City water bills inflated

ETHEKWINI residents have demanded accountability from the eThekwini Municipality's management after discovering a technical glitch that led to billing discrepancies.

- ZAINUL DAWOOD

The municipality's annual tariff increase for residential water usage in the 2025/26 financial year was supposed to be 13%, down from the initial proposal of 15%, and the water tariff rate for businesses was reduced from 16% to 14%.

Similarly, the sanitation tariff for residential increases was reduced from a proposed 13% to 11%, and for business, 14% to 12%.

However, on Tuesday, Asad Gaffar, the chairperson of the Ethekwini Ratepayers Protest Movement (ERPM) issued a statement stating that residents of eThekwini were billed incorrectly. The ERPM claimed that the municipality had implemented a 15% water increase, instead of the council-approved 13%.

In response, the municipality said they were in the final stages of implementing the approved tariff adjustments for the 2025/26 financial year.

“These changes will be reflected in the second billing cycle, scheduled for 20 August 2025. During the first billing cycle, a technical issue led to some discrepancies between the approved tariffs and those reflected on some accounts,” the municipality stated.