An assessment of law and practice of the right to water: evidence from Zimbabwe

Abstract

This paper seeks to present legal and policy frameworks that govern and promote the right to water. Two case law studies are presented to show legal provisions and associated challenges to the realisation of the right to water. In Zimbabwe, successive Ministries superintending over the provision of water in the country have not been clear on free water. Perennial economic challenges and a general lack of political will to promote the right to water have been debilitating aspects to the right to water. Attempts at privatisation of the provision of water through ZINWA, has culminated in a total failure as the parastatal was bedevilled with a myriad of challenges. The privatisation of water has made it less accessible to the rural and poor urban communities. The constitutionalisation of the right to water has transformed access to water in Zimbabwe, though economic challenges have continued to hamstring local authorities’ and government’s capacity to realise this right. The Mazibuko and SERAC case laws have been given as ground-breaking legal challenges mounted by residents of communities in South Africa and Nigeria respectively as affected citizens have challenged authorities on the need for the realisation of the right to water to the public.