S. Africa: Political Parties Must Fight Prepaid Water Meters On The Ground In Practice, Not In Words

southern africa | community struggles | non-anarchist press Tuesday November 18, 2008 14:24 by Coalition Against Water Privatisation - CAWP

Johannesburg (17th November 2008): The Johannesburg High Court ruling on 30th April 2008 declaring prepaid water meters to be illegal and unconstitutional was welcomed by many organisations including the Gauteng Province of the ANC, even though they are champions of the installation of those meters.

It is thus entirely predictable that the Independent Democrats has been reported in the media several times over the last few weeks as calling on the Johannesburg City Council to listen to the voices of the people and stop the installation of prepaid water meters. As far we recall, the ID has always being on the other side of the fence since the introduction of prepaid water meters as a pilot project in 2003. We have never seen the ID, nor the ANC (and certainly not the DA, IFP etc.) practically struggling with our communities against the pre-paid meters over these last many years.

It is only now that with the High Court ruling and the national elections approaching that political parties like the ANC and ID et al. come out and opportunistically claim to be “on the side of the people”.

CAWP challenges the ANC, ID and other political parties claiming to be supporting the struggles of poor communities against pre-paid water meters, to actually join those struggles as and where they happen. Talk, especially for the purposes of electioneering, is cheap!