South Africa's Legislative Struggle for Clean Drinking Water

The perennial struggle to secure clean drinking water for residents in South Africa takes a new turn with the introduction of the Water Services Amendment Bill to Parliament. New legislative measures are being considered as an urgent response to the dire situation depicted in the latest Blue Drop Report. This report highlighted the critical state of water treatment and supply in approximately two-thirds of water-supplying municipalities.

The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has traditionally been unable to intervene directly due to the constraints of existing water legislation. Interventions have to navigate a cumbersome process involving multiple tiers of government and subject to political will, which can be slow-moving and ineffective at times. The Section 139 intervention has failed to keep up with the urgency of the water crisis.

The proposed Water Services Amendment Bill seeks to change this. The bill empowers the DWS to issue directives to non-compliant municipalities, and if these are not followed, it allows the minister to appoint a suitable water services institution to take over the duties pertaining to water provision. This legislation is a bid to speed up action and tighten enforcement. However, similar attempts under the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) have seen limited success, raising questions about the potential efficacy of these new measures.

Public responses to the bill, including industry experts and the DWS themselves, are cautious. There are concerns about enforcing the bill, given the department's capacity limitations, and the need for more severe punitive measures for municipalities that repeatedly fail to provide clean drinking water. With the majority of public consultations happening in February, the bill faces the daunting task of making it through the parliamentary process in an election year, potentially slowing down its progress.

Providing clean water is a fundamental responsibility of the government to its citizens. The Water Services Amendment Bill holds promise to bring about a much-needed change. However, its success will largely hinge on the commitment to enforce it effectively and hold accountable those who fail in their duty to ensure access to this basic human right.