Transforming Legal Access to Water to Redress Social Inequity and Economic Inefficiency

Abstract

The onset of democracy in South Africa provided the opportunity to make sweeping changes to legislation to allow for the proactive reallocation of water to address the effects of past racial discrimination. This is done through compulsory licensing provisions in the National Water Act. However, this process must balance the need to address social inequity, inefficiency in water use, economic growth and environmental sustainability with the rights of existing water users and the contribution they make to the economy and job creation. Water reallocation reform can realise race and gender targets, and widespread reallocations to large numbers of the rural poor may make radical inroads into reducing rural poverty. Equally, redress is important for social and political stability. Key lessons have emerged from South Africa’s approaches to balancing these considerations which are addressed in this chapter.