South Africa: Heated Debate on Water Cut-Off Statistics

SOUTH AFRICA: HEATED DEBATE ON WATER CUT-OFF STATISTICS

Source Weekly, 1 July 2003

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The claim that up to 10 million South Africans have experienced water cut-offs due to non-payment of water bills has been vigorously attacked in parliament and the media by Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry, Mr. Ronnie Kasrils. The cut-off statistics, which come from a book [1] published in 2002 by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), have been linked to South Africa's cost recovery policies and privatization.

The HSRC has since distanced itself from the statistics saying that
they came from "an independent, external researcher" and "considerably overestimate the phenomenon". Mr. Kasrils said that the government acts against irregular cutoffs while legal water restrictions "number only in the thousands at any one time". The Minister added that many villages "down the line" suffer cut-offs because "cheap populists" encourage illegal connections.

Researcher Dr. David McDonald, one of the editors of the HSRC book, is sticking by the 10 million cut-off figure, saying that the data from the national survey of 2,500 people in July 2001, have been extrapolated "to get a more realistic picture of the number of people affected by disconnections". In an address to Parliament, Minister Kasrils said that the new Water Services White Paper will propose that municipalities may restrict flow to the free basic water level rather than cutting it off completely.

[1] McDonald, D.A. and Pape, J. (eds). (2002). Cost recovery and the crisis of service delivery in South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa, Human Sciences Research Council Publishers. http://www.irc.nl/source/item.php/1048

Contact:
Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF), South Africa,
fax: +27-12-3246592, http://www.dwaf.gov.za/Contact.asp

Dr David McDonald, Co-Director, Municipal Services Project, Southern African Research Centre, Queen's University, Canada,
mailto:, /msp/

Mr. Mike de Klerk, Executive Director, Integrated Rural and Regional
Development Research Programme, HSRC, mailto:

DWAF, 6 Jun 2003,
http://www.dwaf.gov.za/Communications/Press%20Releases/2003/BUDGET%20Press%20Release%20version%201.doc

DWAF, 8 Jun 2003,
http://www.dwaf.gov.za/Communications/Articles/Minister/2003/Cutoffs%20article%20WEBSITE.doc

DWAF, 25 Jun 2003,
http://www.dwaf.gov.za/Communications/Articles/Minister/2003/myth%20to%20realityarticle%2025%20June.doc

HSRC, 6 Jun 2003, http://www.hsrc.ac.za/media/2003/6/20030606_1.html

Sunday Independent, 19 Jun 2003,
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?art_id=qw1056016620891W362&set_id=1&click_id=13&sf