the higher grade pupils.

Nkukhwana said pupils in grades R, 1 and 2 had been told to use the school field instead of the toilets.