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dam-l SA water plan shocks unions/LS
Mail and Guardian 23/6/00
Water Plan Shocks Unions
The Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg)
June 23, 2000
By Glenda Daniels
Johannesburg - South African public sector unions have been caught off guard
by the government's announcement to fast-track regulations to privatise
water delivery.
Unions said this week they were still trying to work out the implications in
terms of job losses and they would formulate a response as soon as they had
consulted with their members.
If the delivery of water in the future does not generate enough profits,
then the level of services will drop, especially to poor rural people,
according to the South African Municipal Workers' Union (Samwu).
Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry Ronnie Kasrils announced last week
that new draft regulations will allow local authorities to appoint private
companies to provide water services, and that public-private partnerships
would be set up to provide water in the country's rural areas - all aimed at
improving service delivery. Kasrils invited comments from NGOs and unions.
The new regulations will undermine clause 19.2 of the Water Services Act,
which says water must be delivered by local government and not the private
sector. The regulations also undermine the spirit of the Act, which is
firmly in favour of water as a public service and not a commodity.
Samwu says it is not sure how many jobs will be lost from local government
through the privatisation of water (about 220E000 people are employed by
local government), but it is sure that the quality of water will deteriorate
and that poorer people, especially those in the rural areas, will not gain
access to free water.
"We've only found out about the move in the past week. As a union we have to
discuss an approach to the government's plan to amend the Water Act to make
room for the private sector. There is a feeling that this might be
unconstitutional. If there isn't profit services will drop, and the poorest
will be affected," says Samwu president Petrus Mashishi.
Kasrils told Parliament: "Public-private partnerships have given rise to
much heated debate both here and abroad. Having inherited the Nelspruit and
Dolphin Coast public/private contracts, I have spent a great deal of time
studying this issue. I have had to set aside views from a former millennium
and attempt to look objectively at the situation - given current reality. If
we are to make headway against the enormous backlog of people without water,
we must use the resources available to us - available in the private
sector."
This new twist in policy is driven by the need to "earn profitable returns
on investments and must, in return, have guarantees of security and clarity
about the rules of the game". However, the government claims that it will
regulate services in ways that ensure that the "public good does not become
subservient to private gain, that the returns are reasonable and that the
consumer's interests are fully protected".
Kasrils also said the government will encourage the cross-subsidisation of
previously neglected and underprivileged areas. To this end, the expertise
of the Development Bank of South Africa and international consultants is
being solicited.
Samwu says that although the new regulations have not yet been subject to
the normal process of public comment, apparently 30-year privatisation
contracts have been suggested.
Meanwhile, research shows that lengthy private contracts have failed in many
parts of the world. For example, last month Grenoble City Council in France
fired the private water company and brought water back under the control of
the municipality.
Samwu says that the regulations are problematic particularly in the context
of rural areas, because it could mean that many rural citizens will never
gain access to running water as poor people will have to pay high prices for
water.
The Rural Development Services Network (RDSN) points out that between 40% to
60% of rural people do not have adequate supplies of drinking water and to
this end the government has a political responsibility to ensure a
sustainable approach to water access and delivery.
The NGO wants the government to "ensure the implementation of a national
cross- subsidisation of 50 litres of free, clean water per person, per day",
says the RDSN's Junaid Seedat.
He says South African water service delivery is in a serious crisis of
sustainability and the present proposed regulation is setting the pace for
the consolidation of private delivery that has thus far amounted to
non-delivery of a basic supply of water to rural communities.
"We further call for an increase in the equitable share to local government
to ensure that water delivery and access are in the control of the public
sector. In order to ensure a productive and economically enabled rural
society, we call on government to provide access to water for productive
use," says Seedat.
http://www.africanews.org/south/southafrica/stories/20000623/20000623_feat34
.html
Millions Have No Access To Clean Water
The Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg)
June 23, 2000
By Barry Streek
Johannesburg - Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry Ronnie Kasrils has
bluntly admitted that the government's strategy of providing all South
Africans with clean water has not been as successful as originally planned.
He says the water programme has served more than 5,6-million people with
water - 2,6-million to Reconstruction and Development Programme standards -
at a total expenditure of R3,6-billion.
Despite this, "we have to face the fact that there are still probably over
eight million people in our rural areas who do not have access to clean
water. People, mainly women, have to trek every day in search of a few
buckets of water and carry it home on their heads.
"In the absence of formal supply systems, opportunists take advantage of
people's desperation and sell water at 20 times the price," he said during
the debate on his vote in the National Assembly.
"Over 20-million rural people have no acceptable sanitation. Although the
government and NGOs have established some useful pilot projects, we must
acknowledge minimal headway since 1994."
Replying to a question in the National Assembly he said 3,2-million
households had flush toilets, while 338E265 households used bucket toilets
and 2,4-million used pit latrines.
Kasrils also admitted it appeared that "the original date projected for the
fulfilment of our water service target - the year 2007 - may be unrealistic.
Indeed, I am concerned that, if we continue at the present rate, it may take
us 20 rather than seven years to reach our goals."
He said he had taken this "alarming prognosis" to the Cabinet, which had
asked him to meet the ministers of finance, housing, and provincial and
local government to investigate how the delivery of water could be speeded
up and how the sanitation backlog could be tackled.
A four-pronged strategy is being considered, and includes the issues of
pricing and cross-subsidisation, the promotion of sustainability by
capacity- building at local government level, the promotion and regulation
of partnerships, and the need to explore inexpensive and easy ways to
maintain projects in the remoter areas.
http://www.africanews.org/south/southafrica/stories/20000623/20000623_feat35
.html
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Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
and Editor, World Rivers Review
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
Tel. (510) 848 1155 Fax (510) 848 1008
http://www.irn.org
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::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
and Editor, World Rivers Review
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
Tel. (510) 848 1155 Fax (510) 848 1008
http://www.irn.org
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