Pay up or face water cuts, municipalities told
THIRTY of South Africa’s municipalities which have failed to honour outstanding water bills have until early next month to start paying their dues.
Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane said in Johannesburg yesterday that the department had issued notices to 30 defaulting municipalities demanding that they make arrangements to pay their share of R10.7-billion owed to the water authorities before December 8.
If no action is taken‚ the bulk water suppliers will throttle supply to the municipalities‚ which will have to replenish their own water reserves by paying up.
The 30 chosen are among 186 local government structures that owe money for water already supplied and used. Close to R7-billion of this debt is older than 120 days.
Mokonyane read the municipalities the riot act‚ saying the department had been told by the national Treasury that its revenue collection efforts were not serious enough‚ which had led to the action being taken.
“For us to provide water‚ there must be revenue coming in‚” she said.
Mokonyane said the department and its subsidiaries had faced nearly R9-billion in budget cuts this financial year‚ and budgets for next year showed there would be no new money coming in.
She said the attitude of the municipalities towards the debt was a large part of the problem.
According to Mokonyane, the constitutional obligation for the government to supply water to its citizens was an ever-present consideration‚ but the responsibility lay with the municipalities to account to the people what they were spending the money on‚ if debts were not being serviced.
Mokonyane said there was no expectation of the municipalities settling the entire outstanding amounts‚ most at higher than R50-million‚ in a single payment.
“We are saying commit to paying the current bill and come to us to renegotiate the outstanding amounts‚” she said.
Acting chief financial officer for the department’s water trading entity, Paul Nel‚ said talks were ongoing with the Treasury to withhold conditional water grants to the 30 municipalities until they had made payment arrangements.
Mokonyane said: “The mechanisms to prevent this have been very lenient‚ I think.
“People agree to a solution and then never come back to us.”
A list of the affected municipalities will be made available later.