Hollowing out the local state: Managerialism and Skills in the Water Sector

The report analyzes the crisis in South Africa's municipal water and sanitation services, finding that while infrastructure access has expanded, functional service delivery is hampered by a critical shortage of basic operational skills (e.g., plumbers, electricians). This 'hollowing out' of the local state is attributed to a historical low valuation of technical trades and 'managerialist' reforms that prioritized high-paid senior management over essential technical staff.

• Despite significant increases in infrastructure access—with 91.3% of the population having access to piped water in 2011 compared to 85% in 2001, and 94.9% having access to sanitation in 2011 compared to 86.7% in 2001—community dissatisfaction remains high. This discrepancy is attributed to the fact that statistics measure infrastructure availability rather than functional services, meaning pipes may exist without water flowing through them.
• There is extreme geographical unevenness in water and sanitation services. For example, access to toilet facilities in 2011 varied from 16.8% in Limpopo to 86.2% in the Western Cape. Furthermore, 46.1% of municipalities consider themselves 'highly vulnerable' regarding their ability to render these services.

APA

Public Affairs Research Institute (2015). Hollowing out the local state: Managerialism and Skills in the Water Sector. https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/PARI-waterreportweb-1.pdf

Chicago

Public Affairs Research Institute. Hollowing out the local state: Managerialism and Skills in the Water Sector. 2015. https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/PARI-waterreportweb-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Public Affairs Research Institute |title=Hollowing out the local state: Managerialism and Skills in the Water Sector |date=2015 |url=https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/PARI-waterreportweb-1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{publicaffairsresearchinstitute2015hollowing, author = {{Public Affairs Research Institute}}, title = {{Hollowing out the local state: Managerialism and Skills in the Water Sector}}, institution = {Public Affairs Research Institute}, year = {2015}, url = {https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/PARI-waterreportweb-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }