Heather Erdmann
REHOBOTH – The Rehoboth Town Council has set aside at least N$70 million to replace conventional water and electricity meters with prepaid ones, a move aimed at improving revenue collection and preventing future arrears.
The rollout, which started in specific areas with historically high non-payment rates, is now expanding to all suburbs.
The development comes at a time when the town owes water utility NamWater N$150 million, an amount largely blamed on the Covid-19 pandemic. Responding to questions, Rehoboth mayor Jackie ‡Khariseb, said the prepaid meter rollout is part of a national strategy by the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development (MURD) to help local authorities reduce mounting debts to bulk service providers such as NamWater and NamPower.
“When our council took over in 2020, NamWater’s debt was N$3 million. By 2025, it had risen to over N$150 million due to poor monitoring and the Covid-19 period, when water was freely opened to everyone,” he said.
The mayor pointed out that the procurement process for the meters was carefully handled by a joint task team of council, NamWater, and MURD officials, and technical specifications were inspected before installation.
“The meters come with warranties, and our technicians stand ready to assist residents. Faulty meters can also be replaced with conventional units in the interim, ensuring water losses are minimised,” he added.
He also said the council is committed to ongoing public consultations.
“Community meetings will be scheduled regularly. We want residents to understand the system and have their questions addressed before installation. The rollout started in Block E and was positively received, as it allows households to pay for what they use and remain debt-free,” the mayor said.
Fees
Installation of the new meters is scheduled to continue from 2 March to June 2026, Monday to Friday. Residents are asked to ensure access to their properties or contact the council’s finance department to arrange entry.
Monthly rental fees for the prepaid meters are structured to accommodate different residents: pensioners pay N$35, non-pensioners N$70, and businesses or institutions N$125. Basic charges, rates and taxes are preloaded on the 1st of each month.
To manage existing arrears, the council has introduced a 70/30 system, which allocates 70% of each payment toward settling outstanding debts, while the remaining 30% covers current monthly water usage.
The council says this system is designed to prevent residents from falling further behind on payments while still ensuring access to water. Pensioners in particular benefit, as it allows them to gradually clear previous debts without risking service disruption. For non-pensioners and businesses, the system provides a structured plan for paying off arrears while maintaining a regular water supply. In addition to the residential rollout, the council over the weekend issued a public notice informing businesses, ministries, agencies, and institutions with outstanding municipal accounts that ‘Demand to Pay’ letters would be issued from Monday. Account holders are required to settle their balances by 19 March 2026, failing which enforcement actions may include disconnection of services under the council’s Credit Control Policy. The notice highlights the council’s efforts to recover revenue and secure funding for ongoing town operations.
Residents have raised concerns about the implementation of the system and the lack of consultation. A community meeting scheduled for Sunday at Skiet Boom, across from Beukes Supermarket in Kavuki, was cancelled after organisers failed to notify the police, as required for public gatherings. Authorities indicated they were prepared to close the meeting if it continued. –herdmann@nepc.com
Photo: Heather Erdmann