Water Services Policy in South Africa: impacts of new thinking

Domestic water systems are not normally designed to supply water for productive uses, e.g. watering backyard crops, keeping livestock, or servicing a variety of informal micro-enterprises. As a result, the livelihoods of poor people are not as well supported as they might be by improvements in domestic water services.

But many of the key recommendations from the Johannesburg 2003 symposium co-organised by the thematic group and the South African Department of Water Affairs have influenced recent international and national debates. In South Africa, the Water Services Strategic Framework (Water is life, sanitation is dignity) has pledged that: “Water and sanitation programmes will be designed to support sustainable livelihoods and local economic development. The provision of water supply and sanitation services has significant potential to alleviate poverty through the creation of jobs, use of local resources, improvement of nutrition and health, development of skills, and provision of a long-term livelihood for many households.” This heralds a shift in strategic thinking about domestic water supplies that could have major impacts for poor people.