Evaluation of sanitation upgrading programmes : the case of the bucket eradication programme

In February 2005, the bucket sanitation backlog in formal townships was estimated at 252 254 buckets. According to the Department of Water Affairs’ closing out verification report of the bucket eradication programme (BEP), between February 2005 and December 2007, the national government allocated a total of R1.8 billion for the BEP. The majority of municipalities used the conventional waterborne sanitation system to replace buckets in urban formal settlements. This presented a challenge for municipalities servicing areas without bulk sewers and inadequate wastewater treatment capacity and in some cases the available water supply could not support the new waterborne sanitation systems. This study was initiated to assess what worked and what did not work, to evaluate the extent of compliance of the bucket eradication programme (BEP) with sanitation policy principles and the impact of the BEP on the quality of life for the beneficiary communities. The BEP case study municipalities failed to comply with most of the sanitation policy principles. The found that the supply driven approach adopted in the implementation of the BEP failed to plan for sustainable sanitation service delivery because it focused on toilet construction. This led to poor performance of wastewater treatment works which were assessed as part of the study because no resources were allocated to the proper operation and maintenance of new or upgraded WWTWs. The BEP put limited emphasis on Hygiene awareness, community involvement and user education. [authors abstract]