Water corruption, northern suburbs edition

The City of Joburg loses between R5-billion and R8-billion annually to revenue leakages and accounts being deleted from the City’s billing system.

One such revenue leakage could be close to resolving after three people – a Johannesburg Water contractor and two employees of the Waterfall City Estate – appeared in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Johannesburg on Thursday following their arrests earlier this week.

On Monday, Faizel Abrahams, a contractor for Johannesburg Water, was arrested after a whistle-blower gave information to the City’s Group Forensic and Investigation Services (GFIS) regarding the illegal water meter connections he is involved in with Waterfall City estate. He appeared in court on Tuesday and was released on R5,000 bail.

“An investigation led by the Group Forensic and Investigation Services (GFIS) and the Operation Buya Mthetho team discovered that a number of Water meters installed in the Waterfall Estate in Midrand were not procured through standard processes and were therefore not in the City’s billing system,” said Mayor Herman Mashaba in a statement following the arrests.

Abrahams, who owns Globex Commodity Trading, a company that consults in the procurement and installation of water meters, is alleged to have colluded with Irving Steyn, a Developmental Manager for Waterfall Management Company, and Yvette Scheepers, the company’s Credit Controller.

Both Steyn and Scheepers appeared at the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Thursday where they were also granted bail at R5,000 each.

The three have been charged with corruption and fraud for allegedly installing water meters at the Waterfall Estate in Midrand that circumvented the City’s installation and billing processes.

Jean-Marc Denton de Villiers, a lawyer for the three accused, argued for their release on bail saying this was their first arrest, they had no prior criminal records and did not pose any flight risks.

The State did not oppose bail but believes further investigation will reveal the extent of corruption.

De Villiers said Waterfall City is conducting its own internal investigation and therefore cannot comment at this stage.

This, of course, affected the ability of the city to collect revenue for the services provided, said Mashaba.

The arrests followed a three-week investigation by the GFIS, the Joburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) and the Hawks.

Lucky Sindane at the City’s GFIS said the unit and the Operation Buya Mthetho team had discovered that a number of water meters were installed at the estate without the standard procurement processes.

“We then went to conduct inspection at the building at the estate,” said Sindane.

Furthermore, although it is the preliminary results, the City estimates that about 90% of the water meters installed at the massive Waterfall City development are not on the City’s billing system.

According to Sindane, the Operation Buya Mthetho team recovered R8.2-million from several developers who stolen water through illegally connected water meters on the estate.

The three will appear again in court on 19 July. DM