The installation of water restrictor devices for families using too much water in Nelson Mandela Bay has been suspended.
Executive Mayor Nqaba Bhanga says following feedback from residents, he realised that the Metro could do more to communicate and educate residents first.
In February, Bhanga told residents during a media briefing, that installing restrictor disks would form part of the city's short, medium and long term intervention plans to mitigate the ongoing drought.
The decision raised eyebrows as residents would have been held liable for the installation cost of R3 500.
Bhanga took to Twitter on Saturday to inform residents that he requested the City manager to halt the installations immediately.
The Metro initially wanted to fit the restrictors across the city as warnings to high water users fell on deaf ears.
Bhanga says plans to accelerate public awareness campaigns on reducing water usage will soon be underway.
The Metro says Nelson Mandela Bay is restricted by the Department of Water and Sanitation to extract only 268 million litres of water per day and currently the city is using about 300 million litres per day.
The Metro is currently losing 25% of its water through leaks.
Mayor Bhanga says his office identified the issue of water leaks as an urgent priority.
He says they have developed a dashboard to monitor the progress of fixing leaks as well as the turnaround time to respond.
Bhanga also requested to City Manager to suspend the blocking of electricity meters.
I have requested the Acting City Manager to suspend the installation of water restriction devices and the blocking of electricity meters. Not because these are not important measures... pic.twitter.com/DUaVm1NkWD
— Mayor Nqaba Bhanga (@nbhanga) March 13, 2021
