At the end of apartheid in 1994, hopes for political, economic, and social renewal emerged in South Africa. Among the concerns of the new ANC government were eliminating inequalities and providing universal access to basic services. Realizing the right to water, as recognized by the new Constitution, thus became one of the priorities. The municipality of Johannesburg, which had been engaged in a process of renewing its water policy since the late 1990s, launched the Gcin'amanzi (OGA) project in 2003 in its largest township: Soweto. From the outset, it was the subject of much controversy and led to a lawsuit in 2006:
the "Mazibuko case." Spurred on by activist organizations and with the support of a human rights organization and a renowned constitutional lawyer, five Soweto residents challenged two aspects of the OGA project: the installation of prepaid meters and the policy of free water, the volume of which was deemed insufficient.
This thesis aims to retrace the history of this "case" and to study the repercussions of the militant use of the law by a group of disadvantaged city dwellers on municipal water policy. Beyond that, this work examines the potential effects of the right to water and provides insight into the effectiveness of the justiciability of the right to water and, more generally, social rights.
Thesis defended on June 4, 2012
2013 Thesis Prize from the Ecole des Ponts ParisTech
Keywords:
right to water, social rights, militant uses of the law, water policy, South Africa,
Doctoral School:
City, Transport and Territories