All the municipalities facing water cuts over non-payment

The water department has published a list of all the municipalities that face being cut off from their water supplies if they do not pay outstanding debt amounting to over R10.7 billion by Friday, 8 December.

Water minister Nomvula Mokonyane last week sent out a notice to municipalities that her department would be invoking Section 216(2) of the Constitution of South Africa, which enables the National Treasury to withhold grant funding due to the persistent breach of the Municipal Finance Management Act.

In an attempt to try recover the outstanding debt, the department initiated stakeholder consultations in terms of the Inter-governmental Relations Act and it has also embarked on a legal process to recover this money, the department said.

“These processes were initiated as early as two years ago and to this end, six court judgments have been issued in favour of the Department. 59 Courts summons’ have also been issued and another 121 municipalities are involved in legal collection processes.

“Despite all these interventions, the water debt at municipal level continues to escalate,” the department said.

On Monday the department acknowledged that by cutting off the municipalities, households that were up to date with their payments would also be affected. However, this could not be helped, it said.

The municipalities, and how much they owe, are listed below:

Read: Water department to start cutting water supply to indebted municipalities