COVID-19 and the attainment of Sustainable Development Goal 6 (clean water and sanitation) in South Africa

Abstract

Background: Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 demands that countries globally provide clean water and sanitation to their citizens. The outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic triggered various obstacles to the attainment of this goal, especially in developing states that struggle to render clean water and sanitation to their ever-growing populations.Aim: The aim of the study is to analyse the effects of COVID-19 on the attainment of SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation) in South African municipalities.Setting: Several South African municipalities.Methods: The article utilised expansive documentary sources on the SDGs, United Nations and World Health documents, journal articles and textbooks on water service provision in South African municipalities for analysis. Qualitative thematic analysis based on documents was employed to examine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the attainment of SDG 6 in South African municipalities.Results: The study indicates that local municipalities struggled to provide clean water to informal settlements where water supply infrastructure is not even available. Results also revealed that some urban municipalities in Gauteng Province are grappling with the provision of clean water supply to their informal settlements, which poses a risk of an outbreak of COVID-19 and a delay in the attainment of SDG 6 in general.Conclusion: The study concludes that the South African government needs to embrace a truly bottom-up approach as opposed to a trickle-down approach to water service provision. This is because local authorities have greater proximity and thus a better understanding of the social and economic challenges within their communities and can effectively implement strategies towards addressing these challenges of providing clean water to communities.

Accountability, inclusivity, effectiveness, and leaving no one behind

“…This study is grounded in the human rights-based approach that was produced by the United Nations Sustainable Development Group in 2003 (Zindi et al, 2022). However, Human Rights and Development have been central and indivisible pillars of the International Community of Nations since its inception in 1945 with the adoption of the Charter of the United Nations.…”

“…Everyone has the right to water under Section 3 of the Water Services Act 108 of 1997, which incorporates Section 27 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. Zindi et al (2022) additionally indicate that as part of its constitutional and legislative role, the South African Human Rights Commission has worked extensively on the right to water and sanitation. Based on the Commission's systematic and extensive work carried out in fulfilment of its mandate on these rights since 2010, the Commission released a report in 2014 titled The Right to Access Sufficient Water and Decent Sanitation in South Africa.…”

“…Lastly, the human rights-based approach advocates for actors to play a variety of roles to respect, protect, and ensure the rights of the poor, previously disadvantaged, and vulnerable people and seeks to ensure the upliftment of human rights while promoting empowerment through various developmental projects (United Nations, 2015;Smiley, 2016;United Nations, 2018;Zindi et al, 2022). The human rights-based approach is seen as a means to reach the most disadvantaged and defenceless individuals by ensuring the provision of basic services such as water, sanitation, refuse collection, electricity and health services.…”

“…This indicates that there are water service provision disparities between rural and urban areas (StatSA, 2017a;StatSA, 2017b;Matona, 2019). However, some scholars, such as Zindi et al (2022) and Mabeba (2022), indicate that the provision of clean drinking water is still a challenge in rural areas. They argue that the COVID-19 pandemic is evident that many municipalities are still unable to achieve the constitutional mandate.…”

“…Thus, it is evident that the deteriorating accountability for financial and performance management is not being addressed, as there are no consequences for those who fail to comply with legislation". According to Zindi et al (2022), a lack of accountability in water provision programs for underprivileged communities is detrimental to achieving SDG 6. Christopher (2015) identifies the lack of transparency and accountability measures in various South African municipalities as triggering inequalities and distracting municipal efforts from providing clean water and sanitation to the communities in need.…”