The South African water rights case (in which Phiri residents challenged the use of prepaid meters in the country's free basic water policy) has after five years finally ended with the country's Constitutional Court coming down squarely on the side of government and the City of Johannesburg. All eight judges found the installation of pre-paid meters to be lawful. “The judgement carefully analyses the issues as well as the role of courts in human rights cases involving issues such as water. It should be required reading for all water professionals as well as for the human rights fraternity”, former South African water chief Mike Muller told Source Weekly. The ruling can be accessed at the Constitutional court's web site.

"If anything, residents of Soweto who went all the way to South Africa’s Constitutional Court to assess their right for access to free water have to be commended for their resourcefulness and courage in standing for what they believed in”, The Star (Pretoria) commented on 12 October 2009. “The Phiri applicants and no doubt millions of poor people across South Africa will be disappointed by the judgement, but this is the end of the road and everyone will have to abide by it,” the commenter concluded."The judgement shows a lazy legalism and completely biased and contradictory reasoning", commented the anti privatisation coalition CAWP.

Related news: South Africa: Supreme Court of Appeal hands down judgment on Phiri water case, Source Weekly, 28 Apr 2009

Related web sites:

• Johannesburg Water
• Coalition Against Water Privatisation (CAWP)

Source: The Star (subscription based), 12 Oct 2009 ; CAWP, 12 Oct 2009

Tags: africa, financing, policies & legislation, water supply