Is there human rights without water security?

South Africa commemorated Human Rights Day on March 21.

This day remains a stark reminder of the events that happened in Sharpeville on March 21, 1960, where 69 people were killed and another 180 people were wounded by police fire due to a protest against the Apartheid Pass laws.

It got us thinking about the residents of the southern suburbs and their human rights.

Many of our residents do not need any reminding of the fact that their homes have been plagued by lengthy and continuous water outages where often the desperate residents had to take to the streets in protest in an attempt to make their voices heard over the past year.

These water outages have often been due to issues on Rand Water’s side, and this is severely impacting the people’s rights as chapter two of our Country’s constitution states that everyone has the right to have access to sufficient food and water.

The DA in JHB South has been at the forefront of defending such constitutional rights. Its ward councillors have engaged with officials from JHB Water and Rand Water and have also laid criminal charges against the former Mayor of Johannesburg Mpho Moerane, a complaint to the Human Rights Commission while also even writing to the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mchunu, requesting his intervention in this crisis.

All these actions have delivered a mixed bag of results to date.

The DA will continue its fight for water security by petitioning the National Parliament for intervention.

Residents can find the link to this petition on our website and we encourage as many residents as possible to sign this petition.

Councillor Michael Crichton (Ward 56)

Councillor Faeeza Chame (Ward 57)

Councillor Tyrell Meyers (Ward 23)

Councillor Stuart Marais (Ward 54)

Councillor Rashieda Landis (Ward 55)

Councillor Matsobane Sekhu (Ward 125)

Manny de Freitas, MP

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