Stampriet grocer wins water fight

JANA-MARI SMITH

WINDHOEK



A High Court judge has found that the decision by the Stampriet village council to shut off the water supply to a grocery store owner for unpaid bills in January was illegal.

In February, Stampriet grocery store owner Hennie Martinus Theron dragged the village council to court after the taps in his store were shut off following a dispute over water bills arising from two years of water rationing at the town.

In an urgent application, Theron said the village council had implemented water rationing in Stampriet since June 2018, after NamWater reduced supply to the town due to high unpaid debt accumulated by the village council.

Theron argued that he would no longer pay his water bills, which had been paid in full at the time, as he worried about mismanagement of funds or ineffective debt collections at the village council. He indicated he would pay NamWater directly instead.



Supply restored

In February, Stampriet CEO Dino Kohima admitted that by January 2020, the village council owed NamWater N$2.9 million. On 4 February, Judge Collins Parker gave a temporary order that the water supply to Theron's shop should be restored with immediate effect until the case could be heard and finalised.

Incorrect

In his judgement, handed down late last month, Parker found that the village council's argument that it had the lawful right to disconnect water supply for unpaid bills was incorrect.

Parker underlined that according to the Local Authorities Act, limiting water supply or shutting supply off is only lawfully possible during a drought or other emergency, which was not the case in this matter.

He agreed with Theron's legal team that the credit and debtor control policy of the village council was never made into a bylaw.



Stubborn

Parker in his concluding remarks said Theron had on his part also acted unlawfully and unreasonably by insisting that he would only settle his water account with NamWater directly, with “which he has no contractual relationship”.

Parker said Theron had held “stubbornly to this unlawful and unreasonable position that he was entitled to settle the outstanding bills with NamWater”.

Apart from keeping the taps open, Parker also ruled that the village council should pay Theron's legal costs. Parker in his judgement underlined that the court's decision does not “whittle away” the village council's duty and power to collect payments from clients who are supplied with water and other utilities and services.



Debt

Kohima in court papers denied allegations of mismanagement of utility funds, and instead placed the blame squarely on the slack payment by residents.

“As a result, this has led to an enormous debt of N$7.5 million currently owed to the Stampriet village council.”