It will cost the Erasmus family of Homelake more than R35 000 to settle their estimated municipal water bill due to a leaking water meter.
The family complained to the Herald that in the last two years they’ve been desperate to bring the matter to the attention of the Rand West City Local Municipality.
Now their electricity has been disconnected due to their failure to pay or make arrangement with the municipality.
Meanwhile, the family is at the risk of serious health issues as their drain is clogged – needless to say that the stench is overpowering all day long.
Hermanus Eramus, 68, who has lived on the property for 22 years with his wife Johanna, 55, said what’s happening to them is unfair and they shouldn’t be punished for what the municipality failed to do in the first place.
We’ve complained to the ward councillor and went to the Department of Infrastructure to report the matter, but the water meter is still leaking,” Erasmus said.
He said while he used to pay R300 per month for water, he now is expected to pay R2 286, which he as a pensioner can’t afford. Worst of all, he said he could not hire a private contractor to get it fixed.
“All they’ve done was to switch off our power. They didn’t have the decency to speak to us, we just saw their truck pulling away.
The municipality has no interest in our properties, its like they never want to come fix the leaks or unblock the drains, and we’re supposed to live like this,” Erasmus complained.
DA ward councillor Balderic Dreyer attributed the lack of response from the municipality to a lack of capacity, but also added that in some cases as soon as the drains were unblocked they’d became blocked again almost immediately, indicating that the problem is recurring in that area.
Asked about the family’s electricity that had been switched off, Dreyer said, “The municipality wouldn’t just cut the electricity, there is a process. You’ll first get a green letter and the day they cut the electricity, you’ll have a red notice to say that your electricity services have been disconnected.”
Dreyer went on to explain that the green notices also stipulate that property owners should make payment arrangement with the municipality on time, so that they could prevent being disconnected.
When the Herald informed the councillor that the family had been living with the issue for two years, he said, “Unfortunately with the municipality, there’s no such thing as a turnaround time; things take forever to get fixed. There’s a tendency that they don’t care about the old so-called white areas.”
Dreyer further said there was only one truck for the whole Rand West City region, which rendered the overall service delivery in the City ineffective.
They don’t utilise the money for service delivery, instead they’d rather appoint more cadres,” Dreyer said.
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