The City of Cape Town’s Water and Sanitation Directorate has alerted residents to a scam where fraudsters demand money to prevent fake water restrictions or disconnections due to supposed non-payment.
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The City emphasised that this is a scam and urges residents to report any suspicious activity to both the City and the South African Police Service (SAPS).
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Scammers are contacting residents by phone or WhatsApp, claiming to be from the Water and Sanitation Directorate, and providing accurate property details. They falsely claim that water will be disconnected immediately due to unpaid municipal bills. The scammers then instruct customers to make payments of over R2 000 via cash send or e-wallet to avoid disconnection and a reconnection fee.
Two incidents have been reported in Parklands and Durbanville, involving customers whose municipal accounts were actually in good standing.
![](https://www.capetownetc.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/scam.jpeg)
Residents are advised to report any suspicious behaviour to the City’s law enforcement agencies or the City’s Fraud Hotline at 0800 1100 77, as well as to SAPS, which remains the primary authority in crime prevention.
To verify any communication from the City, customers can use the following channels:
- Phone: 0860 103 089
- SMS: 31373 (maximum 160 characters, free SMSs do not apply)
- WhatsApp: 060 018 1505
- Email: [email protected]
- Online: Service Requests
Councillor Zahid Badroodien, the City’s mayoral committee member for water and sanitation, stated, ‘We appeal to residents to be extra vigilant and verify any suspicious correspondence directly with the City. We are particularly concerned about customers in arrears with their municipal accounts who may be easily lured into making payments to avoid water disconnections or restrictions.’
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