Delivery of water to households far from sources of safe water
The South African Child Labour Programme of Action provides that pilot projects should be run on the Delivery of water to households far from sources of safe water. The Survey of Activities of Young People (SAYP) undertaken in 1999 indicated that collecting fuel or fetching water are by far the most common work-related activity done by children in South Africa. South African stakeholders have indicated, in the consultative process that led to the Child Labour Programme of Action, that the fetching of water over long distances should be regarded as a priority, given its prevalence and associated hazards. According to the Child Labour Programme of Action, this work should not be seen as child labour, a term which implies that someone benefits unduly from the work that children do. Poor households have little control over the distance to water from the homestead, and often have no alternative but to ask their children to help in carrying water.