Bloated water bill

I ENQUIRED of the City of Cape Town’s Department of Water Affairs why I was receiving estimated readings for my monthly water consumption when my water meter, which is situated outside the boundary wall of my property, is accessible to meter readers for recording actual consumption.

Subsequently, on May 28, 2014, I received a bill for R5 077, which I contested. The department informed me that the matter was under investigation. Three years after the fact the problem persists, despite having written to every official at the Department of Water Affairs including two successive ward councillors, the offices of the mayor and premier, to elicit a response to a predicament that is not of my doing.

This circumstance, which continues presently, is untenable and unacceptable considering my monthly water bill amounts to R12, and that after three years, the contested excessive amount falls on deaf ears and remains unresolved.

Moreover, my account is sporadically debited with unwarranted dunning and other charges, which are reversed on complaint.

Is the problem a lack of will, capacity or sheer complacency? The other question that begs is whether this is an isolated case or symptomatic of a more widely spread ruse, and my complaint but water under the bridge. I wonder? Albert Hess Claremont