Cape Town ties fixed water and sanitation charges to meter size after court ruling
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Cape Town homeowners' fixed monthly water and sanitation charges now depend on the size of their water meter rather than property value, following an April High Court ruling and a tariff change on 1 July.
Cape Town homeowners are paying fixed monthly water and sanitation charges based on the size of their water meters after the city changed its billing system on 1 July, following an April High Court ruling on the previous property-value-based charges.
Under the 2026/27 tariffs, a property with a meter of between 12mm and 22mm pays a combined fixed water and sanitation charge of R160.21 a month including VAT. Properties with 25mm or 32mm meters pay R446.59, a 40mm meter attracts R1,145.09 and a 50mm meter R1,789.19.
The fixed charges apply regardless of how much water a household uses and are billed separately from consumption charges. They apply to the Domestic Full and Domestic Cluster categories, and approved indigent properties are exempt.
Mayoral committee member for water and sanitation Zahid Badroodien confirmed that the 2026/27 tariffs are based on meter size and said about 97.5 per cent of residential water-meter records fall within the lowest band, covering meters below 25mm. He said the fixed charges fund the maintenance, operation, replacement and upgrading of the city's water and sanitation networks.
Fish Hoek plumber Etienne Krige raised concerns that residents may not realise their meter size now sets the fixed portion of their bills rather than the municipal value of their properties, which could leave households on larger connections paying several hundred rand more each month.