Keeping one's head above the water . . .

GERT H MAASDORP WRITES:

I submit my own water meter readings punctually and painstakingly between the first to the seventh of every month.

I have noted however with dismay and very much distraught that the City of Windhoek also sends its own meter readers separately, like for instance on 18 June 2020, 10 July 2020, 17 July 2020, etc. This also happened many times before.

Most of the time their readers have the audacity to leave the cap of my water meter open – almost as if they want to provoke me.

Now there are two different water readings on two different dates – sometimes it happened even with a difference of twenty days in between. It makes it confusing to make an estimation, like on 2 March 2020 when my water consumption was recorded as seventeen (17) units, while my consumption usually vary between four to nine units every month.

During the total lockdown I sent my water reading online via my cellphone on 9 April 2020 at 12h24 (I followed their instructions exactly to the point). Immediately I received confirmation, which I still have. After the confirmation they decided in their own autocratic way to just reject it and instead use their own dubious estimation.

Any responsible house-owner keeps his/her water consumption to the absolute minimum. Most of the time every month I add an extra N$50 – N$100 as a top-up to the actual amount, just to round it off, despite my severe budgetary constraints. Why then the unnecessary and unusual fluctuations experienced on one’s bill?

Why is it that this CoW is using unnecessary and unappropriate dynamics to make things as complicated and confusing as possible?

They always play the blame game with lame excuses, for instance that they also need to verify water meter readings physically to be correct. Why would anybody with integrity be so stupid to deliberately provide wrong readings?

Every month consumers are throwing their hard earned money into a very deep and dark bottomless pit and yet still this municipality of Windhoek remained unchallenged and unaccountable.

I am a senior, law abiding citizen, staying for more than thirty years in Windhoek, and more than fifty percent of my monthly salary are going into these very deep coffers of the CoW. How many others who are in a far better financial position than me, still deliberately fail in settling their accounts and still continue to receive royal treatment?

As a retired teacher I had dedicated almost twenty eight years of my life to education and can proudly say that I helped to produce accountants, lawyers, doctors, teachers and many other professionals. I am also part of the highly responsible and respectable consumers who have contributed immensely to put these officials of the CoW in positions to drive flashy cars and occupy air-conditioned offices today.

It is thus my right as a consumer according to article 10 of the Constitution of Namibia in defending and protecting my assets and principles with all the means at one’s disposal.

Sometimes one wonders if there are not some elements of racial discrimination displayed against me.

An entity which do not have the means nor the willpower and capacity to address simple and straight forward complaints as requested and required is surely a doomed and a failed entity and destined for disaster. I must say with great disappointment that I have never experienced nor encountered in my entire life anything like this and the lack of any signs of remorse makes it even worse (refer to the letter "Is compensation too much to ask" published on 1 December 2020).