Government-funded programmes and services for vulnerable - Unicef
Government-funded programmes and services for vulnerable - Unicef
Government-funded programmes and services for vulnerable - Unicef
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Department of Water Affairs<br />
➔<br />
Municipalities adopt<br />
different means tests<br />
to determine eligibility<br />
of families, based on<br />
their local indigent<br />
policy. For some, the<br />
means test is R2 000<br />
per household <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>for</strong> others R800 per<br />
household.<br />
Each consumer who<br />
is selected <strong>for</strong> poverty<br />
relief gets a credit on<br />
their water account,<br />
which would typically<br />
be sufficient to cover<br />
the charge <strong>for</strong> the<br />
poverty relief amount<br />
(maximum of 6 kl per<br />
month).<br />
Notes:<br />
(i) <strong>and</strong> (ii) Free Basic Water – Implementation Strategy Document, 2001<br />
Some key policy <strong>and</strong> service delivery gaps<br />
Insufficient coverage of water <strong>and</strong> sanitation <strong>services</strong><br />
The statistics provided in the Child Gauge 2009/2010 (Hall & Marera 2010: 130) on<br />
children’s access to water <strong>and</strong> sanitation reveal that the free water policy is inadequate to<br />
meet the rights of children to basic water <strong>and</strong> sanitation. In 2008, nearly 7 million children<br />
lived in households without access to clean drinking water on site. A higher proportion<br />
of children (36%) than adults (27%) lived in households without water on site. There was<br />
little improvement in children’s access to water on site between 2002 <strong>and</strong> 2008.<br />
Although children’s access to adequate sanitation facilities increased over the same period<br />
of time, from 47 per cent to 61 per cent, in 2008 nearly 7 million children still used<br />
unventilated pit latrines, buckets or open l<strong>and</strong>, despite the government’s goal of providing<br />
adequate sanitation to all <strong>and</strong> eradicating the bucket system (Hall & Marera 2010: 131).<br />
Free basic water programme<br />
The free basic water programme does not prioritise households with children (especially<br />
young children), breastfeeding women or households with people living with HIV/AIDS.<br />
The governing policy has not been developed around the water needs specific to these<br />
<strong>vulnerable</strong> groups. The maximum free 6 000 litres is in fact not sufficient to meet the<br />
needs of people living with HIV/AIDS. 95<br />
95 Affidavit in the High Court of South Africa Witwatersr<strong>and</strong> Local Division, Mazibuko v City of Johannesburg, Case No.<br />
06/13865, www.law.wits.ac.za.<br />
191