High water accounts and little help from municipality

Emalahleni residents are not happy with the accuracy of their municipal accounts.

In a survey done earlier this week, 95% of readers voted no when they were asked whether they think their water and electricity meter readings are accurate.

They sure have a reason to be concerned.

Over the December holidays, a trend was noted on social media whereby residents complained about unusually high water meter readings.

One reader, Ms Lorraine van Rooyen summed up the whole situation in one sentence, “One thing the municipality achieved was to get us all in debt.”

Mr Eugene French was very upset when he noticed that the R4 800 he paid in November did not reflect on his December account.

Things did not look better when according to his account he used water amounting to R4 490.24.

Because the sewerage usage is linked to water usage he has to cough up R1 192.74 for sewerage.

In total French is sitting with an account of R13 634.48.

Ms Mathilda Clarke from Ga-Nala is fed up with the irregular water meter readings she receives.

In August she, according to the municipal readings, used 53Kl of water, it shot up to 94Kl in September, in October it was halved and she was billed for 33Kl, November and December saw her paying for 25Kl.

“We do not have a swimming pool, we are doing nothing out of the ordinary, we do not have a leak in our yard and yet we have the most irregular readings you can imagine,” she said.

Clarke said that because of the spike in her water meter readings her billing is done according to the municipal sliding scale and she had to pay much more per kiloliter in August and September than what she normally does.

These two residents echo the same frustration as many others in the local municipality.

The collection of rates, service charges, and other taxes is an important part of a municipality’s duties and is delicately entwined with the relationship between the municipality and its residents.

The Municipal Systems Acts clearly sets out the duties and responsibilities of municipalities.

“Where the consumption of services has to be measured, municipalities must strive to provide accurate and verifiable metering systems. Municipalities must also provide regular and accurate accounts to customers, and accessible methods for customers to query or verify accounts or meter readings,” it reads under the credit control and debt collection heading.

Unfortunately in Emalahleni Local Municipality accurate and verifiable metering systems leaves much to debate about.

WITBANK NEWS recently learned that it can take up to three months before a customer’s account is rectified because the auditors complained and said the monthly correction of accounts takes up too much time and a trend must first be identified before it can be attended to.

“This means that my unusual high water meter reading is not a priority for the municipality who has enormous water distribution losses and owes Rand Water thousands of rands,” said Mr Rudo Erasmus, a resident from Ga-Nala.

“Can it be so difficult to check up on the contractors to make sure that their jobs are done correctly? The municipality is raking in millions a month with faulty water meter readings,” he said.

During a public meeting, early last year Mr Mike Lelaka, director of Technical Services in the municipality admitted that there are no pressure-reducing valves in the municipality’s water network system.

In layman’s language, this means rather than measuring water as such water meters measure all flow through the meter – including air.

When there is a leak in the water pipes municipal workers have to shut off the water supply whilst the broken section of the water supply pipe is being repaired.

When the mains are reopened again, there can be a large amount of air that has entered the pipework.

Because water is denser than air, the air is compressed and passes through the pipe, and subsequently through the meter.

Until the municipality installs proper pressure reducing valves they can not adhere to the responsibilities as set out in the Municipal Systems Act.

The municipality did not respond to emails highlighting this growing concern from local residents.