Mthatha woman slapped with R46,000 water bill

Nomkhitha Kanda, an unemployed mother and longtime resident of Mthatha’s oldest township Ngangelizwe, got the shock of her life when she was slapped with a R46,000 water bill by OR Tambo district municipality last month.

To make matters worse, she was told she needed to settle her bill in full within seven working days or make arrangements to pay it.

The only problem is that Kanda shares the house in Church Street with eight other families. They share one tap fitted outside an outdoor toilet. 

A furious Kanda has accused authorities of just thumbsucking the figures.

“There is just one water meter for the entire house. I have never received a statement or bill from them in the past,” she told DispatchLIVE.

“In August, we were told to sign indigent forms and then out of the blue I am told I owe so much.

“They don’t even know how we live here. All they did was just thumbsuck figures as I have never seen anyone come here to read our water meters in years.”

Kanda, who is approaching 50 years old, lives in a single room in a hostel given to state employees by the then Transkei homeland government. She survives by recycling and selling discarded cans.

She has been living in the house with eight other families since 1976.

Her neighbours in other rooms in the same house have also been slapped with their own huge water bills. One of them only owes R5,916,12.

DispatchLIVE has seen a copy of a letter of demand from debt collection company Kumyolz Investment Pty Ltd sent to Kanda last month on behalf of OR Tambo district municipality.

“Our client advises that you are in arrears in excess of 90 days in the amount of R46,391.17 which remains outstanding,” it stated.

Kanda said she had no idea how old the debt was and did not even know how she was going to pay the money.

Instead, she asked OR Tambo district municipal bosses to visit their house to see for themselves how they live.

While Kanda and other of her neighbours were grappling with huge water bills, other people who live in the same house said their electricity had been cut off by King Sabata Dalindyebo municipality as early as March this year.

This was after they received electricity bills from the local municipality.

Nomqwalaselo Ntanyaza, 50, was told she owed more than R33,000 to KSD. Despite being unemployed, she had to raise R300 to be reconnected to the power grid.

Last month, her electricity was switched off again.

Nokulunga Ntsondwa was told she had to pay R5,000 to be connected to the grid last year. She also paid R300 but in May, her electricity was switched off again by the municipality.

Surprisingly, she said she was told that it was because she owed OR Tambo district municipality for water.

Others like Khwezi Nombexeza were told they owe more than R7,000.

However, he has no clue how he will pay off the debt as he survives by doing odd gardening jobs around the township.

Grade 11 pupil Azile Linganiso’s family, meanwhile, was told they owed more than R86,000 earlier this year.

To be reconnected to the grid, her mother was told she had to pay at least R26,000 or 30% of the total debt.

“I have to use a light from my cellphone to study at night,” she said.

Attempts to get comment from KSD municipality were unsuccessful at the time of writing.

But OR Tambo district executive mayor Thokozile Sokanyile urged those with problems to approach the municipality.

She said they had previously billed the department of public works for all state properties but were informed that some houses were occupied illegally.

She said in April they had introduced an amnesty for those with high water bills, with some given as much as a 60% discount on their water debts.

Others who were found not to be in a position to make payments, were added to the indigent list and exempted from paying.

“We have about 200 people who are now on our indigent list and get services like water free of charge,” she said.

DispatchLIVE