South African Nongovernmental Organizations NGOs are filling the gaps of public service to communities; doing some of the work government can do, or raising social issues that the government may not address.  The NGOs are social change agents and work in many areas of life.  The purpose of the case study is to identify NGO capacity-building opportunities, address community empowerment, and focus more attention on clean water sustainability.

       Some NGOs are criticized for satisfying donor driven attitudes and international lobbyists in the First World.  Some feel it may not be possible to have an independent outlook or mission if NGOs rely solely on donor’s funds. Because of their dependence on this money, their accountability may be shifted 'upward’, rather than where it ought to be, 'downward below at indigenous people.  In recent years, many large corporations have increased their corporate social responsibility (CSR) departments in an attempt to preempt NGO campaigns against certain corporate practices. In the past government often influenced, the idea of corporate citizenship but this has changed; NGOs are becoming essential partners in the delivery of products and services to the private sector and indeed on behalf of the state. Linked to this is the creation of a range of development agencies that operate in a collaborative way between the Public and Private sectors.

    Catholic Relief Services (CRS) defines capacity building as an ongoing process that individual, group, organizations and societies enhance their ability to identify and meet development challenges.  According to CRS, capacity-building activity comprises three key elements:

1.     Partnership

2.     Organizational development

3.     Civil society strengthening

     Similarly, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) defines capacity building as a long-term, continual process of development that involves all stakeholders; including ministries, local authorities, nongovernmental organizations, professionals, community members, academics and more. Capacity building uses a country’s human, technological, organizational, and resource capabilities. The goal of capacity building is to tackle problems related to policy and methods of development, while considering the potential, limits and needs of the people of the country concerned.

Coca-Cola South Africa

Coca-Cola South Africa has opened a state-of-the-art plant to bottle Valpré Spring Water in Heidelberg, southeast of Johannesburg, introducing the environmentally friendly PlantBottle packaging to the African market for the first time.

Selected for its close proximity to markets and distribution sites in the Guateng region, and a similar source water profile as Valpré's, the new plant will help Coca-Cola meet the needs of the increasing demand for bottled water.

Empowering women

In addition to the environmental aspects of the plant and the new PlantBottle, the Heidelberg plant is run by a team of black women operators. In 2010, Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent announced the company's "5 BY 20" campaign to empower five-million women by 2020. This is one of several programs in South Africa to meet this challenge."When we set out in 2009 to build this state-of-the art plant, we did so with the goal of ensuring that the plant reinforced The Coca-Cola Company and Valpré Spring Water stand for … unwavering quality and commitment to the sustainability of our environment and communities," said Coca-Cola South Africa president Bill Egbe.

 www.southafrica.info  is the source of the material

Emerging Markets: Safe clean water in rural areas

  First and foremost I consider South Africa one of the most robust, beautiful and great countries in the world.  Additionally, it's an emerging market with many diverse people full of ambition, culture, talents and constructive power.  That said, the comments in this blog are an attempt to bring additional attention regarding  "How Can" rural communities, stakeholders and local rural governments coordinate clean water  and sustainability resources. 
      A broken water hand pump in rural South African communities is another constant reminder of a community’s inability to escape poverty. The International Institute for Environment and Development 2009 suggests that a “catastrophe” is spreading across Africa regarding human capital and water management resources.   Considerable investments are made to improve rural water supplies and access. For example, between 1978 and 2003 the World Bank alone lent approximately US$ 1.5 billion to the sector (WHO/UNICEF 2008).  An estimated 45,000 rural water points are broken and over $200 million US dollars of investment wasted because of poor management, inadequate sustainability plans, unrealistic community involvement and careless implementation (WHO/UNICEF 2008).

       South Africa is one of the few countries in the world that highlights the basic right to water access in its Constitution, stating, "Everyone has the right to have access to sufficient food and water".  After the end of Apartheid in 1994, South Africa's newly elected government inherited huge service backlogs and constraints regarding access to clean water supply.  An estimated 15 million people were without safe clean water.  As a newly found government, it became imperative for South Africa to provide service to a populace who never had this kind of attention before.  In his State of the Union address to Parliament in May 2004 President Thabo Mbeki promised, "All households will have running water within five years".  Despite substantial progress, this goal is not finished.  

        The data is equally troubling around the rural African continent, from Mali, where 80 percent of the water points are “dysfunctional”, and surveys from northern Ghana indicating that 58 percent of existing water points need repair (International Institute for Environment and Development 2009). The International Water and Sanitation Center proclaims “In the last 20 years, 600,000-800,000 hand pumps have been installed in sub-Saharan Africa, of which some 30 percent are known to fail prematurely, representing a total failed investment of between $1.2 and $1.5 billion” (International Water and Sanitation Centre 2009).

         There are several reasons for high failure rate of water pumps: inappropriate technology; poor construction; lack of rural community involvement and subsequent sense of ownership; poor community organization or cohesion; lack of follow-up support and/or training; the unavailability or high cost of spare parts, energy, and professional support services; and the drying-up of source water. Many researchers have attributed the failure rate to technological reasons. However, social issues, community roles and institutional factors play equally important roles in determining long-term success. The critical question to ask is no longer, “Why do water supplies fail?”, but “Why do they fail and why haven’t rural communities and/or service providers kept them running (WHO guideline for Drinking Water, 2004)?”