Access to basic services improves in S. Africa

Access to basic services has generally increased between 2011 and 2016 in South Africa, with the number of households with access to piped water having increased from 13.2 million in 2011 to 15.2 million in 2016, according to statistics released on Friday.

A similar trend has been noted with the number of households accessing water from inside their dwelling, with the number of households increasing from 6.7 million in 2011 to 7.5 million in 2016, the survey showed.

The province with largest proportion of households with access to piped water is Western Cape with 98.9 percent, followed by Gauteng (97.4 percent) and Free State (96.2 percent). The province with the smallest proportion of households with access to piped water is Eastern Cape with 75.1 percent.

Access to electricity for lighting has also increased from 58.1 percent in 1996 to 90.3 percent in 2016. The provinces with largest proportions of access to electricity were Western Cape, Free State, Limpopo and Mpumalanga, each with more than 90 percent.

The data also showed that of the 16.9 million households in South Africa, about 10.3 million (60.6 percent) have access to a flush toilet connected to a sewerage system, compared to 57 percent registered in 2011.

The data were based on a survey conducted between March and April 2016, which collected data from 1.3 million households across all South African communities. Enditem