Answer to Question #228816 in English for Bright

Question

Describe and discuss how the poor distribution of services and inadequate
infrastructure continues to affect the poor and marginalized in South Africa.

Answer 1

Physical and social infrastructure in developing countries is typically inadequate, and significant improvements are required for rapid economic development. In most parts of South Africa, modern transportation and communications are unavailable, and electric power is non-existent. There is a scarcity of water for home, agricultural, and industrial use. For the most part, sanitation facilities are non-existent. Health and medical services are in short supply. The sciences and technology have the weakest educational infrastructure in developing countries, resulting in a lack of technological skills to apply to agriculture and other essential areas of production.

South Africa must offer its citizens the same breadth of services as any other country, particularly in terms of government services. These services must be provided to small scattered communities due to their remoteness, which is worsened in most cases by their archipelagic nature. As a result, the country undoubtedly faces significant overheads, including the price of important basic facilities such as hospitals, ports, and airports. This is becoming increasingly true as global technical trends favor greater scale (as in international transportation) and demand greater specialization. Another infrastructure consequence of remoteness is that the government must stockpile more products, especially essentials like food and gasoline, than countries with greater access to supplies. Failure to do so leads to shortages, yet inventories and shortages come at a price. The operational capability of the existing infrastructure is poor for a number of reasons: the acute shortage of skilled manpower, poor skills of workers, scarcity of operating funds, at the operational and management level poor planning leads to weaknesses in resolving the problems of complementarity and competitiveness between the various modes of transport.