Cost recovery and the crisis of service delivery in South Africa

How can we reverse the insidious effects of commodification, the role of the market in shaping service delivery, and the way we 'value' essential goods such as water? Governments around the world are aggressively moving toward full cost recovery measures. Cost recovery impacts access to services, affordability and privatisation. Centered on case studies in a number of South African municipalities, this book critically examines 'cost recovery', the heart of this new municipal vision of balanced budgets and fiscal restraint.