Rand Water puts pressure by reducing pressure in defaulting municipalities

Rand Water has warned that it will move to reduce water pressure in three municipalities due to non-payment.

The Emfuleni Local Municipality in Gauteng as well as the Victor Khanye and the Govan Mbeki Local Municipalities in Mpumalanga have been warned that their water pressure will be reduced by 20% from Monday for defaulting on payment.

Rand Water spokesperson Justice Mohale says the water utility has on many occasions entered into payment agreements with the municipalities, but these have not been honoured.

“Emfuleni municipality is in arrears for R994 million, Victor Khanye local municipality is in arrears for R185 million, whereas Govan Mbeki municipality is in arrears for R314 million.”

Mohale said they would again reach out to the municipalities and if they failed to pay, they would again reduce water pressure by another 20%.

For Emfuleni, it’s about water and lights

In March, power utility Eskom threatened to cut electricity supply to the Emfuleni Local Municipality due to unpaid debt.

Eskom had attached the municipality’s assets because it owed the power utility a R2.3 billion in an electricity bill.

Eskom Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Andre de Ruyter said however, an agreement to suspend attaching Emfuleni’s assets was contingent upon Eskom receiving the R50 million that the municipality has promised to pay.

De Ruyter said historical debt does not disappear and needs to be paid. He further said where debt is due to Eskom, they will aggressively go after those who don’t pay because Eskom has lenders knocking on their door.