In January this year, 1000 households in rural villages surrounding Elliotdale, in the rural Eastern Cape received improved access to safe water through a public private partnership. The partnership, between the Amathole District Municipality, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), The Mvula Trust, Coca Cola and brandhouse is an innovative approach to enhance much-needed service delivery in the rural areas of South Africa.
The R5.5 million project saw the refurbishment of the Elliotdale Water Treatment works as well as the construction of over 20km of pipelines and communal standpipes. The treatment plant supplies five nearby villages. The partnership enabled the municipality to integrate corporate social investment funding (which cannot be directly transferred to state institutions) into service delivery priorities, greatly increasing the impact of these funds to support the requirements of sustainable service delivery in an area facing chronic water supply challenges.
According to Gerald Mahinda, MD of brandhouse, South Africans are entitled to access to safe water. “This is a basic human right, and South Africa has made great strides since 1994 in extending access to rural communities in particular. But there is more to be done, more people to reach and we all need to be part of the solution.”
Funding of R2.9 million has been invested by the Water and Development Alliance (WADA) which is a joint initiative of The Coca Cola Company and USAID. Additional funds of R1.2m have been invested by brandhouse raising the total amount to R4.1 million. The Amathole District Municipality committed R1.5 million to the project, effectively leveraging an almost 300% return on investment, through aligning the donor funds with its infrastructure delivery plans and
The WF believes in the power of the wilderness to dissolve ethnic and economic inequalities and forge one path toward social and environmental sustainability.
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