An investigation into the perceived sanitation challenges in the Eastern Cape rural communities

There is a dearth of information on studies that have sought to examine qualitatively the sanitation challenges that rural communities experience. In this regard, an exploratory qualitative study was conducted to determine the perceived structural, economic, educational, social and technological sanitation challenges in the rural communities of the Eastern Cape (EC). A purposive sample of 122 officials was drawn from the identified EC sanitation stakeholder organisations; of these 74 were male and 48 were female. The 122 participants were divided into 15 focus groups (M = 8 participants) by organisation and randomly assigned to five trained moderators for interviews - four groups with the Provincial Sanitation Task Team (PSTT), six with the District Municipalities and three with the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF), one with the Mvula Trust and one with the Rural Support Services (RSS). The findings show that rural sanitation is a complex issue that is affected by a wide range of challenges. Structural challenges include lack of physical, natural, human and organisational resources. Lack of funding was identified as the main economic challenge. Educational challenges include lack of advocacy, training, access to information and information exchange with local people. Inadequate community participation was identified as a social challenge. Lack of cultural flexibility, awareness and sensitivity in the development of technologies that recognise, respect and value culture constitute the technological challenge. The results of the study provide a knowledge base on which strategies for promoting good sanitation practices at community level can be built. Keywords: sanitation challenges; Eastern Cape; rural communities; South Africa Health SA Gesondheid Vol. 11 (1) 2006: pp. 18-3