ASK ANY SUBURBANITE why the non-payment of municipal services bills is so rife in South Africa and they'll in all likelihood cite a culture of non-payment or a sense of entitlement as reasons for the phenomenon.
However, Statistics SA's General Household Survey 2005 points to something different. Among households that have access to a local or regional water scheme but who didn't pay for their water, a full 56,3% reported that the reason for their non-payment was because no metering or billing system existed in their areas. A further 1% cited irregularities in both the metering and billing system.
By contrast, only 12,2% felt that Government should provide water to them free of charge - arguably ruling out the theory that entitlement is to blame.
We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
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