Durban - A Durban ratepayer is in shock after the administratively beleaguered eThekwini Municipality served her with a water bill of R376 455, claiming that it was for a water leak on her property which was detected within a few months and it was quickly fixed.
Amanda Sihle Jali who lives in the suburb of Woodlands in the south of Durban claims that all efforts to get this erroneous bill fixed have fallen on deaf ears, with municipal officials giving her the run-around.
She said her troubles started a few months ago when received the bizarre water bill.
Under normal circumstances, her bill is around R1 200, but when this one came up, she was shocked that she has consumed more than what she and her family consumed.
NEWS: A Durban ratepayer is in shock after the administratively beleaguered eThekwini municipality served her with a water bill of R376 455.56 claiming that it was for a water leak on her property which was detected within a few months and it was quickly fixed. @IOL
Upon enquiring from the water department of the municipality where the bill came from, she was told that there was a leak which was located in her apartment (she lives in a complex).
After frantically trying to locate the leak using a plumber from the municipality, she said they could not find it.
It was when she hired a private one that the leak was located and fixed by a private plumber she hired out of her own pocket.
Even after Jali appealed to the municipality to look at the bill and the matter, the water department continued to bombard her with threatening letters.
They also continued to bill her at over R80 000 a month, way above any normal water consumption for a household running no business within its premises.
“‘Urgent: Please note that your account remains in arrears. Should payment not be received, we advise that legal action will be taken,” the municipality threatened in one letter written to Jali.
When asked how did the municipalityd arrive at this figure, municipal spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela told IOL that they don’t discuss issues of concerned ratepayers with the media.
“The City does not discuss its clients' bills with a third party, including the media. We permanently subscribe to an open-door policy; hence we always urge all stakeholders to continue to engage us on matters they are concerned with,” he said.
sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za
IOL