South African municipalities are charging homeowners with private boreholes monthly fees for accessing groundwater, targeting residents who have invested in alternative water supplies because of unreliable municipal services. In Mbombela, Mpumalanga, residential borehole owners pay R406.50 per borehole. Businesses are charged R877.12 per borehole despite ongoing water shortages across its jurisdiction, which includes Mbombela, Hazyview, and White River. In Mangaung, the municipality has maintained a monthly borehole service fee of R70 for properties without municipal water meters. The charge is described as an infrastructure availability fee and applies even where the borehole is not connected to the property’s plumbing. In Vryheid, under the Abaqulusi Local Municipality, a R133 monthly borehole tariff has also generated controversy. The Department of Water and Sanitation has clarified that households using borehole water for reasonable, non-commercial domestic purposes do not need to register their groundwater use under national water regulations. The exemption also covers small, non-commercial home gardens, with no prescribed volume threshold for qualifying domestic use. However, the national exemption does not automatically prevent municipalities from imposing local infrastructure or service charges under their own tariffs and bylaws.