[Imc-sa-editorial] Johannesburg High Court declares pre-paid water meters unconstitutional, orders increase in free basic water

Wed Apr 30 15:14:58 PDT 2008

Hi Nic

Sounds good. And maybe a link to the CALS press statement (in .doc - 
ewww! 
http://www.law.wits.ac.za/cals/newsitems/CALS%20media%20statement%20300408.doc) 
and the judgement itself 
(http://www.law.wits.ac.za/cals/Mazibuko%20Judgment.pdf) ?

Peter

nicolas dieltiens wrote:
> the previous message refers to this statement...
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: *Dale T. McKinley* <drdalet at metroweb.co.za 
> <mailto:drdalet at metroweb.co.za>>
> Date: 2008/4/30
> Subject: [CCS List] Johannesburg High Court declares pre-paid water 
> meters unconstitutional, orders increase in free basic water
> To: ccs-l at lists.ukzn.ac.za <mailto:ccs-l at lists.ukzn.ac.za>
>
>
> http://www.ukzn.ac.za/ccs
>
>
> COALITION AGAINST WATER PRIVATISATION
>
> **PRESS RELEASE**
>
> **/Wednesday 30th April 2008/**
>
>  
>
> *Johannesburg High Court declares prepaid water meters unlawful & 
> unconstitutional*
>
> *Court finds enforced choice between pre-paid meter and standpipe to 
> be unlawful and unconstitutional and orders City of Johannesburg to 
> provide full range of water delivery service options*
>
> *Limitation of free basic water allocation of 6kl per household, per 
> month is set aside & City of Johannesburg ordered to provide 50 litres 
> per person, per day.*
>
> *JOHANNESBURG, 30 April 2008* — In a historic and ground-breaking 
> judgement, the Johannesburg High Court today declared that the City of 
> Johannesburg's forcible installation of prepaid water meters in Phiri 
> (Soweto) is both unlawful and unconstitutional.  Judge Tsoka further 
> ordered that the limitation of free basic water to the present 6 
> kilolitres per household per month, be set aside and that the City of 
> Johannesburg and Johannesburg Water must supply Phiri residents with 
> 50 litres per person per day. Furthermore, the court declared that the 
> choice given to residents of either a prepaid meter or a standpipe for 
> water provision in Phiri is also unlawful and directed the City to 
> provide residents of Phiri the option of an ordinary credit metered 
> water supply. Judge M.P. Tsoka also determined that the City should 
> bear all the legal costs of the applicants since 2006.
>
> As jubilation at the judgement ripples across Phiri and the rest of 
> Soweto, the City will be sitting shell-shocked. Johannesburg Water's 
> Operation Gcin'amanzi cannot continue in its present form and an 
> entirely new system for water provision has to now replace it. The 
> pitiless pre-paid meters have finally been consigned to the dustbin 
> they deserve. If the City had followed the writ of the law in 
> implementing their water services, consulting with the community and 
> listening to the voices of protest, they would not be sitting with egg 
> on their faces and a R320-million loan for pre-paid meters they now 
> can't install. The City chose rather to deploy the Red Ants, private 
> security companies and police in Phiri at the onset of /Operation 
> Gcina'manzi /in August 2003 to protect their misshapen project. The 
> fact that Phiri residents were gagged in their own homes as work 
> proceeded against their wishes, enduring arrest and detention, has 
> redounded to the City's loss. What needless waste! This crisis is one 
> of their own making.
>
> The Coalition Against Water Privatisation would like to extend its 
> heartfelt thanks and congratulation to our advocate in the case, Wim 
> Trengove, and to all the attorneys and paralegals at the Centre for 
> Applied Legal Studies (CALS) at Wits University who pulled together 
> the legal arguments that proved so persuasive. When government 
> implements by managerialist command and disregards the interests of 
> the people it is meant to serve, the Bill of Rights can mean little 
> more than the paper it is written on. Thank you to the Coalition's 
> legal team for helping to make the Constitution real again.
>
> As CALS stated in an earlier press release, this is the first time, 
> 'in which the constitutional right to water has explicitly been 
> raised' and the judgement itself provided meaningful and clear reasons 
> for the orders issued. Judge MP Toska 'criticised the municipality for 
> its discriminatory approach to the provision of water', finding that: 
> "the underlying basis for the introduction of prepayment meters seems 
> to me to be credit control. If this is true, I am unable to understand 
> why this credit control measure is only suitable in the historically 
> poor black areas and not the historically rich white areas. Bad payers 
> cannot be described in terms of colour or geographical area". The 
> Judge went on to say that, "25 litres per person day is insufficient 
> for the residents of Phiri …to expect the applicants to restrict their 
> water usage, to compromise their health, by limiting the number of 
> toilet flushes in order to save water is to deny them the rights to 
> health and to lead a dignified lifestyle." The Judge further found 
> that the consultation leading up to the adoption of pre-paid meters 
> was inadequate, stating that the process was "more of a publicity 
> stunt than consultation". He also criticised the City's "big brother 
> approach" to the residents of Phiri.
>
> The greatest credit for this extraordinary legal victory must go to 
> the residents of Phiri that resisted the installation of the pre-paid 
> meters, and to all the other residents of poor communities, both in 
> Johannesburg and across the country, who have been fighting for 
> accessible, affordable and sufficient water provision/delivery . The 
> Coalition Against Water Privatisation formed around the water crisis 
> in Phiri and the struggle was given life by Phiri's strength.
>
> While the Coalition knows that this judgement will most probably be 
> appealed by the City of Johannesburg and Johannesburg Water all the 
> way to the Constitutional Court, this does not detract from the 
> political and social significance of this victory. We are confident 
> that this judgement will be upheld and that water provision will now 
> no longer be delivered in a discriminatory, patronising and inhumane 
> manner. The fact is that water service delivery, not only in 
> Johannesburg but across the entirety of South Africa, can never be the 
> same.
>
> WATER IS LIFE
>
> *To discuss today's judgement, the Coalition Against Water 
> Privatisation will be holding a press conference:*
>
> *Monday, 5 May @ 12h00  (at the offices of the Anti Privatisation 
> Forum located at 6^th Floor, Vogas House, 123 Pritchard St – corner Mooi)*
>
> /*/FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:/*/
>
> */Patra Sindane, the Coalition organiser on 073 052 7005/*
>
> */ /*
>
> /*/FOR A PDF COPY OF THE JUDGEMENT CONTACT: /*/
>
> */Dale McKinley on 072 429 4086 or drdalet at metroweb.co.za 
> <mailto:drdalet at metroweb.co.za> /*
>
>  
>
>
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