Residents irate after water meter theft

The recent spate of water meter thefts has resulted in residents pleading with the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) to act speedily.

A number of irate residents shared their frustration with the city’s call centre, Joburg Connect, last week.

Ms Martha Toloane, from Muller Street in Bellevue East, said she did not have water on Monday last week.

“We found out the next day the water meter was stolen. I had to ask other residents for water. People around here refused to give me water. They said they are tired of giving people water even though I wanted to pay for it. I work in Kensington. That is where I eventually obtained some water,” she said.

Ms Toloane was one of several other residents who were without water in the area last week. The EXPRESS found that at least four water meters were stolen in Muller Street.

Several others were stolen in surrounding streets over the past few weeks.

Ms Toloane said she called the Joburg Connect call centre to report the stolen meter.

“I called and I had to wait on the line for a long time. They explain so many things before you get to the people you need to speak to, to report the problem. Eventually we do not get through to anyone and have to call again. This process wastes a lot of airtime,” she said.

Ms Toloane is one of several residents who raised concerns about the apparent lack of service from the call centre agents.

Residents said they have to call several times and they either do not get through or are put on hold until the call ends.

Calls are also apparently dropped by call centre agents.

A resident, who did not want her name published, said her water meter was stolen on November 5.

“I called about 10 times from 5am to 11am that morning and no one answered. After that, someone answered but they were not helpful. I continued calling for days. They did not want to put me through to a supervisor. Eventually I reached someone who was willing to help. Soon thereafter, someone came to install a new meter,” said the woman.

The woman said she cannot understand why the city is so inefficient. “They provide terrible service to people who pay their rates. I pay my account on time, yet I had to sit 10 days without water. Then we have squatters around us who do not pay for water but have free access to it. No action is taken against them,” she said.

Ms Toloane said the city should do more to catch people who are stealing their infrastructure.

“The authorities need to take action against people who are stealing water meters and against scrap metal dealers who are buying these goods,” she said.

Clr Carlos da Rocha, of ward 66, said there has been an alarming increase in the theft of water meters over the past few weeks.

“On Tuesday last week, I was in an area of Bellevue where five meters, which were next to each other, were stolen. Thousands of litres of water is pouring down the storm water drains.

“Apart from the cost to the city, residents in the whole block were siting without water due to the lack of water pressure.

“It takes Joburg Water days to replace the meters. Some residents said they have had no water for about three weeks because Joburg Water is not replacing the meters timeously,” he said

Ms Millicent Kabwe, from Joburg Water, said when water meters are reported stolen a turnaround time for Joburg Water to install a replacement is between four to 13 days.

“The response time has nothing to do with not getting complaints from the call centre soon enough. The entity is always looking for ways to use materials that are of less value to minimise thefts, but over and above that we, together with SAPS, monitor the scrap yards in areas where there are large numbers of reported stolen meters. We are specifically targeting the scrap yards because that is where the demand is.