Addressing the infrastructure maintenance gap while creating employment and transferring skills: An innovative institutional model

ABSTRACT

The ‘social franchising’ model for the operation and maintenance of selected water and sanitation infrastructure, the conceptual origins of the model, its subsequent development by desktop research methods, and its piloting in the field, are described. Piloted in South Africa by a team with extensive experience of water and sanitation infrastructure and business development, the model has since been rolled out to scale, simultaneously bringing about (i) the servicing of selected infrastructure, returning it to full use, and (ii) micro-business development and nurturing, job creation, and skills development. Development and implementation of the model over two decades have demonstrated its robust nature compared to equivalent stand-alone micro-businesses, how it can partner in schools to improve health and hygiene education, and the effectiveness of the work it has done on infrastructure servicing and to accomplish tasks other than basic maintenance.

KEYWORDS:

• Infrastructure maintenance
• jobs for the low-skilled
• learning at the workplace
• micro-business
• partnerships
• social franchising

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Africa's largest research and development organisation, public or private sector.

2 From 87 000 in 2004 to 175 000 in 2009, falling to less than 100 000 the following year.

3 The social franchising variant of the commercial franchising concept is defined as: ‘the application of commercial franchising concepts to achieve socially beneficial ends, rather than profit’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_franchising.

4 Then USD 36 000–80 000.

5 Char is a carbon-rich product formed when plant- or animal-based organic material such as wood, faecal matter, etc. is heated in a closed container with little or no available air. Char originating from biomass and intended for agricultural use is known as biochar (N Naidoo, 2019:5).

6 For examples, see especially pages 45 and 90.

7 For example solar panels, installed in great numbers on RDP houses.