Spat rages over Emfuleni cut-off
RAND WATER: WATER WILL BE RESTORED WITHIN A DAY
Citizen reporters
After an extraordinary day, when Emfuleni mayor Jacob Khawe and some of his councillors and officials blockaded the entrance to Rand Water in Johannesburg in protest over water cuts, the water utility has agreed to restore full supply.
But it could take up to a day before residents of the municipality have their full supply back.
Rand Water has agreed to restore supply to normal levels while negotiations continue with the municipality on paying arrears.
Rand Water said it condemned the occupation of its premises in the south of Johannesburg by the delegation from Emfuleni, adding that the action was “entirely unnecessary”.
“Such action suggests that Rand Water had taken steps against the municipality and that all efforts to discuss and reach understanding and resolve matters between the parties were unsuccessful, when the opposite is true.”
The water utility said the blockade of the premises was “regrettable” in view of the “ongoing negotiations and the prevailing spirit of cooperation and understanding on the part of Rand Water”.
It said it reached a settlement in December last year with Emfuleni related to R431 million in debt accumulated over the past four years by the municipality.
A payment plan was agreed and the water supply would be kept to such a level that the municipality’s bill would only be R50 million a month, which is what the local authority said it could afford.
Rand Water said the municipality also proposed a “a monthly supply cap on the basis of affordability”.
This was to ensure that communities still received an “acceptable” amount of water and were not unduly compromised due to the servicing of the debt with Rand Water.
It added that, even though the municipality “did not fully honour the terms of the settlement agreement” and was more than R45 million short in its payments, Rand Water did not introduce any further water restrictions as a result of non-payment or part payment.
According to the water supplier, water supply had only been reduced by 20%.
Emfuleni contested Rand Water’s version, claiming it had made arrangements to pay and had made a part payment on Monday, but that the utility had made additional reductions in water supply despite this.
It said: “The municipality continues to encourage and appeals to its communities to pay for all their municipal services accounts so that it is able to provide sustainable, efficient and effective services, which are not affected by cut-offs, erratic waste collections, several potholes and water shortages as is the case at the moment.”
It said it was already burdened by debt of R5 billion because of failure of its residents to pay their bills.
“This has negatively affected the municipality in continuously providing basic services in line with its constitutional mandate.” –