South African Court decision on pre-paid water meters and water quantity - Good news for Johannesburg's citizens

The High Court of South Africa has ruled that the City of Johannesburg's forced prepayment water meters scheme in Phiri, a township in Soweto, is unconstitutional, on the basis of differentiation between low-income historically black townships and wealthy historically white suburbs. The Court also ordered the City to provide residents of Phiri with 50 litres of free water per person per day, on the basis of the needs of the residents and the availability of the water and financial resources to do so. The Court also indicated that the State is obliged by the constitutional protection of the right to water to provide free basic water to the poor. The full judgment, and a summary and analysis by the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions is available at www.cohre.org/watersa.