Sanitation practices and preferences in uMgungundlovu District Municipality.

Abstract

The study was on sanitation practices and preferences in uMgungundlovu District Municipality of South Africa and it aimed at providing strategies for improving basic infrastructure needs for the population in this area. Due to constraints in the resources the research was focused on Mpofana Local Municipality which is one of the 7 local municipalities in uMgungundlovu District. Mpofana Local Municipality has a population of 36 819. In the developing countries about 2.5 billion people do not have access to improved sanitary facilities and services. In the whole world 1 billion people do not have access to toilet facilities and instead they practice open defecation. According to UN Water, about 7 out of 10 ten people without improved sanitation are based in the rural areas. Some 2.4 billion people will remain without access to improved sanitary facilities and services in 2015. South Africa is one of these developing countries and there is need for more research to improve water and toilet facilities. The study used a questionnaire as the research instrument. The questionnaire was made up of 30 questions. A total of 120 Questionnaires were hand delivered to all the 120 households in the Mpofana Local Municipality. Respondents were given two weeks to complete the questionnaire and those who were not able to complete were given some extra time to do so. Queries or clarification on some of the questions were done at the point of collection. As a result all the questionnaires were completed giving a response rate of 100%. The data obtained from the respondents was analyzed using SPSS package, version 21.0. What emerged from the study is that the available sanitary facilities in uMgungundlovu are not adequate; some cultural and social beliefs that affect sanitary and hygienic practices were identified. Ways to improve the available sanitary facility in uMgungundlovu were suggested and some correlations between both the demographic data and cultural or social factors. The study had the limitation that resources could not allow us to use the entire population of the targeted area.