May 2000
In November 1998, the Development Chamber of Nedlac contracted researchers to undertake a project on infrastructure delivery. The project had three phases:
The first phase identified the extent of government’s infrastructure expenditure.
The second phase of the project focused on the organisation of infrastructure delivery. This analysis identified strengths and weaknesses within processes of infrastructure delivery.
The third phase of the project was a 2600 household survey in the provinces of Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Northern Province. The survey assessed the extent of delivery as well as recipients’ perceptions of the quality of infrastructure delivery.
Key findings from the report show that:
60% of low-income households and households in informal settlements were aware of the Department of Housing’s subsidy scheme. This indicates the government’s success in communicating with large numbers of the population about their new rights.
A majority of people living in informal settlements felt that health care services had improved over the last 5-year period.
The majority of households reported that telephone, electricity and refuse removal services all worked consistently.
While the majority of respondents rated the service received from medical doctors as being good, those who attended government hospital and clinics were less likely to rate the service received as good. Almost a quarter of households reported a shortage of learning material in their children’s schools
17% of people in the survey went hungry at least once a week. Indeed a mere 19% of people living in informal settlements said that they never go hungry.
The report argues that complicated tender procedures, inadequate integration of service delivery and capacity limits in both the public and private sector weaken effective service delivery.
An abbreviated hardcopy version can be requested from Nedlac. The survey data set is available in SPSS format on request from Omano Edigheji (omano@nedlac.org.za). All requests should be accompanied by your name, institutional details as well as what you intend to use the data for.
Download the report FAFO Infrastructure Report (This file is in PDF Format and 693 Kb).
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