A Comparative Evaluation of Water Supply Perceptions and Overall Water Stewardship in Hammanskraal and Atteridgeville
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__ A COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF WATER SUPPLY PERCEPTIONS AND OVERALL WATER STEWARDSHIP IN HAMMANSKRAAL AND ATTERIDGEVILLE by Keitumetse Mthimunye Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree Master of Science in Geography in the COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA FLORIDA CAMPUS SUPERVISOR DR A. DU PLESSIS December 2020 DEDICATION _______________________________________________________________________ This Dissertation is dedicated to my sweet, late grandmother Koko Refilwe Mabena, for encouraging me, always being interested in my research, listening to my ideas and being a true environmentalist at heart. _______________________________________________________________________ ii DECLARATION I, Keitumetse Mthimunye hereby declare that the dissertation, with the title: A Comparative Evaluation of Water Supply Perceptions and Overall Water Stewardship in Hammanskraal and Atteridgeville which I hereby submit for the degree of Master of Science in Geography at the University of South Africa, is my own work and has not previously been submitted by me for a degree at this or any other institution. I declare that the dissertation does not contain any written work presented by other persons whether written, pictures, graphs or data or any other information without acknowledging the source. I declare that where words from a written source have been used the words have been paraphrased and referenced and where exact words from a source have been used the words have been placed inside quotation marks and referenced. I declare that I have not copied and pasted any information from the Internet, without specifically acknowledging the source and have inserted appropriate references to these sources in the reference section of the dissertation. I declare that during my study I adhered to the Research Ethics Policy of the University of South Africa, received ethics approval for the duration of my study prior to the commencement of data gathering, and have not acted outside the approval conditions. I declare that the content of my dissertation has been submitted through an electronic plagiarism detection program before the final submission for examination. _____________________________ Date: 09 December 2020 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I would like to thank my Heavenly Father Jehovah for giving me the wisdom to complete this Dissertation. I would furthermore like to thank the following individuals and institutions for the contributions they have made to the completion of this Dissertation: My supervisor Dr Anja du Plessis for her guidance and support. My parents Nomsa and Ephraim Mthimunye who have always spoiled me with love, affection and support. Mom and Dad, thank you for believing in my dreams and for encouraging me to reach my full potential. The municipal officials in the Water Supply Division of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality who participated in the interviews and provided insight on water supply services in Hammanskraal and Atteridgeville. The Hammanskraal and Atteridgeville residents who participated in the surveys and focus group interviews. My friends, Lethabo Mokoena and Karabo Makakaba as well as my cousins Puseletso Mthimunye and Lungile Skosana for their assistance and support throughout the duration of this research. Ms Venessa de Boer for editing this dissertation. Ms Vanessa Prinsloo for the transcription services. Mrs Reneé Kruger, my colleague and friend for her wise words and encouragement during tough times. Ms Cara Stokes, my mentor, support structure and dearest friend. A heartfelt thank you to my little sister Odirile Mthimunye, my family and close friends for the abundant love and support. iv SUMMARY This research focused on evaluating and comparing the perceptions, water-use behaviour, water conservation awareness and overall water stewardship of participants residing in Hammanskraal and Atteridgeville who have experienced intermittent water supply in their domestic households – due to either water contamination incidents caused by dilapidated infrastructure or water restrictions implemented by the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality during the 2016–2017 drought in the Gauteng Province. The research concluded that the municipality needs to implement proactive water conservation awareness initiatives on an ongoing basis to reduce high water demands and to create a culture of water stewardship, especially in Atteridgeville. Transparent communication is also required from the municipality to instil the necessary trust among the public. It is recommended that the municipality attends to water leaks and ongoing complaints from the public timeously to reduce the current apathy from the public against reporting water-related issues and to ultimately ensure compliance to water restrictions. Key terms: township water supply, water conservation awareness, non-revenue water, water leaks, water stewardship, water restrictions, water-use behaviour, water contamination, municipal water supply, Gauteng drought. v OPSOMMING Hierdie navorsing fokus op die evaluering en vergelyking van deelnemers wat in Hammanskraal en Atteridgeville woon se persepsies, waterverbruiksgedrag, waterbewaringsbewustheid en algehele waterrentmeesterskap, wat onderbroke watervoorsiening in hulle huishoudings ervaar het – as gevolg van waterbesoedelingsvoorvalle wat deur vervalle infrastruktuur veroorsaak is en waterbeperkings wat deur die Stad Tshwane Metropolitaanse Munisipaliteit gedurende die 2016 tot 2017-droogte in Gauteng ingestel is. Die navorsing het tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat die munisipaliteit proaktiewe waterbewaringsbewustheidsinisiatiewe op ’n deurlopende grondslag moet implementeer om hoë wateraanvraag te verminder en ’n kultuur van waterrentmeesterskap, veral in Atteridgeville, te skep. Deursigtige kommunikasie word ook van die munisipaliteit vereis om die nodige vertroue by die publiek te kweek. Daar word aanbeveel dat die munisipaliteit betyds aandag aan waterlekkasies en deurlopende klagtes van die publiek sal gee om die huidige onverskilligheid van die publiek by die aanmeld van waterverwante aangeleenthede te verminder en om uiteindelik te verseker dat die publiek die waterbeperkings eerbiedig. Sleutelterme: townshipwatervoorsiening, waterbewaringsbewustheid, water sonder inkomste, waterlekkasies, waterrentmeesterskap, waterbeperkings, waterverbruiksgedrag, waterbesoedeling, munisipalewatervoorsiening, Gauteng-droogte vi KAKARETSO Patlisiso ena e ne e tsepame hodima ho lekola le ho bapisa maikutlo, boitshwaro ba tshebediso ya metsi, tsebo ka poloko ya metsi le tlhokomelo e akaretsang ya metsi ke bankakarolo ba dulang Hammanskraal le Atteridgeville ba bileng le phepelo ya metsi e kgaohang malapeng a bona – e ka ba ka lebaka la diketsahalo tsa tshilafatso ya metsi e bakilweng ke dipeipi tse senyehileng kapa ho kgaolwa ha metsi ho kentsweng tshebetsong ke Masepala wa Motsemoholo wa Metropolitan wa Tshwane nakong ya komello ya 2016–2017 porofenseng ya Gauteng. Patlisiso e fumane hore masepala o hloka ho kenya tshebetsong matsholo a ho atisa tsebo ka poloko ya metsi ka mokgwa o tswellang e le ho fokotsa tlhokeho e phahameng ya metsi le ho theha ditlwaelo tsa tlhokomelo ya metsi, haholo ho la Atteridgeville. Ho boetse ho hlokeha puisano e hlakileng e nang le ponaletso ho tswa ho masepala e le hore setjhaba se be le tshepo ho ona. Ho kgothaletswa hore masepala a sebetsane le diketsahalo tsa ho dutla ha metsi le ditletlebo tse tswellang tse tswang ho setjhaba ka potlako e le ho fokotsa maikutlo a ho tsotelle a tswang ho setjhaba mabapi le ho tlaleha mathata a amanang le metsi le ho netefatsa hore batho ba latela melawana ya phokotso ya metsi. Mantswe a bohlokwa: phepelo ya metsi ya lekeishene, tsebo ka poloko ya metsi, metsi a sa tliseng tjhelete, ho dutla ha metsi, tlhokomelo ya metsi, ho fokotswa ha metsi, boitshwaro ba tshebediso ya metsi, tshilafatso ya metsi, phepelo ya metsi ya masepala, komello ya Gauteng. vii ABSTRACT This research evaluates and compares the perceptions on water supply, water-use behaviours, conservation awareness and overall water stewardship of participants from a rural township (Hammanskraal) and a peri-urban township (Atteridgeville) in Pretoria, South Africa. A case study research design approach was followed to investigate the intermittent water supply events in Hammanskraal and Atteridgeville following the implementation of water restrictions by the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality on account of sewage effluent spillages which continually contaminate the drinking water resources for Hammanskraal and a drought which struck Atteridgeville and the entire Gauteng region in 2016-2017. Using a mixed method research approach, four data collection instruments namely surveys (questionnaires), focus group discussions and observations were conducted in the respective research areas, while one-on-one interviews were conducted with officials from the Water Supply Division of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality. The findings indicate that the participants from both research areas perceived that their water supply challenges were attributed to mismanagement and an overall lack of transparency from the municipality, which has caused distrust by the public. Furthermore, the municipality’s delays in repairing water leakages and its challenges in timeously addressing complaints exacerbate the apathy of the public towards actively practising water conservation and notifying the municipality