1
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,040
Speaker 1: Now, today's main topic revolves around a medical practice in

2
00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:09,240
Speaker 1: Grassy Park who's very consistent water usage suddenly escalated dramatically

3
00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:12,680
Speaker 1: almost overnight, or at least that's what their bill from

4
00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:14,960
Speaker 1: the City of Cape Town said. But the practice knew

5
00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:15,640
Speaker 1: that that was.

6
00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:16,160
Speaker 2: Not the case.

7
00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:18,720
Speaker 1: They knew they weren't doing anything different. There was no

8
00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:22,119
Speaker 1: reason from a consumption perspective, why that bill should have

9
00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:24,520
Speaker 1: gone up. And when they finally got proof that the

10
00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:28,440
Speaker 1: issue was in fact a faulty water meter, that wasn't

11
00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:29,520
Speaker 1: the end of their troubles.

12
00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:31,240
Speaker 2: When you won't you set the scene for us.

13
00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:34,280
Speaker 3: Yes, happily, Papa. So we're talking here about a multidisciplinary

14
00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:37,040
Speaker 3: medical practice in Grassy Park that has been there for

15
00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:40,159
Speaker 3: more than two decades and has twenty years of er

16
00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:45,640
Speaker 3: EATS bills, your consulated municipal bill on record to prove

17
00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:48,920
Speaker 3: that their water consumption has always been stable at around

18
00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:49,960
Speaker 3: four cularly to the month.

19
00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:50,800
Speaker 2: I've seen a few of them.

20
00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:55,280
Speaker 3: Some were three four in December twenty four went up

21
00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:59,639
Speaker 3: to five because there was you know, that was predictable.

22
00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:02,280
Speaker 3: But in that range, nobody's going to have exactly the

23
00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:03,440
Speaker 3: same every month.

24
00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:05,440
Speaker 2: So last year.

25
00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:07,760
Speaker 3: I think it was the September bill. We'll find out

26
00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:11,200
Speaker 3: for sure in a moment the bill or the consumption

27
00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:14,520
Speaker 3: that was reflected on the bill had left his sixty

28
00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:17,600
Speaker 3: three kilo liters from four to sixty three, so it's

29
00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:20,160
Speaker 3: fifteen times if my math is correct. So they knew

30
00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:24,240
Speaker 3: that something was absolutely wrong. So of course, what you do.

31
00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:29,040
Speaker 3: You contacted the municipality. They sent two or three separate

32
00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:31,400
Speaker 3: lots of technicians to come.

33
00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:31,760
Speaker 1: No.

34
00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:33,840
Speaker 3: Sorry, the first thing they always do is say, get

35
00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:36,480
Speaker 3: a plumber in check foot that's at your cost, check

36
00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:39,280
Speaker 3: for leak. So she did that or the practice did

37
00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:43,200
Speaker 3: that and paid him and no leak. So then the

38
00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:47,720
Speaker 3: city sent out two or three rounds of technicians to

39
00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:50,840
Speaker 3: come and check the water meter, and they said, no, no,

40
00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:56,800
Speaker 3: that's fine. Imagine sitting. They even dramatically reduced their consumption

41
00:01:57,080 --> 00:02:00,400
Speaker 3: I think down to I think maybe half of that

42
00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:05,040
Speaker 3: very high because they had to do something. But you know,

43
00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:09,360
Speaker 3: there was clearly something that wasn't adding up. So yeah,

44
00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:14,480
Speaker 3: Eventually they technicians found that the meter was in.

45
00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:17,120
Speaker 1: Fact okay, so this is important. So the first wave

46
00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:19,520
Speaker 1: of one or two teams said there's nothing wrong with

47
00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:19,959
Speaker 1: this meter.

48
00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:22,280
Speaker 3: But then in fact the city is saying there was

49
00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:24,280
Speaker 3: nothing wrong, But I mean, does that make sense?

50
00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:28,800
Speaker 1: Then finally the technicians find there is a fault and

51
00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:30,440
Speaker 1: they've replaced these compar In.

52
00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:32,959
Speaker 3: Mind, the meter was doing like a like a one

53
00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:39,600
Speaker 3: armed band at numbers, So clearly it's not the actual consumption.

54
00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:42,400
Speaker 3: This water wasn't actually being used flowing into the property.

55
00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:44,720
Speaker 3: It was the met that was doing its.

56
00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:46,320
Speaker 2: Own recording happening.

57
00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:48,960
Speaker 3: Yes, okay, so okay.

58
00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:51,680
Speaker 2: So snip Capton finds the faults, it places.

59
00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:53,640
Speaker 3: The meeting, and what do you know, the problem stops.

60
00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:57,680
Speaker 1: Yes, it goes back to four kil on average. Wendy,

61
00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:00,320
Speaker 1: All well and good for future readings, But but what

62
00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:02,400
Speaker 1: is at stake and the main thing here today is

63
00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:05,800
Speaker 1: what had happened in between, So no relief was offered

64
00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:08,320
Speaker 1: for those huge pills they'd been receiving in the insturgram.

65
00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:14,200
Speaker 3: Interestingly, the practice opted to only keep paying for what

66
00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:17,200
Speaker 3: their normal consumption would have been. Right. I'll talk about

67
00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:22,520
Speaker 3: that tactic towards the end. So they weren't paying for

68
00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:27,600
Speaker 3: the alleged higher consumption, and the city, even after fixing

69
00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:29,919
Speaker 3: the problem, or the meta got replaced and the problem

70
00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:33,119
Speaker 3: was fixed, they still wanted the ten or so thousand rand.

71
00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:35,840
Speaker 1: And for the higher consumption that they'd been.

72
00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:40,360
Speaker 3: And the demands became got to the extent and the

73
00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:45,080
Speaker 3: threat of taking from the prepaid electricity payments to settle

74
00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:48,760
Speaker 3: the thing, and the feed was being throttled, so they

75
00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:50,280
Speaker 3: paid their amount.

76
00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:52,440
Speaker 1: You can understand this, they're very good reasons in a

77
00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:54,560
Speaker 1: medical practice. Well, you have to have properly functional the

78
00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:57,640
Speaker 1: water from a hygiene perspective for one thing. So okay,

79
00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:00,680
Speaker 1: So that's the framework of what happened. Now, just manager

80
00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:03,240
Speaker 1: Shanas Musa is with us on the line to explain

81
00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:05,480
Speaker 1: in a little bit more detail what they went through here,

82
00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:08,640
Speaker 1: because what really aggrieved them was the injustice of this

83
00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:11,800
Speaker 1: that they were being asked and basically forced to pay

84
00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:14,480
Speaker 1: for water they didn't go, They hadn't consumed, and the

85
00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:17,159
Speaker 1: city knew they hadn't consumed because it had acknowledged the

86
00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:19,880
Speaker 1: fault and replaced the meter because it was faulty.

87
00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:22,560
Speaker 2: Shnas or the frustration and the injustice.

88
00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:25,680
Speaker 1: I can hear other listeners wanting to tear their hair

89
00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:27,919
Speaker 1: out as I am listening to the story. Thank you

90
00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:30,640
Speaker 1: for being willing to share your experience with us on Aeron,

91
00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:31,520
Speaker 1: Welcome to the show.

92
00:04:32,360 --> 00:04:34,000
Speaker 4: Thank you for having me, it's a pleasure.

93
00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:36,839
Speaker 1: When did this all start? Which months did that first

94
00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:39,960
Speaker 1: massive bill come in? And how long did it carry on?

95
00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:42,880
Speaker 4: Yeah, so I've got the first bill in August of

96
00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:46,800
Speaker 4: last year that showed the usage of sixty three kilo liters.

97
00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:49,280
Speaker 4: I almost fell off my chair because we normally use

98
00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:52,000
Speaker 4: about between three to five kilo liters on average, about

99
00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:56,000
Speaker 4: four kilo liters per month. So we went. I went

100
00:04:56,040 --> 00:05:01,520
Speaker 4: to the municipal office in Landsdown, and after awaiting, the

101
00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:05,560
Speaker 4: person who assisted me said, oh, there's nothing they can do.

102
00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:07,760
Speaker 4: We're going to have to get a plumber to come

103
00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:10,760
Speaker 4: out because there is a leak on the premises. So

104
00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:13,760
Speaker 4: we went out. We got a plumber who came and

105
00:05:13,839 --> 00:05:15,880
Speaker 4: had a good look and said there is no leak

106
00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:19,320
Speaker 4: on the premises. So I had to go back another

107
00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:22,520
Speaker 4: day to tell them there is no leak. So back

108
00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:25,640
Speaker 4: and forth and back and forth. Three inspectors came out,

109
00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:27,760
Speaker 4: and each of them said that there is nothing wrong

110
00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:31,800
Speaker 4: with the meta. But we had to do some more investigating,

111
00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:34,440
Speaker 4: you know, at the practice, because this was obviously not

112
00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:37,680
Speaker 4: true because there's something wrong somewhere. There's no leak, and

113
00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:40,040
Speaker 4: I'm getting such a high bill. What's the problem was

114
00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:42,359
Speaker 4: somebody stealing my water, and I know there was nobody

115
00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:46,200
Speaker 4: stealing my water, so we kind of had to guy

116
00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:50,240
Speaker 4: us some investigations. So what we did was we opened

117
00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:52,160
Speaker 4: the tap, and when we opened the tap, we saw

118
00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:56,359
Speaker 4: that instead of the meter picking slowly, it was doing

119
00:05:56,480 --> 00:06:00,320
Speaker 4: like a marathon, like a fast run. Okay, and that's

120
00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:03,240
Speaker 4: where and that's said the numbers were clocking up. So

121
00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:07,480
Speaker 4: we recorded it, and we recorded a normal meter from

122
00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:09,160
Speaker 4: my home, and we took it back to.

123
00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:12,120
Speaker 3: Investigation as well done.

124
00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:17,000
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, thank you. Actually, my practice manager's idea that

125
00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:18,760
Speaker 4: that look, really we have to get to the bottom

126
00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:22,159
Speaker 4: of this because the council is not budging. So eventually

127
00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:24,159
Speaker 4: we took it back to them. We showed them the

128
00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:26,800
Speaker 4: videos and they said, oh wow, that looks like it's faulty,

129
00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:32,240
Speaker 4: but they can't help us, so they had to escalate

130
00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:36,400
Speaker 4: it and back and forth another few times to counsel,

131
00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:41,080
Speaker 4: and we still were getting these high bows that we

132
00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:43,520
Speaker 4: needed to pay, and I said, look, we know it's

133
00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:47,119
Speaker 4: not it's not our usage, so we opted to pay

134
00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:51,520
Speaker 4: just what we would normally pay. Then a couple of

135
00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:55,560
Speaker 4: months later, I get this nasty letter to state that

136
00:06:55,839 --> 00:06:58,320
Speaker 4: we are in erears and it's going to come out

137
00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:03,240
Speaker 4: of our election city purchases or they will restrict the

138
00:07:03,279 --> 00:07:07,120
Speaker 4: flow severely. Now, having said all of this, in this

139
00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:09,200
Speaker 4: time when you know, when we didn't know what was

140
00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:12,720
Speaker 4: going on, we actually at some point we actually needed

141
00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:17,200
Speaker 4: to close down our bathroom and use our Jojo tank

142
00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:21,120
Speaker 4: which we had as an emergency because we didn't want

143
00:07:21,160 --> 00:07:25,080
Speaker 4: to run up that meter further. And then, you know,

144
00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:28,600
Speaker 4: it's a medical practice, you can't be you you need

145
00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:31,600
Speaker 4: fresh water. You know, you need to have water to drink.

146
00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:35,040
Speaker 4: It was really really impacting on our service delivery to

147
00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:39,520
Speaker 4: our patients and to the community. It was really frustrating.

148
00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:42,080
Speaker 4: At some point I even thought, sure, so I need

149
00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:46,520
Speaker 4: to now to be close down my practice and say, look,

150
00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:49,280
Speaker 4: we can't function like this because we don't have clean

151
00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:53,880
Speaker 4: drinking water that's coming in fresh every day. So anyway,

152
00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:57,400
Speaker 4: when I got this final this demand letter now for

153
00:07:57,560 --> 00:08:03,320
Speaker 4: ten seven hundred rand to pay or else they're going

154
00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:07,240
Speaker 4: to throttle our flow, it was really really a big

155
00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:09,320
Speaker 4: wake up. And so I went back to the council

156
00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:12,840
Speaker 4: and they couldn't do anything. And then finally I said,

157
00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:14,440
Speaker 4: you know what I have to I have to email

158
00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:17,240
Speaker 4: rendy because she's gonna she's going to be able to

159
00:08:17,480 --> 00:08:20,200
Speaker 4: guide us somehow, And I'm so glad I did, because

160
00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:24,120
Speaker 4: after you've intervened, they came back with a letter stating

161
00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:28,000
Speaker 4: that it will be credited. You know, the amount that

162
00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:30,360
Speaker 4: I paid would be credited. But having said that, I

163
00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:34,360
Speaker 4: got another email yesterday saying that I'm still liable, which

164
00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:35,120
Speaker 4: affwarded to you.

165
00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:36,080
Speaker 2: I didn't see it.

166
00:08:36,160 --> 00:08:40,920
Speaker 4: Sorry, yeah, yeah, So obviously there's no communication in the council.

167
00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:45,920
Speaker 4: Nobody at service delivery level who's dealing with public know

168
00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:49,400
Speaker 4: what to do. I even tried to call our ward counselor.

169
00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:53,280
Speaker 4: I sent him a WhatsApp. Eventually I stopped getting response

170
00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:56,680
Speaker 4: from him. No reply from there, I thought to go to.

171
00:08:56,920 --> 00:08:59,280
Speaker 4: I even put other status on my WhatsApp. Is anybody

172
00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:01,600
Speaker 4: able to help me? From you know, from my patients

173
00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:04,040
Speaker 4: or from the communities who are reading my whitesaff status.

174
00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:06,680
Speaker 4: One or two of them from some political parties did

175
00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:09,520
Speaker 4: try and assist, but again it was we were.

176
00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:13,400
Speaker 3: Just we were just so I'm sorry I missed your

177
00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:16,440
Speaker 3: EMIL yesterday. I will definitely forward it and say I

178
00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:18,280
Speaker 3: think it's just a one hand not knowing what the

179
00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:21,000
Speaker 3: other is doing type of situation because I have a

180
00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:24,199
Speaker 3: formal statement which I'm going to share shortly that says

181
00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:26,040
Speaker 3: just that, shall we we.

182
00:09:25,720 --> 00:09:27,400
Speaker 2: Even time for there? We've got about a minutes and

183
00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:29,840
Speaker 2: a half before the news. When did you think we think?

184
00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:29,960
Speaker 1: So?

185
00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:31,160
Speaker 2: Okay, let's let's hear what.

186
00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:34,200
Speaker 3: The first response, because there were two? Okay. So I

187
00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:36,200
Speaker 3: took this up with the city's media department, and I

188
00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:39,200
Speaker 3: got a response from Zahid wudrad Den, the city's mayor

189
00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:41,840
Speaker 3: committee member for water in a Sanitation, who said initial

190
00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:45,199
Speaker 3: assessments found no DEFICX on the meter and an adjustment

191
00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:47,600
Speaker 3: could not be made at that stage. However, November of

192
00:09:47,640 --> 00:09:50,880
Speaker 3: twenty twenty five, the meat was confirmed to be faulty

193
00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:55,559
Speaker 3: and it was subsequently replaced. The adjustment has been processed

194
00:09:57,280 --> 00:10:00,800
Speaker 3: on the customer's account for period twenty two July twenty

195
00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:03,400
Speaker 3: five to twenty four November twenty twenty five. The city

196
00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:06,480
Speaker 3: apologizes for any inconvenience cause so you just have to

197
00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:09,120
Speaker 3: show that to the it is demanding the money now

198
00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:11,360
Speaker 3: chanas But yeah, yeah, but when you.

199
00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:12,959
Speaker 2: Can send that to you in writing, I mean it's

200
00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:15,920
Speaker 2: in black. There wasn't, but there was.

201
00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:18,760
Speaker 3: I had a follow up because there was a query,

202
00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:20,400
Speaker 3: because there were still more questions that we can get

203
00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:20,880
Speaker 3: to that, and we.

204
00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:22,760
Speaker 1: Will get to the follow up after the eyewitness news,

205
00:10:22,800 --> 00:10:24,560
Speaker 1: but just while we still got Chana's with us. I mean,

206
00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:29,440
Speaker 1: Channa's hugely frustrating and obviously literally threatening the business of

207
00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:33,400
Speaker 1: the practice in its impact on your availability of fresh

208
00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:36,280
Speaker 1: clean water. But I mean, what I want to just

209
00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:38,880
Speaker 1: applaud you for doing is the level of research and

210
00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:42,240
Speaker 1: effort you put into proving what was happening.

211
00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:43,439
Speaker 2: I mean those videos that.

212
00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:45,800
Speaker 1: You need to tell me that earlier twenty news, I

213
00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:49,319
Speaker 1: mean twenty years worth of data to say to them,

214
00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:53,079
Speaker 1: it's obvious that there is something wrong here. It's very

215
00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:55,680
Speaker 1: frustrating that it took running to the media to get

216
00:10:55,720 --> 00:10:58,200
Speaker 1: somebody to act on it. But well done to you

217
00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:01,640
Speaker 1: for persevering and not take this lying down. I mean,

218
00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:06,000
Speaker 1: Na's hopefully by the time, yeah, yeah, we can wrap

219
00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:08,400
Speaker 1: up the show today and send you that latest correspondence

220
00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:09,920
Speaker 1: and hopefully that will be enough to put it to

221
00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:11,520
Speaker 1: bed once and for all.

222
00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:13,320
Speaker 2: But but I mean.

223
00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:15,280
Speaker 1: Do you now live in in fair every time you

224
00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:17,440
Speaker 1: see that ratesful arriving in your inbox?

225
00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:21,120
Speaker 4: I am? I am, because I don't know what to expect,

226
00:11:21,679 --> 00:11:24,200
Speaker 4: but I know now that you know, the meter has

227
00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:26,800
Speaker 4: been changed, and hopefully it's going to be a good

228
00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:29,480
Speaker 4: batch of meters because I'm told and from some people

229
00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:31,920
Speaker 4: I've spoken to, that there were a lot of people

230
00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:35,760
Speaker 4: who were having weird water bows. So I don't know

231
00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:39,160
Speaker 4: what kind of quality control these new meters that were

232
00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:43,480
Speaker 4: implemented after our water restrictions, and uh, you know, honestly,

233
00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:46,160
Speaker 4: I don't know, but it's going to be something that

234
00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:49,200
Speaker 4: I think only time will tell. Uh, But you know,

235
00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:53,400
Speaker 4: I mean I was advised to come and speak to Wendy,

236
00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:55,800
Speaker 4: you know, to email you, Wendy. But what about everybody

237
00:11:55,800 --> 00:11:57,760
Speaker 4: else out there who doesn't number one, have the time

238
00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:00,720
Speaker 4: to keep running to a municipal office, who doesn't have

239
00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:04,199
Speaker 4: the backup of staff and family members to assist in

240
00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:08,360
Speaker 4: sorting out drama like this, and that you don't have

241
00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:13,439
Speaker 4: any funds to pay in you know, imagine having your

242
00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:16,760
Speaker 4: water restricted. And in fact, mine was actually restricted for

243
00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:19,200
Speaker 4: about a week. I didn't mention that on the email,

244
00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:21,920
Speaker 4: but it was restricted where it would take about like

245
00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:25,480
Speaker 4: three minutes to fill a cup of water, you know,

246
00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:29,360
Speaker 4: because that's how slow the flow was. And yeah, as

247
00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:31,920
Speaker 4: you said, it really frustrating, it's really scady.

248
00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:34,640
Speaker 1: Yeah, Sanas, I'm so sorry you went through this, but

249
00:12:34,679 --> 00:12:37,880
Speaker 1: thank you so much for firstly raising awareness of the

250
00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:40,160
Speaker 1: fact that this is something that needs to be considered.

251
00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:43,440
Speaker 1: Secondly for joining us on the show to relate the experience,

252
00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:46,640
Speaker 1: and hopefully this is the end of Shanaz's spilling crisis.

253
00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:49,880
Speaker 1: After the Eye this news, we will answer the question

254
00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:52,040
Speaker 1: several people are asking what do we do if this

255
00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:54,959
Speaker 1: happens to us, and in several cases a number of

256
00:12:54,960 --> 00:12:55,680
Speaker 1: people saying.

257
00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:56,760
Speaker 2: It has happened to me too.

258
00:12:56,800 --> 00:12:59,600
Speaker 1: So we'll share some of that WhatsApp correspondence after we've

259
00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:03,720
Speaker 1: heard the Eye Witness news headlines. Lunch with Pippa Hudson

260
00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:08,360
Speaker 1: on KREP Talk Join the conversation. Okay, we are back

261
00:13:08,400 --> 00:13:11,160
Speaker 1: to the conversation about the water meter and Wendy. Three

262
00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:13,920
Speaker 1: or four people messaging during the news to say hashtag

263
00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:17,480
Speaker 1: me too, armand sang I also recently received a twenty

264
00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:20,600
Speaker 1: five thousand rand bill. It has taken more than six

265
00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:25,040
Speaker 1: months to try and get it corrected. In his case,

266
00:13:25,720 --> 00:13:28,000
Speaker 1: Jill saying the same thing happened to me a few

267
00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:31,440
Speaker 1: years ago. Bruce saying I have also had this issue

268
00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:35,040
Speaker 1: of water consumption suddenly shooting up to seventy three kilometers

269
00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:38,760
Speaker 1: in their case, and Bruce killo literas, sorry, did I

270
00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:40,960
Speaker 1: say kilometers kill e liters?

271
00:13:41,160 --> 00:13:44,439
Speaker 2: And his comment is around the meters themselves.

272
00:13:44,440 --> 00:13:46,640
Speaker 1: He says, I really have a query about the water

273
00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:50,319
Speaker 1: meters that are being affected by air in the pipelines.

274
00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:53,040
Speaker 1: He says, work being done on the pipelines, et cetera.

275
00:13:53,080 --> 00:13:56,240
Speaker 1: We've had several people writing in previously about pressure changes

276
00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:01,199
Speaker 1: coinciding with work being done and of pipes, et cetera.

277
00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:04,600
Speaker 1: And he says, you only have to blow into a

278
00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:06,959
Speaker 1: water meter to see how fast it shoots up.

279
00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:09,600
Speaker 2: To see this, He.

280
00:14:09,559 --> 00:14:11,760
Speaker 1: Says, we only have three people in our home. We

281
00:14:11,840 --> 00:14:14,880
Speaker 1: have a borehole for the garden. Seventy three killer liters

282
00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:19,040
Speaker 1: is impossible, especially when we are without water for several days.

283
00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:21,920
Speaker 2: So what steps should we take? Is his question.

284
00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:23,800
Speaker 1: And that's why I've read it in full, because we're

285
00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:26,040
Speaker 1: going to talk about the steps to take in just

286
00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:29,480
Speaker 1: a moment. Okay, so again in fairness, because a few

287
00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:30,920
Speaker 1: people saying, how do you know it's not a leak?

288
00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:33,000
Speaker 1: So the first step is always it is on you

289
00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:34,760
Speaker 1: to get a plumber onto the property to check that

290
00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:37,800
Speaker 1: there isn't a leak, and unfortunately that is the first

291
00:14:37,840 --> 00:14:39,840
Speaker 1: step that is asked of you, and it's at your

292
00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:44,440
Speaker 1: cost if that lead is on your side of the connection.

293
00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:47,240
Speaker 3: Yes there is. I just want to have a personal experience.

294
00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:49,720
Speaker 3: When I was still living years ago in Durban, my

295
00:14:49,960 --> 00:14:51,920
Speaker 3: bill shot up to from I don't know what it

296
00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:54,080
Speaker 3: was at the time for water, but shot up to

297
00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:57,840
Speaker 3: over twenty thousand. And it turned out that the municipality

298
00:14:57,880 --> 00:14:59,960
Speaker 3: set is an underground leak or it's a faulty meat

299
00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:02,600
Speaker 3: the one thing they didn't suggest, which is what it

300
00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:04,600
Speaker 3: turned out to be. And I had to also do

301
00:15:04,640 --> 00:15:06,640
Speaker 3: some forensics with the hub of my plumber. It was

302
00:15:06,680 --> 00:15:10,800
Speaker 3: a faulty meter reader and transposed because the number the

303
00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:13,440
Speaker 3: reading that they're based that really high bill on the

304
00:15:13,520 --> 00:15:15,960
Speaker 3: meter hadn't actually reached that number yet, so it was

305
00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:19,520
Speaker 3: quite easy to prove. But here's the thing I want

306
00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:23,040
Speaker 3: to mention is that I have been a consumer journalist

307
00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:25,920
Speaker 3: knowing how these things worked. I found the money and

308
00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:28,520
Speaker 3: I paid, and then I fought, and then it was

309
00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:31,840
Speaker 3: credited to the bill. So I would always whether it's

310
00:15:31,880 --> 00:15:35,080
Speaker 3: the municipality or any other company, it's counterintuitive and it

311
00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:39,080
Speaker 3: doesn't feel fair, but it really is the best thing

312
00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:41,560
Speaker 3: to do is unless it's a ridiculous figure that you

313
00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:44,240
Speaker 3: couldn't possibly like. Sometimes these bills are five hundred thousand

314
00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:46,160
Speaker 3: rand and obviously you can't do it in that case.

315
00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:49,400
Speaker 3: But if you can pay the amount and then fight

316
00:15:49,440 --> 00:15:52,640
Speaker 3: from a position of strength afterwards, then come. You know,

317
00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:55,160
Speaker 3: if you can't do it internally, come to somebody like me,

318
00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:59,000
Speaker 3: go to your counselor whatever. But I would say generally

319
00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:01,760
Speaker 3: it's a better idea to pay up and then find

320
00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:02,720
Speaker 3: keep yourself on the.

321
00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:05,120
Speaker 1: Right side of the law and do what is required

322
00:16:05,120 --> 00:16:05,440
Speaker 1: of use.

323
00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:06,400
Speaker 2: And it gets.

324
00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:08,360
Speaker 3: Complicated when it goes into you know, you start going

325
00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:12,600
Speaker 3: to the collections department. I think that's what's happened with Shanas,

326
00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:16,680
Speaker 3: that there's been a resolution, but you know there's another department.

327
00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:19,320
Speaker 1: That's Yeah, the message has trickled through to people the

328
00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:23,080
Speaker 1: memo yes, okay, fair enough. So I mean in the end,

329
00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:26,240
Speaker 1: chanas we have it in black and white from the

330
00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:28,840
Speaker 1: hit bud Raddine that there was an error that concede

331
00:16:28,880 --> 00:16:31,200
Speaker 1: the meter was all see that concede, it's been replaced

332
00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:33,280
Speaker 1: and that Chana should not have to pay that bill,

333
00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:36,320
Speaker 1: So it is going to be resolved, But of course

334
00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:38,640
Speaker 1: it leaves the question what does everybody else do if

335
00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:41,600
Speaker 1: you find yourself in this scenario. So when you did

336
00:16:41,640 --> 00:16:44,120
Speaker 1: put this to to the hit buddy, I just said,

337
00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:47,280
Speaker 1: you know, Chana's only got the resolution because she came

338
00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:51,160
Speaker 1: to you asking for help, getting media intervention. Obviously that's

339
00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:53,880
Speaker 1: not the way it should be done. That's not what

340
00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:54,680
Speaker 1: I have to happen.

341
00:16:54,800 --> 00:16:58,440
Speaker 3: So my question was, is there a second level escalation,

342
00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:00,920
Speaker 3: a sort of internal escalation and within the City of

343
00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:05,040
Speaker 3: Cape Ton that people in Channa's situation and many others,

344
00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:08,560
Speaker 3: if our listeners responses and anything to go about, can

345
00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:09,000
Speaker 3: do so.

346
00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:09,600
Speaker 1: Yes.

347
00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:14,280
Speaker 3: The answer was formal written campaigns can be sent to

348
00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:16,560
Speaker 3: the office of the city's Ombudsman, which is I mean,

349
00:17:16,560 --> 00:17:18,480
Speaker 3: this will all be available online if you just google

350
00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:22,200
Speaker 3: city almost been it's ombud direct one word at Capetown

351
00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:25,919
Speaker 3: dot gov dot ZDA, and then customers can also larger

352
00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:30,320
Speaker 3: Section sixty two appeal within twenty one days of that outcome.

353
00:17:30,600 --> 00:17:34,359
Speaker 3: The email address is MISA dot appeals at cape Ton

354
00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:37,560
Speaker 3: dot CoV. That'll obviously be available online.

355
00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:41,560
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, so that's interesting And as far as you know,

356
00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:43,520
Speaker 1: did Channas try any of those approaches?

357
00:17:43,560 --> 00:17:44,720
Speaker 2: Did she even know?

358
00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:45,000
Speaker 1: Was?

359
00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:46,600
Speaker 2: She told? I don't think so.

360
00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:49,080
Speaker 3: I don't think so. There was another line of questions

361
00:17:49,080 --> 00:17:53,359
Speaker 3: because I pushed further, how is it that she was

362
00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:55,639
Speaker 3: still made to pay when she could prove, you know,

363
00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:59,440
Speaker 3: her bill before faulty meter was replaced, lower normal bill

364
00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:02,640
Speaker 3: after replaced, And he gave me a very complicated answer

365
00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:06,600
Speaker 3: that November twenty four bill and November twenty five bill

366
00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:09,399
Speaker 3: was the same. Well that could have been after the

367
00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:11,919
Speaker 3: meeting was replaced. I'm not sure, but I've seen all

368
00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:14,840
Speaker 3: the bills. The evidence is clear to me. So it

369
00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:18,520
Speaker 3: was a very odd case, but ultimately sorted out. And

370
00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:21,399
Speaker 3: let's hope that she's able to say to the people

371
00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:24,040
Speaker 3: demanding money from her, looks, here's.

372
00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:25,920
Speaker 2: The statement from your own head of departments.

373
00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:28,840
Speaker 1: Yeah, and here's the podcast listen to if you didn't

374
00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:33,639
Speaker 1: catch it, and so very helpful advice in from Louis.

375
00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:35,600
Speaker 1: Thank you for those of me saying for if, for example,

376
00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:37,919
Speaker 1: you did receive the five hundred thousand round bill, that

377
00:18:38,040 --> 00:18:41,479
Speaker 1: is just completely it's impossible to pay and then try

378
00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:44,560
Speaker 1: and rectify retrospectively. Louis writing in to say in the

379
00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:48,160
Speaker 1: event of a sudden, catastrophically high water ball, consumers should

380
00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:50,680
Speaker 1: insist on what is called a Dunning lock, which is

381
00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:54,280
Speaker 1: an SAP system term. It prevents City of Cape Town

382
00:18:54,359 --> 00:18:58,120
Speaker 1: from summarily adding chargers, interest and the like. Louis says,

383
00:18:58,160 --> 00:18:59,760
Speaker 1: I struggled for the better part of a year with

384
00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:03,919
Speaker 1: the leak under my driveway, and despite my representations and protestations,

385
00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:07,400
Speaker 1: the charges simply kept on being added, to the extent

386
00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:10,960
Speaker 1: that they started taking ninety percent of my electricity purchases

387
00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:13,919
Speaker 1: to allocate to water arears, which does happen. The dunning

388
00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:17,080
Speaker 1: lock prevents this situation until the resolution is reached. And

389
00:19:17,359 --> 00:19:19,280
Speaker 1: thank you, Louis. I did a quick check just to

390
00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:21,960
Speaker 1: to verify that. And indeed, a dunning lock is a

391
00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:24,080
Speaker 1: kind of a hold that is placed on a property

392
00:19:24,119 --> 00:19:27,560
Speaker 1: with outstanding value disputes, which is only lifted once the

393
00:19:27,600 --> 00:19:30,159
Speaker 1: dispute decision has been sent to the revenue office to

394
00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:33,040
Speaker 1: be adjudicated. So this note, the city didn't tell you

395
00:19:33,080 --> 00:19:36,000
Speaker 1: about that. Yes, interesting that they don't make that widely known.

396
00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:38,720
Speaker 1: So Louis, thank you for tipping us off on that one. Okay,

397
00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:42,240
Speaker 1: so again, you know, do your due diligence from your

398
00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:44,920
Speaker 1: part to make sure because it is possible, and I'm

399
00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:47,920
Speaker 1: going to you know that the cause we had this recently,

400
00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:50,399
Speaker 1: I received a huge water ball towards the end of

401
00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:52,359
Speaker 1: last year and it turned out to be a leak

402
00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:54,640
Speaker 1: on our side, which we got a plumber inter fix

403
00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:56,960
Speaker 1: and had to settle the ball and take that one

404
00:19:57,000 --> 00:19:57,400
Speaker 1: on the chin.

405
00:19:58,119 --> 00:19:59,359
Speaker 2: So you do that check first.

406
00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:01,600
Speaker 1: But if you convinced that it is not a leak

407
00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:03,720
Speaker 1: and that the problem might be the water meter, the

408
00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:07,160
Speaker 1: wa water read, all the water reader, then obviously take

409
00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:09,040
Speaker 1: it further. And if you're not getting any joy, do

410
00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:14,040
Speaker 1: consider approaching the city ombitsman and it's ombards direct at

411
00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:16,880
Speaker 1: Cape Town dot gov dot z and then a dunning

412
00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:20,399
Speaker 1: locke du nni n G. Thank you Louis that is

413
00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:23,160
Speaker 1: the term that you are looking for. Yeah. Llewellyns saying

414
00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:25,320
Speaker 1: I had the same experience a few years back, had

415
00:20:25,359 --> 00:20:28,480
Speaker 1: to make arrangements for five five hundred round, which was

416
00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:30,200
Speaker 1: a terrible experience for me as a pensioner.

417
00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:32,439
Speaker 2: Is his comment here You can just imagine. Can I

418
00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:33,120
Speaker 2: read one.

419
00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:36,560
Speaker 3: More from ethel He says my story is even worse

420
00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:40,080
Speaker 3: since twenty fourteen, the city was erroneously billing my family

421
00:20:40,119 --> 00:20:43,640
Speaker 3: trust for electricity which it alleged was consumed at its property,

422
00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:47,040
Speaker 3: the trust's property. Last year the city admitted that it

423
00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:50,480
Speaker 3: had in fact been reading the wrong meter and incorrectly

424
00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:53,160
Speaker 3: billing the trust for eleven years. But now they apply

425
00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:56,760
Speaker 3: that the law of prescription. It refunded what appears to

426
00:20:56,840 --> 00:20:59,320
Speaker 3: be the last three years worth of invoices, but refused

427
00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:01,840
Speaker 3: to repay their of a mouth which is collected unlawfully.

428
00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:04,320
Speaker 3: There is that prescription thing. It applies to as as well.

429
00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:07,520
Speaker 3: You know, if you've owed amount for a very long

430
00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:08,880
Speaker 3: time and.

431
00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:10,760
Speaker 2: You've not conceded that last three year.

432
00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:15,280
Speaker 3: If you haven't conceded or paid, then it's written. If

433
00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:16,919
Speaker 3: you don't legally have to pay it. It sort of

434
00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:20,439
Speaker 3: swings in roundabout, but I would be absolutely livid.

435
00:21:20,760 --> 00:21:23,600
Speaker 1: Leavid is the word that springs too nice? Yeah, okay,

436
00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:24,000
Speaker 1: thank you.

437
00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:24,920
Speaker 3: Right.

438
00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:27,240
Speaker 1: We're going to leave the water issue there for now,

439
00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:29,720
Speaker 1: unless we get follow up questions or comments on the

440
00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:33,720
Speaker 1: WhatsApp line and dive into some open line queries and warnings,

441
00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:36,280
Speaker 1: et cetera. You are welcome to send a WhatsApp through

442
00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:40,160
Speaker 1: to seven two five six seven one five six seven

443
00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:42,080
Speaker 1: if you would like to ask a question or raise

444
00:21:42,119 --> 00:21:45,000
Speaker 1: a new topic. We'll come back with a positive email

445
00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:46,280
Speaker 1: in from Mike after this