A pilot study to assess rural water supplies and sanitation conditions on the Pongolo floodplain — A social anthropological perspective

Abstract

This paper, based on a pilot study, is part of an ongoing research project on rural water supplies in Southern Africa. Research of this nature aims at bridging the gap between some critical sociological approaches which ignore social practice, and biomedical research which is at times inclined to focus, for instance, on particular diseases without locating the diseases within the political economy of Southern Africa. Macro‐scale sociological explanations of poverty and the diseases associated with lack of development need to be meshed with micro‐scale research at village level in order to obtain a realistic perspective of rural life which can inform social practice. The relationship between preventative medicine and development is emphasized.