The realisation of the constitutional water right in South African cities through intelligent water management technologies

Abstract

The human right to water is fundamental to the realisation of various interdependent human rights, such as the right to health, life, equality, and human dignity. In particular, efficient water service delivery may be regarded as an integral component of advancing these rights and realising the South African constitutional water right. City authorities are central to the progress made towards realising the right to water due to their constitutionally entrenched function as water services providers and their proximity to the water needs of millions of urban dwellers. However, South Africa is recognised as a water-scarce - or water-stressed - country, and the water resources available to the country's inhabitants are extremely limited in extent. The demand for water in cities is significantly affected by this since the greater part of South Africa's population resides in urban areas. Moreover, South African cities are afflicted with various challenges that hamper efficient water service delivery progress. These challenges include, for instance, rapid urbanisation, unbridled population growth, climate change, prolonged droughts, as well as widespread poverty and systemic local government failures, amongst others. Considering the urgency of the issues at hand, cities, now more than ever, are required to implement novel, appropriate and timely law and governance responses. Based on a desktop analysis of the relevant legal and interdisciplinary sources, this thesis' original contribution lies in the following: This study critically examines specific water service delivery challenges in South African cities and the legal duties borne by cities in this regard. This is done with the objective of conceptualising, identifying, and analysing "intelligent water management technologies" and their potential of addressing said challenges. This research presents intelligent water management technologies as an avenue through which cities can address specific water service delivery challenges in view of improving their functioning as water providers and towards realising communities' constitutional water right. For this purpose, the study scopes its analysis of water service delivery in cities to the interrelated challenges of non-revenue water, illegal water use, insufficient data, and water service provision sustainability. By extensively analysing the relevant legal framework on water service delivery in the country, the study identifies numerous duties applicable to cities regarding the abovementioned challenges. The research employs the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, and Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality as subjects to ascertain cities' execution of particular water service provision-related duties. This thesis provides an original understanding of intelligent water management technologies and identifies smart water infrastructure, information and communication technologies, the Internet of Things, data science, and Big Data as components of this concept. Many potential obstacles regarding the uptake of such technologies in cities could be identified. However, by contextually applying the technological components of intelligent water management technologies to the challenges of non-revenue water, illegal water use, insufficient data, and the sustainability of water services, this study makes the finding that intelligent water management technologies can be optimised to address the aforementioned challenges adequately. This study is the first to focus on non-revenue water, illegal water use, insufficient data, and the sustainability of water services as city-level water service delivery challenges and linking it with cities' ability to address these issues by utilising intelligent water management technologies to further the realisation of the constitutional water right.