Scaling Up Community Management in South Africa: Alfred Nzo District Municipality Case Study

Year of publication: 2004

Alfred Nzo District Municipality is one of the poorest and least capacitated district municipalities in South Africa. The population of the Alfred Nzo District Municipality, estimated at 800,000 people, is predominantly rural and spread across 881 villages. Less than 10% of the population has access to basic water and sanitation services. In terms of South African water services policy, 98% of the rural population in the District are classified as poor, and are entitled to free basic water.

The institutional model that Alfred Nzo District Municipality has developed for water services provision to rural areas consists of community based organisations (CBOs) that are supported by support services agents (SSAs). The intention is to implement the above model in all of the 881 villages, where approximately 600 CBOs will be established. The CBOs fulfil the role of water services provider and are responsible for the operation and management of the schemes. The SSAs provide training and mentoring support and fulfil functions such as monitoring, procurement and major maintenance. The SSAs also provide strategic advice and support to the district municipality.

Based on the experiences in 33 pilot villages, this case study questions the extent to which municipalities should comply with legislation that clearly slows down the delivery of basic services to poor rural communities. It argues that municipalities need to assess risk in terms of how they interpret and apply legislative provisions. It further recommends that legislation which undermines the use of CBOs as service delivery mechanisms should be reviewed and amended so that it is in line with policies that promote the use of community based management for municipal service provision.

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