Water Disconnection Law South Africa

The law provides that a municipality must give the consumer and the owner of the property if the consumer of the services at the property is not the owner a minimum of 14 days written notice of termination of the supply of electricity and water.

Water disconnection law south africa. The municipality is legally obligated to give a notice to the person responsible for the account. Alongside the right to sufficient food health care services and social security the south african constitution includes the right to access sufficient water the duty to respect these rights is both negative and positive in nature. Recognizing that while water is a natural resource that belongs to all people the discriminatory laws and practices of the past have prevented equal access to water and use of water resources. The disconnection of their unlimited water supply at a fixed rate the installation of the pre paid water meters.

A minimum of 14 days written notice of termination is required for water and electricity accounts in arrears and if the notice period is shorter than 14 days or not supplied the disconnection is illegal. Thankfully michelle dickens the md of tpn and the chairperson of the cathkin peak south body corporate entrusted us with a test case that could cause a major mind shift in the way levy collections are done in south africa. Where the municipality does not provide business consumers with any free water it is lawful for a municipality to terminate the supply of water to a commercial property entirely for non payment of outstanding municipal debt provided that the municipality has followed all of the relevant laws relating to giving of notification of the disconnection and the resolution of any dispute in relation to the amount outstanding on the account before the disconnection takes place. We needed a solution to fast track these types of collection matters to ensure the health of the south african property industry.

Acknowledging the national government s overall responsibilityfor and authority over the nation s water resources and their use including the equitable allocation of. Twenty years after the promulgation of south africa s highly acclaimed national water act act 36 of 1998 evidence is emerging that its vision of redressing inequities from the past is not being achieved. In the case of south africa is the law living up to its ambitions.