Exploring the workings of local development and an understanding of how cities operate in the developing world was the topic of discussion at the University’s Urban Futures Centre(UFC) seminar which took place at ESBE Boardroom, S Block, Steve Biko Campus, yesterday (Thursday, 12 June 2014). Speakers at the event were Dr Michael Sutcliffe; former eThekwini Municipal Manager and his business partner; Sue Bannister. Sutcliffe and Bannister own the agency City Insight.
Both delivered their presentation on The Provision of Basic Services in Africa, where Bannister revealed that people in Africa still had a long road to travel in order to achieve a more equitable redistribution of the continent’s wealth.
“Many communities in Africa are still not getting adequate access to basic services. This is despite the continent’s post-apartheid set of policies set at helping local governance to provide these services,” she said.
Sutcliffe also used the public platform to also explore and explain the governance of basic public services in Africa, especially focusing on Durban.
“Using Durban as an example, basic service policy and legislation recognises the need to prioritise access by the poor to basic services such as water, sanitation, refuse removal and electricity, but this has proved unsuccessful to do so in practice. Part of the problem is the distribution of resources between national government and municipalities,” he said.
Both Sutcliffe and Bannister have worked in urban development. From their experience, the two saw a need for an agency that could provide insight, information and advice on local level development based on an understanding of how cities operate in the developing world.
“The apartheid system left a legacy of wide inequalities in access to resources and services that still persist to a high degree today. The apartheid legacy left high levels of poverty in both rural and urban areas, as well as inequalities in access resources, infrastructure and social services,” said Bannister
According to their company’s findings, 40% of South Africa is urban, and the country is urbanising rapidly. When estimating; by the year 2100, there will be about four billion people living in slums in Africa.
The findings also stated that 66% of people in South Africa have access to water and 40% have access to sanitation, with some people having access to water which is within 100 to 200 metres or more away from their places of dwelling. It was also found that less than 40% of households in Africa on the whole have access to water and sanitation.
Many cities in Africa had existing open sewers, and there was a huge increase in people obtaining secondary education which led to a higher demand on basic services, said the report.
Bannister said although much had already been done in terms of people having access to basic services, there were still problems which derailed local governance from adequately providing basic services.
After much deliberation, the seminar concluded with the understanding that the challenges for basic service delivery in South Africa and Africa remained immense.
– Noxolo Memela
Pictured: Sue Bannister and Dr Michael Sutcliffe address various stakeholders on the challenges of basic service delivery in South Africa and Africa.
