Internal migrant characteristics and access to clean water in post-apartheid South Africa

Abstract Differentiated access to clean water has been one of the instruments that the Apartheid regime used to justify its monopoly on power. The demise of the White minority rule saw fluxes of internal migrants flocking to large cities to access water services previously denied to them through segregationist spatial planning. Using a framework derived from the theory of access, this study applied a multinomial logistical regression analysis to identify migrant sociodemographic and locational factors that affect their likelihood of accessing tap water. We found sociodemographic factors associated with a higher bargaining power to significantly increase the likelihood of migrants to have access to tap water inside their houses. By contrast, lower levels of bargaining power increase the probability of accessing clean water only outside the house or not having access at all. The results also point out clear differences between migrants residing in large cities and those residing in rural areas. Demand for water resources being expected to outstrip available supplies, the study recommends additional investments in maintenance and expansion of water distribution infrastructure, as well as support measures for improving the bargaining power of disadvantaged social groups to achieve the targets of UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG6).