Needs and delivery

The RDP sets a standard of 25 litres of water per person per day. In the CASE/Fafo survey, respondents were asked where they mainly get water for household use. From table 8.4, it is clear that the availability of water is still problematic, especially for respondents in the Northern Province.

Slightly more than one in two respondents in Gauteng and KwaZulu Natal have an indoor tap, as opposed to slightly more than one in three for the Northern Prov-ince. One in three Gauteng residents, one in four residents in Northern Province and one in five residents in KwaZulu Natal rely on an outdoor tap on their premis-es for their water. One in ten rpremis-espondents for both the Northern Province and KwaZulu Natal only have access to water from a river or stream, while one in twenty from these two provinces are reliant on a borehole or well for their water supply.

Lack of access to running water forces many people, especially the rural poor, to walk long distances to fetch water. Figure 8.1 provides a breakdown by province and area, of those respondents in the CASE/Fafo survey of beneficiaries, who said their main source of water was more than 200m away.

Table 8.4 Main source of water for household use, percentages e

-6 The subsidy was recently reduced to R600.

7 This is no longer a Mvula Trust programme, but part of the general DWAF programmes. The programme is however currently under revision.

We also asked respondents who do not have an indoor tap or a tap on their premis-es (24% of the sample) whether their source of water was more or lpremis-ess than 200m from their dwelling. In Ga*uteng, slightly fewer than one in three respondents had to go more than 200m, while this applied to half of those living in KwaZulu Natal and one in two in the Northern Province.

Slightly more than one in two respondents interviewed said they have no in-door tap. Of these, nearly half said their main source of water was less than 200m away. We asked these respondents how long it took them (total time) to access their water supply. Forty six percent of respondents with a water supply within 200m of their dwelling said it took them less than 15 minutes to fetch water and return to their dwelling. For one in every seven respondents with a water supply within 200m of their residence, it took in excess of one hour. The greatest proportion (43%) of respondents who said that their main source of water was more than 200m away

Figure 8.1 People whose main source of water is in excess of 200m, percentages (by area and province)

Metro informal Small urban-formal Small urban informal Rural homestead/

kraal Rural farm

Mean Northern

Province KwaZulu Natal Gauteng

0 102030405060708090100

Percent

Figure 8.2 Access time to nearest water supply, percentages (by province) Less than

quarter of an hour

More than 15, but less than 30 minutes,

30 minutes or more but less than 60 minutes

More than 60

minutes Don't know

0 102030405060708090100

Percent Gauteng

KwaZulu Natal Northern Province

took in excess of one hour to access it and return to their dwelling. Only 28% of respondents who had to travel more than 200m took 30 minutes or less to access their water. Figure 8.2 examines people’s access time to a water source by province.

For the greatest proportion of Gauteng respondents, total time to access water is less than 15 minutes. This time period applies to only one in four people from the Northern Province and only one in five people from KwaZulu Natal. For more than half of KwaZulu Natal respondents, it takes in excess of 30 minutes to access their water, while the same applies to slightly less than half of the respondents from the Northern Province.

In our provincial survey, we tried to assess whether people felt they had suffi-cient water to meet their daily household needs. The following table reflects the distribution of people in the three provinces who say water supply is sufficient.

Gauteng residents were more likely to express satisfaction with the quantity of water available than Northern Province or KwaZulu Natal residents. More than nine in ten Gauteng respondents interviewed said they their water supply was adequate, while this applied to one in two people from the Northern Province and only six in ten people from KwaZulu Natal.

We asked respondents who said they did not have enough water for their daily use (22% of the sample) what the main reason for this was. Overall, the greatest proportion of respondents said the main reason was that they had no regular source of water. Affordability did not rate high on the list of reasons, with only 1% of KwaZulu Natal residents and 3% of people from Northern Province giving this response. By contrast, one in six Gauteng respondents gave this response. For re-spondents residing in KwaZulu Natal, less half said the main reason they did not

Figure 8.3 Area distribution of people who say water supply is sufficient to meet household needs, percentages

Metro formal Metro informal Small urban-formal Small urban informal Rural homestead/

kraal

Rural farm Northern

Province KwaZulu Natal Gauteng

0 102030405060708090100

Percent

have an adequate water supply was as a result of their well or borehole being dry.

Figure 8.4 reflects responses given by respondents in terms of payment for water.

We asked respondents whether they paid for the water they used. If the cost of water was included in their rent, the answer was coded as if the respondent had said s/he does pay for his/her water use. If the respondent said they were engaged in boycotting of payment for services, the answer was coded as “no”. Unfortunately, reasons for non-payment were not supplied. Gauteng residents were more likely to pay for their water services than those residing in Northern Province or KwaZulu Natal. A surprisingly high number of people (one in three) with an indoor tap who live in Northern Province said they did not pay for their water, as opposed to only 9% of respondents in Gauteng and KwaZulu Natal.

Among people with an outdoor tap on the premises, there is an even greater disparity between Northern Province respondents and people residing in Gauteng

Figure 8.4 Paying for use of water. Percentages (by main water source)

Tap Inside dwelling Tap on premises Tap in area Borehole/Well River Tank Other

Mean Northern

Province KwaZulu Natal Gauteng

0 102030405060708090100

Percent

Figure 8.5 Noticed new water services in your community? (by province)

Yes, on properties and streets On properties only In streets only No

0 102030405060708090100

Percent Gauteng

KwaZulu Natal Northern Province

or KwaZulu Natal. Only one in three respondents in Northern Province with an outdoor tap on their premises said they pay for their water, as opposed to three in four respondents from Gauteng and KwaZulu Natal.

Respondents were asked whether they were aware of, or had seen any new wa-ter services in their community within the last five years. Figure 8.5 indicates the percentage of people who have noticed new water services in their communities.

Overall, the response was not positive. Only one in four people from Gauteng and one in three from Northern Province and KwaZulu Natal said they had no-ticed new water delivery infrastructure. This needs to be seen in relation to access to water and general levels of satisfaction in terms of water supply quantity. The fairly developed level of water supply infrastructure in Gauteng seems to indicate that new water development initiatives are less needed than in other provinces or in more outlying areas. In Northern Province and KwaZulu Natal – the two prov-inces, which are worse-off in terms of access to water and adequate quantity of water – there is a slightly greater awareness of new water development initiatives.