The Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) is taking Johannesburg Water (JW) to court in a bid to gain access to information about a plan to install pre-paid water meters in Soweto and Johannesburg. It requires users to buy coupons or vouchers to put in meters, which then allow them the requisite amount of water.
The action follows violent protests last weekend in Phiri, where the first phase of the project has begun. JW is the water-provision company owned by the Johannesburg City Council. Researcher Ebrahim Harvey is conducting the litigation through the FXI.
The water company recently announced its intention of installing the pre-paid meter system in certain areas of Johannesburg, including Soweto, to control the usage of water.
But, argues Harvey, there is no adequate research in place to assess the possible negative effects of the system in low-income, high-unemployment areas. It could increase hardship, ill-health and poverty, he told the Mail & Guardian. He also suspects irregularities in the tender award.
According to JW spokesperson Jameel Chand, more than seven billion litres of water go missing in Soweto every month because of leakages, costing the city some R158-million.
“Through the pre-paid meter system, we will invest more than R450-million over the next five years to install new infrastructure and pipes,” Chand said.
He denied that the new system was a means of enforcing payment for water services, saying it was a “water management tool”.
Harvey, however, argued that pre-paid meters represent a brutal commodification of water: “What this [meter system] means is that after consuming the present small lifeline of 6 000 litres of free water per family — for those who have the infrastructure and receive it — no family will get any water if they do not readily have the cash to buy pre-paid coupons or vouchers with which to recharge the meter.
“Recognising water as the most essential of human needs, and, at a time of rising unemployment and poverty in poor black communities, it does not require an economist to see that these meters are going to lead to even greater poverty and ill-health. It is probably such a realisation that galvanised the action to oppose the installation of these meters last week in Soweto.”
Last weekend, scores of angry residents in Phiri went on a rampage, protesting against the meters. Seven people, including former African National Congress councillor Trevor Ngwane, now the leader of the Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee, were arrested for allegedly damaging pipes and intimidating workers.
Ngwane said: “It is unjust to experiment with pre-paid meters in the community of the poorest of the poor. Instead of prioritising upgrading water infrastructure, the council is trying to secure a return on its investment.”
Ngwane’s organisation was previously involved in the destruction of electricity meters in Soweto. He said: “The Water Services Act is clear that before any change to water supply there must be public participation.”
Harvey is demanding information about the tender bid by supplier Johannesburg Water and Management (Jowam). Jowam is majority-owned by French-based supplier Suez, which has been accused of corruption and mismanagement in other parts of the world.
In a statement FXI pointed to the larger issue of service delivery. Companies such as JW, it said, “have one foot in the public sector and one foot in the private sector, and they will use their private sector status in order to hide controversial aspects of their public sector role. This is unacceptable and must be challenged.”