The practice of re-selling water use rights in the agricultural sector has been declared unlawful by a full bench of the Gauteng High Court in a judgment handed down last month, 19 June 2020.
The Court held that: (i) Section 25 of the National Water Act 36 of 1998 does not make provision for such practice ; there is also no authority in the Act permitting the holders of water use entitlements to sell such entitlements; and (iii), the sale of water use entitlements amounts to the privatisation of water, which is not in line with the National Water Act.
The practice allows holders of water rights to ‘choose’ their successors and locks previously disadvantaged role-players out of the sector.