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DAM-L SAMWU statement on cholera and free water/LS (fwd)
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Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2000 08:13:17 -0800
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From: lori@irn.org (Lori Pottinger)
Subject: SAMWU statement on cholera and free water/LS
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South African Municipal Workers Union Press Statement
Tuesday October 17th, 2000
3pm
Cholera epidemic would not have happened if there was free water!
The recent outbreak of cholera in northern KwaZulu-Natal is the most
horrific expression of the government's failure to deliver basic lifeline
services to poor communities. Minister Ronnie Kasrils admits that people
have become infected because they did not have enough money to pay the
government's R51 registration fee for access to a tap. Poverty forced them
to choose a contaminated river.
The government has made much of its expansion of water service since 1994.
However, more than half of the people who have gained access have
subsequently lost it-either through maintenance problems or being cutoff due
to non-payment. The time for free lifelines for all is now.
The 6000 litres per person per month promised by the President must be
delivered as a first step-and it must be delivered without citizens having
to pay registration fees or be subjected to humiliating means tests. SAMWU
has long held the view that as 50 litres of water per person per day (12 000
litres per month for a household of 8) is the minimum amount needed to
sustain basic health, this should be provided free as a basic human right.
SAMWU put forward a proposal more than four years ago that this should be
funded through a system of cross-subsidisation where the rich subsidise the
poor. This needs to be done through a national system enforcing cross
subsidisation in all municipalities. The union does not want to see the
President's promise of free water leading to a situation where citizens in
poorly resourced areas can only get the free lifeline by carrying the burden
of the costs of building the infrastructure in that area.
The next step after providing the minimum amount necessary to maintain
health is to provide an adequate level of water - piped water into the
house. The union wants to emphasise that neither the 25 litres of water per
person per day for a family of 8, nor even 50 litres per person per day for
the same family is enough to keep deadly diseases like cholera and diarrohea
at bay, especially if this comes from an outside standpipe. Piped water and
a better level of sanitation services is more healthy and environmentally
friendly.
While many argue that the cost of providing this level of service is too
high, we argue that in fact in the long run, the overall costs to the state
would be less. The state would pay less money on curative health practices
(the number of babies/children who suffer from diarrhoea is much greater
when standpipes are used in the community) and fixing up environmental
problems (such as sewerage from VIPs infiltrating the water table) if it
provided piped water.
The union believes that if government can find R30 billion for defence
equipment, and spend R50 billion per year on paying interest on the
apartheid debt, it is more than feasible to spend R12 billion per year for
the next decade to finance all water, sanitation, electricity, and tarred
roads. Provision of water must go hand in hand with provision of decent,
electrified housing and jobs. A rollout of R12 billion per year on
infrastructure would not only stop cholera epidemics but would generate
jobs, help protect the environment, and lighten the load of millions of
women who bear responsibility for accessing water and energy.
../ends
For comment call the General Secretary on 082 9754479 or 021 6971153 or call
083 7141899
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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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