The moral economy of sanitation provision in informal settlements in Cape Town and Nairobi

Abstract

This article compares how Cape Town and Nairobi approach sanitation provision in informal settlements, where residents experience vastly different levels of access to safely managed services. The City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality provides free sewered and container-based sanitation, while Nairobi City County offers limited infrastructure, leaving most residents reliant on private providers. Using a moral economy framework, the study examines expectations between citizens and the state, and the role of civil society in shaping sanitation claims. Based on in-depth interviews and a photovoice project, the analysis finds that South Africa’s rights-based post-apartheid social contract and strong activist culture drive the City of Cape Town’s provision of free sanitation. In contrast, Nairobi’s fragmented institutional and policy environment, combined with weak citizen mobilisation, reduces state accountability. The study highlights how seeing sanitation as a political, rather than a technical, concern influences both citizen claims and state responses to inclusive sanitation in informal settlements.