The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape welcomes that a contractor is due to start installation of water meters in Renosterberg Local Municipality from Friday 23 August 2024.
Roughly 1 100 households in Thembinkosi and Greenpoint have no water meters at all, while some households in Uitsig share one water meter. Without water meters, it is practically impossible for the municipality to implement fair billing systems and to stem the tide of revenue losses in Renosterberg, which is one of the four municipalities in the Northern Cape in financial distress.
As a temporary measure, households may be asked to pay a minimal monthly flat rate until meters are installed. This could help to improve cashflow levels of the municipality, where services often suffer from poor financial management. Financial recovery plans implemented by the provincial government in prior years had not yet managed to secure sustainable improvements and the DA will be monitoring future developments with great interest.
We will also be submitting questions about the management of municipal revenue to the provincial government. For municipalities to flourish, administrations must implement reasonable billing systems and collect the revenue that is needed for adequate services to be delivered.