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Water privatisation can create severe problems for poorer residents - in South Africa this has been exacerbated by the legacy of apartheid. Helen Taylor talks to UNISON members who visited the country
A thirst for profit
The toilets at Mafanele high school in Klipgat have been out of use since last October when the water supply was cut off. And In Matsulu the community standpipes don't work so people have to drive 5km in borrowed cars to collect water.
These are the stark realities of water privatisation in South Africa witnessed by a UNISON delegation to the country in January. The charity War on Want has organised a series of trips to bring together UK trade unionists and their counterparts in the developing world, many of whom work for the same multinationals.
"The purpose of our visit was to question how globalisation affected water and sanitation provisions," says delegation member Steve Bloomfield, UNISON's senior national officer for business and the environment. "[It seems] the private sector has nothing to offer the poorest and neediest in South Africa."
Also on the trip were chair of the water and environment service group John Kidd; Michelle Reiling, Mick Sproat and Phil Hitchens from Northumbria Water Group; and War on Want's campaigns officer Nick Dearden.
In the three provinces they visited, they encountered a maternity clinic that hadn't had water for four days, a school where children were asked to bring their own drinking water, and pit latrines being built as a cheap answer to sanitation problems. A life-threatening result of poor sanitation is the re-emergence of cholera in South Africa two years ago. The disease has since infected 14,000 and killed 250.
Constitutionally, all households are entitled to 6,000 litres of free water a month. But leakages are common in the under-resourced, crumbling infrastructure, and poor South Africans are watching their daily allowance literally go down the drain, for which they pay a hefty connection charge.
The introduction of water meters by the private companies means households are presented with bills far beyond their means for everything over the wasted 6,000 litres.
The cheapest and most efficient water services are provided to mainly white areas and to big businesses. Only 12% of water in South Africa is used for domestic consumption, the rest is corporate.
"Far from cross-subsidisation from the rich to the poor, it works in reverse and the poor are subsidising the rich," says Mr Dearden.
UNISON's sister union, the South African Municipal Workers' Union (SAMWU), demonstrated to the delegation how privatisation has also affected working conditions in the industry.
In Nelspruit, water and waste systems were recently privatised by multinational Bi-Water, which also owns Bournemouth water in the UK. Many Bi-Water workers don't have uniforms or safety clothing, and are on temporary contracts and therefore can't join the union. Their pension payments have been stopped, training isn't provided and pay is often late.
It is a similar story in Johannesburg where UK company Northumbria water, part of French multinational Suez-Lyonnaise, has a five-year contract. Tools for the job are no longer provided, staffing levels have been reduced and safety compromised to an alarming degree. Tragically, a worker died here last December when he was overpowered by poisonous gas.
The delegation was also eager to visit what it hoped would be a good news story - a 'public-public partnership' in Odi, near Pretoria, where two public bodies were providing water. It was clear there was a marked improvement in workers' conditions, but unfortunately a withdrawal of commitment and subsidy from local councils meant the project was under threat.
For the communities affected by privatisation, the reality is harsh. The majority of those living in townships and rural areas are on the poverty breadline and 75% of South Africa's adult population is unemployed.
"The idea that private companies can solve these problems by profiting from water is nonsense," says Mr Bloomfield.
Those who can't pay their bills have their services disconnected, their possessions seized and prosecutions taken against them. Some lose their homes as a result. The only weapon many have against such action is to resort to illegal connections, organised by community defence committees.
The ANC government is in a difficult position. Dealing with the terrible legacies of apartheid, it is desperately trying to turn the country's economy around. But it is in danger of neglecting the basic needs of its poorest people while trying to please international economic partners.
"It is imposing privatisation on a country that is completely segregated as a result of apartheid. Privatisation reinforces that segregation," says Mr Dearden.
Links made by UNISON and SAMWU on the trip will be strengthened through twinning arrangements - to formalise solidarity between the two unions.
The members of the delegation welcomed the media attention within South Africa that their trip drew to the damaging effects of privatisation. But War on Want is keen for the delegation to tell their workplaces of the lessons learned. Formal twinning would be a way of starting this learning process.
"We hope the delegation members tell their colleagues how we are all interlinked. It's impossible to work for workers' rights here without improving workers' rights globally," said Mr Dearden.
For more information contact ndearden@waronwant.org or or phone 020 7620 1111.
Want to know more?These websites look at the issues of services privatisation
The following books look at the issue of globalisation:
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