City accused of wrong water billing
A NGWELEZANA woman is accusing the uMhlathuze Municipality of negligence after being told she owes R22 000 on her water account.
Lindiwe Dweba is adamant that she has been paying her monthly account and has blamed the city for wrongly billing her instead of her neighbour.
‘When I went to pay my rates last Friday, city officials informed me they had been billing my neighbour for my water expenses. It didn’t make sense as I have been paying them every month.
‘I need to know where my money went after all these years. They told me they cleared my neighbour’s account and added his outstanding balance to my account,’ Dweba said.
She said city officials agreed that they made a mistake by billing the wrong person.
‘I don’t believe it is correct to punish me. This is not my responsibility. This looks like a daylight robbery. They need to clear my account.’
Dweba said she was hoping Ward Councillor Simphiwe Mzimela would intervene to solve her problem, but nothing has happened.
Mzimela said he was aware of the matter, but refused to elaborate further, saying he has not been granted permission to speak to the media.
City of uMhlathuze Communications Manager, Mdu Ncalane, urged Dweba to refer the matter to the municipal’s finance department.
‘They will listen to her, but the matter is clear, they will cancel all her debts,’ said Ncalane.