A Kraaifontein residential scheme is facing a water bill of nearly R1 million.

With estimated water readings, retrospective charges and a repayment plan built on what they believe to be a flawed account, desperate residents have now taken their fight to the City of Cape Town’s Ombudsman.

Chairman of the board of trustees of De Goede Hoop body corporate Reginald Cupido told the Tygerburger that the matter may be of wider interest to residents and other residential schemes where estimated meter readings might be used to calculate water bills.

Cupido says the municipal account was approaching R1 million when the trustees first engaged with the City in late 2024.

They have admission to the complex to read the meters, why don’t they?

“Through payment arrangements with the City and special levies raised by the body corporate, the account was significantly reduced,” says Cupido. “At the beginning of this year, an arrangement was recorded in respect of the remaining arrears, with the understanding that these arrears would be settled by January 2027.”

But trustees subsequently established that the account position underlying this arrangement included estimated water billing, which has led to a further payment arrangement being required after another R300 000 was added to the account, also based on estimated readings.

These adjustments have since resulted in the account again exceeding half-a-million rand, placing significant financial strain on the body corporate and, ultimately, on the owners.

Residents are deeply concerned about this. “They have admission to the complex to read the meters, why don’t they?” says Cupido.

Construction halted and water meter removed

There are also concerns regarding the history of the development’s water meter. Construction started in 2019, was then halted and restarted in 2022.

“When the development was restarted in 2022, the water meter had been removed. It was subsequently restored to the City’s system after the municipal account was already in the Body Corporate’s name in mid-2024, followed by retrospective billing and adjustments,” he says, adding that the retrospective consumption was calculated using a methodology that the trustees have questioned, particularly given the development’s phased occupation.

“The City used estimates based on the total of 194 units in the housing complex while people moved in, in phases, and for the period they backdated the account, construction of all the units had not even been completed. We are worried that we are being billed on water that was used by the developer during development.”

We are also aware of similar experiences reported by other residential schemes and believe that some of the challenges may extend beyond individual municipal accounts and warrant broader consideration.

Cupido says, despite extensive engagement with the City and escalation to the City Manager and the Office of the Mayco member for water and sanitation, material questions remain unresolved. The Trustees have therefore approached the City Ombudsman for assistance.

“We are also aware of similar experiences reported by other residential schemes and believe that some of the challenges may extend beyond individual municipal accounts and warrant broader consideration. Our position is not that legitimate municipal charges should be avoided. We are seeking an accurate, transparent and properly supported account, with the appropriate charges attributed to the appropriate party.

“Our monthly water account is extraordinarily high and does not reflect the normal water usage per family in the complex,” he says. “Currently our residents, who cannot afford it, have to pay almost double just to catch up with the arrears.”

Despite repeated requests for comment, the City of Cape Town had not yet responded to TygerBurger by the time of going to print.

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