Toegang tot elektrisiteit, water en sanitasie het verbeter. Teen 2005 het Suid-Afrika reeds die Millenniumontwikkelingsdoelwit met betrekking tot basiese watervoorsiening bereik deurdat toegang tot water van 59% in 1994 tot 83% in 2006 toegeneem het. Volgens die Verenigde Nasies se Ontwikkelingsplan (UNDP) is Suid-Afrika een van die min lande wat minder aan sy militêre begroting as aan water en sanitasie bestee het. Volgens die UNDP se verslag oor menslike ontwikkeling van 2006:
Access to electricity, water and sanitation has improved. By 2005, South Africa had already achieved the Millennium Development Goal in respect of basic water supply, with improvement of access from 59% in 1994 to 83% in 2006. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), South Africa is one of the few countries that spend less on military budgets than on water and sanitation. In the words of the UNDP Human Development Report of 2006: