According to the Western Cape financial performance report of municipalities in the first quarter of the 2017/18 financial year‚ the city has billed ratepayers for R835-million‚ against its R642-million expenditure.
And as of July 1‚ the city had also stopped providing free water.
In addition‚ the city has seen a massive cut in water use by residents‚ amid tougher water restrictions.
Cape Town is not alone.
Three other Western Cape municipalities – Drakenstein‚ George and Stellenbosch – are also looking to collect a tidy sum from water.
Collectively‚ the municipalities have billed over R149-million‚ versus an expenditure of over R38-million.
This means that they are looking at a surplus of R111-million‚ should they collect all the billed amounts.
“There is a difference between billed and collection.
So even though the billed amount might seem excessive‚ the collection rate might indicate that we… didn’t collect that full [amount]‚” said Limberg.
Last year‚ the City’s collection rate was around 80%‚ but it had dropped following the introduction of Level 4 water restrictions.