Recent water legislation regarding land and water use has been passed in South Africa and Zimbabwe. The South African National Water Act and the Water Services Act, both passed in 1997/8, are widely regarded as pioneering in their assertion of the right of all citizens to access to a minimal level of water provision and held up as a model of IWRM principles. In Zimbabwe, a revised Water Act has attempted to cater for equity in allocation by reducing water rights/permits that were held in perpetuity; and the concept of priority date system related to the granting of water permits was removed. These provisions are designed to protect the interests of the less well-off (smallholders and farm labourers) who were previously hindered from adequate access due to the