Over the past week the community of Keetmanshoop have shown the rest of the country how to stop water cuts with mass action: by organizing, coming together, standing up and resisting against such dangerous and heartless policies.

On Wednesday 16 September they marched to protest against ongoing water cuts at the town, which affected hundreds of families. As if to prove that real power is always in the street, Council could clearly see an uprising coming, and bowed to the community's demands that same day.

By Thursday, the council ordered that all households that had their water disconnected should be reconnected immediately. This marked an important and life-saving victory for the community, but the council has said it will now focus on cutting the electricity supply of people in debt.

Caught between a rock (mounting debt) and hard place (voters unable to pay), the new councilors are undermining their political support base by attacking their own voters with such tough measures. An adequate response from the community will no doubt come in good time.

At this stage we can only congratulate the Keetmanshoop community and the Kronlein Concerned Group on a campaign well fought, as they managed to win that fight for water rights on the spot, and without firing a single shot, but by sheer moral, intellectual and political pressure.

By standing up to confront council’s dangerous water policy, Keetmanshoop residents have shown the way forward to the rest of the country: this is how to fight and win the struggle for basic water rights.

Photo credit: NBC