Environmental problems remains an inequality issue between the rich and the poor in South African context and the social Dynamics of the economy.

There is a vast gap between people who lives in the urban areas and rural in terms of environmental factors such as access to clean water and sanitation. People in rural areas like Eastern cape and Kwazulu-natal are more prone to diseases such as bacterial infections diarrhoea that is caused by contaminated water from the rivers and the streams. The people in the rural areas are marginalised in the distribution of safe water because some are situated in the moutainouse places, and therefore making it difficult for the installation of sewage pipes and tap pipes, their environment is not conducive to undertake such projects.

The impact of water insecurity is enormous, that is why the South African government has developed four different policy documents to ensure equitable distribution of water resources for the citizens. The people on the urban areas are also infected by environmental factors cause by overpopulated areas so the water supply becomes congested because of the high demand. The environmental issues are a concern because the reality is that many water supply interventions in developing countries do not last,that is why we have to take in to account the environmental issues that we are faced with.