“Like Paying Another Bond": Durban Woman's R6,200 Municipal Bill for Water and Electricity Stuns SA

• A Phoenix, Durban woman shared her monthly municipal bill on TikTok, revealing charges she says do not match her family's actual usage
• She described being turned away by the rent office after her water metre was stolen, with staff citing over 4,500 leaks in the area
• Viewers flooded her comments with their own shocking bill amounts, with some households reporting charges as high as R55,000

A Durban woman is asking hard questions about her municipal bill after her family of four received a statement totalling nearly R6,200 for water and electricity in Phoenix.

@rabiahamza786 posted the video on 14 August, filming herself inside a parked car and holding up her utility statement for viewers to see. The bill showed charges of roughly R2,000 each for water and electricity, on top of rates and other levies.

Her frustration centred on the water charge. She pointed out that she and her husband both work full days outside the home, and their two children are also out during school hours. Being billed close to R2,000 for water usage under those circumstances made no sense to her.

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Metre theft and 4,500 leaks

What deepened her anger was a recent experience at the rent office. After her water metre was stolen, she waited in a queue to report the problem and ask when someone would come to fix it. She said a municipal worker told her to hire her own plumber because there were more than 4,500 reported leaks across Phoenix, with roughly 10 on her street alone.

Her question to the municipality was direct: if the infrastructure is leaking throughout the area, are residents being billed for water they never used?

She also recalled being away from South Africa for the entire month of December, yet her bill for that period came to R4,700. When she returned in January and queried the amount, staff told her they could not explain it and referred her from one department to another until her next bill arrived before anything was resolved.

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Watch her full TikTok below:

Mzansi responds with their own bills

The comment section filled quickly with residents sharing similar experiences on her page:

@Mala Naidoo960 said:

"We paying for the people who get free water and lights."

@Reshmika 💖 wrote:

"Even the prepaid electricity price goes up twice a year. For R100 you get 24kw. Once a year I can understand but twice 🥲"

@🧿🔱MRS_KISHA_HEMRAJ🔱🧿 shared:

"My bill came to 55k this month 😳 and when we go to the office they say we can't do anything, you have to pay it or we going to cut the power off. Last month was 15k."

@Fathima Mahomed722 added:

"June was R5600 July R9300."

@Nivashnie commented:

"Girl imagine when we saw our bill at the end of July 😳 R14000 😤🙆‍♀️ plus we have 14 solar panels."

@Sky wrote:

"We are 2 people in a household and ours came to 7600, it's like paying another bond."

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@Shaz Shaik offered a tip:

"Try sending your reading every month and see if it makes a difference. Normally they estimate and you get billed so much based on the estimation."

More Briefly News stories on water and electricity

• South Africans reacted with outrage after a video highlighted the stark price difference between peak and off-peak electricity, with some calling the pricing system “legalised robbery.”
• A South African’s test revealed that running three oil-filled heaters could add around R840 to the monthly electricity bill, highlighting the steep cost of staying warm as power prices rise.
• A young South African girl impressed Mzansi by showing off her motor mechanic skills while confidently checking her car’s radiator water, leaving social media users praising her upbringing.

Source: Briefly News