Survey Ethics

1. Informed consent - the targeted stakeholders will be fully informed about the survey before the respondent provides information. By completing the registration/consent form the respondent will be voluntarily consenting to participate. By accepting telephonic interview schedule, the stakeholders will be consisting to participate.

2. Anonymity and confidentiality - no responses provided by the stakeholders will be directly linked to the organisations or person providing the information. Information provided by the stakeholders will be managed by the researcher and no access will be provided to third parties, accept Amatola Water.

3. Honesty, reciprocity and trust - the data provided by the respondents will not be used for any other purpose accept for the survey. The information provided will not be used for commercial or any other purpose accept for the survey. The data provided will not be used for the benefit, harm or victimisation of any respondent.

4. Reliability and validity - the same questions will be asked to all respondents. The online survey records and analyse the data immediately. The respondent will create their own passwords to input date into the online system. The administrator of the system will also login using a password. The researcher will not give anyone access to the raw data.

5. Invasion of privacy - the online survey allows participants to complete the survey in their chosen time. To avoid invasion of one’s privacy, the researcher will set up appointments with the respondents who want telephonic interviews, by way of written communication.

6. Data security and management - the researcher takes data security serious. The administrator of the data will be issued a password.

7. Copyright - the researcher will not share the data of the survey or the final report with third parties. Sharing of any information related to the survey will be the sole responsibility of Amatola Water. All copyrights of the survey will rest with Amatola Water.

8. Affiliation and conflict of interest - the study is not financially underwritten by the survey informants but by the Communications & Stakeholder Manager of Amatola Water. The researcher is not an employee or a consultant of any stakeholder or informants of the survey. Therefore, the researcher has no reason to have an affiliation bias.