COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN THE DELIVERY

Abstract

Water is a human right and to save water is a human responsibility. Despite the very basic need for water, not everyone has access to it. However, access to an adequate supply of water, defined in terms of water quality, quantity and distance to the supply, denied two millions of rural people in the developing countries. The millennium development goals have set a target of 2015 that all people of the world must have access to basic water supply. Developing countries will need three times the current resources to achieve the 2015 targets. The developing countries are clearly not going to achieve this target. In South Africa more than a million people do not have access to clean water and less than half of the rural population has a safe and accessible water supply. Communities have had a little say in the provision of water and decision-making in the delivery, Municipalities continue to engage communities in the integrated development planning. The study attempts to investigate the problems which are faced by rural communities that hinder participation in the delivery of clean water supply. The study concentration on aspects such as what is participation, the importance of the community in decision making, who should participate, how to ensure participation, the role of the different structures within a (committee). It proposes the importance of involving communities in the planning, initiation, and implementation of the water supply projects. Emphasis is on enhancing the role of community participation in planning and implementing rural water projects. Schoemansdal is the case study of this discourse. In the final analysis it was discovered that there is a great need for involving the community in water projects and decision making for its ownership and sustainability