'Odd couple' in South African water privatisation plan
By Norm Dixon
The Congress of South African Trade Unions has hit out at moves to privatise parts of South Africa's water supply, saying it would "never be acceptable".
A surprising aspect is that a leading contender in one such deal is a joint venture between a company with close ties to the British Conservative Party and SANCO Holdings, the investment arm of the anti-apartheid South African National Civics Organisation.
Through the 1970s and 1980s, SANCO played a leading role in organising township residents to fight for better services, community empowerment and against apartheid. SANCO is part of the ANC-COSATU-Communist Party alliance. SANCO Holdings is headed by former trade union militant, and Communist, Moses Mayekiso.
COSATU said on April 10 that it would fiercely resist any attempts to privatise water services. "Water is a national resource and an essential support to the livelihood of all our people ... A wholesale privatisation of water is non-negotiable and any attempt to force this down our throats will be fiercely resisted."
The Municipal Workers' Union (SAMWU) will stage a week-long series of protests beginning on May 1. Water privatisation will lead to job losses and tariff hikes, the union said.
SAMWU is demanding a moratorium on all negotiations over privatisation of municipal services. Several multinational companies are lining up to buy municipal water supplies, including France's Lyonnaise Des Eaux and Britain's Biwater.
SANCO Holdings has joined forces with Biwater to bid for the right to "manage" the municipal water supply in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga province. Biwater is a generous supporter of the British Conservative Party and directly benefitted when Thatcher privatised water supplies.
The company was involved in a scandal when it was discovered that it was among a select group of companies, public servants and government figures that secretly controlled government decisions about which countries would get British aid projects, trade deals and arms supplies.