Joburg Water can’t get it right
A resident in Kamstra Street, Glenvista ext 4, was receiving excessive water accounts last year and after querying them and not getting anywhere, he went out to check the water meter on his pavement, only to find it sunk into the ground and not accessible.
GLENVISTA – “It was obviously faulty and the meter reader from Joburg Water had never read it and I’d been receiving estimated accounts. I dug through the grass and managed to locate the meter myself,” said the resident.
The resident contacted Ward 23 councillor, Paul Smit, and asked if he could assist with arranging a new water meter. In January 2014 a Joburg Water meter reader took a reading and the resident was sent an account for R10 000. “I knew I didn’t owe this much and eventually I managed to get a new water meter installed on February 14.
“The new account was never linked to the new water meter and then on May 20 I arrived home to find a final pre-termination notice stuck to my front wall. The notice read if I didn’t pay R9 948.03 within 14 days, there would be a discontinuation or restriction of services and/or legal action being instituted against me without any notice.
“I contacted Clr Smit again and he managed to obtain a job card, saying the old water meter was faulty and a new one had been put in. I’m still being billed for close on R10 000 and I refuse to pay,” he said. The resident says he will go to Joburg Water to see if he can sort out the problem.
“I find the inefficiency of Joburg Water annoying and now I have to waste my time going there myself to try and sort out the mess. I would like to thank Clr Smit for his assistance though, without his help I wouldn’t even have got this far,” the resident concluded.
