Tshwane metro refuses to write off resident’s R130k water debt

Despite Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane intervening in the matter involving a Tshwane resident owing the metro R130 000, the metro refuses to write off the enormous debt.

Gerda van Schalkwyk owed the Tshwane metro R250 000 after she was charged for an underground leak, resulting in her being sent inaccurate billing for over seven months, Pretoria Rekord reports.

After a dispute with the metro was launched, van Schalkwyk’s bill was slashed in half, leaving her with just over R130 000.

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Public Protector orders debt write-off

In October 2020, Mkhwebane directed the metro to write off her bill, which was not done.

During a recent visit to acting municipal manager Mmaseabata Mutlaneng last week, it was revealed the municipality had not written off the debt due to an ongoing legal investigation into an issue affecting the municipality’s policies.  

However, Mutlaneng said the metro was not expecting van Schalkwyk to pay the money back – yet.

“We are not expecting her to pay that money until the legal dispute is finalised,” Mutlaneng said.

She explained part of the reason the matter had not yet been resolved despite the Public Protector’s intervention was because writing off van Schalkwyk’s debt would impact how the municipality responded to water billing issues in future.

‘A matter of principle’

“How we deal with this case is a matter of principle. It will have an impact on how we deal with other similar cases in the long run. Whatever decision we take on this matter will have an impact on the municipality in the future,” she said.

“We know some of the customers may not even have a water leak and may claim to have one. In these cases, there will have to be an investigation undertaken to confirm what would have caused their accounts to be escalated.”

Mutlaneng said the metro writing off van Schalkwyk’s debt would mean cases similar to hers would result in financial losses for the municipality. 

She conceded mistakes did happen with many billing instances, which at times can be addressed by the metro quickly.

Mutlaneng also admitted to ageing infrastructure across the region causing numerous water pipe issues.

“There is a project we have started aimed at improving overall water infrastructure which requires almost R3.4 billion.”

Estimations adding to bill

Estimations regarding van Schalkwyk’s bill are also adding to her debt woes, Mutlaneng added, but said the municipality had improved in this regard.

She said at present, 95% of water readings are actual month-to-month readings.

“We did say to the public protector that we will apologise to the lady, however, we would like to be given the time to exercise our right to be able to deal with this matter.”

She said one of the solutions to assist the municipality with incorrect estimations was the installation of prepaid metres throughout the metro.

“The auditor-general also raised this billing issue with us, highlighting that the issue is prompted by estimation reading.”

Mutlaneng said van Schalkwyk was currently paying her average monthly fees while her hefty water bill was still with the legal team.

The public protector’s office continues to investigate billing issues. Anyone with similar issues can send their complaints to registration2@pprotect.org

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Edited by Nica Richards.

This article first appeared on Caxton publication Pretoria Rekord, by Sinesipho Schrieber. Read the original article here.