Community-based approaches are of fundamental importance in the development of rural water supply and sanitation. Three case studies demonstrate that, by means of negotiation, need assessment, community participation, community-based management and appropriate technology, a reasonable degree of success can be achieved in providing an adequate and safe drinking water supply to most unserved communities. The research also shows that necessary negotiations with the government are often more complex and time-consuming than those with the community itself. Either the weight of bureaucratic processes or the lack of capacity and willingness on the part of the government to implement small-scale water projects using community-based approaches, were the reasons for the complexity of negotiations in one case study. It was also found that self-initiated projects with strong back-up support from development agencies are more successful than are projects initiated from outside. It was also noticed that community-based management is feasible and that it can lead to sustainable development. / Sociology / M.A (Social Science)

Thesis - Master of Management in Public Policy. University of Witwatersrand, Wits School of Governance / Objective: In this study I deconstruct South Africa’s sanitation policy in order to understand why demand-driven service delivery (i.e. service delivery based on collective action) has failed as a tool for public policy management. The overall objective was to locate both case-specific as well as generalizable answers in the data. Method: Guided by deconstructivism and Grounded Theory Methodology this paper mapped out the South African policy landscape and proceeded to code the data collected in that exercise through three rounds of coding. Once these elements of the planning which went into the study were explained and demonstrated, the results were shared. Thereafter the details of theory-building were explained before moving on to provide a literature review to position the study. Lastly, the emergent theory was applied to the South African sanitation case as a test of usefulness. Results: The emergent codes indicated a general consensus around the idea that public policy governance is largely the responsibility of government which is seen as powerful, while individual citizens are seen as marginalized and disempowered in the course of hoping to realize their rights. Deeper analysis revealed that individual citizens are the true holders of power as they have outsourced their responsibility to participate in collective action to government, leaving government alone in the process of service delivery. Conclusion: Demand-driven service delivery fails as a tool of public policy governance where there is a misunderstanding of public policy which prevents collective action. A quasi-theory of governance as collaboration emerged as the necessary solution to this problem. / MT2017

This thesis is a case study investigation of the sustainability of private sector participation in water supply and sanitation in developing countries, with a particular emphasis on South Africa. It is essentially an empirical contribution, which adds to the body of literature pertaining to the privatisation of water supply and sanitation services in developing countries. South Africa, like many developing countries, faces a significant challenge in providing a sustainable water supply and sanitation service to its citizens. It has a vast water supply and sanitation infrastructure backlog, because of the previous apartheid) government's minimal attention to the basic service needs of the African, Indian and Coloured people. This lack of basic services has had a negative effect on people's health and their basic living conditions. The traditional delivery vehicles for water supply and sanitation delivery in South Africa have been its municipalities. After the demise of the apartheid government, the democratic national government restructured these municipalities under various. processes. They merged neighbouring towns and villages, which incorporated former rural areas to achieve economies-of-scale. The intention was to ensure service delivery to the previously disadvantaged, through a mechanism of cross-subsidisation from the affluent to the indigent. However, these newly-demarcated non-metropolitan municipalities, still do not have the finances to extend the water supply and sanitation infrastructure network to rural areas within their jurisdiction. They also lack the good credit ratings to borrow funds from banks to finance new water supply and sanitation infrastructure. The rural population also has low abilities-to-pay for water supply and sanitation services. With total basic infrastructure backlogs estimated to exceed R270 billion in South Africa, the challenge to all tiers of government is considerable. Just rural water supply and sanitation over the next ten years requires R13.5 billion for the financing of new and rehabilitation of old, infrastructure. Faced with this dilemma, national government has attempted to resolve it by following the route taken by other developing nations, that is, by seeking the assistance of the private sector, National,provincial, or access to it. and some local governments argue that it is only the private sector that has the financial resources to fund this infrastructure backlog. To facilitate this change in service delivery vehicles. national government developed legislation to create an enabling environment for the entry of the private sector in the arena of water supply and sanitation provision. This transition has occurred with significant controversy and opposition. Many opponents to any form of privatisation base their argument on privatisation's fundamental drivers not being aligned with the goals of a development state. In the South African situation, these opponents include some organised labour trade unions, researchers, and labour-based research organisations. With firm pressure from this antiprivatisation coalition, private sector participation in water supply and sanitation services has been significantly staggered or impeded. Whilst this study provides evidence that this case of privatisation is not sustainable in the long-term, which is in agreement with this anti-privatisation coalition, the reasons underpinning the conclusion of this study, differ significantly from those of this coalition. The arguments that underpin differences in the opposition's views and this thesis are analysed throughout the rubric of this study. Three elemental constructs underpin the theoretical framework of this study. These constructs are compartmentalised into the nature of public goods and their natural monopoly status, the efficiencies of privatisation and its relation to ethics. and globalisation issues specifically dealing with the roles oftransnational companies. The study will show that the transfer of water supply and sanitation service delivery to the private sector in South Africa has not been sustainable due to various factors. These factors are investigated through the medium of empirical and case study analyses at a national and global comparative scale. Factors investigated include the reasons behind the privatisation, its transition period and procurement of public and other stakeholder buy-in to the change in service delivery, the role that the state has played in providing the enabling environment for privatisation, and the effectiveness of the opposition in delaying or impeding the pace of privatisation. The study also reveals that pilot projects have a special status and access to greater institutional support, which might facilitate its success. This extra attention might not be realisable in successive projects. Factors underpinning a successful privatisation include issues of efficiency, regulation and financial issues. These are also investigated within the rubric of the empirical and case study analyses. The impact of globalisation and the role of transnational companies with apparently "new technologies" and foreign direct investment, which pervade water supply and sanitation privatisation in developing countries, are also discussed. The case study examinations also provide evidence that in the South African situation, these apparent foreign technological innovations have yet to be confirmed. For South Africa and the other developing nations, the foreign direct investment has also been minimal in comparison to the profits that leave these host countries from the water supply and sanitation sector. The primary case study that underpins this research is the pilot project test case for the South African national government, the Dolphin Coast concession in its Kwazulu-Natal province . A comprehensive investigation of this concession provides evidence of the project's commercial failure. However, the concession remains in the hands of a private sector operator, due to the municipality controversially renegotiating the terms of the contract to facilitate the concession's continuity. This "municipal intervention" trend is noticeable in some international case studies. The English privatisation case is also investigated to provide a contrast between privatisation in a developed nation and a developing one. It also provides an insight into the facilitative environment of the English privatisation case, as compared to that of developing nations. The English privatisation, although not without controversy, was a decision taken by the government on efficiency grounds, whilst developing nations have taken the privatisation step based on reasons of infrastructure deficiency and a lack of finance. Essentially, the former is a push factor, whilst the latter has been a pull factor. This thesis includes a case study investigation conducted at the World Bank in New Delhi, India, which provides evidence of the opposition from state bureaucrats to privatisation in India. This serves as a contrast to the organised worker opposition in South Africa, and highlights some of the differing impediments that face privatisation attempts in each respective country. It shows that the reasons underpinning the opposition to privatisation in developing nations facing similar crises are, in fact, dissimilar. The study also investigates the success that can be achieved through the economies-of scale of a public sector utility in South Africa, shown by the Umgeni Water case study. This is essentially a public agency that has corporatised5 along business principles and employed economies-of-scale to become a successful example of public sector water supply and sanitation provision in a developing country. Cumulatively, this study provides evidence that, in South Africa, the transfer of water supply and sanitation services to the private sector is not sustainable without some degree of state intervention. This is especially evident in cases where there are no economies-of-scale to be exploited, and a lack of affluent people to ensure a critical degree of payment of tariffs or cross-subsidisation to the indigent. In effect, by transferring these services to private hands, this would serve only to postpone the eventual lack of sustainability that these services are currently experiencing in public sector hands. The evidence reveals that the privatisation of water supply and sanitation services in South Africa is not a commercially viable option in the long-term, under the normal mechanisms of supply and demand of the market. Concomitantly, the South African national government and its municipalities are faced with a new dilemma. The private sector can provide immediate sources of financing for urgent water supply and sanitation infrastructure development that cannot be similarly procured from limited state funds or other sources. Considering the urgency to provide water supply and sanitation infrastructure, because of the health-related effects that no access creates, privatisation, with strong regulation, may be a more amicable alternative to the current financial restrictions on municipalities, until a more comprehensive and sustainable solution is found. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

Providing sanitation to poor communities entails delivering services to people that are marginalized in many aspects; the social, economic and political. The challenge to design sanitation projects that address the utmost need of the poor and are economically and environmental sound is enormous. Urine Diversion (UD) system is a sanitation technology that separates urine from human excreta. UD technology, offers potential solutions for some of the economic and ecological challenges generated by the conventional sanitation technologies. However, to make this technology work and acceptable effective sanitation approaches that work well at grassroots are required. This thesis highlights fundamental processes and principles that can help in designing and implementing effective UD sanitation projects. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007

Community-based approaches are of fundamental importance in the development of rural water supply and sanitation. Three case studies demonstrate that, by means of negotiation, need assessment, community participation, community-based management and appropriate technology, a reasonable degree of success can be achieved in providing an adequate and safe drinking water supply to most unserved communities. The research also shows that necessary negotiations with the government are often more complex and time-consuming than those with the community itself. Either the weight of bureaucratic processes or the lack of capacity and willingness on the part of the government to implement small-scale water projects using community-based approaches, were the reasons for the complexity of negotiations in one case study. It was also found that self-initiated projects with strong back-up support from development agencies are more successful than are projects initiated from outside. It was also noticed that community-based management is feasible and that it can lead to sustainable development. / Sociology / M.A (Social Science)

This study seeks to determine whether the conflict between the City of Cape Town (CCT) and the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) is resulting in positive or negative outcomes from the perspective of the residents concerned. In principle, engagement, between civil society and local government should lead to an improvement in terms of the meeting of needs or wants for those communities whose interests are being contested, or at the very least an improved understanding of the plans and challenges faced by both. Further, the engagement and/or conflict between local government and civil society, if positive, should ideally lead to greater understanding between all stakeholders and the strengthening of relations between them government, civil society and the relevant community interests. The motivation of this study is to explore the unanswered issues such as, whether the SJC has gone beyond the use of acceptable tactics associated with responsible and effective civil society actors and whether it would be justified if they have; if the SJC’s actions have resulted in an actual improvement in the accelerated realization of the socio-economic rights of the communities whose interests they purport to represent; whether the communities ‘represented’ by the SJC see them as their effective advocate for the interests and concerns ; if the issue of sanitation is the primary issue for the residents concerned as claimed by the SJC; if the residents of the communities concerned feel the same animosity to the CCT that the SJC does.

Thesis (MTech (Public Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2009 / Access to basic water and sanitation services in South Africa is considered a basic human right, and constitutionally, local government is responsible for the provision thereof. However, in the informal settlements in towns and cities, residents continue to be exposed to environmental health risks that result from poor and inadequate basic sanitation provision. Municipalities are under pressure to address the sanitation backlog according to the national target that is based on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). The provision of infrastructure alone does not account for the provision of an improved, safer and more hygienic environment for its users. A badly managed sanitation facility is an environmental health risk, and it encourages inappropriate and unsafe sanitation practice. Municipalities cannot claim to meet the sanitation backlog targets unless appropriate and effective management systems are in place to operate and maintain the basic sanitation facilities provided. Through the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) process, local government is encouraged to develop partnerships to promote economic development and job creation, particularly in areas of extreme poverty and high unemployment through the delivery of services. Public participation, social learning, empowerment and sustainability are the key components of the people-centred development approach that currently guides the delivery of municipal services South Africa (Davids,I. 2005). The White Paper on Local Government advocates municipalities to work with communities to find sustainable ways to meet their needs through an approach that is driven by formulating linkages between development, service delivery and local citizen participation (Mogale, T. 2005:219). It is also argued that the only way to effectively link poverty reduction strategies and improved service delivery is through the formation of partnerships that are based on meaningful participation (Mogale, T. 2003). Public participation also allows for an opportunity for increased community buy-in and support that is essential for the sustainable delivery of services to informal settlements so as to reduce incidents of misuse and vandalism. Communication and collaboration across municipal departments is also required, as sanitation service delivery in its broad definition, falls across the Water Services, Health and Solid Waste Departments. Hence the need for an integrated and inclusive approach to planning is required. Using a participatory action research (PAR) process, this study proposes to investigate whether there are local community-based opportunities for the procurement of some of the operation and maintenance tasks for the recently refurbished public ablution blocks in an informal settlement within the City of Cape Town. Public ablution blocks are one of the sanitation technology options available for the provision of shared basic sanitation services provided to informal settlements within the City of Cape Town. The research is divided into three stages. The first two stages serve as the building blocks for the third stage of the research. The objectives are to obtain an improved understanding of the “local knowledge” at community level, to obtain an understanding of the operation and maintenance activities in informal settlements currently being undertaken by City of Cape Town, and to initiate contacts and develop relationships with key stakeholders for their participation in the focus group discussions in the third stage. The third stage of the research proposes to adopt a participatory approach involving key stakeholders to identify the opportunities and make recommendations to the City of Cape Town to consider for the development of an operational plan for the operation and maintenance of the Khayelitsha Ablution Blocks.

Thesis (M. Dev.) -- University of Limpopo, 2016. / In South Africa, particularly in the Limpopo Province, the handling of human excreta and the use of human excreta for food production are still not valued and generally not acceptable. The issue of social acceptance is one of the several issues that must be tackled in order to successfully institute the practice of human waste reuse in agriculture. As such, this study explored the attitudes and perceptions towards the utilisation of urine and faeces as the alternative to chemical fertilizer in a rural agriculture in Ga-Mothapo, Polokwane Local Municipality in Limpopo. The study adopted a qualitative approach using a case study design. Data was collected using face to face interviews. A majority of the households indicated that they are not comfortable with the idea of using human excreta for agricultural purpose. According to them, it was against their cultural beliefs and it is a taboo to use the waste of human as they prefer to use animal waste instead. The health risk and environmental contamination were also highlighted by the households as weighing against the use of human excreta. Even though some respondents mentioned that using human excreta has the potential to enrich their depleted agricultural soils, and that it had the effect of reducing the cost of buying commercial fertilizers, they still felt uncomfortable using it. This study concludes by recommending that there is a need for constant intervention and awareness to address the issue of food security through ecological sanitation which will promote sustainable agriculture by providing soil with nutrients. Keywords: Ecological Sanitation, Human Excreta, Perceptions, Attitudes, Food Security

Thesis (M. Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2016 / The purpose of this study was to investigate the social factors that affect the acceptability of the Enviro Loo sanitation technology in schools. The study adopted the anti-positivism theory. Phenomenology school of thought was used as one of the three schools of thoughts as marked under Anti-positivism. The qualitative research method had its foothold in the fact that social factors, as a human activity, occurs in a particular natural and social environment. Utilising the qualitative research design, the researcher focused on describing and understanding the social factors that influence the acceptability of the Enviro Loo sanitation technology at schools. The study utilised an interview guide to collect data. The advantage of this is that it allowed the researcher to probe and ask for clarification of some answers as given by the respondents The population of this study comprised 35 secondary schools in Limpopo Province that benefited from the implementation of the Enviro Loo sanitation technology system during the 2010/11 financial years. Non-probability sampling was used. The method used to select the schools was convenience sampling as a non-probability sampling technique where subjects are selected because of their convenient accessibility and proximity to the researcher. This is because the researcher was bound by time, money and workforce and because of these limitations, it was almost impossible to randomly sample the entire population. Three sets of focus groups were used as sample, namely; the Provincial Sanitation Task Team (PSTT), School Governing Body (SGB) and Leaner’s Representative Council (LRC). All groups were gender balanced and members participated voluntarily. Nvivo was utilised to analyse data. The audio recordings from the digital voice recorder were transcribed, translated into English, typed into word and thematic analysis was used.

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