New Internationalist. The people, the ideas, the action in the fight for global justice.

Water privatization has been high on the globalisation agenda over the last years. But privatizers haven’t necessarily found it easy to get their way, thanks to vibrant campaigns by local residents, trade unionists and environmental and social justice activists. Campaigns against water privatization have been so successful – and privatization experiements so disastrous – that a trend towards de-privatization of water services has been gathering a head of steam. 

Some great news coming out of Johannesburg in the battle against water privatization.

A High Court Judge has ruled the city's controversial usage of prepayment water meters unconstitutional. This is a tremendous victory for those fighting water privatization in South Africa, and particularly for residents of townships such as Soweto where the use of prepayment meters has restricted people's access to water drastically.

Anti-water privatization activists from all over Africa met today at the World Social Forum to launch a new African Water Network aimed at strengthening co-operation and co-ordinating efforts to ‘oppose water privatization in all its forms’; to work for a participatory model of public control over water; and to assert that water is a fundamental human right. Virginia Setshedi from the South African Coalition Against Water Privatization explained the significance of the event: ‘Today we celebrate the birth of this network to resist the theft of our water, tomorrow we will celebrate access to clean water for all!’