78.1%
of 1 373 130 households in 2025: households whose refuse is removed at least once a week. Census 2022 baseline: 80.7% (refuse removed weekly).
Refuse and services · KwaZulu-Natal
eThekwini
Is refuse collected? Who has basic services?
78.1%
of households had their refuse removed at least once a week in 2025, against 80.7% 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 eThekwini, 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.
58.9%
of 1 373 130 households in 2025: households with piped water inside the dwelling. Census 2022 baseline: 69.8% (piped water inside the home).
79.2%
of 1 373 130 households in 2025: households with a flush toilet (sewer or septic tank). Census 2022 baseline: 80.4% (flush toilet).
90.4%
of 1 369 880 households in 2025: households with access to electricity. Census 2022 baseline: 98.5% (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: eThekwini
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.
80.7%
of 1 122 739 households in 2022; 85.6% of 963 012 in 2011.
All answers, 2022 and 2011
| Answer | 2022 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|
| Removed by local authority at least once a week | 80.7% | 85.6% |
| Removed by local authority less often | 1.7% | 1.8% |
| Communal refuse dump | 1.4% | 1.3% |
| Communal container/central collection point | 5.2% | – |
| Own refuse dump | 8.6% | 9.0% |
| No Rubbish Disposal | 2.0% | 1.6% |
| Other | 0.5% | 0.7% |
Stats SA data, 2022 · 2011. “–”: not an answer in 2011.
69.8%
of 1 122 738 households in 2022; 59.8% of 963 011 in 2011.
All answers, 2022 and 2011
| Answer | 2022 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|
| Piped (tap) water inside the dwelling | 69.8% | 59.8% |
| Piped (tap) water inside the yard | 19.7% | 20.5% |
| Piped (tap) water on community stand | 7.2% | 16.5% |
| No access to piped water | 3.4% | 3.1% |
Stats SA data, 2022 · 2011. “–”: not an answer in 2011.
80.4%
of 1 122 738 households in 2022; 67.8% of 963 012 in 2011.
All answers, 2022 and 2011
| Answer | 2022 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|
| Flush toilet | 80.4% | 67.8% |
| Chemical toilet | 5.8% | 7.5% |
| Pit toilet | 10.3% | 16.8% |
| Bucket toilet | 1.2% | 2.7% |
| Other | 1.2% | 3.0% |
| None | 1.1% | 2.1% |
Stats SA data, 2022 · 2011. “–”: not an answer in 2011.
98.5%
of 1 122 738 households in 2022; 89.6% of 963 012 in 2011.
All answers, 2022 and 2011
| Answer | 2022 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|
| Electricity from mains | 98.5% | 89.6% |
| Gas | 0.2% | 0.3% |
| Paraffin | 0.2% | 1.4% |
| Candles | 0.8% | 8.0% |
| Solar | 0.0% | 0.3% |
| Other | 0.1% | – |
| None | 0.2% | 0.4% |
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 eThekwini 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).
| Service | Served | Free basic |
|---|---|---|
| Water | 1 240 807 | 599 478 |
| Electricity | 792 514 | 230 000 |
| Sewerage and sanitation | 901 433 | 446 400 |
| Refuse removal | 1 234 282 | 316 117 |
924 690 indigent households on the metro’s register (594 986 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.