Draft national sanitation policy 2016

"The sanitation sector is currently regulated by three policy documents, namely the White Paper on Water Supply and Sanitation (1994); the White Paper on a National Water Policy of South Africa (1997) and the White Paper on Basic Household Sanitation (2001). Since the promulgation of the earlier sanitation policy documents, and based on several years of implementation, a number of challenges and unintended consequences have been identified that require a sanitation policy review, and consequent legislative amendment.The sanitation regulatory responsibilities have been unclear over this period, shifting between departments, while responsibility for implementation of these services, as required by the Constitution of South Africa (South Africa, 1996), devolving to local government. This has resulted in significant changes to the sector, requiring a review of the current policies and strategy to address gaps in current sanitation policy positions. South Africa’s developmental path has been reviewed and refined over the past 20 years. The most recent development plan for South Africa is the National Development Plan (NDP), which is implemented through the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF). These developmental documents will steer the sanitation sector for the next 15 years. "​The Department of Water and Sanitation has therefore published the Draft national sanitation policy 2016 for comment.