The City of Tshwane council has taken a step towards easing the financial burden on residents in the Hammanskraal area by resolving to write off historical debts totalling R684 million for 14,869 households, dating back to June 2024.
The decision, taken during yesterday council sitting at Tshwane House, affects residents from Mashemong, Majaneng, Suurman, Temba, Hammanskraal West, and Hammanskraal, who receive water supply from the Temba Water Treatment Plant.
The move follows the launch of Phase One of the Magalies Klipdrift Package Plant on November 16, a joint effort between the City, Magalies Water and the national Department of Water and Sanitation.
The Klipdrift plant currently has a capacity of 42Ml/day, with plans to upgrade its capacity by an additional 50Ml/day from 2024.
The upgrade will be implemented in four phases, with each phase providing approximately 12.5Ml/day, starting from this month.
DA caucus leader and former Mayor Cilliers Brink welcomed “a targeted write-off of historical debt”, saying it was essential for the success of the Klipdrift project started by his administration.
“We don’t want consumers to be burdened by the historical debt of water that was not suitable for human consumption. That is why this is a targeted write-off (and) not a general write-off,” he said.
For decades, residents in the township were forced to consume dirty water from the Rooiwal wastewater treatment plant, which is currently being upgraded to improve the quality of effluent it discharges to the Apies River.
Brink expressed hope that the council’s move will encourage residents to pay their municipal debts, also calling on the current administration to deliver clean water to Hammanskraal before December 11 this year.
ANC councillor Eulanda Mabusela said the decision will alleviate the financial burden on residents, allowing them to start afresh on a more equitable and accountable system.
“Writing off historical debts will remove a significant financial stain on low-income households, enabling them to allocate resources on other essential needs such as food, healthcare and education,” she said.
The report also highlighted that communities in Hammanskraal currently owe the City around R1.11 billion for water services and R97.40m for sanitation services.
“Most of that bill is based on the estimated consumption as there is a very low actual meter reading in the area due to intimidation resulting from poor water quality,” the report said.
On the other hand, the bill for the indigent customers is sitting at R624.14m for water and R19.56m for sanitation services.
“Indigent customers are allowed 12kl/day basic water and sanitation services for free of charge. Any consumption above the free allocation should be billed and paid for. To assist indigents to be within the free allocation, Water and Sanitation will install flow restrictors to restrict the flow of water to about 2 litres/minute,” the report said.
In addition to the debt write-off, the council report highlighted the need for deviation from the standard process of opening an account with a title deed.
Instead, individuals occupying unregistered stands can open an account using a letter from the tribal authority confirming their identity as land occupants.
The decision to scrap the historical debts comes a month after council approved the write-off of R32.5m in municipal debt, benefiting 259 households, following the City’s affordability assessment committee’s conclusion that they were irrecoverable in the long run.
Pretoria News