Dispute with Municipality?

Zoomzoom

Zoomzoom

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Hi,

We had something of a natural disaster with our water in January - we did not have any for going on 3 weeks - and somehow (actually it was shown by one of the residents that air through the pipes was making the meters run) we all had high water accounts for the month.

Absolutely nothing has come of any and all attempts to get the municipality to give a reasonable rebate on January accounts given it is physically impossible to have an account for water when the taps were dry.

There was a meeting but the municipality showed up with the BS excuse that they 'couldn't discuss the water, because the accountants were in budget meetings'.

What further recourse do we have?

Also is it possible for citizens to approach Nersa with reasons why the municipality is NOT justified in raising tariffs so they can pay themselves salaries in line with a Grade 7 municipality when they are a Grade 3 municipality?
 
Why did you leave your taps open for the air to come through?
 
Zoomzoom said:
We had something of a natural disaster with our water in January - we did not have any for going on 3 weeks - and somehow (actually it was shown by one of the residents that air through the pipes was making the meters run) we all had high water accounts for the month.
Click to expand...

I don't get the "somehow" part of your post. What does your actual water meter say and how does it compare to previous month's reading before your pipes ran dry? I.e. when you say you had a high water account for the month, how does the meter reading shown on your rates account compare with what is actually showing on your water meter? Either it corresponds or it doesn't. There's no somehow about it. Did they do an estimation for that month, or did they actually physically come and read your meter? Even if it was possible for air to register on a water meter (which I'm almost certain it's not), no air would be running through your water pipes. It is a closed system.
 
deweyzeph said:
I don't get the "somehow" part of your post. What does your actual water meter say and how does it compare to previous month's reading before your pipes ran dry? I.e. when you say you had a high water account for the month, how does the meter reading shown on your rates account compare with what is actually showing on your water meter? Either it corresponds or it doesn't. There's no somehow about it. Did they do an estimation for that month, or did they actually physically come and read your meter? Even if it was possible for air to register on a water meter (which I'm almost certain it's not), no air would be running through your water pipes. It is a closed system.
Click to expand...

Need a dictionary? Somehow is not the same as "maybe", or "I think", or "perhaps".
 
Must be the water vapor in the air that made the meter tick over
 
ok this wasn't a debate on whether or not the air made the meter run - one of the residents took video showing it happened. Air was in the pipes at high pressure from the municipality - we have a very messed up water system here - air blowing through at very high pressure happens often.

The point is we had ZERO water through the taps for nearly three weeks. Water bills vary from 'normal' to nearly three times the normal consumption - however you slice that cake this was physically impossible.

When the water did return it was pitch black and undrinkable - and still is - it has slowly returned to almost normal colour, but still does not meet requirements for safe drinking. People could not use the water for all of February and February accounts were also high, but much harder to dispute because there was water in taps. January however - we literally had no water - so accounts should have been really low.

The question is what can we do to escalate our complaint?

And also the question about the budget and salaries. They have voted themselves a salary increase of epic proportions and have slashed the budget on everything else. The municipality was in administration until last year. In addition to their highly undeserved increases they have also managed to wangle themselves fat 'arrears' checks from the Western Cape Gov for their work while the municipality was in administration.

At the Budget consultation meetings they just laughed when people raised these issues. So is there somewhere else to go with complaints?
 
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MY WHOLE TOWN AND I HAVE A DISPUTE WITH THE MUNICIPALITY THAT IS NOT BEING RESOLVED. HOW DO I ESCALATE IT FURTHER UP THE CHAIN?
 
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