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Nobody is accusing the City of Johannesburg of hiking up the water bills for houses in relatively well-off areas so that they can afford to manage the ongoing water crisis, but charging a house of three around R100,000 for water they say they don’t even use doesn’t seem legitimate.

The Randburg Sun reports that several households in the Jozi suburb of Randburg are being left with outrageous water bills, some 30 times more than their usual charges.

Adding insult to injury, Johannesburg Water has threatened to cut off their water supply if they don’t pay these inflated bills.

Seelan Naidu, a resident from Ward 102, shared his ordeal, noting how in October last year, he received a water bill of around R82,000, while in previous months, his household was averaging “between maybe R2,000 and R3,000 a month”.

Naidu did his best to resolve this but the CoJ was obstinate in its position:

“I went there [City of Johannesburg] and they provided me with a reference number, and they logged a call with Johannesburg Water to come through to review my water meter and have it replaced.”

Another resident from Ward 102 shared a similar experience. Following a meter replacement in April, Gasen Naicker and his wife Malini were stupefied when they received a bill of R100,000 a couple of months later, in October 2023.

“Our meter was replaced in April last year. That’s where all this trouble started. In October, we get a bill for R100 000. That’s when we started enquiring,” Gasen said.

“Every month we go to the revenue department. They managed to give me a printout of a job card and the number on our account is different. So, they are using a different meter number, we raised that with them. They still haven’t helped us.”

Their frustration is close to boiling over with Malini wondering how it is possible that a family of three people can use that amount of water a month.

“No one wants to give us answers. No one can tell you what is going on. No one can explain because, for all we know, the meter number that has been wrong on our account all the time is where they take in the consumption readings from. It could be a business down the road.”

Gasen further explained that they pay religiously, and even have scheduled payments going through their account when they know more or less what the water bill will be. “We have not defaulted on a single month,” he assured.

Yet, this ludicrous fortune is required of them.

Efforts to seek clarification from authorities have proven futile, as residents face a lack of accountability and transparency.

“They [CoJ] tell me unfortunately there’s nothing they can do. They’re waiting on Johannesburg water. Now my bill is sitting at almost R102 000, which they are now forcing me to pay and I don’t have those funds,” Naidu said.

At least someone is on their side. Ward 102 councillor Lucinda Harman has been actively advocating for these affected residents, confirming that she has escalated both Seelan Naidu and Gasen Naicker’s cases.

“I cannot enforce, instruct revenue or any entity, but I have asked for assistance.”

Residents hope their demands for swift action from relevant authorities to sort out their bills and restore trust in the billing system will be heard soon.

Randburg Sun is still waiting for a clear response from both Johannesburg Water and the City of Johannesburg on this maddening matter.

[source:randburgsun]