Beating the backlog : meeting targets and providing free basic services : position paper

This paper deals with the backlogs in delivery of free basic services to the rural poor of South Africa with particular reference to water supply and sanitation, and electricity. Considerable additional resources are needed to remove these backlogs. Investment in infrastructure to the more accessible communities on the basis of line function departments and public institutions has been relatively simple. The investment strategy was one of steadily and incremental growth in infrastructure on the basis of fairly modest investment in the extension of water services and of electricity to the unserved poor of the order of 0.33 and 0.36 per cent respectively of total state expenditure in 2003/4. The government's aim is to clear the backlog in water delivery by 2008 and that of sanitation by 2010. Although there is less emphasis on electrification there is also a general goal of the rural poor also enjoying electricity mainly through the extension of the grid or through alternative sources. The paper identifies the backlogs in these sectors, their location, and the additional investment needed to meet backlogs. The institutional context for sustainability is also developed. Investment in infrastructure at an annual level of R2.3 billion in electrification and R3.2 billion in water and sanitation is needed to clear these backlogs.