Water and sanitation service delivery at the Emfuleni local municipality

Abstract

Local municipalities in South Africa have been battling to provide equitable services to the residents and this has been a much-deliberated issue. This study investigated water and sanitation delivery in the Emfuleni Local Municipality. The sub-aims of this study investigated the structural composition of water and sanitation management, the status quo of water and sanitation service delivery management, the factors that affect the sustainable delivery of water and sanitation, and the measures to enhance water and sanitation service delivery at Emfuleni Local Municipality. The systems theory and the decision-making theory underpinned this study, which specified the need for departments to work in unison to achieve stated objectives and the relevance of making logical choices when selecting among alternatives. The qualitative research approach and exploratory research design were selected for this study and enhanced in-depth findings through interviewing twenty-nine (29) purposively selected participants in this study. Atlas.ti Software (version 8.2) was used to analyse data collected from the participants. Themes and categories emerged from the study and these were discussed adequately by corroborating it with the literature review outcomes in a view to finding solutions to the study. Major findings obtained from the study indicated that Emfuleni Local Municipality does not provide adequate water and sanitation delivery to the residents due to budget implementation plan issues, water management response issues, limited supply of water resources, lack of training, the poor state of infrastructure, poor implementation of legislative frameworks, financial management issues, inability to update service development plans, as well as lack of skills and strategic leadership issues. The study recommended that municipal employees should collaborate with residents, conduct awareness campaigns, promote emerging innovation options and communication dynamics, install leak monitoring and detection sensory machines, ensure the maintenance of infrastructure, apply service legislation, and promote effective strategic/financial management in an endeavour to enhance water and sanitation service delivery in the municipality.