Accessing Water

A case study on a water concession involving the municipality and Siza, a company majority controlled by SAUR Services, highlighting the financial instability of the deal and the failure to meet sanitation targets in poorer areas.

• The water concession was structured as a combination of privatisation and a black economic empowerment deal with Siza, which is majority controlled by the French multinational SAUR Services. While Siza has not yet made a profit, SAUR achieved a 21% return on its investment in the first year.
• Financial difficulties arose in 2001 when Siza could not pay concession fees, partly due to a 20% increase in water costs from the bulk supplier. This resulted in a contract adjustment that halved the annual concession fee to the municipality until 2006, lowered investment commitments, and raised consumer prices.
• The concession is considered a partial success; while targets for water and sanitation were met in wealthier areas, they were not all met in poorer areas. In the first year, 140 cholera cases occurred because people used unhygienic streams instead of paying for treated water, and the poor were not protected from tariff increases.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2008). Accessing Water. https://saiia.org.za/news/case-study-accessing-water/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Accessing Water. 2008. https://saiia.org.za/news/case-study-accessing-water/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Accessing Water |date=24 April 2008 |url=https://saiia.org.za/news/case-study-accessing-water/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2008accessing, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Accessing Water}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2008}, month = apr, url = {https://saiia.org.za/news/case-study-accessing-water/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }