Faster service delivery in areas under traditional rule

There has been faster service delivery in areas under traditional rule compared with urban areas, Statistician General Pali Lehohla has said.

Unveiling statistics for tribal authorities in Johannesburg today, Lehohla said more than 14 million South Africans live under traditional rule.

Limpopo accounts for the largest portion – 59% of people live on land administered by traditional authorities.

“We have been able to deliver services to traditional authorities faster than in urban areas,” said Lehohla.

Despite the faster delivery, these areas have not managed to catch up with the national average in some instances.

The results of the 2011 census for these small areas showed that 76.5% of households use electricity as their main source of energy and 75.4% have access to piped water, which is lower than the national average of 91.2%.

Lehohla added that 19% of households use candles for lighting, 0.1% use gas, 2.7% use paraffin, while 0.6% use solar power as their main source of energy.

“The lowest proportions using electricity for lighting was Eastern Cape (60%), and KwaZulu-Natal (64%),” said Lehohla.

It also showed that 87.8% of households in traditional authorities had refuse removal facilities compared with 36.4% of households in urban areas.

The majority of households in tribal areas use their own refuse dumps (73.3%), compared with the national figure of 28.2% of households.

North West has the highest number of households (33.4%) whose refuse is removed by local authorities.