Figure 29: Number of households living in different types of housing, 2014/2015 Source: LCS 2014/2015
8.2 Electricity, water and sanitation Beyond housing, South outh Africans require adequate utility services to function and yet an urban versus rural and socio-economic divide still exists here. Access (connection) to electricity from the mains (the national power grid) was reported to increase from 77% of households in 2002 to 85% of households in 2019, albeit with major interruptions in supply. In terms of water water, data show that 88% of households had access to piped or tap water in their dwellings (off-site or on-site) in 2019, slightly up from 84% in 2002. Many provinces however still lag significantly behind in this. For example, this statistic remains at 74% for the Eastern Cape. Reporting of water interruptions to supply of more than two days at a time, or more than 15 days over the year, varied by province, however more than a quarter of national households reported interruptions by this definition. Despite an overall improvement over the last two decades in access to water and electricity, the percentage of households with access has stagnated, and even slightly declined, over the last decade, because connections have not kept up with household growth. Access to adequate sanitation (toilets) has improved over time. 13% of households used bucket toilets or had no toilet in 2002, with this declining to 2% in 2019. Data also show that in 2002 62% of households had a flush toilet connected to a public sewerage system or a septic tank, or a pit toilet with a ventilation pipe. The percentage increased to 82% in 2019. This improved trend is however most common among urbanised provinces and areas.21 Free basic services, including those mentioned above, are provided by the government to poor households, albeit that infrastructure or basic access constraints remain once affordability concerns are removed.
8.3 Digital connectivity Over time, access to phones and means of mobile and internet connectivity has increasing implications for inequality as it can help individuals to access many forms of information – including information about education, work searches and general participation in the economy. For this, a device and connectivity are needed – and for the latter, it often requires both mobile connectivity and data connectivity. Device (phone) access is currently high in South Africa, with only about 4% of households not having access to a mobile phone (or landline, although this form of access is minimal – 88% of households have only a mobile phone, no landline). Despite this, in 2019, only 9% of households reported having access to the internet at home. Another 63% reported having at least one family member who had access to the internet somewhere (at home, work, public hotspots, etc.).21 These figures are lowest for provinces like Limpopo (only 1.6% of households have access to the internet at home, and 43% via other locations) and the Eastern Cape (3.2% have access at home
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TRENDS IN MULTIDIMENSIONAL INEQUALITY AND SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE IN SOUTH AFRICA DURING 27 YEARS OF DEMOCRACY
