The Ledger SA

Refuse and services · Gauteng

Ekurhuleni

Is refuse collected? Who has basic services?

89.4%

of households had their refuse removed at least once a week in 2025, against 88.6% removed by the city weekly in the Census 2022 baseline.

Official: Stats SA, General Household Survey 2025 · Data as of General Household Survey 2025 · Last updated

Compare all eight metros: Refuse and services. An asterisk marks a figure our automated checks found inconsistent with another official figure; it is shown as reported, explained in a footnote and left out of rankings.

Basic services in Ekurhuleni, 2025

Official: Stats SA, General Household Survey 2025 · Data as of General Household Survey 2025

The newest official figures for each metro: Stats SA’s General Household Survey 2025, a sample survey. Census 2022 is shown beside each as the baseline.

Refuse removed at least once a week

89.4%

of 1 535 395 households in 2025: households whose refuse is removed at least once a week. Census 2022 baseline: 88.6% (refuse removed weekly).

Piped water inside the home

57.1%

of 1 535 395 households in 2025: households with piped water inside the dwelling. Census 2022 baseline: 73.8% (piped water inside the home).

A flush toilet

88.5%

of 1 535 395 households in 2025: households with a flush toilet (sewer or septic tank). Census 2022 baseline: 91.2% (flush toilet).

Access to electricity

89.7%

of 1 535 395 households in 2025: households with access to electricity. Census 2022 baseline: 93.1% (mains electricity for lighting).

A sample survey: metro figures carry sampling error. Census 2022 is the baseline. The survey asks households, like the census, but a sample of them; small differences between years or metros may not be real. Definitions differ slightly from the census (for example, access to electricity against mains electricity for lighting). Source: Stats SA, GHS 2025: selected development indicators, metros (P0318.3), Table 3.7.

Census 2022 baseline: Ekurhuleni

Official: Statistics South Africa, Census 2022 and Census 2011 · Data as of Census 2022 (census night 2 to 3 February 2022) · Last updated

The census counts every household, so it is the baseline: the share with each service on Census night 2022, against Census 2011. Newer survey figures are above.

Refuse removed by the city at least once a week

88.6%

of 1 421 003 households in 2022; 88.4% of 1 015 398 in 2011.

All answers, 2022 and 2011
Answer20222011
Removed by local authority at least once a week88.6%88.4%
Removed by local authority less often1.2%1.0%
Communal refuse dump1.5%1.8%
Communal container/central collection point3.3%–
Own refuse dump2.1%6.0%
No Rubbish Disposal3.0%2.5%
Other0.1%0.3%

Stats SA data, 2022 · 2011. “–”: not an answer in 2011.

Piped water inside the home

73.8%

of 1 421 004 households in 2022; 57.2% of 1 015 397 in 2011.

All answers, 2022 and 2011
Answer20222011
Piped (tap) water inside the dwelling73.8%57.2%
Piped (tap) water inside the yard20.3%29.9%
Piped (tap) water on community stand5.2%11.7%
No access to piped water0.8%1.1%

Stats SA data, 2022 · 2011. “–”: not an answer in 2011.

A flush toilet

91.2%

of 1 421 003 households in 2022; 86.3% of 1 015 398 in 2011.

All answers, 2022 and 2011
Answer20222011
Flush toilet91.2%86.3%
Chemical toilet2.6%1.4%
Pit toilet1.7%7.9%
Bucket toilet4.1%2.3%
Other0.1%0.9%
None0.4%1.2%

Stats SA data, 2022 · 2011. “–”: not an answer in 2011.

Mains electricity for lighting

93.1%

of 1 421 003 households in 2022; 82.2% of 1 015 398 in 2011.

All answers, 2022 and 2011
Answer20222011
Electricity from mains93.1%82.2%
Gas0.2%0.3%
Paraffin1.4%4.6%
Candles4.2%12.5%
Solar1.0%0.2%
Other0.1%–
None0.0%0.2%

Stats SA data, 2022 · 2011. “–”: not an answer in 2011.

Census answers are what households told Stats SA, not the metro’s own service records. Stats SA has not published Census 2022 service figures by ward (only population, which each ward page shows), so these are metro totals. For problems in your area now, see the city’s water and power notices and community reports. Source: Stats SA Census 2022 portal, reused with acknowledgement.

Who Ekurhuleni serves

Official: Stats SA, Non-financial census of municipalities 2023 · Data as of year ended 30 June 2023 · Next update expected 31 Mar 2027 (Stats SA release calendar: 2025)

What each metro reported to Stats SA about its own customers for the year ended 30 June 2023: how many it serves, how many get free basic services, and how many households it lists as indigent (too poor to pay).

ServiceServedFree basic
Water1 189 069105 000
Electricity631 381105 000
Sewerage and sanitation1 189 069105 000
Refuse removal948 227105 000

105 000 indigent households on the metro’s register (137 173 in 2022).

Served: consumer units (households and businesses) getting the service in the year ended 30 June 2023. Free basic: households getting it free.

These are each metro’s own records, reported to Stats SA, not a survey. 2022 figures as revised in the 2023 edition. Source: Stats SA, Non-financial census of municipalities (P9115), unit data by province and district, Tables 3, 9 and 12.

Refuse not collected right now?

Community reports, unverified

No metro publishes missed refuse collections as data. Residents can report a missed collection in their ward; areas with several reports show on the community reports page and on ward pages. Reports are never used in our rankings or official figures.

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