A top Cape Town official has committed to helping a 73-year-old woman who has been identified as one of the biggest water consumers in the city.
The pensioner from Manenberg on the Cape Flats has a leak on her property and cannot afford to fix it. Her water bill of R41‚000 has caused the poor woman sleepless nights.
Siyabulela Mamkeli‚ the mayoral committee member for Area Central‚ has visited Shirley Woolgar at her home in February and confirmed to Times Media that there was a leak on her property.
Mamkeli said a Water Management Device‚ which is able to dispense only a predetermined amount of water every day‚ will be installed at the modest home.
“The contractor will also inspect the property for leaks (excluding the geyser). All leaks inside and outside the property will be fixed by the contractor at no cost to the consumer‚” he said.
“Once the device is installed and set to 350lpd‚ the account will be sent for a write-off consideration.”
Mamkeli admitted that a “service order” for the installation of the device and leak repairs was created on March 9 and “sent to the contractor for urgent action”.
On Wednesday Woolgar said no one had fixed the leak on her property.
And the stress is too much for her to handle. She survives on an old-age government pension.
She claims officials visited her home in February to inform her that she topped the list of water users in the crime-infested suburb.
The City of Cape Town earlier released a list of streets with the largest water consumers. Manenberg Avenue‚ where Woolgar resides‚ was second on the list‚ with 655‚000 litres of water used in one month. Cape Town has been declared a disaster area due to the crippling drought.
City commits to helping Cape Town pensioner with sky-high water bill
A top Cape Town official has committed to helping a 73-year-old woman who has been identified as one of the biggest water consumers in the city.
The pensioner from Manenberg on the Cape Flats has a leak on her property and cannot afford to fix it. Her water bill of R41‚000 has caused the poor woman sleepless nights.
Siyabulela Mamkeli‚ the mayoral committee member for Area Central‚ has visited Shirley Woolgar at her home in February and confirmed to Times Media that there was a leak on her property.
Mamkeli said a Water Management Device‚ which is able to dispense only a predetermined amount of water every day‚ will be installed at the modest home.
“The contractor will also inspect the property for leaks (excluding the geyser). All leaks inside and outside the property will be fixed by the contractor at no cost to the consumer‚” he said.
“Once the device is installed and set to 350lpd‚ the account will be sent for a write-off consideration.”
Mamkeli admitted that a “service order” for the installation of the device and leak repairs was created on March 9 and “sent to the contractor for urgent action”.
On Wednesday Woolgar said no one had fixed the leak on her property.
And the stress is too much for her to handle. She survives on an old-age government pension.
She claims officials visited her home in February to inform her that she topped the list of water users in the crime-infested suburb.
The City of Cape Town earlier released a list of streets with the largest water consumers. Manenberg Avenue‚ where Woolgar resides‚ was second on the list‚ with 655‚000 litres of water used in one month. Cape Town has been declared a disaster area due to the crippling drought.
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