Service delivery in the City of Cape Town: A case study of water services in Khayelitsha.

Abstract

Based on the recognition of apartheid capitalist injustices, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (RSA Act 108 of 1996) envisaged the establishment of a new democratic South Africa founded on human dignity, the achievement of equality and advancement of human rights and freedom. The water Services Act of 1997 water as a necessity for human livelihood and that water service institutions must take all the necessary measures to ensure the provision of this basic human right. Contrary to such noble legal injunctions, water provision in Khayelitsha appears to be fraught with dubious debt scandals, inconsistency of the billing system and the adverse implementation of the cost recovery measures of the city of cape Town' The above outlined factors have more than often led to water cut-offs and evictions'. It is against this background that the mini-thesis has sought to investigate accessibility' affordability of water provision in Khayelitsha, examine the relationship between the residents inability to pay for services and the implementation of cost recovery measures and factors that have led to water cut-offs'. A case study has been used as a methodological approach, complemented by a survey procedure and perusal of government policy and legislative frameworks that directly deal with water service delivery. Questionnaires have been developed and random interviews conducted in all the informal settlements and selected areas (Site C, Site B and Green Point) of the informal areas of Khayelitsha. Selected interviews with senior leadership (councilors and officials) of the City of Cape Town, labour unionists (SAMWU) and Khayelitsha Anti-Eviction Campaign were conducted' The mini-thesis located water provision in Khayelitsha within the new liberal democratic South Africa' as contemplated in the new promulgated policy and legislative frameworks'. To this end the mini- thesis has established the extent to which such current frameworks have been able to facilitate the establishment of equity, accessibility and affordability of water provision in Khayelitsha. Based on the fact that Khayelitsha was established as a dormitory suburb with no economic base, it is argued that water the services Development Plan and the Integrated Development Plan of the City of Cape Town Must take into cognizance the economic realities of the historically disadvantaged community of Khayelitsha' in order to render water services in an affordable and sustainable manner. The ideological shift (from RDP-GEAR) of the national government, in terms of basic municipal services had a profound influence on how municipalities conduct service provision particularly water. This is no more relevant than in the city of Cape Town municipality, where it is argued that the municipality must be run along business practices. In the context of high-level unemployment, the mini-thesis has argued that running a municipality along business principles is doomed to fail and that the implementations of cost recovery measures only serve to perpetuate that failure'. It is against this background that the mini-thesis maintains that water cut-offs in Khayelitsha are not a genuine response to a financial crisis nor are they panacea to the issue of the unwillgness to pay for services. The problem seems to lie with the ability to pay'.