Litigants and Litigators: Women HRDs 9 2.2 Women litigating social, economic and cultural rights Right to access water: Ambuya Leorcadia Sagwete4 is a nonagenarian who, together with other members of her community, had spent seven months without running water in Harare’s Old Marimba Park suburb. Ambuya Sagwete felt that she had been condemned her to the grave. “How can I survive without water at my age? They (council officials) wanted to send me to an early death”, she said. It was not only Ambuya Sagwete’s life which was at stake. There were more individuals in her age group who were being forced to scrounge for water, often travelling long distances to beg for water from those with boreholes at their homes. Elderly women in their eighties and nineties make up a significant population in Marimba Park and the regular supply of water is critical to their survival – a fact ignored by the Harare City Council until ZLHR lawyers took steps to institute legal proceedings to enforce the rights of the elderly to water as a socio-economic right. The situation was more complex, as these eldery people were mostly retired and living alone in their homes. They were all on medication of one form or another, as is common with people of this age, and they suffered from ailments that included high blood pressure and arthritis. These ailments required that they take medication and lots of water at any given time. As aged people, they also required the use of toilet and bathroom facilities on a frequent basis. The need for running water in their houses could therefore not be overemphasised. ZLHR intervened to assist by threatening legal action against the Harare City Council and the Harare City Council was forced to restore running water supplies to the community. The reconnection allowed community members such as Ambuya Sagwete to regain their dignity, protect their health, and also restart their vegetable and other horticultural projects. Right to culture : In the case of Mudariki v The Minister of Home Affairs and Ors5 the applicant, Spiwe Mudariki, approached lawyers for assistance, complaining the police had been interfering with funeral arrangements of her late husband, Gift Tandare. Mr Tandare had been shot dead by law enforcement agents during a prayer meeting organised by the major opposition party in Zimbabwe. The state, through its intelligence officers, went to the extent of seizing the corpse from the morgue and secretly whisking it to the rural home for burial in order to prevent an independent post-mortem and inquiry into the death. This conduct violated the culture of the Shona people who tend to follow certain procedures during funerals. ZLHR assisted the widow to obtain an order from the High Court to stop the authorities from interfering with the funeral proceedings. Regrettably, the police defied the court order granted by the High Court, showing that even where the courts can be utilised successfully to assert cultural rights and protections, there is some way to go to ensure that the executive respects judicial orders and the rule of law. Right to shelter: Two women litigated to protect their rights in the case of Makani & 5 Ors v Epworth Local Board & 3 Ors6 as some of the six applicants required to institute litigation against these state actors. The matter involved residents of the “Stoob” area of Epworth in ZLHR’s Public Interest Unit issued a letter of demand in this case in May and by early August the Harare City Council had reconnected water. 4 5 High Court Harare Urgent Chamber application filed by Gift Tandare’s wife, Mudariki v Minister of Home Affairs and others High Court Harare unreported case 1324/07. 6 High Court Harare unreported case 8596/14.