Incentives to serve the urban poor: South Africa's case
2018-02-12T15:08:48Z (GMT)
by
Urban water utilities often fail to provide adequate
water supply services to low-income urban communities
for various reasons: a poor infrastructure, a difficult
topography, utility perceptions that low income
communities are financially unreliable and transient, and/
or lack of the will. As a result, up to 31% and 57% of the
urban population in Africa, and Asia, respectively are not
served by piped water supply (WHO/UNICEF, 2000).
In order to improve service provision to the urban poor
drastically, there must be institutional and technological
innovations. Institutional innovations can occur at three
levels: within the community; at the interface between the
community and the utility; and in the national government
policies and strategies. This is a case study on provision of
water services to low-income communities of Durban,
South Africa where a combination of technological
innovation and incentives from the central government
have greatly improved service coverage to the urban poor.