Abstract

 

Johannesburg Water (Pty) Ltd is a publicly-owned but independent utility, operationally separate from the Johannesburg municipality.  It provides water and sanitation services along business principles, aiming to ensure cost recovery.  This water and sanitation service delivery framework has been termed ‘corporatisation’.  It is a framework which is highly contested.  It has led to the reactive rise of new social movements fundamentally opposed to Johannesburg Water and its policies.  This thesis argues that this is for the reason that, through corporatisation, water ultimately becomes a market commodity – only available to those who are able to afford it.  The analysis, then, aims to assess the socio-economic impacts of the commodification of water on two economically marginalised and vulnerable communities in Johannesburg – Phiri in Soweto and Stretford Extension 4 in Orange Farm.  Research to evaluate socio-economic impacts arising was conducted primarily through a questionnaire-based survey.  Longer in-depth interviews were carried out with activists, representatives of Johannesburg Water and City officials to supplement these findings, as well as to deconstruct the underlying causes of conflict over corporatisation.  It is concluded that the corporatised water and sanitation service delivery regime in Johannesburg is ultimately socially unsustainable as it does not have the support of the local communities it aims to serve.  Furthermore, the commodification of water is fundamentally harmful to the health and well-being of marginalised and vulnerable sectors of society.  Ultimately this service delivery framework is in contradiction with the right to sufficient access to water enshrined in the Constitution.

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Keywords:  social sustainable development; corporatisation; neo-liberalism; water and sanitation service delivery; participatory-democracy.