R3.4bn water debt puts Matlosana at risk of supply cuts

Staff Writer / Sat, 10 October 2026

A R3.4 billion water debt has put the City of Matlosana Municipality in North West at risk of water supply cuts, with Midvaal Water Board threatening to turn off the taps if the municipality fails to honour its payment commitments.

The warning comes amid a dispute over the outstanding amount, with the water board accusing the municipality of repeatedly failing to meet payment promises, while the city disputes the calculations and wants the accounts reconciled.

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Midvaal Water Board chief executive officer Matshidisho Dikoko said the municipality had promised to pay R50 million but had only paid R5 million.

He said the debt had increased from about R1.5 billion to R3.4 billion over the past few years.

“They will make all the promises that they are going to pay but unfortunately they don’t meet the commitments that they have done,” Dikoko said.

He also claimed that about 70% of the water supplied to the municipality was unaccounted for, partly because of leaking infrastructure.

Dikoko warned that if the municipality failed to resolve the matter by 4 or 5 November, he would demand payment arrangements for both its current account and outstanding debt.

“If nothing is going to happen, the Water Services Act gives a right to close. I am not going to reduce, I am going to close the water. I am going to shed the water,” he said.

However, the municipality’s provincial representative, Dr Moatlhodi Dilotsotlhe, disputed the water board’s account, saying the city wanted to reconcile the figures rather than allow the dispute to escalate.

“We don’t want the public to be thinking that there is a fight. There isn’t a fight at all. We are coming together and fixing where maybe in the past we did not step in the right direction,” he said.

Dilotsotlhe said the municipality had conducted a 10-year reconciliation of payments made between 2015 and 2025 and disputed the water board’s debt calculations.

He said the city was also questioning about R876 million in interest charges and had approached the Mahikeng High Court to oppose an application to enforce an acknowledgement of debt.

Responding to the R5 million payment, Dilotsotlhe said the municipality would rectify the shortfall but maintained that the accounts needed further reconciliation.

“We cannot just pay without necessarily reconciling the payments that we are making,” he said.

Meanwhile, a Midvaal official said one private hospital and one public hospital had approached the water board for direct water supply because the threat of cuts could affect hospital operations, including surgery.

However, the official said direct supply was not possible under the current arrangements.

The dispute comes as the national Department of Water and Sanitation consults stakeholders on a framework aimed at improving water-service delivery and regulatory compliance.

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