The South African Human Rights Commission’s (SAHRC’s) Gauteng provincial office is calling for submissions as it embarks on an investigative inquiry into the water crisis in the province.

Interested parties and stakeholders have until April 30 to provide written input.

This followed the receipt of a large volume of complaints surrounding persistent and widespread water shortages, infrastructure failures, governance challenges and recurring service delivery disruptions affecting communities across Gauteng.

The commission says that the situation raises prima facie concerns of a systemic human rights violation and has deemed it appropriate, in the public interest, to conduct a formal investigative inquiry.

Investigating the challenges at a systemic level, the SAHRC will undertake the inquiry from May 19 to 21.

The investigative inquiry aims to assess the extent, nature and root causes of water access challenges across Gauteng, including infrastructure failures; assess the impact of the water crisis on the enjoyment of fundamental human rights, particularly for vulnerable and marginalised communities; and determine whether the current state of affairs constitutes a systemic human rights violation and whether any limitation of rights is justifiable.

It will also examine whether State actors have taken reasonable and adequate steps to progressively realise the right of access to sufficient water; assess governance, planning, budgeting, infrastructure management and emergency response systems; and examine the emergence and impact of informal water distribution economies and tanker dependency.

The commission will then make findings, recommendations and directives aimed at addressing systemic failures and securing sustainable access to water.

“These [water] challenges have had a disproportionate impact on poor and marginalised communities, residents of informal settlements, schools, healthcare facilities and social care institutions. Thus undermining dignity, health, safety and access to basic services,” the SAHRC said in a statement on Monday.

The water crisis has also produced secondary systemic harms, including the emergence of informal and exploitative water distribution economies commonly referred to as ‘water tanker mafias’.

This as prolonged and recurring water outages create dependence on unregulated private water tankers, entrenching inequality, profiteering and commodification of a constitutional right.

“Access to sufficient, safe, acceptable and affordable water is a foundational human right and a cornerstone of human dignity. The right to water is constitutionally protected and the Constitution imposes positive obligations on the State to respect, protect, promote and fulfil this right,” the SAHRC says.

As part of the inquiry, the commission is calling for written submissions from all relevant stakeholders, including affected communities, government departments, municipalities, water boards, civil society organisations, experts, researchers, advocacy groups, the private sector and interested members of the public.

Submissions may include information on the causes of the identified challenges, the impact of the water crisis on affected communities, existing responses and interventions and proposed steps for addressing the crisis.