Twenty years after the Windhoek Declaration on press freedom

e supplied during <strong>the</strong> World Cup.
However, in our experience, <strong>the</strong>
most frequent users of PAIA are civil
society groups who want to access
information in order to support <strong>the</strong>ir
campaigns — such as for efficient
delivery of public services, socioeconomic
development and public
participation in policy development.
South African RTI advocates
resolved very early in <strong>the</strong> life of <strong>the</strong>
PAIA that for it to keep <strong>the</strong> ideals
of transparency and accountability
alive, PAIA had to be meaningful
to ordinary citizens. Many cases
emerging from South Africa on <strong>the</strong>
usage of PAIA demonstrate that a
realisation of socio-economic rights
through this law is possible.
In this way, <strong>the</strong> RTI law in South
Africa is helping promote better
engagement between public institutions
and <strong>the</strong> communities, particularly
on service delivery issues.
Where public services are done
through private contractors — such
as for building schools and houses
for <strong>the</strong> poor, or providing health and
welfare services — <strong>the</strong> RTI law has
helped government and <strong>the</strong> public
ensure accountability and honest
and efficient delivery of public services.
One case involves women in Entambanana
in KwaZulu-Natal province.
These women live in one of South
Africa’s most challenged provinces
in terms of human development.
The villagers in <strong>the</strong> district’s hamlet
of Emkhandlwini noticed that
<strong>the</strong>ir neighbours in nearby villages
were receiving water from municipal
tankers from <strong>the</strong> Ntambanana Municipality,
but <strong>the</strong>y were not. Their
source of water was a dirty stream
that <strong>the</strong>y shared with <strong>the</strong>ir livestock.
Luckily some members of <strong>the</strong> community
were aware of <strong>the</strong>ir basic
civil rights because <strong>the</strong>y had had
some training. However, <strong>the</strong>y did
not know how to seek solutions to
<strong>the</strong> water issue without relying on
an unresponsive local government
representative who had until <strong>the</strong>n
failed to deal with <strong>the</strong> issue.
“There have been
some important cases
of papers like <strong>the</strong> Mail
& Guardian obtaining
documents that would
o<strong>the</strong>rwise have been
withheld...”
With <strong>the</strong> assistance of <strong>the</strong> Open
Democracy Advice Centre in 2004,
<strong>the</strong> villagers used PAIA to ask
for <strong>the</strong> minutes of <strong>the</strong> council
meetings where <strong>the</strong> municipality
had decided on <strong>the</strong>ir programmes
for <strong>the</strong> provision of water. They
also asked for <strong>the</strong> municipality’s
Integrated Development Plan (IDP)
and its budget. It took a frustrating
six months before <strong>the</strong> information
was released to <strong>the</strong> requestors, but
when <strong>the</strong> information was finally
made available it showed that
<strong>the</strong>re were plans to provide water
to Emkhandlwini but no-one had
thought of sharing <strong>the</strong>se plans with
<strong>the</strong> community.
With <strong>the</strong>se plans in hand <strong>the</strong> women
started asking difficult questions
of <strong>the</strong> authorities regarding <strong>the</strong> delivery
of water. The villagers’ usage
of <strong>the</strong> RTI law and <strong>the</strong>ir struggle for
water were also covered in <strong>the</strong> me-
dia which helped create sufficient
pressure to prompt <strong>the</strong> municipality
to do something about <strong>the</strong> issue.
Almost a year <strong>after</strong> <strong>the</strong> initial RTI
request was sent to <strong>the</strong> municipality,
new water tanks, which are replenished
a couple of times a week,
were installed in <strong>the</strong> village. Mobile
water tankers delivered water to <strong>the</strong>
community while <strong>the</strong> municipality
worked on a more permanent solution
of laying down pipes.
The case shows how socio-economic
rights were advanced through usage
of RTI and public pressure, and not
through litigation. The point is that
public pressure to influence resource
allocation can only be effectively
applied if <strong>the</strong>re is transparency on
<strong>the</strong> process of resource allocation.
In countries plagued by socioeconomic
imbalances that were
inherited from <strong>the</strong> undemocratic
systems of government, it is crucial
that <strong>the</strong> products of democratic
transition such as RTI laws should
be used to address <strong>the</strong>se problems.
An RTI law is more than a mechanism
for safe-guarding <strong>the</strong> constitutional
gains of nearly two decades of
democratic transition. It is also a
means of defending and enhancing
of socio-economic justice for <strong>the</strong>
poor because, <strong>after</strong> all, <strong>the</strong> right to
know is <strong>the</strong> right to live. 4
1 See Calland R. & Tilley A., (eds) The Right to Know, <strong>the</strong> Right to Live: Access to Information & socioeconomic justice, The Open Democracy Advice Centre, Cape
Town, October 2002.
164 | Media in Africa - 2011