Informing the regulatory framework on water and sanitation in Southern Africa: The emerging governance framework accompanying SDG 6

• Citation: (2020) 26 SAJELP 39
• Author: Viljoen, G.
• Pages: 39-61
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.47348/SAJELP/v26/a2
• Date: 10 December 2021
• Published date: 10 December 2021

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https://doi.org/10.47348/SAJELP/v26/a2

INFORMING THE REGULATORY

FRAMEWORK ON WATER AND

SANITATION IN SOUTHERN AFRICA:

THE EMERGING GOVERNANCE

FRAMEWORK ACCOMPANYING SDG 6

Germarié Viljoen* and Bronwen Qumbu†

Abstract

At least 40% of the people in the Southern African Development Community

(SADC) region do not have access to safe water and sanitation, rendering

them vulnerable to prolonged conflicts and catastrophes, including exposure to

water-borne diseases, other pandemics, poverty and human suffering. Although

several international and African regional treaties support the human rights to

water and sanitation, the ability of the SADC regulatory framework to give

effect to these rights is concerning. In fact, available literature on the SADC’s

ability to meaningfully realise these rights is fragmented and scant. This article

examines theoretically a novel governance approach to the implementation of

Sustainable Goal 6 of the United Nations 2030 Agenda. The article argues that

the coercion through regional ‘goal setting’ may provide a conclusive, regional

response to the continuing development of water and sanitation rights in the

SADC region.

1 INTRODUCTION

Water is an essential1 but alarmingly scarce resource�2 This

* LLB, LLM, LLD, Senior Lecturer in Law, North-West University�

† LLB, LLM, Lecturer in Law, North-West University�

1 Water is essential for people, plants and animals to survive on earth�

Water is further vital, inter alia for health, hygiene and sanitation, as well as

for responsible socio-economic growth� D Barrett and V Jaichand ‘The right to

water, privatised water and access to justice: Tackling United Kingdom water

companies’ practices in developing countries’ (2007) 23 SAJHR at 561; B Crow

and F Sultana ‘Gender, class and access to water: three cases in a poor and

crowded delta’ (2002) Society & Natural Resources: An International Journal

15(8) at 709; David Seckler, Randolph Barker and Upali Amarasinghe ‘Water

scarcity in the twenty-first century’ (1999) 15 International Journal of Water

Resources Development 29-42; Hubert Thompson Water Law: A Practical

Approach to Resource Management & the Provision of Services (2006) 3�

2 Water scarcity may be because of both natural occurrences as well as

human-made factors; United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and

(2020) 26 SAJELP 39

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(2020) 26 SA JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL LAW AND POLICY

https://doi.org/10.47348/SAJELP/v26/a2

scarcity culminated in one of the greatest crises of our time�3

According to reports on water and sanitation,4 an estimated 1�1

billion people globally do not have access to sufficient and safe

water for domestic use, with 2�6 billion people without sanitation

services�5 This position is not only concerning but is also critical

in the light of the fact that annually nearly one million people die

from diseases related to water, sanitation and hygiene�6

African states are particularly vulnerable when it comes

to access to water and sanitation�7 In the Southern African

Development Community (SADC) region,8 for example, the

water inventory is severely limited, unevenly distributed9 and

subject to extreme fluctuations�10 At least 40% of people in the

SADC do not have access to safe water, rendering them vulnerable

towater-borne diseases�11 Due to population growth and climate

Cultural Rights (CESCR), General Comment 15, The right to water, Articles

11 & 12 of the Covenant, 20 January 2003�

3 Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) ‘Water

scarcity is one of the greatest challenges of our time’ available at https://www�

weforum�org/agenda/2019/03/water-scarcity-one-of-the-greatest-challenges-

of-our-time (accessed 3 April 2020)�

4 Water�org ‘The water crisis’ available at https://water�org/our-impact/

water-crisis/ (accessed 15 March 2020)�

5 Christine Moe and Eugene Gangarosa ‘Achieving water and sanitation

services for health in developing countries’ in Institute of Medicine Roundtable

on Environmental Health Sciences, Research, and Medicine� Global

Environmental Health: Research gaps and barriers for providing sustainable

water, sanitation, and hygiene services: Workshop summary (2009) 5 available

at https://www�ncbi�nlm�nih�gov/books/NBK50770/ (accessed 5 April 2020)�

6 Water�org (n4)�

7 Ibid�

8 The SADC consists of 16 member states, comprising: Angola, Botswana,

Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, eSwatini, Lesotho, Madagascar,

Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, United

Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe�

9 Southern African Development Community towards a common future

‘water’ available at https://www�sadc�int/themes/natural-resources/water/

(accessed 5 January 2020)�

10 Ibid; Ammon Mutemba ‘Water and the potential for resource conflicts

in southern Africa’ (1998) University of Cambridge Global Security Fellows

Initiative, Occasional paper 3�

11 Greenwell Matchaya, O’Brien Kaaba and Charles Nhemachena

‘Justiciability of the right to water in the SADC Region: A critical appraisal’

(2008) Laws 1�

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