Intergrated Human Settlement

Water and Sanitation
Water supply is a dominant problem, especially in rural areas where 61% does not meet RDP standards. About 60% of the households do not have access to potable water, 16% rely on tap water, while 10.7% rely on boreholes and 3% on natural water (spring and rivers).
Figure 1: Sources of water

Water supply to settlements and townships is still not reliable. On certain days, taps are dry in the townships whereas some settlements need to contend with dry taps for days.

Linked to water supply problems, is poor sanitation, particularly in the densely populated settlement clusters and dispersed small settlements. Approximately 80% of the households in the municipal area use pit latrines, 84% of the population do not meet RDP sanitation standards. The extensive use of unlined pit latrines poses a potential pollution threat to the surface and ground water resource. The figure below indicates that various townships are provided with water-borne sewage systems. The water and sanitation supply in the majority of the rural areas in the Bushbuckridge is below RDP standards. However, a number of formal townships are well serviced with sanitation services.

Sanitation Levels
Pit latrines are used in most rural areas. This can have adverse effects on ground water. It is therefore necessary that certain studies be conducted to establish the areas that deserve special attention and care.

Bucket Backlogs

No bucket systems are utilized in the Bushbuckridge Municipal area.

Current Free Basic Water (FBW)
74000 households have access to clean water, whilst 12 000 households with meters receive free basic water. Rural villages, where no reticulation systems are in place, receive free basic water by means of six water trucks (5000 litres each) that deliver water, extracted from boreholes, on a daily basis. Diesel and electricity are supplied, free of charge to these communities to pump the water from the bore holes.

Electricity connections/ supply
The Municipality is well provided with electricity. More than 60% of the households are electrified. Other areas utilise gas, paraffin, candles and solar panels.

Sources of Energy
Electricity supply within the municipality is of acceptable standards. However, the provision of electricity in some areas needs to be upgraded, especially in rural areas, where interruptions of electricity supply occurs regularly. The improvement of existing infrastructure therefore needs to be addressed, whilst certain communities still need to be electrified.

Electricity Backlogs
Of the estimated 164 600 households, about 65 000 households still need to be connected to the electrical reticulation system.

Current Free Basic Electricity (FBE)
Free basic electricity is currently supplied to 64,000 households, whilst a further 1200 households make use of alternative energy, i.e. solar energy. The following problems are experienced on an ongoing basis and measures need to be taken to solve it:

o Meters are vandalised on a large scale
o Unauthorised/illegal connections
o An estimated 40 000 connections do not have meters - therefore receive electricity free of charge.

Outcome
During implementation of water and sanitation projects temporary and permanent employment for 3 800 people was created. Skills are transferred to the local communities during the construction phase. The skills that are transferred are then utilized in other projects. The improvement of the standards of living and social upliftment of the people cannot be quantified. Water provision also results in the prevention of the outbreaks of diseases. Time wasted fetching water from the river or stream can now be used for other activities. Agricultural activities including improvement in nutrition and poverty alleviation is one of the benefits of the provision of water.