The constitutional right of access to free water was infringed by Johannesburg Water through its installation of prepaid meters in Phiri, Soweto, according to a ruling made by the Johannesburg High Court last week. Judge Moroa Tsoka declared that the rights of Phiri residents had been violated and said the prepaid meters were ”illegal and unconstitutional”.
The City of Johannesburg proposed an increase in essential-services tariffs on Wednesday in a move the Anti-Privatisation Forum labelled ”the latest salvo against the poor”. The city cited increased input costs of 22% in bulk purchase costs from the Eskom and Kelvin power stations.