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Communities in the Chris Hani District Municipality (CHDM) area are up in arms in opposition to the water smart meters to be installed by the district authority while the municipality sings a different tune saying there was positive feedback.
CHDM spokesperson Bulelwa Ganyaza said, “The prepaid water system works exactly the same as electricity prepaid system therefore you buy a token and load it into the device and once those kilolitres are fully utilized then the consumer is required to buy again."
While the installation will be free, she said, basic services charges are set as a fixed amount and will stay the same between July up to June of every year.
These charges will be recouped from the first sale on the prepaid mechanism every month to reduce the issuing of the billing statements. This means that once you have a pre-paid smart water meter installed, you will not have an account with CHDM anymore.
“This Basic Services Charges are set as a fixed amount and will stay the same between July up to June of every year, with an increase in this basic services charge from July of every year in line with the Approved Increase in Tariffs for each financial year,” said Ganyaza.
Ganyaza said the basic services charges will be R113.74 for basic water and R76 for households and for businesses R159.22 will be for water and R125.30 for sanitation.
“On the First Purchase of every month up until June 2024:R284.52 will be recouped for the Basic Services Charges and any amount above that will go directly towards water usage. Every purchase after this within the same month will go directly towards water usage. As from July 2024, this Basic Services Charges will increase in line with the Approved Increase in Tariffs and this increase will be communicated as soon as it is approved by Council,” she said.
While residents say they were not consulted, Ganyaza said various platforms including local radio stations, social media networks, municipal website with continuous engagement were held targeting various stakeholders and identified areas for the pilot project. She said meetings with businesses, sector departments, ratepayers and local municipalities were held.
“Yes, the municipality is mostly getting positive feedback from the areas that have been covered. However, there are a couple of individuals that are resisting this initiative and the municipality is currently addressing their concerns,” she said.
Some customers are refusing, Ganyaza said, despite being engaged on the matter due to:
- During the verification process and installations, our teams discovered illegal connections, straight connections, diversions and tempering of municipal infrastructure exerting more pressure on the municipal infrastructure;
- Other properties have been turned into businesses and accommodation establishments although they were never rezoned and are therefore non-compliant with building regulations; and
- The culture of non-payment for services rendered.
She said the municipality started with Komani CDB and other affluent areas such as Top Town, Horizon View, Dr A.B Xuma municipality (Engcobo) town and Intsika Yethu in Cofimvaba town.
“The prepaid water system works exactly the same as electricity prepaid system therefore you buy a token and load into the device and once those kilolitres are fully utilised then the consumer is required to buy again,” said Ganyaza.
She said the smart meter technology is beneficial to all consumers, it allows the consumers to manage their own water consumption, giving them an idea of how they are using water and installations are affected after having consulted with property owners.
However Mlungisi resident, Mncedisi Mbengo said that water was a natural resource that belongs to the people.
“We view the move of CHDM to install water meters as the commercialisation on provision of water and a unilateral decision made by them without proper consultation. This decision is inconsistent and contravenes the whole principle of developmental local government,” he said.
Mbengo said government had commitment to work with citizens and groups within the community to find sustainable ways to meet their social, economic and material needs and improve the quality of their lives.
CHDM, Mbengo said, kept on trampling over the Constitutional right of the communities within the district.
“Municipalities consult with communities within the municipal area, especially on matters of their interests or areas which will affect them as individuals, organisations and government entities, before embarking on any decisions. Which did not happened in this case. We view this exercise as a money scheme project to benefit corrupt municipal leadership under the guise of providing a better service to communities. We have been observing with high note the issue of provision of contaminated water to our communities to give justification to this unscrupulous transaction,” he said.
Another resident, Thulani Bukani, from Unathi Mkefa in Ezibeleni said the municipality was commodifying water.
“It looks like they are targeting poor people. You can’t commodify water because water is a basic need. The user pay method is saying only people with money have a right life and not the poor. We can’t allow that in our communities,” he said.
Government promises jobs, Bukani said, which are only on paper yet it expects people to afford services.
He also decried lack of consultation saying, “We can’t accept things that the communities were not consulted about. You can’t lead people like animals on a farm. If government was in touch with people they would not want to install such a system knowing there is so much poverty. There is a high level of incompetency in our municipalities, no consequence management and people on the ground suffer,” he said.
