A short review on the ‘Phiri Water Rights’

Sahoo, Ganeswar (2010): A short review on the ‘Phiri Water Rights’.

Abstract

Nothing is free in this free world. As public good is concerned, water is often termed as a ‘common good’ instead of a public good. In economics, water is an economic good and not a free good. To a layman, water is his/her basic human right and it cannot be deprived at any cost. This paper reviews some debates regarding rights to water in Phiri in the post-apartheid South Africa. In this brief review, I find on one side, the international trends towards cost-recovery and commercialization of water through privatization, or corporatization, or governmental policy, and other hand, the struggles of poor households to this social injustice. The main debate heads towards two synonymous words ‘sustainable development’ (social welfare without negative impact on future generations) and ‘social justice’ (social welfare at current age). The main theme of this water battle is the installation of prepaid water meters that lead to the constitutional challenge of the basic human right of the masses.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Phiri, water rights
• Subjects: Z - Other Special Topics > Z1 - Cultural Economics ; Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology > Z10 - General

References

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3. Dugard, Dr. Jackie (2008), The Phiri water case (Mazibuko and others v City of Johannesburg and Others): Can human rights traverse the commercialization of water in South Africa? Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS), University of the Witwatersrand,Johannesburg.

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