Basic infrastructure for socio-economic development, environmentalprotection and geographical desegregation: South Africa's unmet

challenge

Patrick Bond 1

Department of Geography & Environmental Studies, Graduate School of Public & Development Management, University of the Witwatersrand, PO Box

601, Wits 2050, Johannesburg, South Africa

Received 3 March 1998; in revised form 26 October 1998

Abstract

How much basic infrastructure investment ± water and sanitation systems, new electricity lines, roads, stormwater drainage, and

other services provided at municipal level ± can South African society a�ord? What levels and types of subsidies for recurrent

operating and maintenance costs assure that low-income people can meet their basic infrastructural service needs? These questions

continue to bedevil policy makers. One reason is their failure to integrate into investment decision-making some basic aspects of

socio-economic cost±bene®t analysis, covering a variety of direct, indirect, developmental, ecological and geographical factors. The

direct economic bene®ts of infrastructure for low-income people have long been recognised, and include construction jobs,

improvements in work productivity; and the growth of small enterprises. Indirect bene®ts include more time and resources for

women; dramatic environmental bene®ts, public health bene®ts (which require infrastructure of a su�cient quality so as to enhance

rather than endanger health), and the desegregation of urban society (with respect to enhanced employment, educational and

cultural opportunities). While there are often costs associated with large, new basic-infrastructure programmes, the bene®ts justify

increased investment. If subsidies and tari�s are restructured to assure entitlement (``lifeline'') provision to all South Africans, plus

rising block tari�s for higher use of resources, it appears possible to signi®cantly augment what the government is presently sug-

gesting as a minimum set of investment and service provision in its Municipal Infrastructure Investment Framework. Ó 1999

Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Urban infrastructure; Development; South Africa; Financing; Urban policy

1. Introduction

At the end of the 1990s, it is ®nally fashionable todiscuss public policy transcendent of a ``WashingtonConsensus'' ± the hegemonic, neo-liberal macroeco-nomic policy associated with the International Mone-tary Fund, World Bank, US Treasury Department,Federal Reserve Board and allied think-tanks ± whichfor two decades has had such an uneven e�ect on capitalaccumulation, the human condition and the environ-ment across the globe. But if because of the 1997±98crash of East Asia, Russia and some of Latin Americamacroeconomic orthodoxy is now thoroughly discred-ited (Stiglitz, 1998), and if in the wake of the Long TermCapital Management disaster, even Nobel Prize-winningeconomic models are in disrepute, the cost-recovery in-

stincts associated with neo-liberal service delivery ± an``urban Washington Consensus'' that has been morerigidly applied by Pretoria than by the World Bank(1994) itself ± nevertheless, remain a signi®cant deterrentto social progress.

This article considers some of the main concepts,intellectual arguments and policy options that should ±but, in South Africa at present, do not yet ± informo�cial decisions (as well as academic research) aboutinfrastructure and service delivery. The focus is on how,through national programmes and cross-subsidies thatdiverge from microeconomic orthodoxy, the democraticgovernment's socio-economic, ecological and spatialresponsibilities can be met in the course of expandingthe quality and quantity of basic services to low-incomeresidents. The style of argumentation combines whatHarvey (1996, Ch. 13) refers to as ``ecological mod-ernisation'' and ``environmental justice'' discourses: re-spectively, expanded cost±bene®t analyses and concern

Geoforum 30 (1999) 43±59

1 E-mail: pbond@wn.apc.org

0016-7185/99/$ ± see front matter Ó 1999 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

PII: S 0 0 1 6 - 7 1 8 5 ( 9 8 ) 0 0 0 3 1 - 1

for the human ``brown'' (not just ecological ``green'')character of development. In this respect, the argumentspresented relate directly to South African policy debatesbut are of a more general character.

In the context of a new constitution and a strongpolitical mandate for the African National Congress(1994) government, the article considers shortcomings inthe government's new municipal infrastructure policy,discusses economic multipliers associated with infra-structure and services, evaluates environmental issuesand public health bene®ts associated with infrastructureand services, and o�ers remarks on subsidies and tari�s.The conclusion suggests ways in which a di�erent set ofpolicy-makers ± with social±democratic and socialistrather than neo-liberal proclivities ± might, in future,obtain developmental rewards through expanding in-frastructure and service delivery.

The article concludes that there is a need for largerinfrastructure and service subsidies in the form of re-distributive tari�s; that standards of infrastructure in-vestment should be much higher so as to realise socio-economic and ecological bene®ts; and that in the light ofthe ``public good'' characteristics of infrastructure-re-lated services, there should be more ambitious state andcommunity roles in infrastructure investment and ser-vices provision, regulation and pricing.

By way of background, because of apartheid and theextremely skewed legacy of economic development,South Africa is the second largest unequal country in theworld (after Brazil). The income share of the top 20% ofthe population exceeds 60% while the poorest 20% of thepopulation earns only 3% of the national income.Roughly, only 38% of ``African'' households have accessto electricity for cooking, heating or lighting (whilenearly all ``coloured'', ``Indian'' and ``white'' householdshave access to electricity). Only 27% of African house-holds have running tap water inside their residences,only 34% have access to ¯ush toilets, and only 37% havetheir refuse removed by a local authority (Departmentof Public Works, 1997). Rural African women are mosta�ected by such backlogs. But using orthodox cost-re-covery techniques to sell water and electricity to low-income households will result in only a marginal im-provement in these ®gures.

The context in which this article was drafted in 1997±98 included not only the persistence of such formidablebacklogs, but a tightening of ®scal constraints associ-ated with a homegrown structural adjustment policy(the misnomered Growth, Employment and Redistribu-tion, forced upon South Africa by international ®nancialturbulence in 1996), cut-o�s of services to hundreds ofthousands of residential users due to non-payment of(increased) municipal service charges, and an upsurge intownship social unrest in many of South Africa's majorurban centres (Barchiesi, 1998; Bond, 1999b). This un-rest has the potential to spread and intensify, and re-

minds us of the urgency, at the national level, to providea decisive policy on infrastructure/services which com-bines constitutional responsibilities with an e�ective,redistributive system that can adequately subsidise low-income residents, in part by recognising the myriad de-velopmental bene®ts that ¯ow from infrastructure andservices. Such a system would also serve as an alterna-tive means of achieving economic growth to the failedneo-liberal model, at least in the short- and medium-term until the vast backlogs are met.

This is not infeasible, but depends upon politicalstruggle and a sense of citizens' entitlement ± entirelyjusti®ed ± to basic service delivery. Unique amongstmodern states, South Africa's new constitution (Con-stitutional Assembly, 1996) contains guarantees of so-cio-economic rights in addition to general municipal``developmental duties'': the municipality must ``givepriority to the basic needs of the community, and topromote the social and economic development of thecommunity, and to participate in national and provin-cial development programmes'' (Constitutional Assem-bly, 1996, Section 153). In an expansive reading,municipalities should seek to ensure that citizens receiveaccess to services that have been historically deniedthem, so as to eventually achieve equal levels of servicedelivery standards across residential areas. The goal, asspelled out in the Bill of Rights (Constitutional As-sembly, 1996, Ch. 2), is to progressively ensure thatcitizens can exercise their rights of access to water,health care, a clean environment, housing and, moregenerally, dignity.

These constitutional obligations parallel the politicalpromises made by the ANC in its Reconstruction andDevelopment Programme (RDP) a 157-page documentwhich became the policy platform upon which the ANCwon the 1994 campaign, and initially represented acrucial political mandate. The RDP speci®ed the needfor infrastructure-related tari� restructuring, cross-sub-sidies and lifeline services to the poor with respect toboth water (including sanitation) and electricity, as wellas a more state-driven and community-controlled (non-market) application of housing and land reform subsi-dies to ®nance deeper levels of capital infrastructurethan those that have actually been implemented since(African National Congress, 1994, Sections 2.6.10 and2.7.8). As shown below, the rationale for such a system ±based upon national tari� reform emphasising cross-subsidies (using national and provincial resources, notjust local) and lifeline tari�s for low-income consumers ±would be not only to meet constitutional responsibili-ties, but also to gain additional public health, environ-mental and economic bene®ts to all of society,particularly women and children.

Indeed in South Africa, as elsewhere in the develop-ing world, women are the primary care-givers andhomemakers, and hence the bene®ts of infrastructure

44 P. Bond / Geoforum 30 (1999) 43±59

and service delivery are disproportionately felt bywomen, and likewise the burden of inadequate stan-dards of infrastructure also fall upon women (Bassett etal., 1992; Esrey, 1996). As discussed below, there areseveral aspects to women's utilisation of time that can beenhanced by infrastructure investments and service de-livery, relating to time spent in water queues, time spentgathering fuelwood and making ®res, time spent walkingfrom place to place because road conditions are notamenable for public or private transport, and time spenton other tasks that could otherwise be directed else-where if proper infrastructure was in place.

However, in the wake of the ANC's dramatic 63%electoral victory in 1994, under circumstances of ®nan-cial panic associated with an unanticipated 20% drop inthe currency during February±May 1996, the SouthAfrican government adopted a de¯ationary macroeco-nomic strategy in June 1996, e�ectively downgrading thestatus of the RDP. The strategy promised reduction ofthe state's annual budget de®cit to 3% of Gross Do-mestic Product. Ironically, perhaps, the strategy did notintend to cut back on infrastructure expenditure, but onthe contrary committed to its increase:

This strategy envisages a substantial acceleration ingovernment investment spending, together with im-proved maintenance and operation of public as-sets... The provision of basic householdinfrastructure, in particular, is a relatively low costand e�ective form of public intervention in favourof the poor and consistent with the reduction of in-come inequalities (Department of Finance, 1996,Section 7.1).

Thus the South African government retained, inrhetoric at least, an overarching commitment to dra-matic increases in infrastructure spending. Yet the de-tailed infrastructural policies adopted since 1994 bearlittle relation to the promises made. Like policies forlow-cost housing (Bond and Tait, 1997) and land reform(Williams, 1996), infrastructure policy also relies exces-sively on market-oriented, cost-recovery provisions. Ineach case, World Bank advisory teams and conservativelocal consultants (often emanating from big business orapartheid-era think-tanks) recommended contrary ap-proaches to those of the RDP, which as shown belowhave the e�ect of denying people basic access in a sus-tainable manner. Given the balance of forces in societyand the weak state of social movement and trade unionadvocacy, such advice prevailed (Bond, 1999a).

2. Post-apartheid infrastructure policy

One result of conservative policy drift, the Depart-ment of Constitutional Development's Municipal Infra-

structure Investment Framework (MIIF) ± a ten-yearplan for infrastructure and service delivery released in1997 but originally drafted in late 1994 by a World Bankteam working with local consultants ± has been criticisedat a detailed level elsewhere (Bond et al., 1997), in partbased on a legacy of concern about neo-liberal WorldBank urban policy advice to South Africa (Bond andSwilling, 1992; Bond, 1995, 1999b). Such a critiquehighlights the MIIF's low services standards, their im-plications for neo-apartheid class segregation, the larg-er-than-anticipated number of people likely to beadversely a�ected, MIIF's failure to factor in positiveexternalities when designing service standards and sub-sidies, the implications of such failure for understandingreturns on investment, MIIF's insu�cient cross-subsidyprovisions, and MIIF's dismissal of the main means ofresolving many of these problems, namely a system oflifeline tari�s and progressive block tari� cross-subsidi-sation. Each aspect is brie¯y considered next, with somedeveloped extensively in the rest of the article.

With respect, ®rst, to excessively low (``basic'' inMIIF terminology) standards, the lowest common de-nominator for municipal investment ± pit latrines (notwaterborne sanitation), yard taps (not inside the house),5±8 Amp electricity supply (not 20 or 60 Amp, as existsin formerly white areas), untarred roads, no stormwaterdrainage, etc. ± will be on o�er to the estimated 20% ofurban residents who have anticipated real monthly in-comes of R800 (US $150 in 1998) and below, and to 90%of rural residents. These are considered excessively lowgiven South Africa's ``upper middle-income'' standardof living (of roughly US $3000 per capita annual incomein purchasing power parity terms).

As also discussed in more detail below, the MIIFentails a relatively permanent class segregation policy ±with all the consequent economic ine�ciencies ± in theform of new, post-apartheid ghettoes where it will bephysically impossible or excessively costly to upgradefrom ``basic'' to full services. (While recognising thisproblem, MIIF does nothing to counteract it in partbecause the costs associated with neo-apartheid geog-raphy have not been calculated nor factored in.) Thebasic service levels contemplated in the MIIF are notmerely emergency services (piped water or portabletoilets in slum settlements that are without water orhygienic facilities at present) but represent, more fun-damentally, development policy that will be in place forat least a decade. It is extremely di�cult to incrementallyupgrade infrastructure, particularly sanitation systems,from pit latrines to waterborne sewage, resulting inpermanently segregated low-income ghettoes (fromwhich households that raise their real earnings to aboveR800 per month will have to emigrate in order to gainaccess to improved infrastructure and services).

The prospect of vast, neo-apartheid ghettoes isheightened by MIIF's inaccurate (extremely optimistic)

P. Bond / Geoforum 30 (1999) 43±59 45

calculation of the low-income population ± by at least afactor of 100% ± in the form of projections that (in realterms) only around 20% of urban households will earnless than R800 per month within ten years, given theworsening unemployment situation and failure of themacroeconomic policy to meet most major economicperformance targets (Bond, 1999a). The actual per-centage is certain to be far higher.

Apart from the question of political acceptability,MIIF's low standards for such a large proportion of thepopulation also re¯ected a failure to factor in potentialmicroeconomic linkages, public health bene®ts of higherstandards, environmental problems associated with theproposed standards, the geographical and gender im-plications, and the possibility of a national cross-subsidysystem. Each of these issues will be considered in thefollowing.

The main investment implications are important tonote at this stage, namely that the ``net economic re-turn'' on infrastructure investments should incorporatenot only the immediate ®nancial return ± the amount ofcost recovery as a ratio of the amount invested ± butalso other social bene®ts, costs, externalities and multi-pliers. Having failed to do so in the areas noted above,the MIIF provides for low standards of infrastructureon grounds that these standards are the most that low-income South Africans can a�ord to pay.

Speci®cally, in light of the failure to consider thebroader economic returns to infrastructure investment,the main reason that ``basic'' levels of service are beingimposed upon the vast majority of the poor is the highlevel of recurrent costs of water and electricity. In theabsence of generous cross-subsidies, these costs prohibitlow-income households from paying full cost-recoveryrates for even a minimal monthly amount of these ser-vices. Such an amount could cover su�cient services ±according to the RDP, for example, ``an on-site supplyof 50±60 litres per capita per day of clean water'' (Af-rican National Congress, 1994, Section 2.6.7), and suf-®cient electricity to cover the minimal energyrequirements associated with essential lighting, heatingand cooking (approximately 20 kWh per person permonth) ± such that all South Africans attain a relativelydecent standard of living regardless of their ability topay. Instead, MIIF emphasises cost recovery and ``lim-ited'' local-level cross-subsidies (in the case of ``indi-gent'' households who must pass a means test to getaccess to the Intergovernmental Grant mechanism,funding which has declined in real terms by 85% since1991) (Financial and Fiscal Commission, 1997).

There is, hence, a need for more comprehensive``block tari�'' subsidies. South Africa's majority is sopoor ± especially in relation to the minority of luxuryconsumers who have never had to worry about access tofull services ± that ``limited cross-subsidies'' are insu�-cient and the exercise of recovering costs on collectively

consumed services (a communal tap, for example) isoften futile or too expensive administratively. Indeed,the reason that the phrase ``limited'' is used in thiscontext is because of the government's explicit refusal toconsider (even as a policy option exercise) restructuringnational tari�s so that substantial cross-subsidies can beobtained. If such a proposal ± as noted, consistent withthe RDP ± had been considered and adopted, it wouldhave been relatively easy to cross-subsidise fromnational-scale industrial, service-sector, mining andagricultural bulk users of water and electricity, to low-income residential consumers. The vast di�erence in usepatterns ± commercial farmers consume 52% of water,for instance, while black domestic use is less than 2% ±would allow a small marginal increase in tari�s for thelarge users to pay for a lifeline service at no cost to allother consumers. Such a progressive block tari� system,essentially providing an entitlement to all citizens, wouldalso penalise excessive usage, thereby contributing toconservation goals.

By exploring in more detail various developmentalcharacteristics of infrastructure and services, this articleindicates the extensive bene®ts of higher standards ofinfrastructure investment and service delivery; how ex-ternalities and multipliers can be calculated and incor-porated into full economic (not merely ®nancial rate-of-return) costing; and how infrastructure/services marketssometimes fail to deliver infrastructure of a su�cientstandard and a�ordable price to meet basic humanneeds ± hence requiring extensive state intervention. Allsuch arguments justify a di�erent approach than thatultimately adopted in the MIIF.

A reminder of the negative geographical implicationsof the current policy is useful at this stage, for here it isevident that the bene®ts of desegregating South Africa'snotoriously colour-coded class society and residentialpatterns are being denied in favour of maintaining whitehomeowners' property values. Social, political andeconomic problems caused by apartheid segregationhave been recognised for many decades (e.g., Robinson,1995; Schapera, 1928). Deepening South Africa's dem-ocratisation process will to a large extent depend uponbreaking down geographical barriers faced by black(African, Coloured, Indian) people, as well as reducingsegregation of people according to their income class.

Few citizens would deny that South Africa requires aqualitative shift towards the social integration of society,including residential neighbourhoods. Given that theimmediate community is crucial as a shaping force forindividuals' values, attitudes, aspirations, expectations,skills and opportunities, it is important to guard againstapartheid-era ``insider vs. outsider'' social divisionsemerging in a now-deracialised way along class lines.

Instead, however, by tolerating such segregation ±and indeed by cementing it through the MIIF incometest (so that instead of along racial lines, sewage lines

46 P. Bond / Geoforum 30 (1999) 43±59

become the mark of class-based residential area) ± mu-nicipal politicians and o�cials both abdicate their re-sponsibility to reunite sharply divided cities and towns,and forego the socio-economic bene®ts that come fromintegrated planning. Economic bene®ts of desegregationinclude education gains within an entire community incases where some families ± typically from higher in-come classes ± within the immediate area invest in skills(Benabou, 1993). Likewise, segregation prevents full andfair competition in an e�cient and transparent labourmarket, particularly for low-income job-seekers (Wil-son, 1987). Residential segregation has also been cited asa source of employment discrimination by employers(Neckermann and Kirschenmann, 1990).

Another reason to promote class residential integra-tion through enhanced infrastructure investment andservice delivery is to improve community ecology ± moregreenery, more light, more fresh air, and physicalspacing ± which in turn has environmental, public healthand social bene®ts. Community ecology also relates towhat some have (controversially) termed a ``culture ofpoverty'' that exists within low-income ghettoes (Lewis,1961; Tucker and Scott, 1992) which can also be com-batted through class desegregation. The biggest gain tolow-income residents from integration may indeed lie inthe prevention of social disillusionment through provi-sion of more chances for upward mobility. Moreover,integration can diminish negative factors such as com-munity-distrust and crime, by ensuring that the broaderfabric of the community is more tightly knit (Rakodi,1994).

In sum, developmental municipal planning beyondthe scope MIIF permits is required to direct the struc-ture, size, composition and location of infrastructureand housing so as to promote social and economic res-idential integration. The provision of high-quality in-frastructure that retains su�cient ¯exibility to allowupgrading of individual household standards is essen-tial, as is the involvement of many more residents inmunicipal planning than has ever happened before. Anadditional set of economic rationales for transcendingthe existing policy is discussed next.

3. Economic multipliers

To consider, next, the explicitly economic arguments,there are three main types of multipliers associated withbasic-needs infrastructure to be considered: construc-tion-related job creation; literacy and productivity en-hancement; and small business promotion. Women areparticularly important bene®ciaries of such economicspino�s.

Firstly, research on potential employment creation ininfrastructure and housing is typically based upon bothformal sector jobs (Merri®eld, 1996) and upon estimates

of informal sector activity (Building Industries Federa-tion of South Africa, 1995). According to most ac-counts, formal employment stimulated by infrastructurevaries between 7 construction jobs for every million rand(US $170,000) spent in the civil engineering sector, to 12jobs per million rand in non-residential new construc-tion, to 23 jobs per million rand in public housingconstruction (Merri®eld, 1996). But by adding employ-ment creation in the informal sector ± speci®cally, anestimate of 50 jobs per million rand for informallyconstructed housing ± the average for all housing con-struction is raised to as high as 30 jobs for every millionrand spent, a ®gure competitive with investment in la-bour-intensive manufacturing. Such high rates of jobcreation, in a context of more than 30% o�cial unem-ployment, warrant a large increase in state expenditurein both the construction of infrastructure and in thecross-subsidisation of services to enhance basic con-sumption.

Secondly, literacy and productivity improvement areassociated with access to infrastructure, and have eco-nomic spino�s (World Bank, 1993). Electri®cation re-duces population growth rates through altering socialrelationships and generating economic opportunities,and as a result, women in electri®ed areas place moreemphasis on children's education than on children asproductive agents. Electri®cation provides some of theessential prerequisites for education, such as lightingand opportunities for e�cient administration. In addi-tion it generates the potential for longer schooldays,opening of night schools and access to audio visual aids.It enables children and adults to study at home ando�ers the opportunity for health promotion through thebroadcast media such as television and radio.

Education has been shown to directly a�ect a range ofvariables which, taken together, contribute to the healthstatus of domestic units and ultimately of the society.There is a high rate of social return through investmentin education and this rate of return is substantiallyhigher for women than men. Female education has beenshown to lower reproductive rates and improve child-rearing practices and child-mortality rates. Higher levelsof maternal education have a signi®cant impact on nu-trition of children, improved child health and reductionin diarrhoea morbidity.

The use of electricity in a household can have severale�ects on the productivity of inhabitants. Firstly, im-proved lighting, as well as access to television, bringabout considerable improvements to the quality of theworking environment of students and scholars. Theability to study at home, although dependent on otherfactors such as the number of people in the householdand the number of rooms available, is certainly en-hanced through electri®cation. Improved lighting andair quality (to the extent that the latter occurs) can alsoincrease the quality of life of inhabitants and this has a

P. Bond / Geoforum 30 (1999) 43±59 47

positive e�ect on their productivity in places of em-ployment or income generation.

Thirdly, the expansion of Small, Medium and MicroEnterprises (SMMEs) is crucial to South Africa becauseall other aspects of orthodox macroeconomic policyhave led to massive job loss, not employment creation(out of 126,000 new jobs in 1996 according to the poli-cy's claims, 71,000 were lost; out of 252,000 new jobs in1997, 116,000 were lost). Yet the hoped-for burgeoningof SMMEs may be hampered at the outset if access towater and electricity is not ensured. Such access comesinitially through home-based activities, so a full supplyof services to residences (not limited, for example, to asingle yard tap or small-voltage electricity meter) shouldalso be seen as an investment in micro enterprises andLocal Economic Development.

The bene®ts of electri®cation, for example, are ob-vious, in terms of both SMMEs and the additional R800million per year that will be spent on appliances fromelectri®cation (at existing rates of expansion). RecentEskom experience suggests that for every 100 house-holds which are connected to an electricity supply, be-tween 10 and 20 new economic activities are started.Electrical fridges are often acquired by small traders tostore drinks and perishable goods; in one rural Kwa-Zulu-Natal town, of 23 enterprises 21 required electricalrefrigerators to store produce, meat and drinks for sale.The bene®ts of moving from very low electricity supplies(the basic 5±8 Amp for urban areas) to an intermediate20 Amp supply are particularly large, given the need tooperate appliances such as refrigerators and small mo-tors. For enterprises involved in welding or carpentry,higher levels of service (up to 30 A) are required (vanHoren, 1996a,b; Bond et al., 1997). The special case ofwater for small-scale farming enterprises is also impor-tant (Bond, 1999b).

The element of time savings from improved infra-structure is also important, particularly to women. Timesavings due to the nearness and availability of an im-proved water source has been reported to lead to moretime not only for child care, including breastfeeding andbetter food preparation, but also for agricultural or in-come generation activities which could result in betterfamily health.

4. Environmental implications

A variety of themes have emerged in infrastructureresearch related to South Africa's fragile ecology (seeHimlin, 1997, for a more comprehensive overview, andBond, 1999b for an expanded argument). In most cases,there are obvious bene®ts from improved access to in-frastructure, although nuances are important, since theymay lead us ultimately to question the imposition ofwestern-style norms and standards associated with ur-

ban development. Water-related issues are considered®rst, including optimal sewage service levels, the nega-tive environmental consequences associated with in-creased water supply, the importance of water drainagesystems, and issues surrounding water quality treatment.Environmental issues related to electri®cation follow.

To begin with water supply, sewage, drainage, andtreatment, it is true that there are negative environ-mental consequences of increased water supply and in-deed of the relatively high infrastructure and servicelevels associated with the RDP, particularly with respectto dam construction, the most prevalent method forsupplying water in South Africa. But according to onestudy, in the absence of conservation measures, in 1990the total water supply would only have had to increaseby 1.5% if all those not yet receiving water-borne sani-tation were to receive it, and the additional householdsthat are expected to be provided with new direct watersupply would increase household water demand ± whichitself is responsible for less than 15% of all water use ±by just 12% (Palmer Development Group, 1993a).Currently under-served households will not place anysubstantial burden on South Africa's water supply(Palmer and Eberhard, 1994).

There are very strong possibilities for reducing waterdemand in society, through a water pricing policy (toreplace the existing system of riparian rights) catchmentarea management, ®xing leaky supplies ± approximately25% before it reaches the household (Rencken andKerdachi, 1991) ± and other demand-side managementmeasures. One study found that the cost of detectingand ®xing leaks were minimal compared to the savingsin the cost of the recovered water over only sevenmonths (Johannesburg City Engineer's Department,1989). Other conservation techniques include more e�-cient appliances (toilets that ¯ush with 4.5 litres, asopposed to the 9±13 litres common in South Africa, canreduce household water consumption by 18±23%)(Imiesa, 1993) and the installation of internal householdwater meters (rather than solely outside, disguised nearthe mains) so as to raise consumer (including company)consciousness and reduce water demand. By all ac-counts, conservation makes more sense than constantlybuilding more dams to increase the supply of water,especially given limits to the viability of further damconstruction, and especially for the water-scarce Jo-hannesburg metropolis (Mayekiso and Menu, 1998).

Nevertheless, the government's intention to denywater access ± by o�ering pit latrines instead of water-borne sanitation ± to low-income urban residents isshort-sighted. At present it is envisioned that, based onnational resources allocated (regarding both capital andrecurrent expenses) lowest-income households will re-ceive a minimum package of a Ventilated Improved Pit(VIP) latrine, water supplies in the form of yard stand-pipes for urban residents and taps only within 200

48 P. Bond / Geoforum 30 (1999) 43±59

metres of rural homes, and open urban stormwaterdrainage (Department of Constitutional Development,1997). Municipalities are then given the responsibility ofderiving the additional resources required to furtherimprove standards in low-income areas.

There is no conclusive analysis of the environmentalcosts and bene®ts associated with particular sewerageand water service levels in South Africa. But while thereexist conceptual problems and data limitations thatprohibit an exhaustive analysis, the major environmen-tal hazards associated with low service standards ± andthe bene®ts associated with improved standards ± can,nevertheless, be explored.

Regarding sewerage, both major systems ± VIPs andwater-borne sewage ± produce pollutants. VIPs rely onthe soil on the site of the latrine to ®lter out contami-nants from the water system, and treatment works fordealing with sludge o�-site. A water-borne system con-trols treatment of the sewage at a central location o�-site. Pollutants can usually be better controlled by usinga centralised treatment system, except in cases of sewerbreakage. Groundwater and/or surface water contami-nation from pit latrines is virtually guaranteed, andtreatment of this contamination is non-existent. Con-taminants from sewage are of two general types, bio-logical and chemical. Biological contaminants includepathogens in the form of bacteria and viruses, withconsequent risks to human health. Chemical contami-nants (or nutrients) include nitrates and phosphates,which damage ecosystems through eutrophication,which is the excessive growth of algae and other plantsat the expense of other aquatic life. There are also healthrisks to humans (especially infants) consuming nitri®edwater. Additionally, other organic material present inwaste contaminates water supplies by encouraging thegrowth of bacteria, which depletes the oxygen in thewater (chemical oxygen demand) thereby killing otheraquatic life (Palmer Development Group, 1993a).

Advocates of VIPs argue that pollution created isgenerally contained on-site, whereas leakage due tosewer-system failure is more concentrated and thereforeposes more of a threat to the environment (PalmerDevelopment Group, 1993b). However, the failures ofapartheid-era, resource-deprived, badly-managed town-ship sewer systems should not now be assumed ascharacteristic of future urban or rural developments.The premise must be that well-managed water-bornesystems will be adequately maintained and that leakswill be rapidly identi®ed and patched. In contrast, pitlatrine pollutants could in fact be relatively concentrateddue to high density levels in low-income urban settle-ments, with no controlled treatment possible.

There is also a high variability of pollutant release byVIPs, depending upon soil conditions and methods ofsludge treatment, and the practice of households addingsullage (washing water waste) into the VIP system.

Where the water table is high, such as in Cape Town,groundwater pollution due to pit latrines can be severe.In Winterveld, near Pretoria, the high water table allowsboreholes to serve as a reliable source of drinking water,yet the use of pit latrines by most residents has resultedin dangerous groundwater exposure to biological con-taminants such as faecal coliform bacteria and salmo-nella, in turn causing a typhoid epidemic in 1991. Of 59wells and boreholes tested in Winterveld during theearly 1990s, only 12 were free of faecal coliform bacteria(Palmer Development Group, 1995). Where soil is non-absorbent, the pits may over¯ow, exposing populationsto direct sewage and polluting surface water. InBotshabelo, where pit over¯owing was described as``continuous'' during heavy rains, high bacterial countswere found in the river system (Palmer DevelopmentGroup, 1994). Low-lying land in ¯oodplains presentsanother problem, for again in the case of Botshabelo,¯ooding caused sewage from the pits in the ¯oodplainto ¯ow directly into the river. Where there is rockyground and/or ®ssures, such as fractured bedrock ordolomite (as in much of Gauteng) swift lateral andvertical movement of pollutants from VIPs can be ex-pected, which means that even short-lived pollutantslike viruses can leach into drinking water supplies oronto the surface, and will also leach quickly into thegroundwater (Fourie and van Ryneveld, 1995). Suchsoil conditions pose problems for all VIP-related con-taminants. Finally, on steep inclines, as in many resi-dential areas of Natal, leakage to the surface can beexpected, where people are directly exposed to the VIPsewage waste (Palmer Development Group, 1993c).Where the soil is excessively granular in character, evenmost of the bacterial contaminants that are ®ltered outwell by most soils, along with the other contaminants,escape into groundwater.

In all such cases, water-borne sanitation is especiallyimportant for protecting the surrounding environment.It should be noted that many negative results observedin cases of pit latrines were not associated with VIPs, butrather with poorly constructed, conventional pit la-trines. Yet it is di�cult to expect any di�erences re-garding ¯ooding, over¯ow and groundwater leakage ofVIPs, although sanitation may be improved due to VIPimprovements in ¯y control and ventilation.

In sum, on-site sanitation systems do pose signi®cantrisks to the spread of disease, if conditions are less thanideal, in cases noted above. Regrettably, the South Af-rican government's elevation of the principle of a�ord-ability above other considerations in the provision ofsanitation runs the risk of ignoring the high costs of pitlatrine pollution in inappropriate geological conditions.The overriding issue is that the poor are often forced tolocate on inferior and precarious land which makes fordi�cult provision of services and the risk of extremeenvironmental pollution.

P. Bond / Geoforum 30 (1999) 43±59 49

Regarding other aspects of water-related infrastruc-ture, good water drainage systems are an importantprotection against ¯ooding in crowded urban develop-ments, where much of the natural drainage capacity ofthe land has been inhibited as the land is covered withconcrete and as surface vegetation is lost (due to its useas ®rewood as well as by land development). Flood di-sasters, experienced periodically in South Africa, resultin billions of rands in property damage and a substantialdeath toll every year. The impervious surfaces of urbanareas not only increase ¯ood peaks during storms, butalso decrease low ¯ows between storms. Less rainwaterseeps into underground aquifers and the area becomesdrier when the rains stop (Stephenson, 1993). In addi-tion, the soil conditions and topography of urban andrural areas makes a major di�erence in drainage. Drier,uncovered sections of the urban areas, often found inlow-income black townships, contribute sediment tostormwater ¯ows. This can smother aquatic life and clogdams. High pollutant loads ± particularly nutrients, saltsand chemicals ± are products of urban run-o� (Allan-son, 1995).

Environmental destruction can be reduced throughmoving from open drains and gravel roads to tarredroads and closed drains beneath roads (the MIIF's af-fordability guidelines dictate that low-income commu-nities receive the former). With respect to both open andclosed drainage, water is rapidly channelled to down-stream areas, which results in heavy downstream¯ooding. Open drains are much less desirable in heavilysettled areas due to their high potential for beingblocked by solid waste (this is somewhat less of aproblem with closed drains, but improved solid wastecollection is required in either case). Open drains mayalso carry excessive amounts of sediment into the re-ceiving water body, and have proven to be dangerousfor young children who can be swept into rivers. Opendrains may also facilitate erosion in the vicinity of thechannels, and result in property damage to nearbyhomes.

It is true that tarred roads also involve environmentalcosts, decreasing the surface area for absorption ofwater, speeding up the rate of stormwater runo�, andincreasing the contamination from oil and other auto-motive by-products to receiving water bodies. Andclosed drains speed the water ¯ow, increasing the risk of¯ash ¯ooding. But innovations in closed stormwaterdrainage systems have a huge potential for savings inconstruction costs and in costs to the environment. Themain principle of a better-integrated system is to slowdown the movement of urban run-o�. This involvescontainment areas for stormwater near the site of im-pact, which would also allow for water treatment of thepolluted urban run-o�. Household rain catchment couldbe introduced to remove a portion of rain water fromthe sewer system, water that could then be used by in-

dividual households to water yards or use for generalwashing. A third component of integrated managementis the strategic planning of green areas that would ab-sorb stormwater runo� (Andoh, 1994).

Regarding water treatment, most local water re-searchers stress the importance of carefully managingSouth Africa's limited water resources, warning thatwater pollution is already a serious problem. Poor waterquality not only a�ects South Africa's ability to con-tinue to provide clean drinking water to a growingpopulation, but the ecosystem as a whole su�ers from alack of biodiversity. Enormous environmental destruc-tion is occurring, disrupting the delicate balance of in-terdependence among species (Allanson, 1995). Some ofthe foreseen consequences include a reduction in thewater body's natural puri®cation systems, and increas-ing levels of ¯ooding and erosion as the vegetationmediating these processes is depleted.

In the case of surface water, point and non-pointsource pollution from dense urban settlement and in-dustrial sources has created a serious water qualityproblem. Many urban streams and rivers do not meetthe general e�uent standards established by the De-partment of Water A�airs and Forestry. Problems dis-cussed earlier ± bacterial contaminants, organic silt, andnutrients, along with toxins and oil ± have killed o�aquatic life in urban streams and have polluted themajor raw water supply reservoirs which now must betreated to high standards for human consumption. Mostconventional water treatment plants are ill-equipped toadequately purify the increasingly polluted water (Re-ncken and Kerdachi, 1991).

The costs of pollution control are justi®ed by theoften greater costs of environmental damage and pol-lution clean-up. Systems that clean up water pollutionor ameliorate its e�ects are becoming available. Onetemporary measure to preserve aquatic life in the wakeof a pollution event is an aeration system that costsmore than R25,000 per week to operate, and other evenmore elaborate systems have been designed to ®lterpollution from urban water courses (Imiesa, 1993). Agreat deal of e�ort is required to deal with the after-ef-fects of the pollutants in reservoirs. Control is even moredi�cult for the non-point sources in agricultural run-o�and informal settlements (i.e., VIPs) whose e�uent isnot centralised through a water-borne sanitation system.

In the case of groundwater resources, prevention ofgroundwater pollution should receive high priority inwater management. Such resources are already used tosupply water to towns throughout the country, and o�erenormous potential to further supplement surface watersupply, especially during periods of drought. Ground-water remains three to ®ve times cheaper to developthan surface water sources. However, pollution toaquifers is di�cult to clean up. Groundwater movesmuch more slowly than surface water, and thus the self-

50 P. Bond / Geoforum 30 (1999) 43±59

cleansing properties evident in surface water are weak.The damages from groundwater pollution to ecosystemsis often long term, and often leads to abandonment ofaquifers.

While it is impossible to put a price tag on a cleanenvironment, the most direct environmental cost ofpollution to water systems is the cost of the clean-up ofcontamination. Preliminary calculations by the Devel-opment Research Institute in Johannesburg con®rm thatif only a 10% reduction in water puri®cation costs wereachieved by moving all under-served households towater-borne sanitation instead of providing pit latrines,these savings would outweigh the costs for sewagetreatment and greater water demand from the additionalhouseholds served, by roughly R117 million per annum(Himlin, 1997).

Other elements that could be included in a morecomprehensive environmental cost-bene®t analysis thatin turn would justify, on economic grounds, higher in-frastructural service standards, include puri®cation ofsewage e�uent to required standards, which wouldgenerate an increased quality water supply; puri®cationof drinking water reservoirs, which would have com-mercial ®shing potential; removal of silt from dams,which has potential recreational bene®ts; restoring sur-face water to required standards, which would generatehealth care savings; cleaning of groundwater aquifers,which would add to property values; restoration of es-tuaries, replacing river vegetation and rehabilitation ofaquatic life/®sh, which would add to the intrinsic valueof the ecosystem (Himlin, 1997).

As with water, it is true that increased electricityservice levels may cause additional social and ecologicalcosts due to the generation of electricity to meet addi-tional demand, but as in the case of water this demandwould represent a tiny fraction of existing consumption(no more than 3% additional demand, if all South Af-rican households received electricity). Environmentalbene®ts associated with increased access to electricity ±certainly beyond the small supplies envisaged in theMIIF, which is a 5 Amp supply, compared to the 20Amps required to run several small appliances and the60 Amps supply available in most middle- and upper-income white households ± include diminished air pol-lution from coal and wood ®res and diminished fuel-wood collection. Some of these costs (such as indoor airpollution) are limited to households, while others (de-forestation, pollution caused by burning coal in urbanneighbourhoods) are externalities that society as a wholepays for.

Based on the experience since Soweto was electri®edin the 1980s, and in the ®rst ®ve years of the acceleratedelectri®cation programme, under conditions that did notinclude RDP-style lifeline tari�s (i.e., whereby electricitystill cost an inordinate amount), it has been observedthat electricity generates a substitution e�ect for higher-

value services such as powering lights, radios, televisionsand small appliances. Without a lifeline tari�, energy-intensive applications such as cooking, space heatingand water heating are more expensive if electricity isused rather than coal, wood and para�n (Thorne,1996). In short, the mere availability of electricity doesnot change behaviour if the price is not su�ciently lowto create a substitution e�ect.

The incremental e�ects of moving from one servicelevel to the next depends substantially upon the levels ofstandards and whether a lifeline tari� exists (as well aswhether the retail price of small, domestically-producedappliances can be subsidised). At the low infrastructurelevels envisaged in the MIIF, access to small volumes ofelectricity may replace the use of candles and para�nfor lighting, and batteries for small appliances, but therewill generally be no cooking or space heating.

It is possible to make some monetary estimates of theincremental bene®ts of improving service levels beyondMIIF standards, based on recent research about thepositive and negative externalities associated with retailelectricity provision (van Horen, 1996b) and on a rangeof studies undertaken of newly electri®ed householdsaround South Africa (Simmonds and Mammon, 1996).Some of the e�ects noted are associated with publichealth, but are included here due to the fact that dis-aggregation of costs has not yet been completed. Thecost of air pollution due to coal is R307 per householdper year, 25% of which would be abated if higher sup-plies than those envisaged through the MIIF are pro-vided, even in the absence of a lifeline tari�. Therespective estimates for air pollution due to wood usageare R944 per household per year, of which an estimated5% is abated at higher levels of electricity than MIIFenvisages, but again in the absence of a lifeline tari�.The cost of fuelwood collection is presently estimated atR291 per household per year, and again 5% of thesecosts are abated with higher electricity standards (alsowithout a lifeline tari�). The time spent by ruralhouseholds in South Africa (usually women) collectingwood for ®res fall within the range of 5.2±18.6 h perweek (average 11.9). In aggregate each year, 1.2 millionhours of travel time could be saved (nearly entirely bywomen) along with 12 million tonnes of ®rewood (Bondet al., 1997).

It is only possible to guess what the abatement levelswould rise to if both higher standards and a lifelinesupply ± to provide su�cient free electricity to ensurecooking, a limited supply of refrigeration, water heatingand space heating ± were o�ered. The use of coal andwood for ®res would then be largely limited to socialpurposes.

The main bene®ts of electri®cation are with respect tohealth, as noted below, but there are additional bene®-cial e�ects of moving to electricity from coal and woodfor the sake of biodiversity, aesthetics and visibility.

P. Bond / Geoforum 30 (1999) 43±59 51

Adding health bene®ts of electri®cation ± i.e., abatementof morbidity costs including medication, lost produc-tion, transport costs, and costs of treating in- andout-patients, and mortality costs based on a range ofinternational studies (and adjusted to take account ofSouth African income levels) ± van Horen (1996) foundlarge net bene®ts from increasing electri®cation stan-dards so as to reduce some of the pollution associatedwith ine�cient energy use. The net e�ects include notonly avoided environmental costs from householdconsumption, but also an estimate of the additionalenvironmental costs of electricity generation by Eskom ±including the e�ects of coal-®red power plants andozone depletion ± to supply these customers. If electri-®cation occurs at much higher standards in urban areas,the net bene®ts begin at roughly R100 million in yearone and rise (in present value terms) to R200 million inyear two, R400 million in year four and R800 million inyear eight. In rural areas, the net environmental bene®tsof electri®cation rise more gradually, to R50 million byyear eight.

In sum, improvement of infrastructure and servicestandards should be undertaken in part because of thenegative environmental externalities associated withlower standards. It is the environment that pays whenpit latrines leak pollutants into groundwater, whensewage systems fail, when improper drainage leads to¯ooding, erosion and the washing of human waste intosurface water, and when coal and wood are used byhouseholds instead of cleaner, healthier electricity. En-vironmental pollution results in actual costs to health,property, and quality of life. The environment is apublic good, and the public as a whole must take re-sponsibility for it.

5. Public health promotion

Geographical, economic and ecological bene®ts ofinfrastructural services are important, but perhaps thegreatest in¯uence on policy-making should be ± but isnot, to date ± the large savings to the public healthbudget that can reasonably be expected if standards areimproved and services subsidies provided. The keycomponent of calculations associated with health andinfrastructure is the cost of communicable diseases re-lated to inadequate water supply and sanitation. Ac-cording to Sanders and Groenewald (1996), suchdiseases

may be water-borne (spread through water supply)water-washed (lack of water for personal and foodhygiene) or water-based, as well as noncommunica-ble diseases due to water-borne toxins. In addition,inadequate sanitation can result in the spread of in-testinal helminths through contact or ingestion of

soil contaminated by human faeces. Since the trans-mission of many of the above diseases depend onaccess of human wastes to water or people'smouths, the chain of transmission can be brokenby safe disposal of excreta, personal and domestichygiene (washing hands after defecating and beforepreparing food) improving water quality and pre-venting recontamination of water supplies.

Diarrhoea is the most common such disease, and isgenerally transmitted through food-borne processes ordirectly transmitted via ®ngers, eating utensils or dirt.Such water-washed transmission can be dramaticallycurtailed by increasing the quantity, availability andutilisation of water. According to Sanders and Groe-newald (1996),

Here distance to the water source is of the utmostimportance as well as the promotion of positive wa-ter-use behaviour. A recent burden of disease studyin developing countries, using the DALY (disabilityadjusted life year) to measure burden of disease,ranks diarrhoeal disease as one of the largest causesof disease burden. It is estimated to account for8.1% of total DALY loss in these areas. Infantsand children carry the main burden of inadequatewater and sanitation-related disease with more than80% of the DALY loss due to diarrhoea being theresult of infections in children under age 5.

In South Africa, diarrhoeal disease is responsible foralmost 25% of deaths amongst black and colouredchildren between 1 and 4 years of age, and for nutri-tional de®ciency and low weights. The primary riskfactors are the absence of an inside tap, a ¯ush toilet inthe home, a refuse receptacle, and electricity, as well aslow household income and lower than standard ®vematernal education.

In addition, there are health bene®ts from improvedwater and sanitation services, according to Sanders andGroenewald (1996):

Health bene®ts of variable magnitude have been re-ported. Studies have reported 0±81% (median 21%)lower child mortality rates amongst children withimproved water and sanitation facilities than thosewithout such facilities. Other studies have reported40±80% reduction in diarrhoea mortality in infantsand children with the provision of piped water inthe house. Several studies analyse the impact of im-proved water and sanitation on morbidity rates dueto diarrhoeal disease. The expected decrease inmorbidity rates associated with access to adequatelevels of water and sanitation is regarded to be be-tween 22% and 46%. One study shows that a de-crease of between 35 and 50% can be expected, if

52 P. Bond / Geoforum 30 (1999) 43±59

improved water and sanitation are combined withexcreta disposal and hygiene education. Anothershows that up to 70% of diarrhoeal disease casescan be attributed to inadequate disposal of childfaeces and garbage and poor caretaker hygiene. Arecent review of research into the health bene®tsof water and sanitation facilities suggests that im-proved water supply in itself does not necessarilyproduce signi®cant health improvements, sanita-tion may be a more important factor than watersupply, the greatest bene®ts seem to be associatedwith an improvement in both sanitation and watersupply, water quantity may be more important thanwater quality and hygiene education enhances thehealth bene®ts of improved water supply and sani-tation. The factors required to achieve maximumimpact from improved water and sanitation havenot been well researched. Sanitation coverage isslipping behind safe water coverage and if sanita-tion has a larger impact on health than improvingwater, this disparity will result in fewer health ben-e®ts to the population.

Speci®cally, based on a review of international evi-dence of the e�ects of di�erential infrastructure andservices on disease abatement, Sanders and Groenewald(1996) recommend relatively high standards of infra-structure provision:

Where water was supplied on site or inside thehouse and a water-based sanitation system or ¯ushtoilet was present diarrhoea prevalence was 40%lower than with unimproved water and no sanita-tion. In the same study, improvements in child nu-tritional status were found with improved waterand sanitation. Increases in height ranging from0.8±1.1 cm were associated with improvements insanitation to the level of pit latrines, and 1.5±1.9cm with optimal sanitation improvements (¯ushtoilets) in comparison with no improved sanitation.Another study estimated that provision of in-housewater connections would reduce diarrhoea morbid-ity among infants by 12% and the provision of pri-vate excreta disposal facilities would reducediarrhoea morbidity by 42%.

Such estimations allow for rough calculations of costsavings associated simply with abatement of diarrhoea,which accrue through improved infrastructure (beyondthe standards set out in the MIIF). If, for example, a22% reduction in diarrhoea morbidity is achieved, andassuming a conservative cost estimate of hospitalisationof R2250 per diarrhoea case, upgrading from minimallevels to intermediate/full water and sanitation services,to both urban and densely populated rural areas, would

yield direct cost savings of more than R750 million tothe health sector over a ten-year period.

In addition to the positive impact of water on diar-rhoeal disease abatement, electri®cation also has majorhealth bene®ts. University of Cape Town researchersestimate that a universal supply of electricity wouldcurtail more than 3000 deaths each year due to acuterespiratory infection (caused by wood/coal burning)burns and para�n poisoning. The direct health sectorcost saving due to reduced morbidity associated withelectri®cation is, using even conservative estimatesabout electricity access and utilisation rates, betweenR343 and R515 million over a ten-year period (vanHoren and Davis, 1996).

Utilising a di�erent database that focuses much moreon household-level e�ects (still, however, without lifelinetari� estimation), van Horen and Davis (1996) estimatesavings due to the abatement of a broad range of healthcosts that follow the introduction of additional elec-tricity. In the case of morbidity, costs included transportcosts, medication, lost production and costs of treatingin- and out-patients. For mortality, valuation estimatesfrom a range of international studies were used andadjusted to take account of South African income levels.The implications of reducing household air pollutionfrom coal and wood were noted above. In the case ofpara�n poisoning, average per household costs of R90per year can be abated by an estimated 50% due toelectricity access even without a lifeline supply (and pre-sumably much higher with lifeline) while health costsassociated with ®res and burns ± an estimated R491 perhousehold per year ± can be abated by an estimated 75%with higher levels of electricity supply.

There are, in addition, health bene®ts from highermunicipal standards of roads and drainage systems.South African township roads are often unpaved andunlit with consequent deleterious impact on quality oflife. In Soweto, road dust contributed 16% on average toparticulate pollution, which is linked to respiratorydiseases (Sanders and Groenewald, 1996). Improve-ments in transport infrastructure should promote safe,secure travel. This is not currently the case in manyurban areas where wide roads, the lack of law enforce-ment and dangerous rail systems result in high levels ofinjury.

To illustrate, in the greater Cape Town area from1981 to 1984, 15% of deaths in childhood were due totransport accidents. The majority of transport relateddeaths involving pedestrians in Cape Town occurred inperi-urban areas with poor transport infrastructure,substandard roads and poor safety enforcement (CapeTown Metropolitan Non-natural Mortality StudyGroup and Health Consulting O�ce, 1997). Many pe-destrian deaths are preventable if the road networkconstruction is accompanied by speed control, walk-ways, footbridges and recreational facilities for children.

P. Bond / Geoforum 30 (1999) 43±59 53

There are signi®cant potential health bene®ts associ-ated with improved drainage of waste and storm water,and in the prevention of contaminated ground andsurface water and soil by human excreta. With com-munal standpipes, water waste can be high as there is noindividual responsibility to see that the taps are closed.In areas where water supplies have been improvedwithout provision of wastewater disposal the result hasbeen a shift from one set of diseases to another. Manydiseases thrive in areas where there is poor drainage andinadequate provision for garbage collection, sanitationand piped water. Anopheles mosquitos which spreadmalaria breed in standing water; Culex mosquitos whichspread ®lariasis breed in sewage water (cracked or openseptic tanks, pit latrines and drains); Aedes mosquitosbreed in small containers of clean water (tins, tyres,water storage containers) and spread yellow fever anddengue. Intestinal parasites are also a major source ofmorbidity amongst low-income urban settlements(Sanders and Groenewald, 1996). Other environmentaland hazard-related aspects of roads and drainage sys-tems were discussed above.

Health bene®ts from other infrastructural improve-ments include abatement of seven types of environ-mental health hazards that are common in urban areas:biological pathogens; chemical pollutants; a shortage orlack of access to particular natural resources; physicalhazards; aspects of the built environment with negativeconsequences on physical or psycho-social health, nat-ural resource degradation and national/global degrada-tion. The ®rst four directly a�ect health and the otherthree in¯uence health indirectly (Sanders and Groene-wald, 1996). Inadequate water and sanitation serviceprovision result in large numbers of pathogenic micro-organisms and disease vectors in the environment. Airpollutants are produced by biomass or coal combustionas well as road dust. Physical hazards such as burns,scalds and accidental ®res are associated with the use ofalternative energy sources to electricity. The risk of ®resis further increased in low-income urban settlementsbecause of the proximity of dwellings and ¯ammablematerials used for their construction. Flooding is aproblem in areas where there is inadequate drainage.

Moreover, many psychosocial disorders are associ-ated with poor quality houses and living environments.The stress of living under these conditions may under-mine the immune system and predispose people to dis-eases. Good quality housing and living environmentsprovided by good quality infrastructure and service de-livery can greatly reduce stress and its negative healthconsequences (Sanders and Groenewald, 1996).

In sum, the public health arguments for improvingthe proposed levels of service provision are numerous.Incremental improvements in sanitation result in incre-mental improvements in health. Health bene®ts fromimproved water supplies only appear when improved

sanitation is present and only when water is provided onthe premises or inside the house. Communal water fa-cilities have been shown to have no or little health im-pact or in some cases worsen the situation. Waterprovision without adequate wastewater disposal provi-sion such as that provided by water-borne sanitation,may be a health hazard in itself. The quantity of water isalmost more important than water quality for house-hold health production. For this reason the provision ofprivate household or yard taps is advocated, as distanceto the water source is the most important factor a�ectingthe quantity of water used by households. Improve-ments in both water and sanitation produce larger im-pacts than either alone. For better health impact,improved water and sanitation and better hygiene be-haviour are required. The reduction in morbidity due toenergy related diseases is a function of the relationshipbetween electri®cation and developmental attributessuch as housing, safe water, sanitation, education andhealth care.

The direct health sector cost saving that would stemfrom upgrading the proposed urban infrastructural in-vestment with regard to water and sanitation is R570million, and almost R450 million with regard to elec-tri®cation (assuming 80% access by 2012). This saving isthe direct result of investment in urban infrastructure,and should be included in any ®nancial evaluation of theurban infrastructure investment as a return on the initialinvestment. This has implications in the broader debateconcerning ®nancing and a�ordability. The issue ofhealth sector ®nancing is particularly pertinent in thelight of the disparity between health expenditures andhealth outcomes in South Africa. In addition, indirecthealth bene®ts will also result in substantial savings dueto the release of time, particularly women's time, whichcan be used for child care and productive activities;improved worker productivity; and opportunities foreducation.

Given the historical disparities between race groupsin South Africa, it is not appropriate to provide inferiorservices to the disadvantaged populations. Countrieswith the largest gaps in the quality of infrastructurebetween the wealthy and the poor, have the worstoverall health status. In addition to the ethical andmoral arguments, there are sound public health argu-ments for improving infrastructure in the poorer areas.Many of the diseases related to poor infrastructure arecontagious, and as such, have the potential to threatenthe health of higher socio-economic groups in the vi-cinity (especially cholera, malaria, dengue, ®lariasis,yellow fever and tuberculosis). It is short-sighted toprovide a lower level of infrastructure given the longerterm potential for environmental degradation. Andthere is evidence to show that people are much morelikely to maintain services which are their own thanthose which are shared.

54 P. Bond / Geoforum 30 (1999) 43±59

Such public health considerations are important forgender equity. Women's savings in energy expenditurefrom bringing water closer to households results in re-duced incidence of low birth weight babies born as wellas a corresponding reduction in energy intake whichcould be transferred to children. Similarly, time savingsdue to the use of electricity for cooking and heatingcould be utilised in ways more bene®cial to health.

In sum, health is primarily produced at the level ofthe household and is directly related to the living envi-ronment, which includes municipal service provision.There is much evidence to demonstrate the signi®cantpublic health advantages of improved infrastructure.The health gains will be both a direct result of improvedwater, sanitation, electri®cation and drainage, as well asindirectly achieved mainly through releasing women'stime for caring and productive activities. But to realisethe large gains possible ± not only the health budgetsavings that are likely if standards are improved, butstrong moral and political bene®ts associated with im-proved infrastructure development ± will also requirethe government to revisit its pricing of services.

6. Subsidies and tari�s

The South African government's failure to lower theprices of basic services will mean that the range ofbene®ts from basic infrastructure described above can-not be achieved. Restructuring subsidies and tari�s re-quires coming to grips with extremely low levels ofa�ordability, and a willingness to look beyond the or-thodox cost-recovery approach that has dominatedpolicy, programmes and projects to date. It is in thissense that the South African government has not evenadvanced to the stage of ecological modernisationwhereby cost-bene®t analysis would permit the intern-alisation of externalities, nor have socio-ecological jus-tice instincts been sharp enough to redistribute wealth inthe form of progressive block tari�s.

Thus most government urban policy documents failto consider that services in existing middle- and high-income areas (still mainly populated by white SouthAfricans) are still heavily subsidised, and have been fordecades, from surpluses generated through businesslevies (ultimately based on transfers from black workersand consumers whose employers and retail outlets werehistorically, by law, located in white areas). Redistri-bution for the sake of social and historical justice is onerationale for dramatic changes in infrastructural servicepricing. But there are other reasons that the governmentshould systematically diverge from setting prices basedon orthodox marginal cost, average cost or other nar-row ®nancial-return techniques.

A pure cost-recovery model is inappropriate formunicipal and other social services. The South African

government rejected a cost-recovery approach to pri-mary health care not only because health is a basic hu-man right (guaranteed in the Constitution's Bill ofRights) and because low-income people's spending onhealthcare is typically subtracted from spending on vitalfood and other components of good health, but alsobecause it is administratively expensive to do so. It oftencosts more in cost recovery administration than can besqueezed out of low-income people desperate for treat-ment (see Bond, 1998a, for the Zimbabwe case). Thesame is true with respect to other basic government-supplied services.

If we consider the implications of the cost-recoveryapproach in perhaps the most critical area of services ±basic water supply ± it is clear that attempting to bethrifty by providing merely collective (not individual on-site) taps, as proposed for most rural water consump-tion, is penny-wise but pound-foolish. The collection ofmonies from standpipes poses considerable problems. A¯at rate charge is inequitable in that it favours thoseconsuming larger quantities and this has the potentialfor social con¯ict. Consumption related charges entailcostly methods of collection which either lead to signi-®cant underrecovery of costs or signi®cantly higherprices to consumers.

In contrast, a progressive block-tari� and lifelinesubsidy system assures that a minimum supply of mu-nicipal services could be consumed at no charge by allresidents, with rising increases in prices based on in-creasing consumption levels. The rationale for a blocktari� is partly the long history of resource consumptionat inordinately low prices by South Africa's large in-dustrial and agricultural corporations, and extravagantdomestic use by the white population. By generating asurplus through slightly higher marginal costs for cor-porations, free lifeline tari�s can easily be designed forthe ®rst block of consumption (e.g., 50 litres of water perperson per day). If such lifeline tari�s are to be consid-ered an entitlement, there is no reason that they cannotbe structured so that all domestic users receive their ®rstmonthly units of water and electricity on a fully subs-idised basis, provided that subsequent levels consump-tion are priced at increasing rates so as to cover theinitial costs.

With respect to ®nancing the capital costs of infra-structure, tari� reform can support the stretching ofpayment for capital. However at present, an insu�cientamount of public sector capital expenditure is occurring,by all accounts. In the case of electricity, Eskom (whichin 1995 installed 80% of all new connections in SouthAfrica) only spent half of the amount suggested in theRDP for the peak annual capital cost of electri®cation,with no plans to augment its capital expenditure beyondpresent levels (300,000 units per year) that would deci-sively diminish the backlog of approximately 4.5 millionhouseholds.

P. Bond / Geoforum 30 (1999) 43±59 55

How much capital investment is required? An ``in-termediate'' service level for urban and rural people ±much higher than the proposed MIIF ± would havecapital costs of up to R56 billion in urban areas and R59billion in rural areas over the next decade, amountsfeasible within the existing planned housing and landreform budgets (Bond et al., 1997). At just over R11billion per year, this corresponds to the stated desire ofgovernment to spend 5% of its annual resources ± in1998 rand R10 billion of a R200 billion budget ± onhousing (of which basic infrastructure is the core com-ponent) (actual spending has been less than 1.5% ofbudgetary resources since 1994). Additional spending onland reform would support enhancement of rural ser-vices (which are more costly to install given geographicalfriction).

A large part of the government's reluctance to expendamounts anywhere near this level on decent householdinfrastructure ± notwithstanding rhetoric to the contraryin even the macroeconomic strategy ± stems from theinability of consumers to pay the recurrent operatingand maintenance expenses. Because the argument forcross-subsidisation and lifeline tari�s is ultimately aboutrecurrent consumption, is important to show how waterand electricity can become self-®nancing through ``ring-fenced'' cross-subsidisation (requiring no other externalsubsidies). Other aspects of infrastructure such as roadsand water-borne sewage involve relatively minor oper-ating and maintenance costs, which can generally beinternalised within the rates base of, and central ®scaltransfers to local authorities.

To achieve su�cient cross-subsidisation in the twomost crucial cost-centres, water and electricity, requiresmoving from local-level tari� determinations (which stilloften re¯ect residual apartheid-era distributional ar-rangements) to a national policy and structure. Thiscould be accomplished while still giving local authoritiessu�cient autonomy to establish additional levies forother funding purposes, as is provided for in the Con-stitution (Swilling, 1997).

To consider water, there are numerous potentialsources of income from within the water sector to coverthe operating and maintenance costs of an improvedlevel of service with a basic entitlement provided forfree. These include cross-subsidisation from rich to poorconsumers, from mining and industry to residentialusers, and from urban to dense settlement and rural.There are su�cient ®nancial surpluses within the watersector at catchment-area and national levels, and someinteresting pilot studies of local cross-subsidisation (e.g.,the Western Cape town of Hermanus) to suggest thefeasibility of this approach. Current water pricing policyis indeed to allocate 5% of all water in South Africa to abasic needs reserve, for precisely this (abstract) purposeof assuring all basic needs can be met; however, localauthorities have generally failed to apply progressive

tari� structures, in part due to rising opposition to suchblock tari�s from the World Bank (Roome, 1995; for arebuttal, see Bond, 1998b), DCD and the Department ofFinance. (One strong basis for opposition is that itmakes privatisation of municipal water more di�cult, as®rms have di�culty matching their marginal cost curvesto retail price levels.) With price elasticities of water inthe Johannesburg area estimated at ÿ0.3, there will notbe a dramatic impact initially on large-scale users(though such an impact would certainly be desired, ul-timately, for conservation purposes) (Roome, 1995).

Similarly, the electricity sector has historically dis-torted end-user tari� prices so as to maintain its productarti®cially inexpensive for many heavy industrial con-sumers (in part to take up large underutilised capacitydue to 1970±80s over-expansion) hence leading to seri-ous economic distortions. Cheap electricity, accordingto Fine and Rustomjee (1996), fuelled the corporate``minerals-energy complex'' which so dominated otheraspects of South African economic development that itcan largely be held responsible for many of the country'svast structural economic problems, including the un-derdevelopment of small-scale business, monopolisat-ion, low levels of investment, relative lack of capacity inintermediate and capital goods, poor export perfor-mance in manufacturing, low skill levels of the work-force, and inappropriately high capital-intensity in keyeconomic sectors. The problem continues, for between1987 and 1994, Eskom was able to reduce the real priceof electricity by 24%, and is aiming to reduce it by afurther 15% by 2000.

Consumers were not so fortunate (though they aresubsidised extensively given the far higher costs of sup-plying power at peak morning and evening hours and inrelatively small, atomistic volumes). While there hasbeen great variance due to deals favouring particularconsumers (such as the giant aluminum exporters) themean 1994 electricity tari� was R0.05 R/kWh (40%)higher for domestic consumers than for mining ormanufacturing consumers (Electricity Working Group,1996). Within domestic consumption, large tari� vari-ances still generally favour residents of well-establishedareas (not low-income black people) whose predecessorshad long ago paid the capital costs of installation.

To replace these distortions with cross-subsidiesfounded on social justice principles, the cost implica-tions of providing a lifeline subsidy of 20 kWh per capitaper month would be approximately R6 (the averageconsumption at present by ®ve±six person householdswith prepayment meters is 80 kWh per month, whichimplies that a new system would dramatically increaseconsumption for lower-income users). As is the case forwater pricing, a lifeline tari� is not technically di�cult toimplement, once either billing systems are adjusted orprepayment meters are fully installed (in the latter case,cards are purchased regularly from outlets, and it would

56 P. Bond / Geoforum 30 (1999) 43±59

be administratively feasible to provide the subsidy to ahousehold representative each month at a given salespoint).

With approximately nine million households, the to-tal annual cost internal to the electricity supply sectorwould eventually reach approximately R3 billion perannum (roughly twice the existing internal cross-subsidyto domestic users) once the entire nation had electricityconnections. As noted below, there will be economicconsequences of an inclining block tari�, including fuel-switching and conservation. Ideally, fuel-switchingwould also encourage the development of inexpensivesolar and wind systems with much lower life-cycle costand greater applicability in isolated rural areas (Davis,1996). Data on price elasticities are relatively scarce,although one study indicated a short-run price elasticityof ÿ0.097 and a long-run price elasticity of ÿ1.01(Pouris, 1986).

In short, given South Africa's combination of mal-distribution of resources and enormous poverty, there isa crucial need for a systematic approach to cross-sub-sidies, at national level but with scope for some degreeof municipal variation, thus ensuring a lifeline supplyfor all.

7. Conclusion: expanded developmental infrastructure and

service delivery

To sum up the intellectual and policy argumentation,there is a good case for considering the criteria listed asthe basis for:

(a) generous infrastructure and service subsidies, uti-lising national tari� restructuring so as to achieve re-distribution, conservation and other socio-economicobjectives;(b) increasing the standards of infrastructure provi-sion, even to the very poor, based on sound socio-economic bene®ts of higher standards; and(c) much more e�ective roles for the state and com-munities in infrastructure investment and servicesprovision, regulation and pricing.

All of these conclusions from the review of availableinternational and domestic evidence should be consid-ered as minimal justi®cations for broader state inter-vention and community participation. The broadercost±bene®t analysis supported in this paper should helpshift the terrain of debate surrounding allocation ofnational budgetary resources so as to allow policy-makers from the national DCD (as well as Finance,Water A�airs, Minerals and Energy, and related de-partments) the provinces and municipalities to make astronger case for infrastructure investment and broaderservice delivery.

There is, in addition, a growing political imperativeassociated with aligning infrastructure and service de-

livery to developmental goals (instead of merely to fullcost-recovery principles). This imperative is re¯ected inthe severe tensions, particularly evident during 1997±98,associated with cut-o�s of services by municipalities inhighly politicised townships. Some such cut-o�s haveoccurred in a manner that even important communityorganisations (such as SA National Civic Organisationbranches) have been unable to mediate or justify, andthat have intensi®ed local-level alienation and anger(leading, occasionally, to ®rebombings of houses be-longing to municipal councilors even from the ANC, toviolent attacks on municipal o�cials, and in one case toa tragic assassination of a Johannesburg suburban ANCmayor in October 1998).

The di�culty of marrying two lines of advocacy ± onthe one hand, technical, rationalist and acceptance of thebroad premises of capital accumulation, and on theother hand, grounded in decades of social struggles forboth racial and socio-economic justice ± is here apparent.For even in the face of evidence that basic infrastructurefor socio-economic development, environmental pro-tection and geographical desegregation is a�ordable andpays handsome direct and indirect dividends, the nu-merous South African government departments associ-ated with its supply from national to local levels have all,in varying degrees, endorsed a stingy system of low-quality, relatively unsubsidised infrastructure and serviceprovision which will neither capture the bulk of positiveexternalities described above, nor ful®ll popular yearn-ings for dignity.

The people (and their organisations) most a�ected bymunicipal infrastructure and service delivery policyhave been largely excluded from the national policydebates through their political representatives in gov-ernment and parliament, and an ine�ectual tripartitebargaining forum. There is still a chance, however,given the politicised nature of these issues at present andthe threat they pose to the popularity of the nationalistgovernment, to change that. An exploration of how,politically, low-income South Africans can reinsertthemselves into the decision-making process shouldbecome a top priority, prior to any ®nalisation of thepolicy debates.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements are due to many colleagues withwhom these arguments were developed during 1990±98,including George Dor, Becky Himlin, Mzwanele May-ekiso, Litha Mcwabeni, Greg Ruiters, David Sanders,Selby Shezi and Mark Swilling. Funding support fromthe British Department for International Developmentand the SA Department of Constitutional Developmentis acknowledged, and Ben Casdan and Chippy Olver arethanked for supporting the research process.

P. Bond / Geoforum 30 (1999) 43±59 57

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