Pretoria - Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink yesterday dispelled suggestions that wide-spread water outages affecting residents were possibly due to the implementation of credit control action by Rand Water.
The cash-strapped municipality owes the water utility at least R544 million in arrears for bulk water supply.
Addressing journalists at Tshwane House, Brink said: “We asked Rand Water at the weekend, ‘Are you applying credit action against Tshwane?’ And the answer was very clearly to the city manager, ‘no’. Also, you can’t apply credit action without notice. It is unlawful. So, we know it is not a credit action. We are not shy about the fact that we have financial issues.”
He attributed the situation to operational problems at the water utility, saying it has been experienced several times since December.
“A few months ago we had a water outage for nine of 10 days in the east of Pretoria,” he said.
Tshwane Mayor Cilliers Brink shrugs off suggestions that widespread water outages affecting residents is due to a possible implementation of credit control action against the metro by Rand Water. The city owes the water utility at least R544m for bulk water supply @CityTshwane pic.twitter.com/Vh2l2HCEzl
— Pretoria News (@pretorianews) July 4, 2023
This was contrary to a suggestion by former Tshwane ANC regional chairperson Kgosi Maepa, who tweeted that the city-owed Rand Water was applying water restrictions because of the city’s outstanding R1 billion debt.
“Tshwane says there is a ‘water crisis’ of reservoirs in the City – really? No, Tshwane owes R1bn to Rand Water and there is water shedding – someone must ask for accountability and answers,” Maepa tweeted.
The city, Brink said, has engaged Rand Water following the recent water outage and it was told the utility was suffering power outages affecting several reservoirs in different municipalities.
He, however, bemoaned the fact that information on the part of the water utility has since “become less and less clear to the point that we have even asked to discuss this matter with the minister”.
“There is clearly a problem on the Rand water side. It is unfortunate that the information is this sparse,” he said.
Brink said he asked municipal manager Johann Mettler to consult the city council’s attorneys with a view to “see what are the obligations of Rand Water to the City of Tshwane. What information are we entitled to? Why are we not getting it and what can we do within the framework of intergovernmental relations?”
Tshwane was also in financial trouble with Eskom, which threatened to take the metro to court over R1.6 billion outstanding payment of bulk power supply.
Brink said the city won’t be deterred by the power utility’s legal move, saying the municipality filed an answering affidavit in defending the matter expected to be heard in court in mid-July.
“We are continuously providing Eskom with payment plans, which we are doing our utmost to stick to. However, we are facing significant revenue pressures in the City. The same is true for Rand Water. We are continuously engaging with the entity to ensure that we service our current account. I want to emphasise that the water shortages that are being experienced in the city have nothing to do with any credit control or restrictions by Rand Water. They relate purely to infrastructure challenges on the side of the water utility,” he said.
He said the city resolved to implement an aggressive Tshwane Ya Tima revenue collection drive to arrest declining revenue.
“Our target is to ensure that we disconnect 1 000 properties a week. We have deployed more than 100 teams across Tshwane to disconnect arrears debtors, with our focus on individual accounts of R50 000 or more,” he said.
Pretoria News