PRESS
STATEMENT,
Friday, 19 September 2008

WATER CRISIS IN AFRICA
Trade Union affiliates of Public Services International (PSI) in Southern Africa, Africa Water Network and Civil Society working on water met in Johannesburg, South Africa in a workshop organised as per the PSI project on Water.

We recognise that Government has introduced prepaid water meters as instruments for the delivery of water services to the community. There is evidence that shows that prepaid water meters prevent citizens especially the poor from accessing water to meet their day to day requirements. We also recognise the fact that there is an escalation of poverty, unemployment and diseases among the poor communities. We are much worried about the introduction of prepaid water meters in some Southern African countries such as Botswana, Namibia and Swaziland where they have been introduced even in the rural communities. Research has shown that even in the advanced economies such as the United Kingdom, prepaid water meters have been banned by the courts of law because of the danger they cause to people’s health. We demand that the city of Johannesburg respects the high court ruling of 30th April 2008.

We therefore call upon the Municipality of Johannesburg to be more conscious of people’s health than meeting cost recovery. We are calling upon the Municipality of Johannesburg to drop the appeal on the prepaid water meters
Secondly it has come to our attention as we met here that Senior Trade Unionists have been arrested in Swaziland in yet another attempt by the Swazi Monarchy to repress Trade Unions and their freedom.

We call upon the Swaziland authorities to immediately release the workers who have been arrested for calling for democracy. We further call upon the Swaziland Government to respect the ILO Convention no 87 on Freedom of Association and the Right to Organise as well as Convention 98 on the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining, which Swaziland has ratified and is obliged to observe.

We demand that the two years condition attached to the EU loan to Malawi Water Board be dropped.

We are also calling for effective funding for rural water and the remunicipilization of rural water system particularly for Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Botswana and South Africa.

We support the St Lucian activist fighting against water privatisation and call for other international organisation to support them.

Issued by:
PSI Southern Africa Office,
[email][email protected]
+27‐11‐403 7765
Africa Water Network (awn)
[email][email protected]
+233‐24‐4208184
Coalition Against Water Privatisation (CAWP)[email protected]
+27‐730527005