Danger water ! A young South African girl is electrocuted by water standpipe. The local community is blaming poor workmanship by the company that installed the pre-paid water meters that affected the electrical system.
The company concerned, Joburg Water has installed pre-paid meters in 35,000 households and claim they have had no problems. However the Anti-Privatization Forum have compiled a list of people who have been injured.
In July 2005, I wrote a piece Water Water in which I reported that six privatization contracts have been awarded to mainly French companies Saur, Suez and Vivendi) since 1992 (Public Services International Research Unit since 1992 (Public Services International Research Unit)
"The losers in water privatization policies have been the poor communities for whom the right to water which is a fundamental and inalienable human right, is denied. There have been increases in environmental pollution, preventable diseases, violence between neighbours and communities as people steal water from each other and a loss of dignity. In Ghana for example water charges increased by 95% in a country where 35% of the population has no access to clean water. In 2000 South Africa had the worst outbreak of cholera as a direct result of the inability of poor communities to pay for water"
Tags: Water South Africa
