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Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) has recorded a significant rise in the price of water services since
2018, according to the recently released Non-financial Census of Municipalities 2022 report.
Stats SA’s General Risenga Maluleke stated that water showed the highest percentage increase of
5.9% compared to other municipal services like sewerage (3.7%), electricity (1.7%), and solid waste
management (1.6%) between the 2021 and 2022 financial years.
The number of consumer units receiving water services from municipalities grew from 14.488 million
in 2021 to 15.338 million in 2022. Maluleke noted a corresponding 5.9% increase in the provision of
free basic water over the same period.
The report also highlighted an uptick of 1.8% in the number of indigent households across South
Africa identified by municipalities, reaching 2.6 million in the 2021/2022 financial year. Of those, 2.1
million indigent households benefited from municipal indigent support for water services.
For electricity, 12.9 million consumer units received the service in 2022, a 1.7% rise from 12.7 million
the previous year. The provision of free basic electricity increased by 4.4%, while 1.8 million indigent
households accessed municipal indigent support for electricity, up 6% from 2021.
The census data underscores increasing pressure on municipalities to deliver basic services amidst
growing consumer demands and highlights the need for sustainable pricing models to maintain
affordable access while recovering operational costs.