Editing Water supply and sanitation in South Africa (section)

===Water===
In 2015, the total number of people in South Africa lacking access to an [[Improved water source|"improved" water supply]] was 3.64 million.<ref name="SAJMPWash">{{Cite web|url=https://washwatch.org/en/countries/south-africa/summary/statistics/|title=WASHwatch.org – South Africa|website=washwatch.org|language=en|access-date=2017-03-27}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">WHO/UNICEF (2015) [https://www.wssinfo.org/documents/ Progress on sanitation and drinking water – 2015 update and MDG assessment] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140418142528/http://www.wssinfo.org/documents/ |date=18 April 2014 }}, Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation</ref> 93% of the population had access to an improved water source in that year.<ref name="SAJMPWash" />

In his State of the Union address in May 2004 President [[Thabo Mbeki]] had promised "all households will have running water within five years".<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3736045.stm Mbeki State of the Union 2004]</ref> Despite substantial progress, this goal was not fully achieved. In some rural areas, women spend up to one-third of their time fetching water from streams and wells.<ref>Itana, Nicole:[http://www.womensenews.org/story/international-policyunited-nations/020906/many-women-clean-water-means-safety-freedom For Many Women, Clean Water Means Safety, Freedom]. WEnews 6 September 2002. Retrieved 16 March 2010.</ref> They are also responsible for using it to cook meals, wash laundry and bathe children.