The state-of-the art Constitution is full of good ideas and rich promises. The new order it envisages is based on a secure form of peace, a sustainable type of progress and an equitable kind of prosperity. These ideas resonate with ordinary folk who wish for a better life — if not for all, then at least for their children. It is therefore not surprising that the voice of veteran independent journalist Martin Welz wavered somewhat when he plaintively asked Water Affairs and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane at a Cape Town Press Club breakfast on January 28 what arrangements were in place for the old, the sick and children, to ensure that they get water when long queues at as-yet-unidentified collection points are the order of the day after the taps of Cape Town have run dry. His question, despite its pertinence, was not directly answered by the battery of talent present to back up the minister. Even Western Cape Premier Helen Zille, present as a guest and sporting her unwashed ha...

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