Africa-Press – South-Africa. The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) launched an investigative inquiry into Gauteng’s water crisis on Wednesday.
The commission said the move followed a surge in complaints about ongoing, widespread water outages across the province.
It added that the situation raised serious concerns of a possible systemic human rights violation.
Government has consistently maintained that the crisis was mainly due to ageing infrastructure, poor maintenance, major leaks, rapid population growth, and high water use.
The commission said the crisis was hitting poor and vulnerable communities the hardest, including informal settlements, schools, and clinics, further undermining dignity, health, and basic services.
It warned the situation had fuelled exploitative so-called water tanker mafias, with residents forced to rely on unregulated private suppliers, deepening inequality and turning a basic right into a commodity.
The inquiry is set to examine the causes and assess whether human rights are being violated and assess government’s response.
It will also look at infrastructure failures and the impact of tanker dependence before making recommendations to secure reliable water access.
Stakeholders and the public have been invited to submit written input by the end of the month, with the inquiry running over three days next month.
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