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Access to Water for the Urban Poor in Cape Town: Where Equity Meets Cost Recovery

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  • Laila Smith

    (Centre for Policy Studies, PO Box 16488, Doornfontein 2028, South Africa, laila@cps.org.za)

  • Susan Hanson

    (School of Geography, Clark University, Worcester, MA 01610, USA, shanson@clarku.edu)

Abstract

Local authorities in South Africa have responded to the post-apartheid promise of redistribution and democratisation by adopting market principles in the delivery of essential services. This article examines a five-year period (1997-2001) of intense local government restructuring in Cape Town, using water distribution as a case study. The focus is upon two cost-recovery policies, underinvestment in infrastructure and water cutoffs, which have been central to a five-year commercialisation process in the water sector. The impact of cost-recovery policies on low-income communities living in the townships is examined in light of the South African government's twin goals of achieving distributional and procedural equity in service delivery. The findings reveal that historical inequities produced through territorial variation in service delivery under apartheid are being recreated through contemporary 'basic needs' approaches and that historically entrenched service debts are leading to widespread water cutoffs (160 000 in 3 years). Both of these cost-recovery policies create local government inefficiencies in the management of water distribution as a public good.

Suggested Citation

  • Laila Smith & Susan Hanson, 2003. "Access to Water for the Urban Poor in Cape Town: Where Equity Meets Cost Recovery," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 40(8), pages 1517-1548, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:40:y:2003:i:8:p:1517-1548
    DOI: 10.1080/0042098032000094414
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Tatsuya Makino & Keigo Noda & Keoduangchai Keokhamphui & Hiromasa Hamada & Kazuo Oki & Taikan Oki, 2016. "The Effects of Five Forms of Capital on Thought Processes Underlying Water Consumption Behavior in Suburban Vientiane," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(6), pages 1-13, June.
    3. Galdo, Virgilio & Briceño, Bertha, 2005. "Evaluating the Impact on Child Mortality of a Water Supply and Sewerage Expansion in Quito: Is Water Enough?," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 2833, Inter-American Development Bank.
    4. Yates, Julian S. & Harris, Leila M., 2018. "Hybrid regulatory landscapes: The human right to water, variegated neoliberal water governance, and policy transfer in Cape Town, South Africa, and Accra, Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 75-87.
    5. Schwartz, Klaas & Tutusaus, Mireia & Savelli, Elisa, 2017. "Water for the urban poor: Balancing financial and social objectives through service differentiation in the Kenyan water sector," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 22-31.

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