The City of Johannesburg and City Manager Floyd Brink have been found in contempt of court, after a local business’s water was disconnected in contravention of an August ruling that stems from a dispute over a massive water bill dating back to 2022.
The Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg pronounced last week that Brink should be imprisoned for 30 days. This was suspended for a year, on condition that neither the City nor Johannesburg Water was found in contempt of the August ruling during the period of suspension.
The business flagged a query with the City, after its water bill went from R17 565.11 in December 2021 to R138 775.72 in January 2022.
Several emails were exchanged with the City, which kept giving the business reference numbers but did not address the billing issue.
On 15 August 2023, the High Court ordered the City and Johannesburg Water not to disconnect the property’s water, pending the outcome of an application to have the water bill corrected.
Both entities were prohibited from terminating or restricting business services or undertaking any more legal proceedings.
Two days later, Johannesburg Water disconnected the water supply.
Birch said it took ten days for the water to be reconnected.
The lack of water threatened the fire safety of the warehouse. The 107 employees had no access to sanitation, and some of the business’s functions were moved to another property.
In response to the contempt order, the City said it was committed to transparency and complying with the court order, and that it had reviewed the water bill, ‘leading to a significant credit adjustment reflected in the revised invoice dated 18 December 2023’.