Soc|a| ach|evements of the kD

roponenLs of Lhe 8u argue LhaL Lhe programme oversaw many ma[or advances ln deallng wlLh
SouLh Afrlcas mosL severe soclal problems
nous|ng 8eLween 1994 and Lhe sLarL of 2001 over 11 mllllon cheap houses ellglble for governmenL
subsldles were bullL accommodaLlng 3 mllllon of Lhe esLlmaLed 123 mllllon SouLh Afrlcans wlLhouL
proper houslng
C|ean water 8y Lhe beglnnlng of 1998 sLandplpes had been lnsLalled wlLhln 200 meLres of Lhe
dwelllngs of abouL 13 mllllon rural people 8y AugusL of LhaL year MlnlsLer of WaLer Affalrs kader
Asmal sLaLed LhaL slnce he had Laken offlce more Lhan 23 mllllon people had been glven access Lo
fresh safe waLer 8y 2000 a LoLal of 236 pro[ecLs had supplled clean plped waLer Lo nearly 49 mllllon
people mosL of whom were lnhablLanLs of former homelands
L|ectr|f|cat|on 8eLween 1994 and May 2000 around 173 mllllon homes were connecLed Lo Lhe
naLlonal grld whlle Lhe proporLlon of rural homes wlLh elecLrlclLy grew from 12 Lo 42
Land reform 8y 1999 some 39000 famllles had been seLLled on 3330 square kllomeLres of land
AuLhorlLles clalmed LhaL 230000 people had recelved land wlLhln four years
nea|thcare 8eLween Aprll 1994 and Lhe end of 1998 around 300 new cllnlcs gave an addlLlonal 3
mllllon people access Lo prlmary healLh care faclllLles under Lhe pollohepaLlLls vacclnaLlon
programme LhaL began ln 1998 8 mllllon chlldren were lmmunlsed wlLhln Lwo years
ub||c works A communlLybased ubllc Works rogramme provlded employmenL over a perlod of
flve years Lo 240000 people on roadbulldlng schemes and Lhe lnsLallaLlon of sewage sanlLaLlon
faclllLles and waLer supplles
CrlLlcs have quesLloned Lhe scope of change represenLed by many of Lhe sLaLlsLlcs and have argued
LhaL reallLles on Lhe ground slgnlfy a far more modesL lmprovemenL Lhan Lhe governmenL clalms
1hey have aLLacked ln parLlcular Lhe sLandards of houslng and waLer dellvery healLhcare
lmprovemenLs and Lhe successfulness of land reform pollcy and agrlculLural reforms
nous|ng CrlLlcs of Lhe 8u polnL Lo poor houslng quallLy as Lhe chlef problem belng faced Cne
research lnvesLlgaLlon ln 2000 found LhaL only 30 of new houses complled wlLh bulldlng
regulaLlons CrlLlcs also noLe LhaL new houslng schemes are ofLen dreary ln Lhelr plannlng and layouL
Lo Lhe exLenL LhaL Lhey ofLen sLrongly resemble Lhe en masse bleak bulldlng programmes of Lhe
aparLheld governmenL durlng Lhe 1930s and 60s
C|ean water CrlLlcs of Lhe 8u have LargeLed ln parLlcular Lhe governmenLs asserLlons regardlng Lhe
provlslon of clean waLer clLlng an array of problems and compllcaLlons wlLh 8u pollcles LhaL have
led Lo Lhelr parLlal or full fallure durlng Lhe lmplemenLaLlon sLage WaLer pro[ecLs faced ln many
cases severe deslgn faulLs LhaL led Lo unworkable bureaucraLlc messes on Lhe ground SubsequenLly
Lhe percenLage of households relylng on rlvers sLreams and dams for Lhelr waLer acLually lncreased
sllghLly beLween 1993 and 1999 whlle Lhe percenLage of households uslng plped waLer only
lncreased sllghLly ln 2000 Lhe governmenL announced a ma[or change ln pollcy by provldlng free
baslc allowances of 6000 llLres per monLh solvlng Lhe flnanclal resLrlcLlons of Lhe rural poor ln
accesslng waLer buL placlng even more doubL on Lhe flnanclal susLalnablllLy of Lhe schemes
Land reform 1he number of famllles seLLled on land under Lhe 8u was way off Lhe rogrammes
goal Lhe 8u had almed Lo reseLLle famllles on 300000 square kllomeLres of land buL ln reallLy
only [usL over 1 of Lhls goal was achleved Moreover Lhe advances ln many oLher areas of publlc
servlces came parLly Lhrough Lhe removal of agrlculLural subsldles whlch subsequenLly creaLed huge
[ob losses 8eLween 1994 and 1998 Lhe number of workers on commerclal farms decllned from 14
mllllon Lo [usL 637000 1hus Lhe number of people employed ln Lhe agrlculLural secLor acLually
decllned subsLanLlally under Lhe 8u
nea|thcare CrlLlcs of Lhe 8u argue LhaL access Lo healLhcare only lmproved sllghLly under Lhe 8u
and LhaL even wlLh moderaLely lmproved access sLandards aL many medlcal lnsLlLuLlons decllned
rapldly 1hey clLe ln Lhe flrsL place LhaL usage of healLhcare faclllLles lncreased by [usL 16 beLween
1993 and 1999 and LhaL even Lhese modesL lmprovemenLs have been ecllpsed by Lhe advance of
Lhe AluS pandemlc and oLher healLh epldemlcs such as malarla 8eLween 1993 and 1998 Lhe llfe
expecLancy of SouLh Afrlcans fell from 641 years Lo 332 years wlLh AluS paLlenLs someLlmes
occupylng up Lo 40 of beds ln publlc hosplLals 1hls say crlLlcs ls lndlcaLlve of a publlc healLh
sysLem ln crlsls raLher Lhan one undergolng poslLlve LransformaLlon Lqually Lroubllng has been
decllnlng quallLy of servlces lor example ln SoweLo 930000 paLlenLs aLLended prlmary healLhcare
cllnlcs ln 1994 where Lhey were seen by 800 nurses buL by 2000 Lhe number of paLlenLs had
splralled Lo abouL 2000000 whlle Lhe number of nurses had fallen Lo [usL 300