Water and society

Poor and angry – Research grapples with reasons behind social protests

Social protests over service delivery issues, Public protest is not a new phe- in the first eight months of 2012 such as housing, water and sanitation have nomenon in . However, nearly 80% of protests turned violent as research by the University of – a 27% increase from the average become a daily occurrence in South Africa. Johannesburg (UJ) shows, these of the previous five years. (Violent But what is driving people to the streets, and protests have reached unprecedented protests are defined here as protests why are some angry why others stay silent? levels. According to UJ’s Dr Carin where some or all of the participants Runciman, in 2012, at least 470 have engaged in actions that create These were among the issues discussed at a social protests had occurred in South a threat or actual harm to people or recent seminar, hosted by the Water Research Africa – more than one a day. property). Commission (WRC), on social protests and The latest data on service delivery Of the 180 protests Prof De protests available from the Service Visser and his team have counted water service delivery in South Africa. Delivery Protest Barometer, an in 2013 to date around 70% have Lani van Vuuren reports. initiative of the Community Law been violent. This includes the Centre at the University of the flinging of excrement by protesters , confirms that protests in Cape Town earlier this year. Prof n Cato Manor in a are becoming more frequent, more Runciman, however, is quick to point woman is shot and killed and widespread and more violent. out that violence does not always another injured as the com- Most social protests occur in stem from the side of the protesters Imunity protests over housing. and the Western Cape, only. “Heavy handedness by public Meanwhile, in Bekkersdal, in Johan- which together accounted for over order police can lead to an escalation nesburg, 18 people are arrested for half of protest activity during 2012. of violence,” she noted. public violence and looting as people However, social protests are no march for better service delivery. At longer an urban phenomenon, with UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL the same time, at Mooiplaas infor- an increasing number of protests PROTESTS mal settlement in Pretoria, police occurring in rural areas. are stoned by protesting community Protests are not only increasing hy do some communities members. These are typical head- in frequency, but are also far more Wchoose to protest? Researchers lines describing the almost daily likely to turn violent. According to at the WRC seminar agreed that the occurrence of social protests in Prof Jaap de Visser, Project Coordi- underlying reasons for social protests South Africa. nator at the Community Law Centre, are much more complex than media

14 The Water Wheel November/December 2013 Water and society

reports often lead us to believe, and necessarily mean that the underlying requires deeper investigation. While issues have been resolved.” DE DOORNS UNREST – ‘flagship’ issues, such as labour issues “It is important that we estab- REALLY A WAGE ISSUE? or service delivery might be raised by lish the correct structures within the press, there might be many hid- our municipalities for citizens to n August, 2012, violent protest shat- den reasons for communities to go constructively air their concerns Itered the normally idyllic rural town of over to protest action. and grievances,” he noted. “By De Doorns, in the Western Cape. Seminar keynote speaker, South understanding the reasons behind The protest was labelled a ‘labour African Human Rights Commission the phenomenon of social protest, unrest’ by the South Africa media, who Deputy Chair, Pregs Govender, called research can ably inform and advise focused largely on farm workers’ call for on researchers to not only identify decision-making.” improved wages. However, closer inspec- the cause of social protests in South tion by researchers from the Institute Africa, but to find ways in which to SOCIAL PROTESTS AND address these causes. She noted that it WATER SERVICES for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies was often poor communities’ frustra- (PLAAS) revealed that there were 21 tion at not being heard by govern- current WRC-funded study, substantive issues that were strategically ment which led them to voice their A lead by Dr Barbara Tapela of muted and encapsulated in the rallying anger in the streets. “Twenty years the Institute for Poverty, Land and call for “R150 a day!” after we are still seeing Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), is aimed These included issues of poor [communities] venting frustration at developing a better understand- access to water services and sanitation over a situation they cannot change.” ing of the reasons why communities for workers still based on farms, and Grievances related to municipal protest over water-related issues. issues of affordability of water services services – including lack of electric- The main objectives of the study for evicted farmworkers resettled in ity, water, sanitation or roads – are are to determine the range of griev- agri-villages and rural townships. the most frequently cited category ances pertaining to water service Interviews revealed that a particularly of grievance. An increasing num- delivery, identify the diversity of ber of communities are protesting local contexts in which water ser- poignant issue was the lack of housing over water-related issues. This has vice delivery-related social protests for farmworkers, some of whom slept in prompted the WRC to direct a have occurred, and examine the horse stables and lacked secure access number of calls in recent years to geographical profile, historical to water and sanitation. In other cases investigate the phenomenon of social background, socio-economic setting, farm owners, who were responsible for protests and their connection to water services issues and social pro- supplying workers with basic services, water issues. test features of selected examples. would deduct basic service payments “As a country we need to start The project team has sifted from farmworkers’ wages. This meant asking ourselves serious questions through records of hundreds of that these workers did not have access when our democracy leads to loss protests, searching for those related to free basic water and electricity as do of life and destruction of property,” to water. “A major challenge to the many other South Africans. notes WRC Executive Manager for filtering of catalogued protests was Water Use and Waste Management, that water service delivery issues are Jay Bhagwan. “Once these protests often part of a range of conflated are brought under control it does not grievances that masquerade under the generalised rubric of ‘service delivery’, and underpin many rallying What is a calls for social protest action,” noted social protest? Dr Tapela. “Although such conflation reflects the inter-relatedness of social ccording to the University of services, it also masks the water service delivery issues in question.” the Western Cape, any com- A With regards to water service supply, high tariffs, privatisation, plaint or issue cited by protesters, delivery issues, findings show that inaccurate water bills, disconnection whether related to service delivery water service delivery issues (due to water demand devices and/or claims or not, over which include inadequate access to non-payment), and apparent inac- citizens decide to water, poor quality of water from tion/apathy by local municipalities to engage in protest existing supply infrastructure, poor address the problem. operation and maintenance of The WRC study went further to activity. infrastructure, infrequency of water explore the characteristics of selected

The Water Wheel November/December 2013 15 Water and society

case studies of urban, peri-urban case-specific localities. PROTESTORS’ REASONS and rural localities in which violent The WRC study revealed that vio- protests have emerged. “Our research lent protests often take place in urban FOR PROTESTS WITH findings also show that the major- and peri-urban formal housing areas REGARDS TO WATER ity of social protests associated with and informal settlements in which ISSUES water service delivery tend to occur in dynamics around poverty, unemploy- working-class urban and peri-urban ment, population growth, relative • Inadequate or lack of access to water localities characterised by high levels deprivation, marginalisation, injus- from existing supply infrastructure of poverty, unemployment, margin- tice, and histories of struggle activism • Poor quality of water from existing alisation and disjuncture (including by predominantly black residents supply infrastructure communication breakdown) between coalesce with unmet expectations for • Lack of water supply infrastructure water services development plan- water and related services. Communi- • Poor operation and maintenance of ning at municipal and national levels ties in these areas also struggle with infrastructure and water use at local household and uncertainties as a result of drivers of • Old and deteriorated water reticula- community levels, irrespective of the change, such as mining-based eco- tion networks party affiliation of local government,” nomic decline, shifts in agricultural • Water shortage or intermittent noted Dr Tapela. and industrial production systems, supplies Such disjuncture can predispose and rising food prices. • Water cut-offs, restrictions, and/or people in such localities towards By comparison, non-violent disconnections protest action. In many of the cases protests tend to be associated with • High tariffs and/or privatisation examined, residents expressed frus- black and white working class neigh- • Inaccurate water billing trations over unmet expectations bourhoods characterised by different • Frustration over poor governance, for water services, lack of downward perceptions of relative deprivation. In corruption accountability by municipal offi- the predominantly white neighbour- • Marginalisation of certain groups cials, corruption, indifference and hoods, relative deprivation is seen in within municipalities lack of monitoring and censure of relation to past experiences of munic- • Politicisation of water services issues non-compliance by water services ipal service delivery, which are per- Source: PLAAS authorities, and officials. On the other ceived to have been better than that hand, municipal officials voiced their provided by the post-1994 munici- to mark a critical turning point frustrations over wasteful water use, palities. These relatively more affluent in rural people’s engagement with unaccounted-for water, infrastructure sections of the population tend to authorities. It underscores the need theft, breakdown and lack of finan- adopt institutionalised engagement for water services planning and devel- cial budgets for repairs of existing strategies, often declaring legal dis- opment practice to take into account and building of new infrastructure. putes against the municipality, and the rural-urban linkages that persist Both sets of viewpoints tended to be thereby withholding rate payments. amid rapid urbanisation, decline of simultaneously complementary and Additionally, violent and non- mining towns, evictions of commer- contradictory, thus pointing to a need violent social protests are expanding cial farmworkers and farm-dwellers, to develop shared understandings into hitherto ‘peaceful’ rural areas. and rural-urban and cross-border of water service delivery issues in The eruption of rural protests appears migrations, among others. Within this rapidly changing social milieu, the South African citizenry no longer seems content to divest the responsibility of tackling issues of marginalisation, depriva- tion and injustice to an amorphously ‘representative and democratic’ local government. A critical question is how to channel this renewed energy into tangible gains for water services governance and delivery, and a deep- ening of democracy. Lack of sustainable It is hoped that through the WRC service delivery is a study and others the necessary knowl- significant issue for many communities, edge will be obtained to construc- driving many of them tively address the phenomenon of to protest. PLAAS social . 

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