MyPE

Community Business Directory, Event Listings, News and Views from Gqeberha, Nelson Mandela Bay

22 in 100 Households in SA receive access to free basic services – Reason enough to shout it from the rooftops?

By

I notice a worrying trend in press releases from many political parties who ‘celebrate’ the large numbers of households in South Africa receiving access to free basic services. In Nelson Mandela Bay that number in 2017 was 112 419.

My Observations:

  • It is right that we support indigent households
  • It is NOT right that we shout that number from the rooftops as a measure of ‘success’.

The only measure of success that placing more and more people on support engenders is more and more votes for whichever ruling party is in charge.

To my mind celebrating ever increasing numbers of people receiving aid is akin to celebrating an ever increasing prison population. Both speak to a failure in getting the fundamentals of society AND government right. Government needs to create and support an enabling environment that will allow citizens to be productive in whatever manner they choose along with retaining the dignity of being able to care for themselves.

Taking away someone’s dignity is one of the most cruel things that anyone can do – so why do politicians celebrate this?

According to StatsSA 22% of households are classified as indigent.

In 2001 South Africa adopted a policy intended for the provision of free basic services to poorer households. Under this policy, municipalities were tasked to identify indigent households that would receive services – such as water and electricity – for free or at substantially subsidised rates.

South Africa’s 257 municipalities registered 3.51 million indigent households in 2017. That’s about 1 in every 5 of the country’s 16.2 million households.

Households are required to register with municipalities to qualify for free basic services. A municipality’s role is to vet every application, selecting only those households that meet various criteria. Successful applicants are granted indigent status. Municipalities often run awareness campaigns to ensure that households are aware of the application process.

Indigent status isn’t for life, however. The economic status of a family might improve over time. To ensure that only the poorest families are catered for, municipalities require registered households to reapply for indigent status on a regular basis, often once a year.

There are constraints. A municipality might not be able to service all indigent households that have successfully registered, due to lack of funds or inadequate infrastructure.

The Eastern Cape has the highest number of indigent households.

Municipalities in Eastern Cape registered almost 730 000 indigent households in 2017, comprising 44% of all households in that province.

The municipalities with the highest number of indigent households in Eastern Cape were O.R. Tambo District Municipality (153 000 households) and Nelson Mandela Bay (112 419 households).

Ward 7 Independent Councillor

The following two tabs change content below.
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Google+ profileMy LinkedIn profileMy Flickr profileMy Pinterest profile

Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.