Partnerships: community management and local government

Management arrangements for rural water supply in South Africa are rapidly evolving. Recent legislation and emerging government policies are providing an innovative framework in which institutional arrangements for water services can be developed. In the context of rural areas in the former Transkei banthustan, new working relationships are being developed between evolving structures of local government and community-based organisations. This paper focuses on developments in the Eastern Cape Province in an area where the institutional framework has been interpreted with an emphasis on community management. The roles of the various stakeholders are discussed, and the successes and challenges to these arrangements are also reviewed.