Emfuleni Municipality's deal with Rand Water results in R660m payment towards outstanding debt

Alpha Ramushwana
20 August 2025 | 11:02Previously, Rand Water attached the municipality’s bank accounts after it failed to settle its R1.7 billion bill.
Picture: Pixabay.com
JOHANNESBURG - The embattled Emfuleni Local Municipality has struck a deal with Rand Water, resulting in a payment of R660 million towards its outstanding debt.
Previously, Rand Water attached the municipality’s bank accounts after it failed to settle its R1.7 billion bill.
As a result of the attachment, the cash-strapped municipality was unable to pay for certain services for two months.
The Emfuleni Local Municipality has established a special purpose vehicle (SPV), which will allow Rand Water to manage the municipality’s water and sanitation services.
This means once the new entity is up and running, Emfuleni residents will have to pay their water bill directly to the bulk water supplier.
Emfuleni Finance MMC Hassan Mako said the remaining debt to Rand Water would be transferred and refinanced through the newly established SPV.
"The R1.3 billion will be refinanced into the new special purpose vehicle. However, that does not mean we mustn’t pay our monthly accounts. The SPV will mainly deal with our infrastructure and our sanitation issues and will assist us with dealing with water distribution losses."
The municipality has also reached an agreement with Eskom, which has taken over the electricity services.
This follows the municipality’s failure to collect revenue for electricity and pay the power utility.
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