Conflicting perceptions over water distribution in Sibasa-Thohoyandou area: interpreting local narratives

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Periodical article

Title:	Conflicting perceptions over water distribution in Sibasa-Thohoyandou area: interpreting local narratives
Author:	Wuriga, Rabson
Year:	2005
Periodical:	New contree: a journal of historical and human sciences for Southern Africa
Issue:	50
Pages:	133-153
Language:	English
Geographic term:	South Africa
Subjects:	water supply costs
Abstract:	The State in South Africa perceives water as an economic commodity, even if its existing policy treats it as a national resource that should be freely accessed for basic usage. Research suggests that many residents of the Sibasa-Thohoyandou area in Limpopo Province perceive water as a free natural resource that should not be paid for. Consequently most of the local residents do not pay for water services. In response, the municipality is faced with a cost-recovery problem, hence it restricts water reticulation. Residents concede that paying is a last resort because they need water. Research conducted on this issue in 2005, after it surfaced as an apparent problem in the local media, reveals the conflicting narratives on water procurement and distribution in the Sibasa-Thohoyandou area. Notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]