Water service delivery challenges - What role for WDM?

Abstract

Municipal water services Water is a precious yet scarce resource in South Africa. The recent countrywide protests for improved water (and other) services bear clear testimony of the deep-seated and potentially explosive water supply challenges that South Africa face. In extreme cases, lives have been lost and relations broken, as communities lost patience on waiting for reliable supply of the essential resource – water. From across the country communities have taken to the streets to express their frustration on the lack of clean, safe and sustainable water supplies. While a number of these vexing challenges are due to capacity challenges, one cannot deny that some have a lot to do with the scarcity of the precious resource. This article looks at the South African water service delivery challenges in the lenses of resource availability as well as managerial and operational capacity in the country. The article also attempts to reconcile these challenges with the opportunities that water conservation and demand management initiatives could offer to rescue troubled communities.

Authors

Categories