South African Municipalities Struggle to Pay Water Bills, Owing Water & Sanitation Dept Over R23bn

The Department of Water and Sanitation director general, Sean Phillips, has recently made a shocking announcement regarding the debt owed to the department by South African municipalities for water. According to him, the total amount owed has reached a staggering R23 billion.

The situation has become quite dire as many South African municipalities are struggling to keep up with their payments, primarily due to poor revenue collection. Out of the R23 billion debt, almost R9 billion is owed directly by municipalities to the government, and an additional R8 billion is owed to the government by waterboards.

He revealed the staggering figure at a media briefing in Pretoria on Tuesday.

“In total, the waterboards are owed R14 billion by municipalities, so not all of that debt is passed onto us.

“The waterboards themselves have been able to pay us but they’re sitting with debt owed by municipalities.”

It’s important to note that some municipalities receive their water supply from waterboards, and not directly from the department. Even in these cases, the municipalities still owe waterboards a significant amount of money. In fact, Phillips revealed that in total, waterboards are owed R14 billion by municipalities, meaning that not all of the debt is passed onto the government.

To address the situation, the department is working closely with the National Treasury to find solutions. One of the proposed measures includes the installation of bulk prepaid meters by waterboards, which would create greater consistency across all the waterboards in terms of how they follow up with municipalities and implement credit control mechanisms.

“Some of these measures include the installation of bulk prepaid meters by water boards, creating a greater level of consistency across all the water boards with regards to how they follow up with municipalities and how they implement credit control mechanisms.”

The situation is undoubtedly worrying, as it can have serious consequences for the country’s water supply, particularly in already water-scarce regions. Therefore, it’s crucial that municipalities take responsibility for their debt and work with the department to find viable solutions.