The number of consumer units receiving services from municipalities increased between 2019 and 2020, says Statistics South Africa (Stats SA).
Releasing the 2020 Non-Financial Census of Municipalities on Tuesday, Stats SA said for the period under review, sewerage and sanitation showed the highest percentage increase (4.3%), followed by water (3.9%), then electricity and solid waste management (both with 2.3%).
It said: “With the exception of electricity services, the free basic services (FBS) provided to consumer units decreased in all other services between the 2019 and 2020 financial years.
“According to 2020 estimates, there were 3.6 million indigent households as identified by municipalities, an increase of 6.4% from the 2019 financial year.”
Of the 3.6 million identified indigents, 2.7 million indigent households benefited from the indigent support system for water, while 2.1 million benefited from free basic electricity provided by municipalities.
Stats SA said: “Furthermore, 2.0 million indigent households benefited from the indigent support system for sewerage and sanitation and 2.4 million indigent households benefited from the indigent support system for solid waste management.”
The census revealed that bucket toilets provided by municipalities to households increased by 4 696 (11.1%) consumer units from 42 434 to 47 130 between 2019 and 2020 financial years.
“The number of people employed by municipalities decreased by 6.6%, from 333 412 in 2019 to 311 364 in 2020 (inclusive of funded vacancies),” reads the report.