City Power Reveals 99% of Vending Prepaid Meters in Johannesburg Upgraded

• Almost 100% of City Power's customers rushed to meet the deadline to upgrade the prepaid meters
• It announced that only 1001 customers need to upgrade their meters as Eskom's deadline looms on the horizon
• City Power's spokesperson, Isaac Mangena, said most of the customers do not want to give City Power access to their properties

Tebogo Mokwena, a dedicated Briefly News current affairs journalist, contributed coverage of international and local social issues like health, corruption, education, unemployment, labour, service delivery protests and heritage in South Africa during his seven years at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News.

JOHANNESBURG — City Power's customers are working to meet the deadline to upgrade their meter boxes.

City Power's customers upgrading

According to City Power, 99% of its customers have upgraded their vendor prepaid meters to meet Eskom's imposed deadline. Eskom said South Africans have until 24 November 2024 to ensure that their meter boxes are upgraded. Failure to meet the deadline would mean users could not load electricity.

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City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said that 10001 customers need to upgrade their electricity meters. He revealed that half of these outstanding customers are from Alexandra, where residents are reluctant to upgrade. He also revealed that most outstanding customers refuse to let City Power technicians onto their property.

Netizens make jokes

South Africans on Facebook jokingly said they would not upgrade their boxes.

Shandu Lukhwareni said:

"That 1% is for me. andizi apho."

Spha Alwande said:

"Manga manga leaders."

Kyle Skidman asked:

"How's the water?"

Jada Mohlala said:

"How? That's a lie."

Thabang Mathe Thabo said:

"That's a number that cannot be proven."

Sun Soil said:

"The government is really good with gimmicks. They're shifting the masses from spaza shop poisons to smart meters."

City Power rolls out smart meters

In a related article, Briefly News reported that City Power rolled out smart meters to residents in March 2024.

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It was the second roll-out after the first roll-out in August 2023 and was intended to help residents save electricity during loadshedding. South Africans were not convinced.

Source: Briefly News