Abstract
Abstract : The focus of this dissertation was on the critical variables that influence the role of apartheid and post-apartheid water policies in water sustainability management in South Africa. This dissertation seeks to undertake a comparative study of the water policy under apartheid and post-apartheid and its implications for sustainable development in the country. This study specifically interrogates the effects of apartheid and post-apartheid water policy in terms of the sustainability of these policies to promote equal and sustainable water provision and services in the country to determine which of these policies contributed to sustainable development in South Africa. The guiding primary research question for this dissertation was to determine the merits and demerits of apartheid and post-apartheid water policies and how these policies contributed to sustainable development in South Africa. The research approach entailed the application of unobtrusive research based on a qualitative research paradigm. It utilised a conceptual analysis and a historical/comparative analysis as research analysis instruments by way of a literature study. Attempts to define sustainable development in literature, revealed that no single theoretical approach can explain the complexity of apartheid and post-apartheid water management and governance. The study found, the post-apartheid water policy, although it has increased the coverage and accessibility of water for the majority of South African citizens, has not promoted sustainable development. The water sector is still haunted by the paucity of skills at local government level, as the government’s obsession with racial nationalism and a restrictive, weak and defensive migration policy is depriving local government councils of competent water engineers (mostly white), whose services are crucial for the maintenance and efficiency of water infrastructure. During the apartheid era, the quality of water provided to the non-white population was compromised and thus did not promote sustainable development in the use of water...
M.A. (Public Management and Governance)