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South Africa
SA
New Democratic Water Legislation: National Government's. Role
as Public Trustee in Dam Building and Management Activities
In giving formal expression to national government’s role
as public trustee of the nation’s water resources, the National
Water Act 36 of 1998 (“the National Water Act”) draws
on its constitutional mandates, international obligations, as
well as on certain neglected aspects of international precedent
and the old South African common law that can usefully be re-emphasised.
This allows national government, for the first time in South Africa’s
history, to assume, with vigour, its long-neglected and indispensable
role of providing equitable access to water for all South Africans.
Johannesburg
Poors March Against Evictions
JOHANNESBURG — "This system is taking us back to square
one," said Mvenda Masalas, an unemployed father of three
fighting eviction from an inner city tenement in Johannesburg.
He was among 150 "poors", many of them already homeless,
who marched on the offices of the provincial Minister of Housing
this past Saturday.
Battle
Against 'Prepaid' Water Erupts
In the last week, that struggle has heated up, as activists from
the Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee (SECC) and Gauteng Anti-Privatisation
Forum (APF) mobilised the Phiri committee to resist 'prepaid'
water.
 Water
Tap Often Shut to South Africa's Poor
The afternoon's end brings a rural rush hour of women walking
down the dirt road that winds through this village. Many of them
barefoot and dressed in rags, the mothers and grandmothers come
pushing wheelbarrows or carrying big buckets to fetch water for
their families. But the road quickly becomes a divide between
the haves and have-nots. Those with pennies to spend stand in
line on one side and buy their water from a metered tap.
Farm
Water Crisis Committee (OWCC) activist shot dead in her home
The murder of Emily Nengolo appears to have been politically motivated.
Two males forced their way into Emily Nengolo’s house around
1am on Friday night shining flashlights into the darkened rooms.
When they came upon Emily Nengolo they were reported to have said,
“this is the one we are looking for”, and proceeded
to shoot her twice. Over the last year, the OWCC has been actively
and effectively involved in resisting water and electricity cut-offs
and evictions in their community. Late last year, one of the key
leaders of OWCC was visited by operatives of the National Intelligence
Agency in an obvious attempt to intimidate the OWCC into halting
their activities.
Metered
to Death: How a Water Experiment Caused Riots and a Cholera Epidemic
The biggest problem in this country ravaged by AIDS, tuberculosis
and malnourishment, is water. Few can afford it. But with World
Bank blessing, the government is trying to end water subsidies,
forcing millions of South Africans to seek their water from polluted
rivers and lakes. The result: one of the largest outbreaks of
cholera.
Johannesburg
and New Jersey
I read that 87 people had been arrested in Johannesburg, South
Africa for demonstrating against electricity and water privatization.
Cholera
Epidemic
In late 2000 a cholera epidemic claimed several lives after being
almost non-existent for several decades. The reason: piped water
was too expensive for people to drink. Many rural and peri-urban
citizens were forced to drink untreated, contaminated water. By
the end of 2001, more than 100,000 people had been infected in
KwaZulu Natal province alone. KwaZulu Natal is among the poorest
provinces in South Africa and hard hit but the economic slump
that has brought unemployment to around 40%.
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