The Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, ruled in favour of the Joburg Municipality in the case against a resident from the affluent suburb of Kyalami Estate last Monday.
The resident had been a defaulting customer for almost two years and the debt has ballooned to more than R200 000, resulting in Joburg Water (JW) cutting her water connection. The JW also removed the water meter linked to the customer’s property.
The metro’s director for communications and stakeholder engagement, Kgamanyane Maphologela, said the resident initially filed a case against the city and the JW.
The resident said that disconnecting her water supply and removing her meter was “unlawful and wrongful” and it violated her constitutional right to access water.
“She wanted the court to direct both the city and Joburg Water to install a new water meter and restore her water supply within 24 hours. Although the resident did not dispute owing the city for municipal services, she, however, disputed the amount she owed,” said Maphologela.
The metro and the JW opposed the application, arguing that the resident was a “chronic defaulter”. Maphologela said the resident had last paid her municipal bills in October 2022.
Acting Judge Johan Beyers dismissed the case with costs, stating that the respondents (the city and the JW) issued several pre-termination notices to the resident, which were ignored. The entities also declared the resident “indebted” to the city.
The ruling read: “The respondents have given the applicant (resident) a number of pre-termination notices, including, at least, notices on 8 August and 8 November 2023, respectively. These are all dated in excess of a period of 14 days prior to the alleged discontinuation date of 2 July 2024. The respondents were within their rights to enforce the legislatively sanctioned credit control measures, which included the right to discontinue the water supply to the applicant’s (resident) property and to remove the water meter.”
Maphologela said the city had also emerged victorious in similar case last year. The metro had been embroiled in a decade-long court battle against a block of residential flats in Hillbrow, whose 208 tenants had defaulted on municipal services and connected electricity illegally.
“The massive residential property, with approximately 208 tenants, had dragged the city to court for more than 10 years in an attempt to evade paying for electricity consumed. The court ruled in favour of the city and severely criticised the theft of electricity by the owners of the property,” said Maphologela.
The city’s group chief financial officer Tebogo Moraka welcomed the judgment.
However, he raised concern over a growing trend of property owners being too quick to approach the courts in a bid to avoid paying municipal rates.
“We are pleased that the courts are starting to agree with us that property owners cannot run away from their responsibilities of paying what is due to the city as far as municipal services are concerned. We hope this will send a clearer and stronger message that a dispute with the city does not warrant the withholding of payment towards municipal services,” said Moraka.
Amid the city facing a hefty R52 billion unsettled debt in unpaid services, Moraka urged residents to refrain from defaulting on payments.
“The city is working hard to reduce its debts by collecting all the money owed to it. The collection drives will help the city carry out the necessary maintenance for its infrastructure to function effectively. The city urges customers to continue paying outstanding debts so that the city can improve its service delivery,” said Moraka.
The Star