The Capacity Component of the Water Poverty Index and the Impact of Ten Years

This research aims to quantify the impact that ten years’ worth of development in education and income provision has had on the capacity component of the water poverty index (WPI). It focuses on the southern part of the Gauteng and on the northern part of the Free State provinces, and is based on previous work in the region. The primary data source for the capacity component is Census data, and therefore Census data from both 2001 and 2011 are used for the comparisons. It indicates that although increased effort and spending on education has been successful in raising the capacity component score significantly, it seems to have been at the cost of income capacity, whose subcomponent score has decreased. Education is a national strategic priority, and this research has shown that interventions are starting to pay dividends. It has several other positive social implications as well, for example the improvement of the overall water poverty index, amongst others. Future research will have to focus on monitoring the effectiveness of interventions, this will ensure that the decision making process is always as relevant as possible.