The high court in Pretoria has granted the City of Tshwane’s application to attach Madibeng local municipality’s bank account to recoup R258m owed to it for bulk water services.

The judgment was delivered on Tuesday where the Tshwane metro’s application was unopposed. 

Tshwane filed the application after the municipality failed to honour payment arrangements made in August last year, which would result in it settling 60% of its debt and paying the rest in monthly instalments.

Tshwane mayor Randal Williams said the attachment of the bank account would enable the metro to recoup funds owed to it and this should help it to pay creditors such as Rand Water, from which the city gets its bulk water supply.

“At the time the agreement was entered into, Madibeng local municipality's debt stood at R243m,” said Williams.

He said as a punitive measure, Tshwane restricted water supply to the municipality by 50%, leading to residents experiencing water cuts.

This forced Madibeng it to enter into the payment agreement, which was not honoured.

“The Madibeng municipality has continuously failed to attend to its payment obligations and the city is taking a zero tolerance approach towards outstanding debtors,” he said.

“The city’s court application was aimed at enforcing the settlement of Madibeng local municipality's debt by attaching its bank account.”

Madibeng mayor Douglas Maimane told Sowetan on Tuesday that the municipality would reach out to the Tshwane metro to find an alternative solution.

“We intend to have a political engagement to find another solution to the matter,” he said.