The DA in uMgungundlovu has written to the Municipal Manager, Mr Muthwa to request a special event at the Howick West community hall to address the ongoing water billing issues.
We have also requested the presence of senior officials so we are able to get a resolve on the long-term problems.
Last week Wednesday, a meeting was held with over 80 desperate Howick West residents. They have long term difficulties with their water metering and billing.
These include:
• incorrect and extremely high bills;
• incorrect meter readings;
• meters needing calibration;
• no help with long term billing errors; and
• disconnections with erroneously bills.
Residents have asked for assistance so that their bills are correct and up to date. They also need pre-paid meters which we have requested many times in council meetings.
Howick West also has very old pipes which are asbestos. They have frequent pipe bursts resulting in water outages. The uMgungundlovu district has not budgeted for the replacement of these pipes year after year. Residents, in desperation, petitioned the municipality in 2020 to address these problems, but they are still not prioritised.
This also leads to Non-Revenue Water (NRW) – which is water loss due to leaks, bursts, theft and technical errors. The municipality has recently incurred R90 million in unauthorised expenditure for this wastage. This wastage leads to increased tariffs to cover the bulk costs and must be reduced through pipe replacement and control of water losses.