Moving beyond basic service delivery for inclusive reliable infrastructure

In the last 30 years of democracy, the focus has been on delivering basic services to households.Yet there are larger infrastructure challenges faced at a local level, including rising dissatisfaction regarding the quality of services delivered.Insights generated from ongoing discussions on Gauteng's energy and water landscape indicate that, central to the service delivery discourse, delivering services goes beyond mere physical access.Using household survey data for Gauteng, we show it is necessary to make services more affordable and reliable, emphasising the need for innovation, inclusion, and placing equitable distribution at the core of infrastructural and service delivery planning.