The Western Cape still leads the way among the country’s provinces in providing access to piped water. Figures in the Community Survey 2016 released by Stats SA on Thursday showed that the largest proportion of households with access to piped water are in the Western Cape at 98.9%‚ followed by Gauteng at 97.4%‚ and Free State at 96.2%.The Eastern Cape is the province with the smallest proportion of households with access to piped water at 75.1%.Access to piped water has increased from 13.2 million in 2011 to 15.2 million in 2016.The number of households accessing water from taps within their yards has increased from 3.9 million in 2011 to 5.1 million in 2016.However‚ the number of households with no access to piped water has also increased from 1.3 million in 2011 to 1.7 million in 2016.Access to electricity for lighting has increased by 32.2% from 58.1% in 1996 to 90.3% in 2016. The provinces with the largest proportions of access to electricity were Western Cape‚ Free State‚ Limpopo and Mpumalanga‚ each with more than 90%.Of the 16.9 million households in South Africa‚ about 10.3 million (60.6%) have access to a flush toilet connected to a sewerage system. This is higher than the 57% recorded in 2011.Households using a pit toilet with ventilation have increased from 8.8% in 2011 to 12.2% in 2016. Households with no access to a toilet facility have declined from 5.2% in 2011 to 2.4% in 2016.The majority of households (49.5%) have access to a toilet facility within their yard. In contrast‚ 45.6% of households in the country use a toilet located within their dwelling while 4.9% use a toilet facility located outside their yard...