WISA • CHAIR’S COMMENT
LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE WATER SECTOR
D Dan Naidoo, chair, WISA
The recent ruling by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) on the flow of raw sewage into the Vaal Dam, private homes and public areas highlighted a lack of accountability in the water sector. By Dan Naidoo, chair, WISA
espite having the ability to do so, it did not appear to the commission that the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) had been able to hold the municipality accountable for causing sewage pollution in terms of section 19 of the National Water Act (No. 36 of 1998) and section 28(2) of the National Environmental Management Act (No. 107 of 1998),” said the commission. Furthermore, the SAHRC found that this lack of accountability also extended to service providers who did not deliver on work they were contracted to do. “The municipality did not provide any evidence of termination and claim breach where service providers did not deliver. This amounted to another avenue of wastage of resources.”
Constitutional rights
how important it is to have a fully functioning, effective local government. When local government fails and there is no accountability, basic services fail, and our constitutional rights are violated. The SAHRC’s report stated that the impact of the sewage discharge, occurring over more than five years at the time of writing, violated a number of constitutional rights: • human dignity • freedom and security of the person • an environment that is not harmful to health and well-being • property • healthcare • food • water • social security • just administrative action • c hildren to be protected from maltreatment and degradation. It is incredibly sad to see the SAHRC
This ruling by the SAHRC emphasises, yet again,
Dan Naidoo, chair, WISA
8
MAR /APR 2021
