Kensington residents said Joburg Water officials demand bribes to replace stolen meters.
In the past few weeks, the theft of water meters has been on the rise in the area.
One of the residents, Mrs Bibi Meeah, said her and her neighbour’s water meters were stolen during the early hours of Monday morning last week.
The meters were initially on the ground level.
Mrs Meeah’s meter was near the driveway and her neighbour’s meter was located to the side of his gate.
She said officials installed an above-the-ground water meter for her neighbour.
“They wanted to put the same type of meter on my side. That will not work for me because it would block my gate. When I asked for an alternative that would not block my gate, the officials told me they were out of stock but if I could give them a ‘cold drink’, they could make a plan for me,” she said.
When Mrs Meeah refused, the men left without installing any meter for her.
She was without water for about two days when the ward 66 councillor, Clr Carlos Da Rocha, arrived.
“I had ran out of options. We had been without water for about two days,” she said.
Clr Da Rocha urged residents to write formal letters of complaint.
“Take down the registration number of the vehicle the officials are using. Write a letter to me explaining what had happened and the date and time of the incident. This is the only way to ensure these concerns are addressed. They are not helping the residents. They are playing with residents’ emotions,” said Clr Da Rocha.
He said he has reported the bribery incident to the management of Joburg Water and steps will be taken against the perpetrators.
An inquiry was sent to Joburg Water’s communications and marketing acting manager, Mr David Sibiya on Wednesday, November 4, with a request for comment by Thursday, November 5 at 9am.
No comment has been received.
