Accessing Water

A case study on the Borough of Dolphin Coast municipality's private sector water and sanitation concession involving Siza and SAUR Services, highlighting financial instability, uneven service delivery, and public health risks.

• The Borough of Dolphin Coast municipality entered a private sector partnership due to projected developmental growth and a lack of funds to upgrade deteriorating bulk water and sanitation infrastructure. The arrangement involved a black economic empowerment deal where Siza is majority controlled by the French multinational SAUR Services. While SAUR achieved a 21% return on investment in the first year, Siza was not yet profitable.
• In 2001, Siza could not pay its concession fees, partly due to a 20% increase in water costs from the bulk supplier. This resulted in contract adjustments that halved the annual concession fee paid to the municipality until 2006, lowered investment commitments, and raised consumer prices.
• The concession is considered a partial success; water and sanitation targets were met in wealthier areas but not all were 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/research/case-study-accessing-water/

Chicago

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

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Accessing Water |date=12 May 2008 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/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 = may, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/case-study-accessing-water/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }