Umgungundlovu launches campaign amid mounting water bills

"We are sitting with an amount of over R600-million. Now, that's a very unhealthy situation. The bulk of that is water that is used by households." 

The municipality's Brian Zuma says many residents are just not paying for the water they use.   

He says Umgungundlovu spends R14-million a month to get the resource from Umgeni Water - and then distributes it to six smaller municipalities. 

Aging infrastructure doesn't help either. Zuma says their campaign will focus mostly on rural areas.

"I can tell you now - we do not collect more than 50% of the money that we have spent on a monthly basis in terms of the water that we supply," Zuma said. 

ALSO READ: uMgungundlovu urges residents to settle water bills

And he's appealed to residents to come forward so that a payment plan can be arranged for them. 

"The government has made provision for those that can't afford. They need to come forward and they will be registered - which means that they will be provided with a certain amount of water free of charge," he said.   

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