Halala! These donors pledged funds to on sanitation in Africa

The goal of the Global Citizen Festival is to challenge people, businesses and governments to commit to improving the lives of others. The focus of this year's event was the needs of Africa.

The Global Citizen organisation took stock of the financial commitments and pledges made during the festival at FNB Stadium in Soweto on Sunday. Sanitation was among the biggest issues.

Dr Chimaobin Betta Edu of the Cross River state primary health care agency in Nigeria, said it would spend $15m over five years on sanitation. 

Madagascar pledged $40m to eradicate open defecation and promote sanitation.

For South Africans, Vodacom said it would spend R500,000 on sanitation in schools and towards the fight against gender-based violence. 

 Children have drowned in open-pit toilets at South African schools. When five-year-old Lumka Mthethwa went missing in March, her community in the Eastern Cape searched for her. She was found a day later, drowned in a pit toilet.

A three-year-old Limpopo toddler drowned in a toilet in July when left there alone to relieve himself.

Constable Maphure Manamela said: "His aunt took off his clothes and left him. She was busy with her house chores when she noticed she had not seen the toddler for some time."

In 2014, six-year-old Michael Komape fell to his death in a pit latrine at his school. His family sued the education department, but a court dismissed their claim.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered the education department to "conduct an audit of all learning facilities with unsafe structures, especially unsafe ablution facilities".