{"id":807098,"date":"2025-01-16T10:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-16T08:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=807098"},"modified":"2025-01-16T09:53:07","modified_gmt":"2025-01-16T07:53:07","slug":"trouble-for-2-million-prepaid-electricity-users-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/energy\/807098\/trouble-for-2-million-prepaid-electricity-users-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Trouble for 2 million prepaid electricity users in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nearly two million users are suspected of consuming power illegally, either through tampered or bypassed connections, but Eskom warns they are not going unnoticed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a recent parliamentary Q&A session, Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa recently highlighted this ongoing challenge, describing it as critical to Eskom\u2019s operational sustainability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These non-paying users, dubbed \u201czero buyers,\u201d are a significant financial burden on the power utility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To address this issue, Eskom launched a grace period for users to come forward and regularise their accounts without fear of penalties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This amnesty period, which ended on 14 December 2024, encouraged approximately 400,000 individuals to disclose and resolve their illegal connections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, with millions still unaccounted for, Eskom\u2019s efforts are far from complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the conclusion of the grace period, Eskom has intensified its audits of electricity meters and installations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The utility has warned <\/a>that those found with tampered meters face fines of up to R12,000 and potentially criminal charges for repeat offences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to spokesperson Daphne Mokwena, fines typically hover around R6,000. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eskom has already issued fines to approximately 100,000 customers as part of its meter audit process, collecting between R90 million and R180 million out of an estimated R600 million to R1.2 billion issued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eskom emphasised that compliance is vital for its financial health and South Africa\u2019s broader economic stability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis support is crucial for Eskom\u2019s operational and financial sustainability and to contribute to South Africa\u2019s economic growth,\u201d the utility said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem extends beyond Eskom. City Power, the electricity provider for Johannesburg, recently disconnected over 120 homes in Kliptown Square after discovering tampered prepaid meters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acting on a tip-off, City Power inspected and removed the affected meters, issuing fines exceeding R14,000 to offenders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This action follows a broader \u201cnormalisation programme\u201d aimed at converting meters to comply with the Token Identifier (TID) rollover, a process requiring software updates to ensure prepaid meters continue functioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

City Power\u2019s spokesperson, Isaac Mangena, reaffirmed the utility\u2019s commitment to holding non-compliant users accountable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have decided to take a strong stance against those who have bypassed our meters, especially the ones recently installed as part of the normalisation programme. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We warned that anyone bypassing these meters would face penalties,\u201d Mangena stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Eskom and City Power\u2019s actions underline a growing intolerance for electricity theft, with hefty penalties and intensified audits aimed at deterring illegal consumption. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As utilities escalate their efforts, the message is clear: those abusing the system will be found out and held accountable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Read: Eskom reveals load shedding outlook for 2025<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Both Eskom and City Power have warned those abusing the system will be found out and held accountable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":795886,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9874],"tags":[7376,1164,21053,853],"class_list":["post-807098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","tag-city-power","tag-eskom","tag-prepaid-meters","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=807098"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807098\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":807119,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807098\/revisions\/807119"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/795886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=807098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=807098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=807098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}