Public protector takes on bill issue

Estimated meter readings double, triple usual amount, claim victims

ARETIRED magistrate is leading the charge against “massively increased bills” from eThekwini municipality as residents complain of receiving bills more than 10 times the amount they normally pay.

He has taken it to the public protector’s office who have said they will look into the matter.

Peter Weber, who worked as a magistrate in the Zululand area, said he was fed up with the council, and tabled his suspicions to the public protector.

He, and dozens of residents are fuming over what they feel are disproportionately higher utility bills which some say are caused by a new billing system introduced in July.

Since earlier this year the municipality has been strongly urging residents to save water because of the drought.

“Our country, we all appreciate, is in the throes of a water crisis, and to that end, we have been urged to reduce water consumption by 15 percent,” Weber wrote in his submission to the public protector’s office.

“The metro council, seemingly in an attempt to recoup lost revenue by our attempts to save water, bills me with excessive estimated volumes of water and withholds readings taken in the monthly bills sent to us for payment,” he wrote.

The municipality, however, said it was unaware of any issues and had moved to the new billing system “without any glitches”.

Weber said the last reading taken at his Umbilo home had been in February and was reflected in his April account. Subsequent accounts show that he was billed for double his own readings, and one was three times more.

During this time he and his family had refrained from using a hose to wash vehicles or water their garden, and showered instead of bathing.

“The net result is the overbilling of 212 kilolitres, which is almost 100 percent in excess of last year’s consumption for the same period,” he said.

In his submission, Weber wrote: “I respectfully seek protection from you from what I submit is high-handed conduct by the eThekwini metro council in the exercise of charging abnormally excessive estimated fees for an extended period in excess of four months”.

Weber submitted that he should be refunded for what he had paid in order to avoid having his water cut off.

What raised Weber’s ire, was a pool of water he noticed in a park across from his home.

“In June, I happened to notice a damp area of grass between some large shady trees.

Pool

“This wet patch within a few days developed into a bubbling pool 20m from my property. I reported the loss to eThekwini Water on a Tuesday. One can imagine the loss of thousands of kilolitres by the Sunday when they arrived to repair that potable water pipe.”

Oupa Segwale, public protector spokesman, said they would look into the matter.

In reference to Weber’s issue, municipal spokeswoman Tozi Mthethwa said the city did not comment on suspicions and/or speculation, nor discuss matters pertaining to a customer’s account with a third party (the newspaper).

A team from Independent on Saturday spent time at Florence Mkhize building, where water and electricity revenue is handled, and journalists encountered angry residents with “incorrect bills”.

Durban businessman Timothy Crowell had also also been affected.

“We have families to look after, workers to pay and stock to buy. Apart from that there are also other bills to pay.

“What the municipality is doing to us is painful,” he said.

He usually pays R4 500 to R5 000 for water and electricity. “Now I am being charged R16 000. Where does this come from? How am I supposed to pay them? And they are now going to cut off water despite us being overcharged?” Neville Tanner of Queensburgh resorted to calling in at the municipality’s billing office this week after trying, in vain to sort out his R25 049.21 electricity bill.

“Normally it’s R2 500,” he said. “I think that with this new billing system, someone, somewhere along the line, has screwed up,” said Tanner.

He added that he had tried to call the municipality’s call centre, only to give up after holding on for half an hour.

“Usually I read my meter and SMS the readings but they have not replied to my last two messages. The last one was on July 13.”

Tanner said he appeared to have been charged 10 times his usual bill “for only lights and an oven. We have no geysers and no stove on electricity. I’ve converted that to gas,” he said.

A resident who asked to remain anonymous said: “I did not get my bill for two months. When I went there last Thursday, the lady who helped me said I should come back after the 25th of this month if I still hadn’t received it.”

An 84-year-old woman from uMlazi was startled to see her bill more than triple from R2 500 to R8 000 a month.

“There’s only me in the house during the day so I’m surprised to get such a huge bill.

“I went to the municipal offices at the end of June when I saw that my bill did not arrive, but they told me they were changing into a new system and I should pay what I usually pay,” she said.

Mthethwa said: “The municipality moved to the new billing system known as the revenue management system on July 1 without any glitches. The City has put in place an audit to verify sample bills prior to distribution. We are not aware of any cases of incorrect billing.

“The previous meter readings were made prior to June 15, 2016. This resulted in estimated readings for both water and electricity.

“The estimated charges are based on the customer’s previous consumption. The readings have commenced and the actual charges are now raised on to the accounts. We encourage our customers to also read the meters and phone through the readings should their accounts be based on estimates.”

She said residents needed to be aware of revised tariff increases effective July 1.

“This increase will also be reflected in July bills. Residents need to bear in mind that usage of utilities during the winter months also increases as residents leave their lights on for longer periods and have longer showers. This increased winter consumption will also result in slightly higher bills.” She said the municipality had a debt-relief programme and consumers were encouraged to make arrangements to pay off their outstanding debt.

If readers have experienced large increases, please send details to satmail@inl. co.za