Evaluating water supply to selected villages in the Greater Giyani Municipality

Abstract

The Greater Giyani Municipality (GGM) is one of the South African municipalities that is experiencing challenges in providing water to the Giyani Community. In 2010 the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) initiated the Nandoni-Nsami bulk infrastructure project to remedy the challenge of water supply to the GGM. However, the project has been delayed since its inception and currently sits at 54% of completion. Thus, the study endeavours to evaluate water supply in the selected villages in GGM. The 25 selected villages for this study are direct beneficiaries from the incomplete Nandoni-Nsami bulk infrastructure project. Primary data was collected through a questionnaire survey, key informant interviews and site observation in the study area. The study used convenience sampling to collect data from households and purposive sampling at GGM. Secondary data was collected from municipal and government publications (i.e. Department of Water and Sanitation documents) as well as scientific journals. GGM uses both improved and unimproved sources due to unreliable water supply. The range of water supply sources varies from government boreholes, bulk water (in-house connections and communal taps), truck water tankers, river, household boreholes as well as water vendors. Based on the free basic water policy, water demand data for the selected villages is 3 230 600 litres per day while the total water supplied to 16 153 households across all 25 villages in Giyani is 1 796 676 litres per day. This is below the estimated water demand for domestic use as per the free basic water policy which shows that on average these communities are receiving much less water than required for their daily use. The sources of water supply at GGM are not meeting the water demand due to climatic factors, population growth, inadequate resources, and poor infrastructure. The Water Supply and Demand Balance Index showed that the study area is experiencing over 90% of some level of water shortage with only 8% experiencing slight to no water shortage. This study therefore proposes strategies to meet the water demand in the study area, which include water conservation, demand management, groundwater development, truck water tankers and water supply innovations.