Mogale City Local Municipality has decided to adopt a tough stance on water revenue collection and is implementing a prepaid water meter conversion project.
In a statement from the municipality they said it is public knowledge that local government has an obligation to provide quality and sustainable basic services to communities.
Also read: Stage 2 water restrictions announced for Mogale City
“However, municipalities are struggling to provide these services due to non-payment by communities they serve, and Mogale City Local Municipality is no exception.”
They said that non-payment does not only pose a major threat to the financial sustainability of the municipality but also affects its service delivery.
Also read: Reasons for the water supply crisis in parts of Mogale City
“Non-Revenue Water (NRW) is Mogale City’s biggest challenge. Approximately 64.90% of our water does not generate revenue meaning that the municipality does not collect income from the volumes of water it supplies to consumers due to consumption that is not billed for.”
The revenue lost through this means that the municipality cannot meet their financial obligations to bulk water suppliers like Johannesburg and Rand Water.
At the moment the municipality is owed R72 926 022,30 by consumers for the water consumed.
“It is for this reason that Mogale City is adopting a tough stance to improve water revenue collection by implementing a prepaid water meter conversion project targeting prepaid water meter users that have not been paying for or purchasing water.”
This means households and commercial properties who have had access to water even if they have not purchased tokens will have their prepaid meters replaced with conventional meters.
“Once the meter is converted, consumers will be billed for their consumption monthly based on their respective meter readings which will help overcome NRW challenges that account to a substantial amount of revenue loss for the municipality.”
They are encouraging those who have not been paying for or purchasing water to report their faulty meters by sending an email to watercomplaints@mogalecity.gov.za or visit the Water Services offices located at the President Building on President Street in the CBD.
“The conversion from prepaid to conventional will happen at no cost to customers.”
