A historic judgment has consigned prepaid water meters to the dustbin of history. It has also highlighted the attitude of the City of Johannesburg to the plight of the majority of poor, uneducated, sick and HIV and Aids-ravaged residents of Phiri township, Soweto.
The Johannesburg High Court has declared prepaid water meters unlawful and unconstitutional. Five poor residents of Phiri, who have been in dispute with the city for the past four years on behalf of themselves and their community, have won the battle for their constitutional right to free water. The application was heard over three days in December.
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Judge MP Tsoka ordered the City of Johannesburg to provide a full range of water-delivery options. The limitation of free basic water to the present 6 kilolitres per household per month was set aside by the court, and the City of Johannesburg and Johannesburg Water were ordered to supply Phiri residents with 50 litres per person per day.
Judge Tsoka said: "Twenty-five litres per person per day is insufficient for the residents of Phiri. To expect the applicants to restrict their water usage, to compromise their health, by limiting the number of toilet flushes in order to save water, is to deny them the rights to health and to lead a dignified lifestyle."
'Bad debt is a human problem' He found that the consultation leading to the adoption of prepaid meters was inadequate and was "more of a publicity stunt than a consultation".
Tsoka said that it was the obligation of the city "to ensure that every person had both physical and economic access to water".
He said that the introduction of the prepaid meters was procedurally unfair. The judgment said that the by-laws, "other than as a penalty, do not authorise the installation of prepayment meters".
The judge said that in "established democracies, prepaid water meters are illegal as they violate the procedural requirement of fairness by cutting off or discontinuing the supply of water without notice and representation.
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