Hi Folks

Maybe someone can help with advice or something?

A work colleague has a problem with his JHB City Water account and can't get it solved, here's his case:

In January he received a bill for R25K for his domestic water usage and he immediately checked his meters to see where he had used an additional 1-Million litres of water in the month. He found that his meter was mounted askew and the first digit on the meter (millions) is a 5, but when read from the top it looks like a 6, and the "meter reader" had entered it as such. He contacted JHB City to inform them of the error and he even took photos of said meter to show them.

Over the last 8-months he has visited the council offices, including the local ward councillor, with every subsequent bill. Last month (July-end) they sent him a notice that they will be cutting his water supply, so he had to go and see them again, they have sent another "reader" to verify the readings and they are aware of the error, however, he is still getting the elevated bills (August). He is at wits end as he can't afford a lawyer and the amount is too high for a small claims court. Tom is a 75-yr old pensioner who does jobs for the company and earns a measly income to supplement his pension.

Does anyone know what he can do next? or is there a lawyer who can help him?