Community Services

The problem of exclusion
Due to the inequitable economic development policies of the past, centred on Apartheid, with the ‘homelands’ system being the spatial manifestation of this policy, approximately one third of South Africans remain excluded from the mainstream, formal, economy. Further, the subsistence economy in South African rural areas has been in decline which has increased the level of exclusion of this, most vulnerable, group. In the long term it is clearly necessary for this level of exclusion to be dealt with through national economic development initiatives, which is beyond the scope of this municipal indigent policy. What is of concern here, however, is that economic exclusion has resulted in exclusion from access to basic services by the poor which contributes substantially to their experience of poverty.

Poverty and indigent support: the social safety net
This policy is aimed at including those currently excluded from access to basic services, through the provision of a social safety net. What poor people in South Africa have in common is the need to access affordable basic services that will facilitate their productive and healthy engagement in society. This indigent policy provides a framework for how this could be achieved at the local government scale. Other spheres of government have a role to play in setting up this safety net, as described later in this policy, but are not the primary concern of this policy. What poor people also have in common with other South Africans is the right to basic socio-economic and environmental rights set out in the Constitution. This means that both the private rights of individuals to basic services and the public right to a healthy and sustainable environment must be secured. The indigent policy provides one of the key platforms for upholding notions of public good inherent in the Constitution.

The term ‘indigent’ means ‘lacking the necessities of life4’
In interpreting this for the purpose of this policy a position has to be taken on the ‘necessities of life’ in a South African context. The Constitution provides a guide in this regard, leading to the view that the following goods and services are considered as necessities for an individual to survive:
  • Sufficient water.
  • Basic sanitation.
  • Refuse removal in denser settlements.
  • Environmental health.
  • Basic energy.
  • Health care.
  • Housing.
  • Food and clothing.

Anyone who does not have access to these goods and services is considered indigent. It is notable that this list of goods and services is not intended to represent the full range of requirements that people need to live a full life. Individuals, supported by government and the private sector, need to progressively enhance their circumstances. However, it remains important for an essential package of good and services to be identified as a benchmark for determining the condition of being indigent and to allow for the national effort to be focused on a primary goal of supporting individuals to get beyond this point. Further, it should be noted that this definition explicitly excludes a household income condition. This is partly due to the difficulties of measuring income but, more importantly, it relates to the fact that the condition of being indigent is experienced by the lack of these basic goods and services and their cost and the way they are provided in different locations in the country is highly variable.

Water supply Metered house connections. Wells or public standpipes.
Sanitation Fully sewered, waterborne sanitation. Ventilated Improved Pit (VIP) toilets.
Refuse removal 250 litre wheeled bins and twice weekly kerbside collection using motorised compactors. Burial or burning of refuse on the plot.
Basic energy Grid electricity supply with prepayment meter. Solar home system or support with access to alternative fuels (wood, paraffin or gas)
Housing assistance Necessity to emphasise land acquisition, urgent land registration processes (including township establishment) and rapid land servicing. Reliance on traditional house building