Women, Water, Climate Change, and Socio-Economic Rights in South Africa: An African Case Study in Climate Justice

Abstract

Climate change is intensifying the water crisis across Africa, with particularly visible effects in South Africa, where recurrent droughts, floods, infrastructure failure, and uneven service delivery expose deep inequalities in access to safe and sufficient water. Under these conditions, water insecurity is no longer merely a technical or governance concern, but a question of socio-economic rights, constitutional justice, and climate justice. This article examines the relationship between climate change, water insecurity, and the realisation of socio-economic rights in South Africa within the wider African climate and development context. Focusing on the constitutional right to water and related rights to dignity, equality, health, and food, it adopts an interdisciplinary socio-legal approach drawing on constitutional provisions, legislation, policy frameworks, and climate-governance measures. The article argues that, despite South Africa’s comparatively advanced legal architecture, water and climate governance remain fragmented, unevenly implemented, and insufficiently responsive to climate-related harm. These failures are experienced unequally, with poor and marginalised communities, especially women in rural and under-served settings, bearing disproportionate burdens linked to water access, sanitation, care work, health, and livelihood insecurity. The article proposes a rights-based, climate-responsive model of water governance grounded in integration, accountability, substantive equality, participation, and resilience, and argues that water justice is an essential dimension of climate justice.