ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to provide practical examples and insights from critical scholarship in political ecology and related fields on the uneven effects of the implementation of the right to water through the case of impoverished, peri-urban and informal settlements in Cape Town, South Africa. South Africa is particularly interesting because it demonstrates the multiple contestations that emerge in the context of progressive water legislation, high social inequality and strong civic and political commitment to redressing past inequalities through providing equitable access to services. This case demonstrates that questions of equity and justice in access to water are obfuscated by the narrow focus on basic needs, thus limiting the broader justice agenda behind the Human Right to Water (HRW) discourse. The implementation of the HRW in Cape Town is focused predominantly on providing basic amounts of water and is effectively folded into service delivery programs.
