The South African Experience on Legal, Institutional and Operational Aspects of the Rights to Water and Sanitation

This article describes the policy and legislative developments that have made the rights to water and sanitation a reality in South Africa since apartheid ended in 1994. A household survey as part of the formal national census in 2011 indicated that a remarkable 91.2 per cent of households already had the benefit of piped water in the house or yard. The key success factors over the last 20 years include a strong political will and commitment, sufficient funding, sound and practical policies, good planning and monitoring of progress. The progressive principle is applied to not only provide access but also to continuously improve the quality of service, such as water closer to homes or safe water at the tap. A number of challenges remain such as poor operation and maintenance, limited capacity in some municipalities, poor payment of water over and above the basic free volume and inadequate regulation to enforce the service standards.