City to replace water meters

The City of Cape Town is finally getting rid of the notorious blue water meters.

Lobby group STOP COCT said this was “long overdue and is an admission of a failed strategy the City pursued for 15 years”.

In its draft budget for the 2021/22 financial year tabled the Water and Sanitation Department proposed that from July it will no longer install WMDs, and that those devices currently in service will be replaced by conventional meters with the latest metering technology.

The City has extended the public comment period to 3 May.

Mayco member for Water and Waste Xanthea Limberg said the current economic pressure on residents, urbanisation trends and the growth of backyard tenants, and increasingly crowded conditions in many communities were considered.

She said the City was proposing to adapt the domestic metering approach to provide a better balance between financial sustainability and ensuring vulnerable residents had adequate access to water.

STOP COCT’s Sandra Dickson said the tariff increases were devastating for cash-strapped consumers.

“The City’s budget grew by 12.7% from R50.1 bn to R56.48bn, and this was because of a major increase in bulk water purchases from R500 million to R2.5bn annually.

“This is alarming and either a mistake or the budget is deliberately inflated to justify the increase in tariffs,” she told the Cape Argus.

“The City is not budging on the public’s resistance to the water and electricity levies, but instead opted to increase them, though the much-hated WMD is scrapped,” she said.

The WMDs have been blamed for leaks which resulted in high bills.

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