DA-run Western Cape delivers best free basic services to the poor
26 August 2015
StatsSA’s Non-financial census of municipalities released yesterday shows that the DA-run Western Cape provides the greatest number of free basic services to the poor; does so for free for those who earn below a threshold, and does so better than ANC-governed municipalities.
This is the quality service delivery which the DA wants to bring to more and more places across South Africa.
According to the report which monitors the provision of free basic services and poverty alleviation programmes in all 278 municipalities in South Africa, the DA-run Western Cape leads in all categories:
Free basic water services: The Western Cape showed the highest proportion of consumer units that benefited from the free basic water policy (75,7%). Provinces with the lowest proportion of residents that benefited from the free basic water policy were North West and Free State (23,9%), followed by Northern Cape (24,4%);
Free basic electricity services: Western Cape showed the highest proportion of residents that benefited from the free basic electricity policy (44,9%). Limpopo showed the lowest proportion (12,4%), followed by KwaZulu-Natal (14,7%) and North West (18,9%);
Free basic sewerage and sanitation services: Western Cape showed the highest proportion of residents that benefited from free basic sewerage and sanitation (69,0%). The province with the lowest proportion was Mpumalanga (10,5%), followed by North West (14,2%) and Free State (20,5%); and
Free basic solid waste management services: Western Cape showed the highest proportion of residents that benefited from free basic solid waste management (52,8%). The province with the lowest proportion was Gauteng (11,5%), followed by Mpumalanga (17,3%) and North West (18,0%).
It is a cause for great concern that the report reveals that the number of bucket toilets has increased significantly in some ANC-run provinces in the past year ending June 2014. This is in stark contrast to the DA-run Western Cape, whereby the province managed to eradicate the system by 45.8%, the top performing province.
The DA will therefore today request the Chairpersons of the Portfolio Committees on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Richard Mdakane, and Water and Sanitation, Mlungisi Johnson, to immediately table the report in Parliament. The committee should review the report and make recommendations to the respective ministries, with a view to targeting the relevant municipalities to fast-track delivery of appropriate sanitation.
The bucket toilet system is an assault on human dignity and the increase in the use of bucket toilets shows a major service delivery disaster under the leadership of the ANC in these provinces. The ANC has a lot to answer for.
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister, Pravin Gordhan, should walk his talk on the “Back to Basics” programme which promises improved services of water, sanitation, shelter, electricity and waste removal, as the delivery of basic services in ANC-run municipalities is lagging far behind.
The eradication of the bucket toilet system and proper high-quality water and sanitation provision is a major priority for service delivery in the DA-run Western Cape. We want to bring this service delivery to more and more places, so that all South Africans can live with dignity.
Statement issued by Kevin Mileham MP, DA Shadow Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, August 26 2015
