FOR COMMUNITIES, BY COMMUNITIES:MULTIPLE-USE WATER SERVICES IN SOUTH AFRICA
EDITING BY MICHELLE NG AND BARBARA VAN KOPPENVIDEOS BY THE RESIDENTS OF GA-MOELA AND TSHAKHUMA
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Everyone has the right to water, according to the United Nations, but many don't have access to a reliable supply.
In 2002, the South African government promised its citizens 6,000 liters of water per household per month. The scope of this promise led to a model in which municipalities outsource water projects to contractors, who can ignore communities’ priorities and leave projects unfinished.
The Multiple-use water services (MUS) project is piloting a six-step community-driven process to explore how communities, municipalities and NGOs in South Africa can collaborate to supply people with water, as an alternative to the contractor model.The residents of Ga-Moela — one of six participating communities — produced a participatory video to describe their experience with the MUS project.
For the first time, the residents of Ga-Moela have access to water for domestic and productive uses.
“I couldn’t believe it,” says Thembi Mafete, a woman from Ga-Moela who had been traveling when she heard the news. “I drove eight hours in a taxi to see it with my own eyes!”
Participants in the MUS Forum report their preference for the MUS process over the contractor model, which had neglected to consult them about past water projects and produced infrastructure that was unfinished, low quality and unhelpful.
The MUS process supports communities at all stages of water supply.
Whereas Ga-Moela's residents used the six steps to build their own water infrastructure from scratch, Tshakhuma's residents applied the MUS methodology to support their ongoing efforts and citizen-led innovations with self-supply.
Tshakhuma's MUS Forum also produced a participatory video showing their journey to a reliable water supply for 12,000 residents, which began long before the MUS project.
By holding municipalities accountable as they pull from the top and backstopping communities as they push from the bottom, the MUS process facilitates water co-supply and co-management.
South Africa’s recent election creates new hope for communities without access to water, which underpins all other human rights. With the community-driven MUS process, it may be able to fulfill its promises, while leaving no one behind.
Thank you to the residents of Ga-Moela and Tshakhuma!
The Ga-Moela participatory video was created by Aaron Masolo, Alpheus Machianoke, Ben Mafete, Caroline Moela, Evah Moela, Johannes Moela, Lizzy Masolo, Mixon Makgoga, MK Phasha (Tsogang), M. Piet Moela, Ntshitshimale Petrus Moela, P. Masolo, Regina S. Moretsele, Samuel Masolo and Velicia Maleka.
The Tshakhuma participatory video was created by Alfred Ntshauba, Anastacia Luthada, Lazarus Nedzamba, Ndou Mpho, Negondeni Florence T. and Nemaswie Humbulani and Sydney “Oros” Malatji (Tsogang).
The MUS project is being implemented by the Water Research Commission, with generous funding from the African Water Facility of the African Development Bank. Tsogang Water and Sanitation leads the project's facilitation, while the International Water Management Institute is responsible for its research component.
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