According to Mr Howard Mandili of Wolfram Street in Carletonville, his trouble started when the fibre optic cable contractor dug trenches and damaged a municipal water pipe on his sidewalk on 29 January. “They said I shouldn’t worry because I was not responsible for the account for the leaking water,” he says. Although Mandili notified the municipality via a WhatsApp mes-sage to the complaints call centre, the leak was only repaired on 12 April. The municipality also charged him for the water that had leaked while the pipe was broken. “My water account usually ranges between R1,500 and R1,800, but it suddenly shot up to over R6,000,” he complains. He still owes the municipality over R11,000. “Although I pay the amount I usually owe them, I can hardly buy any prepaid electricity. Most of the money is automatically deducted to cover the outstanding account. I just cannot afford to pay more,” he laments. Mandili has enquired whether the municipality could deduct the money for the water leak from his account. An official declined his request because he has tenants. “This does not make a difference, as we all use water sparingly. According to my preliminary account this month, after the leak was eventually fixed, it has come down to almost the same as be- fore,” he complains. The municipality had not responded to our queries by the time of going to print.
