Prepaid electricity deadline for South Africa is almost here
An important deadline is approaching for prepaid electricity meters in South Africa, and if they are not recoded in time – thousands of South Africans could be left without power.
Eskom is urging all prepaid electricity users to update their meters by no later than 24 November, as required by the Standard Transfer Specification Association.
“After this deadline, meters will no longer accept electricity tokens unless they are updated to Key Revision Number (KRN) 2,” the power utility said.
No extensions will be granted, so both households and businesses are strongly encouraged to address this as soon as possible.
Eskom spokesperson, Daphne Mokwena, explained the importance of meeting this deadline to SABC News.
She urged Eskom’s 6.9 million prepaid customers to recode their meters, saying that once any credit that is in their meter gets exhausted, “they will remain without electricity.”
While Eskom is trying to avoid a situation where people are left without power, that is bound to happen if people do not comply with the deadline.
“We have, as Eskom, made the electricity available for our customers,” she commented in light of the more than 200 consecutive days without load-shedding.
“And we really urge them to actually make sure that they keep their lights on because at this moment, it’s up to them to ensure that they upgrade their meter so that their electricity keeps on flowing as normal.”
“As it stands now, from Eskom’s side, about 97% of our meters are ready and waiting for these customers to go and buy from legal or authorised vending stations.”
Customers buying online via banking apps can continue doing so. After recharging or purchasing tokens, they’ll receive two 20-digit codes, which they just need to upload to their meter for it to be updated.
While 97% of recoded meters is promising, the remaining 3% — which represents at least 207,000 customers — are still at risk of losing power after the deadline if their meters aren’t updated.
An end to load-shedding – with a catch
Mokwena explained that last Saturday marked the first time in five years Eskom has achieved over 205 days without load-shedding.
This success comes from the utility’s Generation Recovery Plan, which was launched in March 2023.
The plan addressed issues with staff, plants, and processes, and was tested by external bodies to ensure it would work.
Eskom has also been strategic with diesel usage, mainly during peak hours (5-10 PM), which helped the company save around R12 billion compared to last year.
She stressed that they are only using diesel “when we have to meet the high demand during peak hours.”
Last year, Eskom was spending three times as much on diesel usage, reaching R18 billion by this time a year ago.
“This year, we’ve only spent about R6 billion worth of diesel.”
“We are minimally and strategically using diesel when it is required, and this is during peak hours when people are coming from work and using electricity more than usual.”
“But this doesn’t happen on a daily basis, it’s only when it is needed.”
While South African consumers and businesses are happy about the load-shedding respite, this excitement is dampened by the fact that Eskom plans on increasing electricity prices by 36% in 2025.
“We needed to apply for this allowable revenue to enable us to be able to run our business – which is generating electricity, transmitting electricity, and distributing electricity.”
In order to supply reliable, efficient electricity to South Africa, Eskom needs this extra revenue, Mokwena stressed.
“We need to remember that the government has been bailing us out, so we really need to come to a point where we migrate to a situation where we are not being bailed out by the government and we are sustainable financially.”
Municipal debt to Eskom, which was about R90 billion at the end of September, is another reason why these added costs are being passed on to consumers.
“We need to ensure that we work with these municipalities to ensure that they actually pay Eskom so that Eskom can run its business.”
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