The tragic deaths of six-year-old Limpopo boy Michael Komape and Cape Town teenager Sinoxolo Mafevuka in toilets are just two results of poor sanitation.

Statistician-general Pali Lehohla cited these two deaths when releasing the General Household Survey Series VIII: Water and Sanitation 2002/2015.

Komape fell into a pit latrine and died at his school, Mahlodumela Lower Primary School in Chebeng village, in 2014 while relieving himself during school hours.

Mafevuka, a 19-year-old girl, was found dead at a communal toilet in Khayelitsha earlier this year. She was raped and strangled to death.

Talking about the consequences of poor sanitation, Lehohla said: "Here we can remember Sinoxolo in the Western Cape who was raped and killed. Why? Because she needed to go and relieve herself. That's how she met her untimely death. These things are about human beings. We have to understand this. That's why Komape and Sinoxolo are important reminders to us about how this impacts on human beings."

Mafevuka was part of the 68% of informal settlement dwellers who only had access to shared toilets, according to Stats SA's report. Only 19% of households in formalised communities used shared toilets. The figure in traditional dwellings is 12%. Nearly 24.7% of shared toilets users complained of poor lighting that places them at risk. Just over 22% reported the facilities had poor hygiene.