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Constitutional changes could improve water supply

16th May 2014

By: Sashnee Moodley

Senior Deputy Editor Polity and Multimedia

  

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In the past 20 years, 23.5-million people have been supplied with water in South Africa and 95% of the population had the benefit of water infrastructure, creating a precedent unlike anywhere else in the world, but those achievements are under threat because of increasing service failures.

This is the view of University of Witwatersrand (Wits) Professor and National Planning Commission member Mike Muller, who spoke as part of the panel on the Water Research Commission’s (WRC’s) debate, themed ‘Could Constitutional Changes Improve Municipal Water Supplies?’, at Wits last month.

Various panellists argued that the water challenges in South Africa were not technical but rather social, cultural, legal and constitutional.

WRC CEO Desigen Naidoo agreed with Muller and said that, 20 years into democracy, South Africa had done well in some areas, while it had been found wanting in others.

“One of those areas is access to water and sanitation. South Africa has invested strongly in many areas and, with its global partners, has worked out technical advances and solutions, but our barriers are not technical,” he argued.

Muller stated that service failures were increasing, infrastructure was deteriorating and community support was weakening, while underlining that the problem was generally not technical, or the result of a shortage of water resources or money.

“The key challenge is an institutional one – specifically local government, which is responsible for providing these services and is not doing its job. It is crucial that we address this problem. We have made progress, but we are undermining the progress we made,” he pointed out.

Muller noted that the symptoms of this challenge included water shortages and interruptions in communities that had water services; the overconsumption of water in some areas, which created a shortage in others; and mechanical and infrastructure failures and losses in distribution, which exacerbated the shortages.

He added that these symptoms were caused by management issues, a lack of planning and weakened community involvement.

Further, the wrong people were appointed for the wrong reasons and the wrong tenders were awarded for the wrong reasons, Muller highlighted.

“We need to create conditions in which personal and political gain comes from achieving good services through sound management. The Constitution can also be amended to help our practical problem,” he stated.

Department of Water Affairs representative Professor Muxe Nkondo noted that, despite the Bill of Rights, people still did not have access to clean water 20 years later.

He stated that the Bill of Rights contained political rights and socioeconomic rights, of which the latter covered the right to water, food, shelter and basic healthcare. The socioeconomic rights were all conditioned, depending on the availability of resources.

“Why is the right to water, food and shelter – the fundamental rights – conditioned? The basis for conditional rights is not similar to that of unconditional rights and the resource factor dominates the water supply factor,” he pointed out.

Muller believes an understanding of the politics at municipal and provincial level will help alleviate the water problems.

“The current framework of the Constitution prevents people from getting access to safe water. It can be amended to help supply water to people. We want to explore the need for amendments to the Constitution,” he said.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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