Stats SA claims that most South Africans have access to water and electricity, but are services up to standard?

Households in the Western Cape and Gauteng experience better access to services than other provinces.

According to Statistics SA, some progress has been made over the years to ensure South African households have access to basic services, but services are still limited in some provinces.

On Thursday, Statistics SA published its report, titled ‘The state of basic services in South Africa: analysis of Census 2022 data’. It claimed that the majority of households in the country have access to piped water, use toilets, receive relocation services and have access to electricity.

Access to clean water

Statistics SA found that 91.3% of households in the country had access to piped water. Access to quality water is included in the country’s constitution under the Bill of Rights to enhance “human dignity, the achievement of equality and the promotion of human rights and freedoms.”

“Section 27 of the Constitution provides that everyone has the right to access to adequate water. Section 27(2) requires the state to take reasonable steps to realize this right.”

The Water Services Act sets minimum standards for water supply services, including, among other things, a minimum of 25 liters per person per day and a minimum of six kiloliters per household per month.

Role of municipality

The country has a three-tier system of government: national, provincial and local. Municipalities, which fall under local government, are responsible for providing basic services to communities.

The report indicates that of the 205 municipalities in the country, only 169 municipalities are licensed to provide water and sanitation services.

It says that 82.7% of households used tap water as their main source of drinking water in 2022. It added that 3.4% of households relied on unsafe water sources such as rivers, streams, springs, dams or stagnant water during the same period.

1.8% of households used water from suppliers.

Households by province

Access to piped water is best in the Western Cape (95.7% of households), followed by Gauteng (94.4%) and the Free State (91.9%).

“A significant percentage of households in the Eastern Cape (10.9%), KwaZulu-Natal (7.0%) and Limpopo (5.7%) continue to rely on unsafe water sources.”

The use of water vendors as the main drinking source was found in Limpopo (8.6%), North West (4.0%) and Mpumalanga (3.0%).

Bores were also a common water source in Limpopo (15.8%) and North West (11.0%), both of which are significantly higher than the national average of 4.6%.

Water breaks

Stats SA also provided detailed information on the number of households that experienced water cuts between 2011 and 2022. In more than a decade, the number of households experiencing water cuts had increased from 37.0% to 48.4%.

The number of households experiencing water cuts increased in all provinces except Limpopo, where it fell from 58.9% to 54.5%.

“The percentage of households reporting water cuts increased similarly across most municipal categories. In rural municipalities, the percentage of households experiencing water cuts decreased from 68.3% to 58.2% in 2022.”

Water savings per province

Although the rate of water cuts was still high, they were less common in the Western Cape (27.7%) and Gauteng (40.5%). “In contrast, a much higher percentage of households reported interruptions in the Northern Cape (65.8%), North West (65.2%) and Mpumalanga (60.9%).”

Water cuts are common across the country. On Wednesday, the University of Limpopo announced it had to suspend final exams due to problems with the province’s water supply.

Gauteng water issues

A few days ago, Joburg Water inquired 10,000 residents of Johannesburg that they will be without water.

This was due to repairs to a 600mm water main near the corner of Katherine and Pretoria Roads in Sandown.

This is despite the fact that Gauteng is one of the provinces with relatively high capacity dams. as the Vaal Dam falls.

Flush toilets in the country

According to Census 2022, there are 70.9% of households in the country with toilets connected to the public sewerage system or to a local septic system.

“Adequate access to good sanitation is critical to maintaining the health of the population. For this reason, the government aims to increase the percentage of households with access to functional sanitation facilities while eliminating the use of bucket toilets in formal areas,” the report said.

The most flush toilets were found in the Western Cape (93.9%) and Gauteng (89.7%), the least in Limpopo (35.2%), Mpumalanga (54.9%), North West ( 58.5%), Eastern Cape (58.7%) and KwaZulu-Natal (58.9%).

Small improvement in ten years

The report acknowledges that there are many households that still lack adequate sanitation, but there was a slight improvement between 2011 and 2022.

Nationally, access to improved sanitation increased by 11.8 percentage points to 80.7% between 2011 and 2022.

“The figure shows that access to improved sanitation increased in all provinces during this period. The largest increases were recorded in the Eastern Cape (23.2 percentage points), Limpopo (19.9 percentage points) and the North West (17.2%).”

Solid Waste Removal Services

Nationally, Stats SA says there was an increase in the number of households having their solid waste removed at least once a week, from 62.1% in 2011 to 67.1% in 2022.

The number of households that used their own landfill fell from 28.2% to 22.3%.

“Provincially, access to weekly solid waste disposal in 2022 was most common in the Western Cape (90.4%) and Gauteng (85.8%), and least common in Limpopo (32.2%) and Mpumalanga (51.7%).”

“More than half (55.6%) of households in Limpopo used scrap yards, followed by 37.4% in Mpumalanga and 34.6% in the Eastern Cape. The use of landfills for household waste was least common in the Western Cape (1.8%) and Gauteng (4.6%).”

Municipalities hinder electricity growth

Statistics show that Eskom is involved in the distribution of electricity in 140 municipalities, but some of these municipalities do not have service agreements.

“A lot of municipalities therefore fail to make payments for Eskom for the electricity supplied to households in its jurisdiction, leading to an accumulation of debt and threats from Eskom to cut off electricity to municipalities.”

Failure to service debts owed to Eskom efficiently would have significant implications for residential and commercial entities.

Data from the 2022 Census shows that 94.7% of households had access to electricity.

93.4% of households use electricity primarily for lighting, but many other households continue to use other energy sources for cooking for various reasons. including the costs and the inconsistent availability of electricity, and the availability of wood and other resources such as coal and charcoal.

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