The City of Windhoek is owed N$932.7 million in outstanding municipal bills and is conducting a mass disconnection exercise targeting accounts that have been in arrears for at least 30 days.
The disconnection exercise forms part of the municipality’s approved credit control policy and is aimed at recovering outstanding revenue needed to finance municipal operations and maintain essential services.
The exercise comes amid calls for residents to boycott municipal payments, raising concerns about the City’s ability to meet financial obligations to bulk water and electricity suppliers, contractors and infrastructure maintenance providers.
“The mass disconnection exercise is not an attempt to punish residents, nor is it evidence of governance failure. It is a lawful credit control measure, applied in accordance with the approved Credit Control Policy, to recover outstanding municipal debt that currently stands at N$932.7 million,” the City said.
Revenue collected from municipal accounts finances bulk water and electricity purchases, refuse removal, maintenance of water and electricity distribution networks and other infrastructure operations.
Widespread non-payment could result in delays in repairing water, sewerage and electricity infrastructure, postponement of capital projects and increased pressure on the reliability of essential municipal services.
Residents who fail to settle their accounts face formal arrears notices, interest and administrative charges, service restrictions or disconnections, and possible legal recovery proceedings.
Property owners also remain responsible for outstanding municipal bills linked to their properties, including cases where tenants or other occupants have defaulted on payments, in accordance with Section 78 of the Local Authorities Act.
Between 2023 and 2025, the City Council approved debt relief measures totalling N$724 million to assist pensioners, orphan-led households and other qualifying residents.
Of this amount, approximately N$383.9 million has already been written off under the programme.
The debt relief initiative remains open, allowing qualifying residents to apply for assistance with outstanding municipal accounts.
Meanwhile, the municipality has rejected allegations that its billing system is defective, maintaining that an anomaly identified in 2024 affected only a limited number of accounts and was detected and corrected through internal processes.
The billing and revenue management system continues to process thousands of customer accounts, subject to ongoing monitoring and improvements.
Residents experiencing financial difficulties have been encouraged to approach the City’s debt management division to negotiate payment arrangements or determine their eligibility for debt relief before enforcement measures are implemented.
The municipality has also warned that tampering with meters, bypassing metering equipment or illegally reconnecting discontinued services could result in criminal prosecution.
The recovery of outstanding municipal debt remains a priority for the City as it seeks to meet its financial commitments and maintain service delivery across Windhoek.
