ROBIN Opperman of Brents Avenue doesn’t know what to make of the incident. The exorbitant billing also affected his neighbours. His October bill, which arrived later than normal, indicates a due amount of R15 889.77, while his neighbours received amounts between R15 000 and R55 000.
“There are just two occupants in the house, with minimal use of water and electricity. One truly has to wonder what is going on with this level of incompetence.

“I use the eThekwini App and all my readings are current and uploaded, and we also welcome meter readers when they have to collect data in the meter,” shared Opperman.

With visible frustration, he said he feared that his services may be cut off due to non-payment. He shared that when he reported the matter to eThekwini Municipality, he was advised to make an arrangement to pay. He said that local councillor Fran Kristopher has tried to remedy the situation, however there has been no contact from the City. Kristopher said there have been several queries in this regard.

Also read: Mayor calls for independent investigation into billing system

“eThekwini seems to be a law unto itself and can send us incorrect bills and do pretty much as they please. These are public servants who are meant to ‘serve the public,’ and they are not being held accountable for the chaos they are causing,” he said.

Last Thursday, during a Full Council Meeting, the mayor, Cyril Xaba, said that they were committed to ensuring that residents were billed accurately for the actual services they had consumed monthly.

“However, the unavailability of electricity meters has been making this task difficult, resulting in the estimated bills being sent out to customers, but I am pleased to report that a total of 14 000 electricity meters have been received for installation to various properties within the municipality.

Also read: New electricity meter roll-out to improve billing accuracy

“We are expecting additional meters in the course of the financial year so that we can adequately address critical service challenges and improve revenue collection. We must indicate that, as a city, we have significantly reduced the challenge of estimated bills, with only 10% of water bills being estimated.

“On electricity, we are currently estimating 22% and with the delivery of new meters, this challenge will now be a thing of the past. The City has commenced a large-scale rollout of electricity meters following the delivery of 14 000 new units,” Xaba said.

In response to a Berea Mail enquiry, eThekwini Municipality said that “the City is still in the process of collating the necessary information from the relevant department. The matter is receiving attention”.

For Opperman and his neighbours, the uncertainty is gruelling, as they hope and wait for intervention.

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