Municipality which fails to supply reliable water now charges people with boreholes R406.50 per month

The Mbombela Municipality is penalising residents who decided to meet their own water needs by imposing hefty levies on private boreholes.

This is surprising as the Mbombela Municipality has suffered from water supply and infrastructure challenges for years.

Many areas in the municipality suffer from prolonged dry taps, lasting months and, in some villages, even years.

GroundUp reported that rapid population growth in areas like Hazyview, Sand River, KaBokweni, and KaMajika has outpaced municipal planning.

Bulk infrastructure, treatment works, and storage reservoirs have lacked capacity upgrades for over a decade.

Several areas, such as Hazyview, White River, and Barberton, have been plagued by unreliable or nonexistent municipal water supplies for years.

In some areas, tap water is severely contaminated, while in others, water is delivered by tanker only once a week. Residents sometimes have to pay for it as well.

Due to the Municipality’s ongoing failure to provide a reliable water supply, many residents have drilled boreholes at their own expense to become self-sufficient.

Instead of welcoming this self-sufficiency, the Mbombela Municipality is levying monthly charges, which punish these residents.

• Residential properties: R406.50 per borehole
• Businesses: R877.12 per borehole
• Greenway Woods: R8,953.20 (more than one borehole)
• Pine Lake Inn: R6,688.15 (more than one borehole)

The latter two are popular tourism destinations near the Kruger National Park that are already under operational cost pressure.

“It is unacceptable that residents were not supplied with potable water and are then financially penalised for finding an alternative,” the Freedom Front Plus said.

The party submitted a motion to the Speaker, Morris Mazibane, requesting that these levies be reconsidered, drastically reduced, or scrapped altogether.