Democracy@30: voters’ experience of access to water services in Mxekazi and Cwebe

The Human Sciences Research Council’s (HSRC) national Democracy@30 study, on which this chapter is based, explored the views of both rural and urban communities after 30 years of democracy. In the Eastern Cape, the focus was particularly on Makhanda, Kwazakele, Mxekazi and Cwebe. The Makhanda study reflected on a community grappling with systemic challenges but maintaining aspirations for a better future. In Kwazakele, the focus was on key reasons for the government’s failure to deliver on the democratic promise of 1994. This chapter focuses specifically on the two rural communities of Mxekazi and Cwebe.