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Professor Dr Omphemetse S Sibanda is a Professor of Law and the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Management and Law at the University of Limpopo. He holds a Doctor of Laws (in International Economic Law) from North West University, a Master of Laws from Georgetown University Law Centre, US; and an LLB (Hon) and B Juris from the then Vista University, Soweto Campus.
The Hammanskraal cholera outbreak might not be comparable to one of the worst cholera outbreaks in recent history, which occurred in Yemen in the Middle East, but it must be a national concern.
Hammanskraal has been experiencing a significant water-related health emergency for 10 years, which unfortunately has never received the attention it deserves. Issues with water quality in Hammanskraal have been widely reported and may have landed in the hands of leaders who have their heads deeply buried in the sand, like the proverbial ostrich.
Now, years later, vulnerable people are losing their lives and experiencing health complications owing to water that is not properly treated, resulting in what appears to be a rapid spread of cholera throughout Hammanskraal and possibly many neighbouring areas. The Hammanskraal water crisis should be treated as a national emergency as well as a humanitarian and human rights crisis.
Our incompetence as a country to take seriously the issue of water is now affecting the most vulnerable and previously disadvantaged. To wash hands with which water? Another opportunity has now presented itself for the so-called business people and quasi-entrepreneurs to roll out water tanks and trucks to the affected community and get rich quick. A Covid-19 PPE-like opportunity to milk the national coffers has just presented itself. Hopefully, the talked-about delivery of water tanks and trucks to Hammanskraal will be with the 24/7 involvement of the government to coordinate the supply and delivery with relevant stakeholders.
I am no water expert nor a medical doctor. However, monitoring of water quality as these tanks and trucks descend on Hammanskraal is crucial. Regular water-quality testing is needed to ensure that the delivered water meets safety standards.
Human rights violation
Those in government with a constant flow of clean water do not know what being deprived of safe drinking water feels like and smells like. It smells and feels like death. When in leadership you need not be the brightest bulb on the chandelier to know that contaminated water supply exposes thousands of residents, including children, to severe health problems, particularly in developing children. For Hammanskraal residents, this has caused the outbreak of cholera.
What has happened to the residents of Hammanskraal is a human rights violation under South African law, the Constitution and in international law. In South Africa, the Constitution includes a provision stating that everyone has the right to have access to sufficient food and water. Internationally, the UN has recognised the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a fundamental human right. In 2010, the UN General Assembly through Resolution 64/292 (which South Africa voted in favour of) explicitly acknowledged this right, emphasising the importance of access to safe drinking water and sanitation for the realisation of all human rights.
The UN expressed “alarm that 1.5 million children under five years old died each year as a result of water- and sanitation-related diseases, acknowledging that safe, clean drinking water and sanitation were integral to the realization of all human rights”. On the other hand, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) provides guidance on the content and scope of the right to water. This right, according to the CESCR, includes the right to water availability, accessibility, quality, acceptability and affordability, for personal and domestic use. The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights recognises the right to a satisfactory environment as encompassing access to clean and safe water
The question of accountability
It is easy to talk about laws and policies on specific matters of public interest and lament how the public is affected, with less focus on implementation and accountability. Where is our South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC)? What has the commission done or achieved as a deliverable for the people of Hammanskraal since the last time it got directly or indirectly involved in the issue of water safety in this area? The SAHRC in 2019 declared that the water in Hammanskraal was unfit for human consumption after the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research’s independent sample analysis. In fact, the water contamination in Hammanskraal has been going on for more than 10 years.
“For 10 years now we have been complaining about this dirty water but we are told the water is drinkable,” said one resident during the SAHRC investigation. Unfortunately for the residents of Hammanskraal, nobody wants to shoulder the responsibility and be accountable.
Interestingly, in September 2021 the SAHRC expressed fresh concerns about the safety of water supplied to residents of Hammanskraal while political parties governing the City of Tshwane, or rather misgoverning the City of Tshwane, are blaming each other instead of correcting the situation. The DA at the time as the new management of the City of Tshwane blamed the failure to provide safe drinking water and sanitation on the previous ANC administration. It will come as no surprise when the ANC counter-blames the DA for the current crisis. The blame-shifting game continues at the expense of service delivery.
Every member of the public must be outraged at this. Where is environmental justice? Where is our government in the face of neglected infrastructure in marginalised communities? It did not have to come to the outbreak of cholera and the water contamination crisis in Hammanskraal to take seriously the devastating consequences of inadequate access to clean water and sanitation.
The sad reality is that South Africa, with the rest of the international community, “is far from being on track to uphold its commitment to achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all by 2030, as per Sustainable Development Goal 6.1 and 6.2” as pointed out by the UN during the 2020 anniversary of recognition water and sanitation as a human right.
The Canadian example
As I conclude, in my view the current Hammanskraal contaminated water crisis that has resulted in at least 10 deaths, must never go unpunished and without accountability. This is now the time, once and for all, for those in the legal fraternity and interested in public interest litigation, to help the residents of Hammanskraal in a cla
Source: DailyMaverick | Read More
