HIV/AIDS, care-giving and the politics of water and sanitation: A case study

Abstract

abstract The history of access to water in South Africa has been marked by profound inequalities based on the structural forces of gender, race and class. This Article presents a case study of one particular resource-poor peri-urban community north of Durban in which the majority of households are female-centered around either a core of kin or non-kin women who are afflicted by the double-edged sword of HIV/AIDS and poverty. The Article, based on empirical research, spans a four-year period in which intensive ethnographic research was conducted in the community and draws upon participant observation, semi-structured interviews, focus groups and life histories as key methodologies. The research utilises the structural violence paradigm to articulate the multi-faceted gender dynamics surrounding the relationship between women and water. The Article exemplifies how females charged with water maintenance on the household level are additionally tasked with the role of home-based care-giving to kin and non-kin alike who are suffering from HIV/AIDS. The gendered nature of home-based care requires women to assume responsibility for water beyond the household level in an attempt to maintain the health and sanitation of the community. Despite structural and local adversities, the Article illustrates that women actively assert agency, assume the challenge and view their relationship with water as an empowering force as it permits them to persistently strive to achieve health and sanitation in their impoverished community.