The Lotus Gardens, Atteridgeville, and Saulsville Civic Association has called into question the City of Tshwane’s decision to let Kekana Gardens residents in Hammanskraal use water for free without meters to track their consumption.
Organisation leader, Tshepo Mahlangu, expressed concern about the methods the municipality would use to bill residents in the absence of meters.
He warned consumers to prepare themselves to receive estimated and inaccurate bills, which may lead to disputes over payment.
Mahlangu, a vocal advocate against inaccurate billing by the municipality, criticised the decision to allow free water consumption without first addressing the metering issue.
“It means there was no proper planning. We hope this is not an electioneering campaign for the 2026 local government election. We will be closely monitoring the process of meter installations and revenue collection,” he said.
The Auditor-General’s 2022/2023 audit report for Tshwane revealed alarming water losses, with the metro incurring a staggering R1.1 billion in losses, equivalent to 32% of the total water purchased.
The report attributed the losses to technical water losses amounting to R892 million due to the physical loss of water through the water distribution network and non-technical losses of R232 million due to meter inaccuracies, meter estimations, non-metering of water and unauthorised consumption.
Mahlangu said the approach to give people access to water without meters is “unjustified”.
He urged the city to provide factual evidence to support their approach, saying that residents should not be disadvantaged or burdened with heavy costs due to the city’s incompetence.
Last year, the city initiated an audit of water meters in Hammanskraal to prepare the municipal water infrastructure for a reliable water supply before completing the Klipdrift Water Package Plant.
The phase first of the project has been completed and this week, some residents received clean water for the first time after nearly 20 years.
Moya said: “This is not free water, this is clean water, drinkable water that they must pay for.”
She said the city has a programme to install 14 000 meters and 2 900 of them have already been installed in the Hammanskraal area.
Contractors are scheduled to start the installation process on Monday, she added.
Ward 73 councillor, Michael Ndlovu, said water consumption is going to be for free “for now” for residents in Kekana Gardens until further notice.
He said a contractor has been hired to install meters in the area, with work currently under way in Mandela and Ramotse villages.
“They haven’t yet installed meters at Kekana Gardens because this area historically had an issue of water not coming from taps. Only 50% of the residents are getting water in Kekana Gardens. Others don’t have taps in their yard,” he said.