In recent years South Africa has experienced numerous service delivery protests. These protests are a result of the lack of delivery of basic services such as water and sanitation (amongst others). To address this, local governments have taken part in benchmarking initiatives (National Benchmarking Initiative, Municipal Benchmarking Initiative) and regulation programmes (BlueDrop,GreenDrop) in an effort to improve the quality of potable water and sanitation services. The latter of these focuses on the quality of the water services delivered and neither focus on the efficiency with which this delivery is achieved. This study uses both nonparametric (data envelopment analysis) aswell as parametric (stochastic frontier) methods to assess the efficiency of water service provision in South Africa over a six year period from 2005 to 2010. Subsequently, the method which is most suited for use in the South African context is proposed. In addition, this study demonstrates how these methods can be used to determine the effectiveness of benchmarking initiatives, namely the National Benchmarking Initiative, in improving the efficiency of water service provision. Furthermore, additional insight into the selection ofm in them out of n bootstrap procedure for efficiency evaluations is established through a simulation study. The inclusion of efficiency evaluations into South African benchmarking initiatives provides new and important insight into the standard of water service delivery. As such, the techniques used in this study illustrate how efficiency analysis can enhance benchmarking initiatives in South Africa.

M.A. (Development Studies) / This study examines water service provision models in KwaZulu-Natal and asks to what extent the intention behind the implementation of a specific model of water service provision correlates with residents’ experiences of the service delivery model that is implemented within their township? Using a case study method this question was examined in two poor communities in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa that were characterised by different models of water service delivery. In the first case, namely Kwadukuza, municipal service provision is the operating model, whilst in the second case, Etete, a Public-Private Partnership governs water service delivery. In examining the different models of water service delivery in the two communities and how they are perceived and experienced by stakeholders, this research primarily expands on existing literature on water service provision within South Africa. It furthermore contributes to broader discussions on decentralisation and citizen participation, whilst building on scholarly debates on water privatisation and partnerships in the context of townships in South Africa. The study begins with a consideration of relevant literature, examining the growing impetus of decentralisation globally, as well as the concurrent emergence of neoliberal thinking and New Public Management strategies. Thereafter, debates on water privatisation are explored, before moving on to a consideration of the policy and practice of water provision in the South African context. At this juncture, the study draws on in-depth interviews as it considers the two models of water service provision within the Ilembe District Municipality – the factors that influenced their implementation and, thereafter, the relationships between and experiences of stakeholders (both implementers and beneficiaries alike) of the service delivery model that operates within their municipality. The study submits that the proposed benefits of decentralisation in the South African context are questionable, specifically as they relate to the delivery of services to the poorest of the poor. It is argued that this is owing considerably to inadequacies at the level of local government. In this respect, it is suggested that existing participatory mechanisms are falling short of the mark. In light of this, the study advances the manifold advantages of multiple stakeholders and partnership arrangements for service delivery models in the South African context. At its core, the study highlights residents’ experiences of water service delivery into their townships in an attempt to measure these against other reported experiences.

PhDRDV / Institute for Rural Development / Potable water supply is a fundamental human right and protected by international conventions and national laws. Access to it and having in place an appropriate water supply system remain the building blocks to improving and maintaining the welfare of any community for it to enjoy a healthy and productive life. The supply of potable water, especially in Africa's rural areas, however, remains a challenge. The demand for a system to provide sustainable water supply has been on the increase due to population growth and the climate change phenomenon. Vhembe District Municipality (VDM), as the responsible authority for water supply in sections of the Limpopo Province, faces many challenges, including - aging water supply infrastructure, lack of capacity of officials, and lack of funds for maintenance; these often lead to a breakdown of the supply system. This challenge results, for example, in increased health hazards that often cause tension between the District and the residents. The study’s main objective was to investigate the water supply system in Vhembe so as to suggest an effective intervention strategy for potable rural water supply system to improve the supply in the Vhembe District Municipality of the Limpopo Province. The specific objectives were - to determine the current potable water supply sources in rural communities of the VDM, examine the system’s ability to meet the needs of the rural communities in VDM and to identify the challenges and coping strategies used to meet potable water supply in VDM. A mixed-method, of both qualitative and quantitative research designs and techniques, was adopted and focus group discussions and in-depth interviews were used to gather data. From the four local municipalities of VDM, 14 wards were purposively selected through proportional representation of 448 households, which were randomly selected. Three municipal officials responsible for the water supply system in the VDM were selected through census. Key-informant discussions were held with councillors from the 14 wards, with focus group discussions used to engage the 448 households, and traditional leaders. Thematic content analysis was used to identify common themes, ideas, and patterns of meaning that came up frequently from qualitative data. The IBM Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 25 was used to analyse data using descriptive statistics, one way ANOVA and Chi-Square test.The results revealed that in Vhembe District Municipality, the primary sources of water were boreholes (45.3%) followed by piped water from the dams (35.3%). The majority of the households (53.6%) obtain water from boreholes once per week, with 4% resorting to obtaining water from rivers, 5.4% obtained water from fountains and 10% obtained their water from Municipality water tankers (truck tankers). These results indicate that the District continues to face challeges in its efforts to fulfill its mandate as the responsible authority for water supply, in the rural communities due to lack of a sustainable system to supply the required minimum water needs for households. The study recommended that all stakeholders should join hands to invest in a system that has more water supply options to sustainably meet the needs of the growing population. The system should have management ii structures relevant for villages, as critical pillars to assist - with the management system, address minor maintenance requirements, and monitor and report any water supply system-related issues. It was also suggested that rural communities be encouraged to pay for water supply services, for the system's sustainability and that the system in VDM would be improved when stakeholders (communities, government, and NGOs) come together. / NRF

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This thesis tests the hypothesis that variation in water supply, nutrient availability and irradiance determined variation in tree growth along local and regional gradients of resource availability, and over time, in Ghanaian forests. Regional variation in soil water availability determined seasonal patterns of diameter change of Celtis mildbraedii and Strombosia glaucescens in semi-deciduous and evergreen forest, over two years. However, in a semi-deciduous forest, annualized diameter increment of Celtis mildbraedii was higher in summit and slope, compared to valley, positions after two years, even though trees in valley positions experienced a shorter effective dry season. Growth was also greater in the semi-deciduous than the evergreen forest in the second year of the study. These patterns suggest that concentrations of N in soil over topographic gradients, and concentrations of available P and the base cations over regional scales, may be important determinants of growth. Dry season stem shrinkage in semi-deciduous forest can comprise up to 0.5% of tree diameter, and varies between years. Re-enumeration of forest plots in seasonal climates should be carried out over whole year intervals, during the wet season, to minimise bias derived from variation in tree water status. In a semi-deciduous forest, no relationship was found between topography and six year growth rates of two common species or of six functional types defined on the basis of regeneration strategy and regional distribution pattern. However, within this forest, and in a comparison within five different forests across the regional gradient of rainfall and soil fertility, pioneer species with distributions biased towards drier forests had significantly higher growth rates than pioneer species associated with wetter forests. Variation in growth of dry forest pioneer species explained more than half the total variation in stand-level growth rates, demonstrating that it is the presence of abundant, potentially large, fast growing pioneer species in more seasonal forest types that generate regional scale variation in forest growth. These results indicate that the environmental variables found to determine growth are dependent on the scale of the study and the magnitude of the gradient in resources being compared. Variation in soil fertility over regional rainfall gradients in tropical forests has a significant impact on variation in tree growth, within and between species, and at the stand-level.

The South African Constitution, brought about democratic and developmental reforms that gave local government certain responsibilities, the supply of water services, amongst others. According to Naidoo (2011), the provision of water services was a vital developmental process that worked towards quality service realization that local government was grappling with. In this research report, a qualitative research method of in-depth interviews was conducted on a small target group and a few municipality documents were analyzed. Mixed perceptions and a range of problems, amongst which capacity problems, were some of the findings identified by the research. The effects of non-provision of water services and the benefits of water provision were also dealt with in the report. Eighteen (18) years into democracy, the majority of rural municipalities were still experiencing problems in the provision of water services to poor communities. Other than the usual experiences of municipalities in the provision of water services, Nkomazi Local Municipality encountered capacity problems which were complicated by its predominantly rural nature.