POLITICAL ECONOMY

WATER CRISIS IN SOUTH AFRICA

By Rose Moshao

Water crisis is a national disaster. It’s not an advantage to have water, it’s our right. There’s a saying which says “water is life”. This is true. Better life is our right, so once something is depriving so many people from getting water then that’s a  violation of the country’s rights.

We must not forget that the very same water that’s leaking to nowhere from damaged pipes, it has been drained from Lesotho. Every year the leaders of these two so-called countries (Lesotho and South Africa); have a meeting where they discuss about the renewal of the contract with Lesotho Highlands.

In this manner, water doesn’t stop flowing from Lesotho to South Africa, being distributed in different areas of South Africa through a subsidiary. This is supposed to go to vulnerable people that can’t afford paying. Unfortunately it seems as if this water is being divided into two groups.

The first group is for those that have money and can be able to produce profits from selling that water in different areas such as retail stores and private companies which are bottling water for sale. 

This seems to be secret privatization of one of the government entities. It happened during electricity crisis where government suggested privatization during  severe loadshedding, but people stood up and fought against it. Now the same thing is threatened with water, if it’s not already happening when desperate residents turn to supermarkets selling five liters of water for R30.

On the other hand, there’s this group of poor people who can’t afford to buy water and now they’re waiting to get free water which is now turning to be a crisis. The communities are now suffering challenges of sometimes going a week without water and having nowhere to get help. At this point the water truck tanks are being sent to assist, but they are not enough to be everywhere in a short time. The need is too high.

At this point we must face the reality and predict:

• DOUBLE PAYMENT

People who are working and getting salary at the end of  the month are paying tax (pay as you earn). This money is collected by SARS with other taxes and are meant to develop the country as well as buying water from the Lesotho highlands. Meaning workers have already paid for that water before getting a municipal bill. In times that there’s no water they are forced to buy supermarket water due to the insufficiency, and again because they have some income to squeeze from here to there.

This is double payment.

• DISCRIMINATION

For those who will suffer to get water after waiting for a period of time, this will lead to where someone is to blame.  Government (and many parties large and small) is working hard to ensure it will be the “foreign nationals”, therefore people will get water from the truck and those that don’t have  a South African ID might not be allowed to get even closer to the tanks. Every time when the government fails, then there must be a sacrifice; government want it to go straight to a “foreign national” as they are known to be vulnerable.

• POWER ABUSE

A municipal worker  would now be able to sell this water even by their car. We have learned from the SAPS that authorities are willing to do whatever they want, as they are spreading out over the whole of Gauteng searching for passports and arresting “foreigners” just to get money from them. This is exactly what’s already happened even in clinics, where people are being chased away and it the same clinic staff are then seen selling the medication to the so-called foreign nationals.

As result of this habit, while medication continues to be scarce, government excuses itself from blame.

If the people can’t stand up and realize the fact of this matter, then we are doomed. We’ll be fighting against ourselves instead of fighting our enemy which is division. We who need the healthcare are asked to blame ourselves , to blame “long queues” and therefore to fight over who must be at the front for inferior care, instead of confronting to the underlying shortage of resources devoted to healthcare and health workers’ wages.

Let’s decide now to stand in solidarity in fighting this oppression of our rights.

Let us fight against the system of capitalism that wants to profit off everything, even though they are the ones creating the current crisis by not paying their employees.

THE RIGHT TO LIFE IS THE RIGHT TO  HAVING CLEAN WATER…

footage of some of the water leaks around the city

footage of some of the water leaks around the city