ACCESS TO WATER AND SANITATION IN SOME COMMUNITIES IS SEVERELY
LIMITED DUE TO SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS
AIM
 To create awareness amongst learners on climate change, sustainable sanitation and water usage
efficiency.
 To enable learners to analyze from their own perspective the effects of the theme on south African water
resources.
 To foster a deeper understanding among the learners on sustainable environmental developments and
livelihoods.
 Solutions to alleviate the negative impacts of the chosen theme on South African water resources.
 To enable learners to apply their knowledge into their families, schools and surrounding
community.
INTRODUCTION
 It may sound like a cliché to some, but it is true what they say, water is life. Yes water is life and
sanitation is dignity. We all need water in our daily lives.
 We cannot survive without it. All living organisms cannot survive without water, which is why it is
important to preserve it.
 It lies at the heart of everything that is important to human life.
 We have the right to water and sanitation which refers to conditions relating to public health, especially
the provision of clean water and adequate sewage disposal.
 We are from MANKUROANE Technical and Commercial Secondary school, which is located in Taung.
 Taung is a rural area whereby people live in villages with a poor socioeconomic status which
contributes to the shortage of water and dignified sanitation.
 Today we are going to share with you the information gathered when we conducted a survey
in one of the villages in Taung.
PROBLEMS GATHERED DURING THE SURVEY
 ONE IN NINE(1/9) PEOPLE, IN SOUTH AFRCA DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO SAFE AND CLEAN DRINKING
WATER. ONE IN THREE(1/3) PEOPLE ARE WITHOUT IMPROVED SANITATION. NEARLY ONE OUT OF
EVERY FIVE DEATHS UNDER THE AGE OF FIVE YEARS IS DUE TO WATER RELATED DISEASES.
 Access to sanitation is not enough which leads to people practicing open-veld defecation leading to
diseases.
 The money charged for installing taps in households is not affordable to the poor, unemployed and
pensioners.
 Pit toilets are currently the type of an alternative we are provided with by the government, at some
point these toilets become full and is a risk factor to our lives.
 They end up having a bad smell and affecting the health of those around them.
PROBLEMS GATHERED DURING THE SURVEY
 Taung depends on agriculture as its source of income, but it becomes a problem again to the
community and the environment. It is an advantage to the community but also a big disadvantage.
 It affects the community by: sometimes there are chemicals sprayed by helicopters on the crops which
affect the water and its purification. Sedibeng water (which is responsible for supplying people with
water and its purification), purifies the water but it ends up being affected again by the chemicals from
the farms, this water then goes to people and this affects their health.
 Most people rely on communal taps which they get free water from, but the situation becomes worse
because most of the taps are broken.
 Due to the scarcity of water, people often wash their clothes in furrows and rivers used to provide
people with water.
 And sometimes people fetch this water and use it in their households and this causes unnecessary
illnesses like cholera
PROBLEMS GATHERED DURING THE SURVEY
 People in the community do not have access to clean water, which is a risk to their health. Women and children
are the most affected by water contamination.
 They spend hours every day walking miles to the nearest source of water, which is often unsafe to drink.
 Water supply can be cut for days or even weeks, but the people responsible for supplying people with water do
not even react and help people to access water.
 We found children playing with water, which simply proves that there is no awareness about water conservation.
 There is no sustainable sanitation within the community which is a risk to their health.
 Streets are flooded with water from the taps, but households have shortage of water. This is due to the pipes
leakage of the communal taps.
 We are in a community whereby the socio-economic status is very poor, and that is not taken into consideration
when government schools are paying for water in order for children to have sustainable sanitation and have
water to drink through the weeks.
 Water reservoir like rivers and dams are being used as dumping sites and animals also contaminate
water, making the purification process so difficult or expensive.
SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEMS
 We can create an awareness campaign at our school on water purification and conservation that will
help to spread the message through the community.
 We can make the contact details of Sedibeng water and other suppliers of water available to all through
the awareness campaign at school level.
 People should not walk over a distance of more than 500 m to the nearest source of water. The suppliers
should ensure that there are adequate taps in each and every village.
 The money charged for installing taps in household should be reduced to accommodate the poor,
unemployed and the pensioners.
 Sanitation should be improved considering the health of communities. This means flushing toilets
should be introduced to all rural communities.
 Broken taps should be reported to Sedibeng Water and should be attended urgently.
 Sedibeng Water as it is responsible for the supply of water to the people, should do surveys to ensure
there are no problems regarding the access to water and water equipment (taps).
 People should be made aware not to fetch water from unsafe places, for an example fetching water from
furrows and rivers.
ACCESS TO WATER
70
60
50
40
WATER PROVISION IN COMMUNTIES
SANITATION PROVISION IN
COMMUNITIES
30
20
10
0
Mokasa 2
Rooiwal
Nhole
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, according to the survey we conducted we found out that people are being denied to their
rights to life and dignity by not being provided with clean water and sanitation. We've acknowledged that
water is not just for drinking, washing, cleaning and cooking, it is both our responsibility as the community
members and the water suppliers to preserve and secure WATER.
Sources: (www.wateraid.org/what-we-do/the-cRISIS/STATISTICS)