SUBMISSION ON THE WATER SERVICES AMENDMENT BILL
2026-02-27
The FW de Klerk Foundation’s submission regarding the Water Services Amendment Bill.
The FW de Klerk Foundation’s submission regarding the Water Services Amendment Bill.
The FW de Klerk Foundation notes the arrival of Ambassador Leo Brent Bozell III as the United States’ top diplomat to South Africa. As a Foundation dedicated to upholding the South African Constitution and the 1994 National Accord, we welcome the Ambassador’s stated commitment to a “fact-based” assessment of the challenges facing our constitutional democracy.
Ismail Joosub examines President Ramaphosa’s SONA 2026 water reforms against the reality of South Africa’s deepening water crisis, arguing that governance failure – not natural scarcity – lies at the heart of collapsing services. It analyses the proposed national coordination, infrastructure investment and licensing reforms through a constitutional lens, assessing whether they can restore the right of access to water and reverse decades of municipal decline.
Ismail Joosub and Thando Malinga explain the role of the Municipal Demarcation Board and the Independent Electoral Commission in aligning over 27 million voters with new ward maps, why this administrative process carries democratic significance and what these changes mean for ordinary voters.
VVC v JRM clarifies how South African law treats couples who first marry under customary law and later conclude a civil marriage. The Court held this is one continuous marriage, not a new one. Rights and obligations from the customary marriage continue and property accumulated remains protected. Spouses cannot informally change proprietary rights; any change to the matrimonial property system requires court approval under section 21 of the Matrimonial Property Act. Interpreting section 10(2) of the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act with the MPA, the judgment advances equality, dignity, the protection of property rights and legal certainty, protecting vulnerable spouses and creditors.
South Africans live with the consequences of municipal collapse every day – from water outages to uncollected refuse and crumbling infrastructure. The Foundation’s submission on COGTA’s Draft Regulations sets out how performance management can be rebuilt on constitutional values like accountability, openness and responsiveness. The Foundation proposed reforms that give communities a real voice, ensure lawful oversight, and create clear lines of responsibility so that municipalities can get back to delivering the services people depend on.
The FW de Klerk Foundation’s submission regarding the Draft amendments to the Local Government: Municipal Planning and Performance Management Regulations.
The FW de Klerk Foundation is pleased to have Mpone Komako on board as an online intern.
AGOA’s renewal offers welcome short-term certainty for South African exporters, workers and communities after months of trade uncertainty. But continued US tariffs are eroding the real benefits of preferential access, placing jobs, competitiveness and value chains under growing pressure. This moment must be used wisely to protect livelihoods and to pursue diversified, constitutionally grounded trade and economic reforms for the future.