The São Paulo City Council approved this Thursday night (2), in a second and final vote, the bill that authorizes the city of São Paulo to join the privatization of the Basic Sanitation Company of the State of São Paulo (Sabesp), responsible for water supply. The project received 37 votes in favor and 17 votes against, with no abstentions, and is now being approved by the mayor of São Paulo, Ricardo Nunes. The session was attended by several protesters, who protested for and against the approval of the company’s privatization.
Demonstration in voting on the privatization of SABESP- Paulo Pinto/Agência Brasil
Bill 163, of 2024, changes municipal legislation and authorizes the capital of São Paulo to join the privatization of Sabesp. The current municipal legislation between the capital and the Company, law 14,934, of 2009, determines that, if the company is transferred to the private sector, the content of the rule is automatically annulled. Therefore, for the city’s basic sanitation service to continue being provided by the management that Sabesp will take over, a new law is needed, in this case, the one approved today.
In the first vote, held in April this year, the project had already been approved by São Paulo councilors by 36 votes in favor and 18 against.
Today’s session was accompanied by controversy. A decision by the São Paulo Court of Justice determined that the second vote on the project should be suspended and could only be held after all scheduled public hearings. However, in a statement released this afternoon, the press office of the City Council informed that there would be no suspension of the session. “The court injunction determined that the vote would only take place after the public hearings and the budget impact study. Both criteria were met: voting is taking place today after all hearings and the impact study was added to the PL on Saturday morning. It was also sent to the Judiciary.”
State level
At the state level, the Sabesp privatization bill was approved in December 2023 and sanctioned by governor Tarcísio de Freitas.
The São Paulo government is the company’s majority shareholder, holding 50.3% of Sabesp’s control. The project foresees the sale of most of these shares, maintaining the government’s veto power in some decisions.
Sabesp serves 28 million customers, in 375 municipalities in São Paulo.
