A crowd of children is at play in the front garden of Thelma Mabuza’s small house in Zondi, Soweto. Mabuza, a baby pinned to her back with a blanket, is on her way to the tap located at the back of her yard.
Johannesburg city bosses have decreed, through “Operation Gcina’manzi”, that householders such as Mabuza have to make do with 6 000 litres of free water a month. When this runs out, typically halfway through the month, the supply is cut off and residents have to pay for extra water.
Mabuza, who has tenants in her home, is forced to charge them R20 more for rent because she has to buy more water for everyone to use it freely. “There are seven of us living in the house and my daughter just had a baby, so we can’t afford to try to save water because we have to wash nappies, do you see what I’m saying?” she says.
A legal battle is now under way between Soweto residents and the City of Johannesburg over pre-paid water meters.
Wim Trengove, counsel for Phiri residents, told the Johannesburg High Court at the beginning of this month that Phiri residents receive the minimum of 50 litres of water, according to government stipulations. However, in reality one-third of residents get less than half of this, while some only get 10 litres per person per day. This is because of the large number of people living on properties in the area.
“We know that a single flush of a toilet takes 10 litres of water … the question is: Can people live on a single flush of a toilet per day? We submit that they cannot. One simply cannot live a decent and dignified life without water,” said Trengove.
According to David Mhlantla, a resident of Zola 1 and a member of the Soweto Concerned Residents’ Committee, poor people were “taken care of” during the apartheid years.
Mhlantla told the Mail & Guardian Online that he doesn’t remember “paying a cent” for water before 1994, “and now, in this so-called democracy, which claims to be looking out for me, I have to pay for water?”
He says he believes that Sowetans who agreed to the prepaid meters in their homes don’t know their rights. “I don’t have a meter and I don’t want one because I have the right to the access to water!”
Many Sowetan households have an above-average number of people living in small residences. One such example is the Zulu family in Zola 1, which has 21 people living in a four-roomed home with three corrugated-iron shacks in the backyard. Mother of five Fakazile Zulu (35) says that 10 000 litres of water is not enough for her large family.
“The water is hardly enough for all of us,” she says.
She further explains the chaos that the installation of the prepaid meter caused in her family. “We used to fight all the time because no one wanted to buy water. We were all so frustrated and we used to stress my grandmother because everyone expected her to buy water,” she says, and with relief she adds: “I think it [the meter] is dysfunctional now, though.”
Only four people in the Zulu family earn a regular income, and all of them have children to feed and educate. It is no wonder Zulu is happy that the meter doesn’t work.
“I think the kids broke it and now the water runs endlessly, but every time I do my laundry, I become scared because I think that the water might stop running,” she says.
Zulu admits that she has never tried to report the faulty gauge because “it works to our advantage”.
Mhlantla, of the Soweto Concerned Residents’ Committee, says he feels that poor people are being disregarded. “Who did they consult with when they implemented [Operation] Gcina’manzi? The people that are supposed to be told to save water are those in the suburbs because they use more water than they need with their swimming pools and their unnecessary decorative ponds,” he says.
Some Soweto residents have chosen not to complain about the prepaid water meters; they have simply sabotaged them. “My uncle asked one of his friends who worked for Gcin’amanzi to trick the meter so that it stops reading and lets water run endlessly,” says Fikile Dube (22), of Jabulani.
Dube adds that the government is using poor people to make its friends in big companies rich. “I need an explanation why we buy water from shops. Previously we used to pay for water and electricity at our local municipal offices and we knew where the money went, but now it’s pretty obvious that the shop owners get a cut of the money we buy water with,” she says.
She says that the government has many flaws, but the implementing of prepaid meters in Soweto is by far the worst for her. “The ANC government has too many mistakes and they are playing with the freedom that our parents and uncles fought so hard to achieve.”