Will "free water" really flow freely?

The free water policy presents many challenges to the sector. Bethuel Netshiswinzhe highlights some of the harsh realities and questions facing implementation at local level.

Poor cost recovery remains a threat to the sustainability of many South African rural water schemes. Nevertheless, the government moved ahead in November 2000 to introduce a free basic water policy of 6 kiloliter for a household each month. Over the past three years we have witnessed a number of projects which collapsed because people didn't pay for the service. Many of those that continued to function only did so because the government subsidised their operation and maintenance. The irony of the situation is that there are cases where cost recovery collapsed because local councillors interfered politically by promising people that the government would provide free water. At the time this was against the government's position of cost recovery for services. It appears that those local politicians knew what was coming. Now that the ball is in their court, are municipalities ready to implement free water? Can the councillors deliver on their promises?

The kick-off date for implementation of free water is July 2001. But many of the municipalities, especially those in rural areas, will not be ready. The situation is further complicated because there isn't a clear implementation strategy. The national Department of Water Affairs is still busy working out the details of the strategy, and they will soon be on a road show to workshop municipalities on the strategy, and to obtain additional input from various role-players.

How will free water be managed at a local level?

In rural areas most water schemes are communal standpipes, with no metres for measuring water use. To implement the free water policy of 6kl a household each month, consumption will have to be monitored so that those who consume more, and are able to pay, can do so. It will not help much to install metres in these communal taps and will take between two to three years implement. So how do we monitor consumption per household where four or six households collect water from one tap? Should we replace communal taps with yard connections? If yard connections are put in place, the very same poor people who aren't paying for their water now will consume more water.

Consumption levels in communal taps is generally bellow 25 litres per capita. This is largely because people still have to walk to collect water. This will not be the case when they have water they can draw in the yard. Who will pay for that extra water consumption of water?

The pre-paid cards have also been suggested as an option to address this problem. However, the pre-paid system comes with its own problems. It is very expensive. And when people get frustrated with the system, vandalism is the order of the day

Who pays for the “free water”?

Free water will not come free of charge. Possible funding sources have been mentioned. These include the equitable share and cross subsidies. There are problems with these sources. Equitable share is meant to provide for a range of basic services - water is just one of them. At the moment local governments can decide for themselves about how they use their equitable share. And with cross subsidies it will very difficult, if not impossible, to implement free water in poor small rural municipalities with no economic activities. How will the policy be sustained on a short to long term basis? Who will pay for operation and maintenance (O&M) in schemes where people stopped paying when the free water policy announcement was made? Are there any short term measures in place to manage the government policy transition phase, from emphasis on cost recovery to free water?

How will we encourage community ownership?

The legislative framework requires local governments to function in a developmental way. This means they have to implement development programmes in a way that allows local people, and all other relevant stakeholders, to actively participate in identifying their problems, planning and implementation of appropriate action. The precedent set here by national government is a top down approach. How can we now expect local governments to implement free water in a developmental way? How do we ensure that users take responsibility of their water systems, to guard against water wastage and vandalism? How do we implement the policy in a way that will not compromise key development principles?

Experience all over world has taught us that development cannot be handed out. It is an internal process of change where people take responsibility for improving their living conditions. The government and other external agencies can only play a facilitative role.

What about the backlog?

The challenges of making free water a reality are going to preoccupy the sector for some time to come. Are we not turning our back on over eight million rural poor people who are still without any access to clean water? To them the promise of free water does not mean anything at all. They still walk long distances to collect unsafe water.

What short term measures are being entertained by national government and municipalities to meet the needs of these people? To these people, the free water will only benefit big city dwellers, where cross subsidisation is simple to implement.

Since the government's free water policy announcement, things will never be the same in the water and sanitation sector in South Africa. If we fail to implement the free water policy, it will be very difficult to reverse the situation, and the government would have committed a development suicide. How will we manage to ensure that there is community ownership and responsibility within the context of giving handouts?

Bethuel Netshiswinzhe, 2000