20 July 2007
The Free Basic Services and Infrastructure branch recently held a workshop
at the Farm Inn outside Pretoria. The workshop drew delegates from Northern
Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, etc.
Delegates discussed topics such as the provision of water, sanitation,
electricity, and refuse removal to poor households.
When he opened the workshop, Yusuf Patel, Deputy Director-General of the
Free Basic Services and Infrastructure at the Department of Provincial and
Local Government (dplg), said the Free Basic Services had a multi-pronged
approach to challenges facing government. He said the programme could create
jobs in the building of water infrastructure, underground cabling for the
supply of electricity and other critical projects through the Municipal
Infrastructure Grant and other equity funding.
Delegates from the sector departments such as the Departments of Water and
Forestry, Minerals and Energy, the dplg and municipalities agreed that there
was a great need to keep a register of indigent so that the poor are not
overlooked for basic services such as water, sanitation, electricity, refuse
removal, etc.
The workshop was a follow-up to the one that was held in 2005, after
government had, in 2001, declared that every citizen should have a basic level
of service, in the form of water and electricity.
Inputs from sector departments were heard and interrogated. It was agreed
that poverty�stricken households should be looked after while models and new
approaches of tackling the free basic services were being investigated.
Facts about Free Basic Services
The Free Basic Services was introduced by President Thabo Mbeki in 2001.
According to the South African Constitution (Act 108 of 1996) all citizens
should have a right to a basic level of government services. Government is
aiming to eradicate the bucket system by the end of 2007. Poor households
should have access to at least 6 kilolitres of water every month. Indigent
households get a supply of electricity worth R48 every month. Municipalities
are required to keep a register of poor households so that no poor household is
overlooked. Free Basic Services is not for those who can afford services.
For more information on Free Basic Services:
Cindy Damons
Tel: 012 334 4947
Fax: 012 334 4854
E-mail: Cindyd@dplg.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Provincial and Local Government
20 July 2007
Source: Department of Provincial and Local Government (http://www.dplg.gov.za)
