The Unending Tragedy Of A 5-Year-Old Who Drowned In A Pit Latrine

The empty field behind Mahlodumela primary school in Chebeng village doesn't look like much. It's an anonymous stretch of scrubby grass, punctuated by a lonely metal goal post.

But what happened in this field in 2014 sparked a debate in South Africa that is still simmering today. That January, Michael Komape, a 5-year-old student who had just started school three days earlier, wandered out to the field to use the school toilet.

It was a dilapidated pit toilet — a gaping cement hole that sat over an open pit of raw sewage. Michael, who was alone, fell in and drowned.

The school couldn't find Michael initially, and it was hours until James Komape, his father, got a call from the principal telling him what had happened. James walked about 6 miles to get to the school. When he arrived, his son was still submerged in the pit,