The grant will enable the municipality to continue with its plans to modernise the city.

“We have thousands of prepaid electricity meters that must be replaced immediately,” said executive mayor, Kagisho Sonyoni.

Sol Plaatje municipal workers have been on the ground walking door to door in various areas within Kimberley since Monday (11/11) to aid in the upgrading of electricity meters.

‘Rolling out a minimum of 10,000 prepaid electricity meters'

Municipal workers are easily identifiable with blue work overalls and ID tags with their photo and ID numbers. Residents are also urged to only open their doors for people with relevant identification and not anybody claiming to be from the municipality.

“We are delighted to partner with the Sol Plaatje Municipality in rolling out a minimum of 10, 000 prepaid electricity meters by the end of March 2025 as part of an end-to-end Smart Metering Solution,” said managing executive for Vodacom central region, Evah Mthimunye.

Picture: Eskom

This project aims to benefit community members with accurate billing, management of electricity consumption, and local economic development.

“The benefits for the municipality would include revenue enhancement, eliminating billing challenges and old meters which are easy to tamper with, reversing electricity losses through an efficient energy management system,” added Sonyoni.

This project will also be creating job opportunities and providing skills for local SMMEs appointed, this project will also bring up broader community awareness and consumer engagement efforts.

Residents are also reminded that the software for all Prepaid Electricity Meters in South Africa will expire on 24 November 2024. Prepaid Electricity Meters must be updated or you won’t be able to recharge your meter with new tokens and you’ll be without electricity.

OFM News/Casey-Lee Anthony cg