Appeal in water meter case
19 February 2009
A decision that Johannesburg's installation of pre-paid water meters for Soweto residents was unconstitutional, will go on appeal in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Bloemfontein from 23 February 2009.
The Johannesburg High Court found that the city's practice of forcibly installing pre-paid water meters in Phiri, Soweto, was unconstitutional. The City of Johannesburg, Johannesburg Water, and the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry are appealing the judgment.
Johannesburg High Court Judge Moroa Tsoka directed the city to give the residents of Phiri the option of an ordinary credit metered water supply. The court further increased the free basic water supply from 25 litres a person a day to 50 litres a person a day in Phiri.
The judgment was considered historic as it was the first in which the constitutional right to water was explicitly raised. Judge Tsoka said: "Twenty-five litres per person a day is insufficient for the residents of Phiri", whom he described as "poor, uneducated, elderly, sick, ravaged by HIV/Aids and reliant on state pensions and grants". The high court also found that increasing the free basic water supply would not significantly strain the city's water and financial resources, especially if free basic water supplied to rich households was redistributed to the poor.
A senior researcher at the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) and part of the Phiri legal team, Jackie Dugard, said the matter had been a long hard road for their clients and their support organisations. The group was also helped by the Anti-Privatisation Forum and the Coalition Against Water Privatisation.
Dugard said the judgment was not only a victory for them, but for all poor South Africans. "Judge Tsoka showed that socio-economic rights have teeth. His judgment shows a careful and sensitive understanding of the law, the City's obligations, but above all our clients' lives," a statement read.
Dugard said they were confident the SCA would affirm their clients' rights.