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1 Hofstetter, Moritz; Bolding, A.; van Koppen, Barbara. 2020. Addressing failed water infrastructure delivery through increased accountability and end-user agency: the case of the Sekhukhune District, South Africa. Water Alternatives, 13(3):843-863.
Water supply ; Infrastructure ; Water policy ; Public services ; Rural areas ; Local government ; Project planning ; Financing ; Investment ; Community involvement ; Political aspects ; Accountability ; Patronage / South Africa / Sekhukhune / Ga-Moela
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H049943)
http://www.water-alternatives.org/index.php/alldoc/articles/vol13/v13issue3/595-a13-3-13/file
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H049943.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H049943.pdf
(0.39 MB) (399 KB)
Despite progressive policies and a legal framework that includes the constitutional right to sufficient water, there are still enormous problems with water service delivery in low income rural South Africa. To understand the factors responsible for the observed discrepancy between ambitious policies and disappointing water service delivery, we undertook an analysis of the implementation of these policies in Sekhukhune District, South Africa; we scrutinised the public service water delivery in that district using an actor-oriented approach. We found that during the four phases of public water services delivery – identification, planning, construction and operation – practices often deviated from the stipulated policies; we also found that accountability relations between service delivery agencies and end users were undermined by gatekeeping and patronage. We argue that there is no need for major policy changes; we concluded from our research that by mobilising mechanisms that are based on existing policies, accountability relations can be strengthened and service delivery improved. We describe an experimental approach which focuses on budget transparency and end-user-driven development; it is an approach which aims at strengthening the agency of end users while limiting possibilities for rent-seeking and gatekeeping by councillors and contractors.
2 Hofstetter, Moritz; van Koppen, Barbara; Bolding, A. 2021. The emergence of collectively owned self-supply water supply systems in rural South Africa – what can we learn from the Tshakhuma case in Limpopo? Water SA, 47(2):253-263. [doi: https://doi.org/10.17159/wsa/2021.v47.i2.10921]
Water supply ; Collective ownership ; Community involvement ; Rural areas ; Institutions ; Governance ; Investment ; Accountability ; Infrastructure ; Water users ; Water quality ; Households ; Case studies / South Africa / Limpopo / Tshakhuma
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H050441)
(0.79 MB) (805 KB)
Despite the rapid extension of public service delivery since the end of Apartheid, many rural citizens in South Africa still rely on their own initiatives and infrastructure to access water. They construct, improve, operate and maintain infrastructure of different complexities, from individual wells to complex collectively owned water schemes. While most of these schemes operate without legal recognition, they provide essential services to many households. In this article we will first provide an overview of the growing international body of literature describing self-supply as an alternative pathway for public service delivery. We then take a historical perspective on the role of communities and self-supply in South Africa and describe the emergence of six collectively owned, gravity-fed, piped schemes in Tshakhuma, Limpopo Province. We describe and compare these systems using key characteristics like resource access, investment, construction, operation, maintenance and institutional governance. We further assess their performance with regard to coverage, service level, reliability, governance structure, accountability and water quality. We do so because we are convinced that lessons learned from studying such schemes as locally adapted prototypes have the potential to improve public approaches to service delivery. The described cases show the willingness of community members to engage with service delivery and their ability to provide services in cases where the state has failed. The assessment also highlights problematic aspects of self-supply related to a lack of accountability, technical expertise and the exclusion of disadvantaged community members. By describing and assessing the performance of rural self-supply schemes, we aim to recognize, study and learn from such schemes. We consequently do not conclude this article by providing answers, but by raising some pertinent, policy-relevant questions.
3 van Koppen, Barbara; Hofstetter, Moritz; Nesamvuni, A. E.; Chiluwe, Q. 2020. Integrated management of multiple water sources for multiple uses: rural communities in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Water SA, 46(1):1-11. [doi: https://doi.org/10.17159/wsa/2020.v46.i1.7870]
Multiple use water services ; Integrated management ; Water management ; Rural communities ; Communal irrigation systems ; Infrastructure ; Community involvement ; Water supply ; Water resources ; Groundwater ; Water use ; Rainwater harvesting ; Water quality ; Sanitation ; Villages ; Households ; Livelihoods / South Africa / Limpopo / Sekhukhune / Vhembe / Ga-Moela / Khalavha / Tshakhuma / Ha-Gumbu / Ga-Mokgotho / Phiring
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H050552)
(0.74 MB) (755 KB)
This study fills a knowledge gap about low-income rural communities’ holistic management of multiple water resources to meet their multiple needs through multiple or single-use infrastructure. Six low-income rural villages in Limpopo Province were selected with a diversity in: service levels, surface and groundwater resources, public infrastructure (designed for either domestic uses or irrigation but multiple use in reality) and self-supply (people’s individual or communal investments in infrastructure). Focusing on water-dependent livelihoods and water provision to homesteads, distant fields and other sites of use, three policy-relevant patterns were identified. First, most households have two or more sources of water to their homesteads as a vital buffer to irregular supplies and droughts. Second, infrastructure to homesteads is normally for domestic uses, livestock and, for many households, irrigation for consumption and sale. Public infrastructure to irrigate distant fields is multiple use. Exceptionally, self-supply point sources to distant fields are single use. Water bodies to other sites of use are normally multiple use. As for large-scale infrastructure, multiple-use infrastructure is cost-effective and water-efficient. Third, in four of the six villages people’s self-supply is a more important water source to homesteads than public infrastructure. In all villages, water provided through self-supply is shared. Self-supply improves access to water faster, more cost-effectively and more sustainably than public services do. In line with international debates, self-supply is there to stay and can be supported as a cost-effective and sustainable complementary mode of service delivery. A last potential policy implication regards community-driven planning, design and construction of water infrastructure according to people’s priorities. This may sustainably harness the above-mentioned advantages and, moreover, communities’ ability to manage complex multiple sources, uses and multiple-use infrastructure, whether public or self-supply, as a matter of daily life.
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