| South Africa: Water and Sanitation | ||
|---|---|---|
| Data | ||
| Access to an improved water source | 91% (2008) [1] | |
| Access to improved sanitation | 77% (2008) [1] | |
| Continuity of supply | 63% (2003)[2] | |
| Average urban water use (liter/capita/day) | 186 (2006)[3] | |
| Average urban water tariff (US$/m3) | 1.07 (2006)[3] | |
| Share of household metering | 100% (2006)[3] | |
| Annual investment in WSS | US$5 per capita (2002/2003)[4] | |
| Share of self-financing by utilities | 42% (2002/03)[4] | |
| Share of tax-financing and other financing | 43% (2002/03)[4] | |
| Share of loan financing | 15% (2002/03)[4] | |
| Institutions | ||
| Decentralization to municipalities | Substantial | |
| National water and sanitation company | None | |
| Water and sanitation regulator | None | |
| Responsibility for policy setting | Department of Water Affairs | |
| Sector law | 1997 Water Services Act | |
| Number of urban service providers | 169 | |
| Number of rural service providers | Urban service providers also serve rural areas | |
Water supply and sanitation in South Africa is characterized by both achievements and challenges. After the end of Apartheid South Africa's newly elected government inherited huge services backlogs with respect to access to water supply and sanitation. About 15 million people were without safe water supply and over 20 million without adequate sanitation services. The government thus made a strong commitment to high service standards and to high levels of investment subsidies to achieve those standards. Since then, the country has made satisfactory progress with regard to improving access to water supply: It reached universal access to an improved water source in urban areas, and in rural areas the share of those with access increased from 66% to 78% from 1990 to 2008.[1] South Africa also has a strong water industry with a track record in innovation.
However, much less progress has been achieved on sanitation: Access increased only from 55% to 59% during the same period. Significant problems remain concerning the financial sustainability of service providers, leading to a lack of attention to maintenance. The uncertainty about the government's ability to sustain current funding levels in the sector is also a concern.
Two distinctive features of the South African water sector are the policy of free basic water and the existence of water boards, which are bulk water supply agencies that operate pipelines and sell water from reservoirs to municipalities.
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Water availability in South Africa varies greatly in space and time. While the plateau is arid with rainfall only during the summer and as low as 100mm, the Southeast receives rainfall throughout the year with an average of up to 1,000mm. Total annual surface runoff is estimated at 43 to 48 km3, depending on the source.[5][6] However, much of the runoff is lost through flood spillage, so that the available surface water resources are estimated at 14 km3/year only. Although groundwater is limited due to geologic conditions, it is extensively utilized in the rural and more arid areas. Available groundwater is estimated at 1 km3/year. The main rivers of South Africa are the Orange River draining to the Atlantic Ocean, the Limpopo River, the Incomati River, the Maputo River, the Tugela River, the Olifants River (Mpumalanga), and the Breede River. The Incomati, Maputo, Thukela and Limpopo all drain to the Indian Ocean. South Africa's most important rivers are transboundary: The Orange River is shared with Botswana, Namibia and Lesotho, the "water tower" of Southern Africa. The Limpopo-Olifants river basin is shared with Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, which lies the furthest downstream. International commissions of all riparian countries have been set up to manage these transboundary water resources.[7][8] Potential future water resources are seawater desalination or the transfer of water from the Zambezi River.
Total annual water withdrawal was estimated at 12.5 km3 in 2000, of which about 17% was for municipal water use.[5][6] In the northern parts of the country, both surface water and groundwater resources are nearly fully developed and utilized. On the contrary, in the well-watered southeastern regions of the country significant undeveloped and little-used resources exist.[5] The Gauteng area around Johannesburg, which is very water scarce, receives water from various dams in the area such as the Vaal Dam and imports water from the Orange River system through the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, in particular from the Katse Dam.[9] Cape Town receives its drinking water from an extensive system of rivers and dams, including the Berg River Dam.
South Africa is one of the few countries in the world that enshrines the basic right to sufficient water in its Constitution, stating that "Everyone has the right to have access to (...) sufficient food and water". However, much remains to be done to fulfil that right.[10]
After the end of Apartheid South Africa's newly elected government inherited huge services backlogs with respect to access to water supply and sanitation. According to one source, about 15 million people were without safe water supply and over 20 million without adequate sanitation services in 1990. Since then, an additional population of about 10 million people gained access to an improved water source.[11] According to the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply and Sanitation, the share of the population with access to an improved source of water supply has increased from 83% in 1990 to 91% in 2008, implying that almost 15 million people gained access during that period.[1]
Water tends to fall – literally – in the arms of women. Women spend one-third of their lives fetching water from streams and wells.[12] They are also responsible for using it to cook meals, wash laundry and bathe children. Men’s dependence on water is rooted in agriculture and livestock.
In his State of the Union address to Parliament in May 2004 President Thabo Mbeki promised "all households will have running water within five years".[13] Despite substantial progress, this goal was not fully achieved.
With respect to sanitation the picture is more sobering. According to official figures, an estimated 18 million South Africans did not have access to basic sanitation in 2002 and may be using the bucket system, pit toilets or the "veld" (open defecation). When sanitation systems are inadequate the health impacts can be extremely serious. This is evidenced in the estimated 1.5 million cases of diarrhoea in children under five and the 2001 outbreak of cholera.[14] According to estimates by the WHO/UNICEF global Joint Monitoring Program for water and sanitation based on survey and census data, the share of South Africans with access to adequate sanitation increased slowly from 69% in 1990 to 77% in 2008.[1]
Furthermore, substantial challenges remain in addressing historical inequalities in access to both water supply and sanitation, and in sustaining service provision over the long term.
Service quality is highly variable and data is sketchy. In 2003, 63% of municipalities were not able to say if they met drinking water quality standards or not. Water supply to 37% of households was interrupted for at least one day in 2003.[2] Customers did not and often still do not trust that drinking water quality is adequate. This is why the Department of Water Affairs introduced in 2008 a so-called "blue drop" incentive-based water quality regulation strategy. Under the strategy municipal service providers are certified with a "blue drop" if they fulfill certain requirements. These include not only compliance with water quality standards, but also the existence of a water safety plan, process controlling and the credibility of sample results, among others.[15] The system is regarded internationally as unique in the drinking water regulatory domain and has been well received by the World Health Organization. However, observers from the private sector say that a “strong spin element” surrounds the programme and that water quality is actually deteriorating nationally, "while the government attempts to discredit commentators who persist in their view that there is a problem".[16] In 2009, 23 water supply systems obtained the Blue Drop certification. In 2010, 9 lost it and 24 gained it for the first time, bringing the total to 38 (less than 5 percent) out of 787 systems that were assessed. The three top performers were Johannesburg, Cape Town and the small town of Bitou.[17][18]
Water supply is increasingly under pressure. Eutrophication is a growing concern [19] with about one third of the total volume of water held in strategic storage approaching the point where it is no longer fit for purpose without significant and costly management intervention. Return flows out of mining areas, particularly from gold mining activities, are rapidly deteriorating, with highly acidic water starting to decant from adandoned and derelict mines.[20]
55% of wastewater treatment plants, especially smaller ones, do not meet effluent standards and some do not even measure effluent quality. In analogy to the blue drop certification system for drinking water, the government has launched a green drop certification for municipal wastewater treatment. As of May 2011, 7 out of 159 water supply authorities were certified with the green drop, and 32 out of 1,237 wastewater treatment plants.[21] In 2009, when 449 wastewater treatment plants were assessed, according to official government data 7% were classified as excellently managed, 38 % "performed within acceptable standards" and 55% did not perform within acceptable standards.[22][23] According to Bluewater Bio, an international firm specialized in wastewater treatment, out of 1,600 wastewater treatment plants in South Africa - not all of which were included in the Green Drop assessment - at least 60% are not meeting regulatory compliance requirements.[24]
The public water and sanitation sector in South Africa is organized in three different tiers:
Banks, the professional association WISA, the Water Research Commission and civil society also are important stakeholders in the sector.
The Department of Water Affairs (DWA) in the Ministry of Water and Environmental Affairs is primarily responsible for the formulation and implementation of policy governing Water. In the water sector, it is in charge of policies for water resources management as well as water supply and sanitation.
Responsibility for service provision is shared among water boards and municipalities.
Water Boards. Government-owned Water Boards play a key role in the South African water sector. They operate dams, bulk water supply infrastructure, some retail infrastructure and some wastewater systems. Some also provide technical assistance to municipalities. Through their role in the operation of dams they also play an important role in water resources management. The Water Boards report to the Department of Water Affairs. There are 13 Water Boards in South Africa (see list below), together indirectly serving more than 24 million people in 90 municipalities in 2005, or about half the population of South Africa. The three largest Water Boards - Rand Water in Gauteng Province, Umgeni Water in KwaZulu Natal Province and Overberg Water – indirectly serve 10 million, 4 million and 2 million people respectively. This is three times as much (18 million) as all the 12 smaller water boards together (6 million).[25] Rand Water has a more than 100-year history[26] in the Gauteng area, the industrial heartland of South Africa. It buys water from DWA, treats it and sells it to large industries, mines and municipalities.
List of Water Boards in South Africa[27][28][29]
The following stock-watering water boards are to be transformed into water user associations (see NWA section 98(1)):[30][31]
Municipalities. According to the Constitution, the Municipal Structures Act and the Water Services Act of 1997[32] responsibility for the provision of water and sanitation services lies with the municipalities, which in practice means the country's 52 district municipalities. The national government can also assign responsibility for service provision to local municipalities, of which there are 231. (see Municipalities of South Africa) Overall, there are 169 water service authorities in South Africa, including water boards, district municipalities, local municipalities and municipal companies. The responsibility for rural water supply and sanitation has been transferred from the national government, represented by DWAF, to municipalities.
Private sector participation. Since 1994 some municipalities have involved the private sector in service provision in various forms, including contracts for specific services such as wastewater treatment, short-term management contracts and long-term concessions.
Research, training and knowledge. South Africa has a fairly strong research and training infrastructure in the water sector. The Water Research Commission (WRC) supports water research and development as well as the building of a sustainable water research capacity in South Africa. It serves as the country's water-centred knowledge ‘hub’ leading the creation, dissemination and application of water-centred knowledge, focusing on water resource management, water-linked ecosystems, water use and waste management and water utilisation in agriculture.[33]
The Water Institute of Southern Africa (WISA), a professional association, keeps its members abreast of the latest developments in water technology and research through its national and international liaison, links and affiliations.[34]
Financiers and promoters. The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) is an important player in the water and sanitation sector, both as a financier and as an advisor and project promoter. In 2005-2006 about 29% of its approved projects were for water supply (1,881 million Rand) and sanitation (165 million Rand).[35] Other financing institutions in the sector include the Infrastructure Finance Corporation Limited, which claims to be the only 100% privately owned infrastructure debt fund in the world.[36]
Civil society. South Africa has a vibrant civil society, comprising a large number of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with very diverse goals, membership and methods. On the one hand, civil society includes militant so-called "new social movements" that sprang up after the end of Apartheid, such as the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign formed in 2000 and the shack dweller organization Abahlali baseMjondolo formed in 2005. They fight water cut-offs for non-payment and are engaged in "mass popular appropriation" of water services. These groups claim to represent the poorest and most oppressed people in South Africa.
On the other hand, civil society in South Africa includes the Mvula trust which has disbursed over R300 million to water services programmes and projects and has provided services to over a million South Africans who previously did not have access to either water or sanitation services. It is specialized in implementing and supporting the delivery of water services in rural and peri-urban areas through community management, the establishment of community based water services providers and supporting local authorities to create an enabling environment for sustainability.[37]
South Africa experiences a brain drain that also affects the availability of qualified engineers in water and sanitation utilities. The number of civil engineers in municipalities has declined from 20 per 100,000 inhabitants in 1994 to 2.8 in 2009.[38] The reason for this is the official policy of cadre deployment, whereby only persons loyal to the ruling party are given jobs in different branches of government, irrespective of their level of technical competence or expertise.
The history of the water supply and sanitation sector since the end of Apartheid has been characterized by a strong government commitment to increase access to services and a gradual reduction of the role of Water Boards and the national government in service provision. There has also been a tension between the goal of increased cost recovery enshrined in the 1997 Water Services Act on the one hand, and the constitutional right to access to water introduced in 1996 and the policy of free basic water introduced in 2001 on the other hand. There have been a number of controversies on policies in the sectors, including about private sector participation, which was introduced in the mid-1990s, the practice of cutting off water or installing flow restrictors for those who do not pay their bills, and the installation of pre-paid meters.[39]
In 1994 the government published its first White Paper on Water and Sanitation Policy, which led to the Water Services Act of 1997.[32]
The Act calls for higher cost recovery, which proved a challenge due to widespread poverty and a culture of non-payment for water in many Townships, as a remnant of protests against Apartheid. Higher water tariffs and rigorous cut-offs for non-payment, or flow reductions through the installation of "tricklers" that allow only a very limited flow of water, imposed hardships on the poorest.
The Act also modified the role of Water Boards, providing a clear legal definition of the functions of Water Boards and municipalities. Water Boards have historically been the only bulk water providers. Municipalities were obliged to buy water through them. The Act allowed municipalities to develop their own bulk water supply infrastructure or to buy bulk water from providers other than Water Boards. Conversely it also allowed Water Boards to provide retail water services at the request of municipalities.[40] Since the Act has been passed the capacity of both Water Boards and many water service providers has increased significantly.
Free basic water. After Thabo Mbeki became President of South Africa in 1999 and a cholera outbreak occurred in 2000, the African National Congress promised free basic water during a municipal election campaign in December 2000. In July 2001 a revised tariff structure was suggested that included 6 "kilolitres"" (cubic meters) of free water per month (40 litre/capita/day for a family of five or 25 litre/capita/day for a family of eight). Putting the policy of free basic water in practice proved a challenge. The policy is only being implemented gradually.
Johannesburg management contract. Building on earlier experiences with private sector participation since 1994, a five-year management contract for water services in Johannesburg, South Africa's largest city and the country's economic and financial hub, was awarded in 2000 to the Joint Venture Water and Sanitation Services South Africa (WSSA). The Johannesburg management contract was not renewed when it expired in 2005. However, private operators continue to provide services in many other South African cities.
Pre-paid meters. Pre-paid meters were introduced in Johannesburg, including in Soweto, and in other cities as part of management contracts with private operators. These meters, which cut off water supply above the 6 cubic meter monthly limit if no payment is made, sparked substantial protests in poor neighbourhoods. In Johannesburg they were maintained even after the management contract expired.
In April 2008 the South African High Court found this practice unconstitutional, and wrote that denying the poor access to adequate water “is to deny them the rights to health and to lead a dignified lifestyle.” Further, the judge stated that “25 liters per person per day is insufficient for the residents of Phiri”, and ordered the city to provide free basic water in the amount of 50 liters per person per day with the option of an ordinary credit-metered water supply (instead of pre-paid) for more use. The Court apparently assumed a household size of eight. Phiri is a neighborhood in Soweto whose residents had sued against pre-paid meters.[41] However, in October 2009 the Constitutional Court overturned the case and declared pre-paid meters to be lawful.[42]
In response to the fact that access to sanitation lags significantly behind access to water, the government published its White Paper on Basic Household Sanitation in 2001.[43] It called for universal access to basic sanitation by March 2010, with priority accorded to communities with the greatest needs. The policy outlines the roles of the various stakeholders - households, municipalities, provincial governments, various branches of national government - and establishes coordination and monitoring mechanisms. It also calls for Infrastructure Grants to municipalities to finance investments in sanitation. The paper notes that it is the government's policy to provide free basic services to the poorest, but does not spell out how this policy will be implemented in the case of basic sanitation.
Following a second White Paper on water supply and sanitation policy published in 2002 (after the first White Paper in 1994) a national policy was established to further decentralize the sector, phasing out the national government's involvement in service provision, limiting DWAF's role to policy and regulation.[44] In rural areas this policy of decentralization has been supported by the Masibambane program, a sector-wide approach linked to budget-based donor support for rural water supply and sanitation. The initial investment was ZAR 2.2 billion (EUR 279 million) with a focus on the three poorest provinces and a target to reach about 2.5 million people. A 2004 evaluation by the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) Africa showed that the program performed well financially.[45] The program is now in its third phase.
Ministers of Water Affairs and Forestry
Ministers of Water and Environmental Affairs:
One indicator to measure the technical efficiency of water utilities is the level of non-revenue water. In a well-managed utility that level should be below about 25%. In Johannesburg, the estimated level declined from 44% in 2003 to 31% in 2006. In Durban it stood at an estimated average of 31% between 2002 and 2006. In Cape Town the estimates fluctuated significantly between 10% and 37%, suggesting that the estimates may not be reliable. The average level of non-revenue water for South African utilities participating in the International Benchmarking Network for Water and Sanitation Utilities in the 2002-2006 period was 31%.[46]
Tariff level. Tariffs include bulk water tariffs charged by water boards to municipalities and retail water tariffs charged by municipalities to users. Bulk water tariffs vary greatly. In 2011 the largest water board, Rand Water, charged Rand 3.97 (US$1.35) per cubic meter. The highest bulk water tariff (Rand 9.11 or US$0.59 per cubic meter) was charged by the financially crippled Namakwa Water Board, while the lowest tariff (Rand 2.28 or US$0.34) was charged by the Pelladrift Water Board.[47]
Retail water tariff vary between municipalities and between user categories, with non-residential users being charged higher tariffs than residential users. Typically water tariffs also vary with consumption, with higher tariffs applied to higher consumption. For example, in 2010 Johannesburg water provided between 6 and 15 cubic meters of water per month for free, depending on the poverty level of residents. For those considered not poor, the tariff for the tranche between 6 and 10 cubic meters was R4.93 (US$0.73), for the tranche up to 15 cubic meters it was R7.31 (US$1.08) and so on until R14.94 (US$2.21) for a consumption exceeding 40 cubic meters per month.[48] Poor households have to register themselves as "indigent" (poor), which - according to critics - leads to a situation where only a fraction of the poor receive the higher free basic water allocation to which they are eligible.[49]
The average retail water tariff in 2006 for a sample of cities and across all consumption levels was estimated to be the equivalent of US$1.06 per cubic meter.[3] There is little information available on their affordability, i.e. the share of water bills in household income.
Cost recovery. In 2010, eleven of the 13 water boards were financially viable. The exceptions were Namakwa and Bushbuckridge water boards. Municipalities owed the water boards more than Rand 1.3bn (about US$ 200 million). There is little information available on the financial viability of municipal water utilities.
Free basic water. South Africa has introduced a policy of free basic services, including water, electricity and solid waste collection.[50] As part of that policy, every household is to receive the first 6 cubic meters per month for free. The policy was introduced gradually since 2000 within the means of each municipality.[51] Each municipality decides if free basic water is made available to everyone or only to the poor. Most municipalities provide free basic water to all or almost all their residents. In 2010 the program reached 86% of all households. The cost of the policy has been estimated at 1.5bn Rand or 0.15% of GDP.[52]
Economist Paul Berkowitz of the Centre for Applied Legal Studies at Witwatersrand University concludes that it is a good program which reaches the poor without bankrupting municipalities.[53] However, according to Nkululeko Gmuede, a former official at the Department of Water Affairs, around 75% of all free water beneficiaries can actually afford to pay for their water. The policy is more successful in wealthier municipalities than in low-income rural areas. This is one of the reasons why in 2009 the government announced it would review its implementation strategy for free basic water, possibly through registers of poor users.[53]
It has been suggested to also adopt a policy of free basic sanitation, which is likely to present greater challenges.[51]
According to the Infrastructure Barometer published by DBSA and based on figures provided by the National Treasury, total investments in water supply and sanitation in 2002/2003 were as follows:
Total investments thus stood at 2,450 million Rand or about US$ 250 million, corresponding to about US$ 5/capita. The Compass does not mention any investments by DWAF.[54]
The 2002 White Paper estimated investments in the sector to be much higher, at 5bn Rand annually. This included 1.2 bn Rand of investments made by DWAF, 1.0 by Water Boards and 2.8 by municipalities.[55]
Municipal infrastructure investments were financed from the following sources in 2002/2003:
The larger municipalities rely more on loans and on internal cash generation, while the smaller ones depend more on grants and other sources of funding. Wealthier municipalities partially finance free basic water through cross-subsidies from non-residential users and local tax revenue.
All municipalities receive a constitutionally mandated share of national tax revenues as an unconditional recurrent grant, called "equitable share". The formula benefits poorer municipalities. In addition there is a Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) administered by the Department of Provincial and Local Government.[57] and a Capacity Building Grant. The MIG programme is aimed at providing all South Africans with at least a basic level of service by the year 2013 through the provision of grant finance to cover the capital cost of basic infrastructure for the poor.
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