Judgment No. SC 54/2018 Case No. SC 228/14 According to N. Gabru: Some Comments on Water Rights in South Africa PER/PELJ 2005 Vol. 8 No. 1, at pp. 12-14, the nature of the obligation imposed by s 27 is not unqualified so as to impose any duty on the State to provide water on demand. The reference to “access” rather than the “right” to water means that the State’s duty is limited to only those sections of the population without the means to ensure access to health care, food, water and social security. Those who have the means already have access to those essentials, since they can afford it, and therefore cannot claim it from the State. Additionally, there is no explicit guidance in the Constitution itself as to the meaning of “sufficient” food and water, i.e. as to the quantity and quality of water that each individual is entitled to access. Sufficient food and water must therefore be measured in terms of an adequate standard of living, which in turn is linked to the necessities of life in accordance with the prevailing cost and standard of living in the country concerned. Thus, the availability of access to food and water depends upon the availability of the resources at the disposal of the State. The learned author further notes, quite correctly, that fundamental rights and freedoms are not absolute, their boundaries being demarcated by the rights of others and by the legitimate needs of society. In the case of Mazibuko & Others v City of Johannesburg & Others [2009] ZACC 28 [2010 (4) SA 1] the Constitutional Court of South Africa was seized with an appeal from the Supreme Court of Appeal upholding the decision of the Johannesburg High Court. The High Court had found that the prepayment water system used in the township concerned was unconstitutional and unlawful. It ordered the City to provide free basic water supply of 50 litres per person per day and the option of a metered supply to be DISTRIBUTED BY VERITAS e-mail: veritas@mango.zw; website: www.veritaszim.net Veritas makes every effort to ensure the provision of reliable information, but cannot take legal responsibility for information supplied. 24