Letter: Drowning in bills

Shelley Birnie of Ballito writes: I have been dismayed at our water bill over the last few months and this month was no exception.

We used 22 kl which isn’t excessive for our household and yet our bill is on its way to R1200.

So I did a bit of googling to see if I could find what Siza Water’s profits are looking like.

On the Sembcorp Investor Relations page, the statement “utilities business delivered a 58% profit growth in H12018” naturally caught my eye, albeit that this is global performance and may have no bearing whatsoever on what is happening in SA.

But reading a little further, I discovered that Sembcorp Siza Water has sold it’s stake to South African Water Works (Pty) Ltd.

So now I am wondering, what impact will it have on us? Is the new company able to deliver? What will pricing do?

Not sure why I am asking you all these questions, but I’m hoping you can assure me that all is well.

Sembcorb Siza Water managing director Shyam Misra replies: We have investigated this matter and can confidently state that any consumer that uses 22kl of water and does not have a sewer connection will have an account of not more than R390.00 including VAT.

It could occur that the consumer’s total balance owing to us, including the prior amount and the current billing, is approximately R1200, as asserted by Mrs/Ms Birnie.

We provide all clients 30 days to settle their invoices and when we run the invoices in a new month, should they not settle their account prior to the billing date the total amount owing to us would be the prior account as well as the current account.

We would urge consumers to contact our office directly for queries on their accounts so that the correct information can be provided. The selling of Siza to SAWW will not change the concession contract under which we operate as a service provider.

Enshrined in the contract is the methodology for tariff determination. The contract further makes reference to the returns that shareholders are entitled to and same is monitored on a quarterly basis by Provincial Treasury as well as the Ilembe District Municipality. Ward councillors are invited to attend the meeting.

The change of shareholding has not and will not impact on our ability to deliver the services we are contracted for. The decision of Sembcorp to divest its shareholding in South Africa’s municipal water was a strategic decision of Sembcorp Industries.

The purchase of the Sembcorp shareholding was undertaken by a current minority shareholder of the company and thereby also ensures the knowledge base at a strategic level is continually maintained. The management team are unchanged and have extensive experience in running the company and continue to do so.

Any tariff that we levy on consumers has to be ratified by the Ilembe District Municipality, with the current tariff being no exception.

We urge Mrs/Ms Birnie to contact our offices should she have any queries on her account and our staff will gladly assist in explaining same to her.