Newsletter 81- Municipal living conditions in brief- 23 July 2010
In 2007, there were 12 500 611 households in South Africa. Some 8 819 521 (71%) of them lived in formal housing and 1 804 432 (14%) in informal housing. There were 1 459 380 (12%) households living in traditional housing and 417 291 (3%) in other types of housing. On average, 96% of households in municipalities had access to piped water while 85% had access to electricity.
Statistics South Africa’s Community Survey 2007 defines formal housing as a house or brick structure on a separate stand or yard; a flat in a block of flats; a town, cluster, or semi-detached house; a unit in a retirement village; or a room or house or dwelling in backyard. Informal housing refers to a dwelling or a shack in a backyard, while other types of housing include caravans or tents, hostels, and compounds and unspecified dwellings. The access to piped water indicator includes piped water inside the dwelling, inside the yard, and on a community stand.
The latest available living conditions data is for 2007. A breakdown of this data for the eight municipalities covered by the Municipal Outreach Project is given below.
In the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality there were 1 165 014 households. Of these, 77% lived in formal housing, 19% in informal, 0.4% in traditional, and 3.6% in other types of housing. The proportion of households that had access to piped water was 98%, while some 85% had access to electricity.
In the City of Cape Town there were 902 278 households. Of these, 83% lived in formal housing, 16% in informal, 0.4% in traditional, and 0.6% in other types of housing. In Cape Town 99% and 94% of households had access to water and electricity respectively.
The number of households in the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (East Rand) was 849 349, of whom 71% lived in formal housing, and 26% in informal housing, while 0.1% and 3% lived in traditional and other types of housing respectively. Access to piped water ran at 99% while access to electricity ran at 79%.
In the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality (Durban) there were 833 859 households, of whom 72% lived in formal housing. The proportion of households that lived in an informal house was 17%, while 6% lived in traditional housing, and 5% in other types of housing. The proportions of households that had access to piped water and electricity were 98% and 87% respectively.
The City of Tshwane (Pretoria) had 686 640 households, of whom 71% lived in formal housing while 27% lived in informal, 0.5% in traditional, and 1.5% in other types of housing. The proportions of households with access to piped water and electricity were 97% and 77% respectively.
The number of households in the Capricorn District Municipality (Polokwane) was 285 565, of whom 88% lived in formal housing and 7% in informal housing. The proportion of households that lived in traditional housing and other types of housing was 3% for each. Of the total households, 83% and 82% had access to piped water and electricity respectively.
There were 276 881 households in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality (Port Elizabeth). Of these households, 85% lived in formal housing. The proportion of households that lived in an informal house was 14%. Some 0.7% lived in a traditional house while 0.3% lived in other types of housing. Of the total number of households, 98% had access to piped water and 90% had access to electricity.
The Motheo District Municipality (Bloemfontein) had 227 026 households of whom 78% lived in formal housing while 18% lived in informal housing, 3% in traditional housing, and 1% in other housing. The proportions of households which had access to piped water and electricity were 99% and 87% respectively.
Of the eight municipalities covered by the project, Johannesburg had the highest number of households (1 165 014) while Motheo had the lowest (227 026). The municipality which had the highest proportion of households living in formal housing was Capricorn at 88% while Tshwane had the highest proportion of households living in informal housing at 27%. eThekwini had the highest proportion of households living in traditional housing and other housing at 6% and 5% respectively.
Ekurhuleni, Motheo, and Cape Town had the highest proportion of households with access to piped water — all at 99%. Cape Town also had the highest proportion of households with access to electricity at 94%. Capricorn had the lowest proportion of households with access to piped water at 83% and Tshwane had the lowest access to electricity at 77%.
-Nachi Majoe
by
nmajoe
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last modified
2010-07-23 12:04
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