By Jonk wa Mashamba
news@alexreporter.co.za
Alexandra councillors led by example when new smart meters were first installed in their houses today.
The MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Services (EISD) Cllr Jack Sekwaila, alongside City Power CEO Ms Tshifularo Mashava and her officials, launched the first phase of smart pre-paid meters in Alexandra.
They were joined by the ward councillors, Adolf Marema and Tefo Raphadu, who elected to lead by example by having the first smart meters installed in their houses.
The Councillors have agreed to be the first to have smart meters installed in their houses as the entity rolls out more meters to the
customers mostly on the east of the Jukskei River.
According to the utility’s spokesperson, Isaac Mangena, the project will assist City Power in ensuring unmetered customers, especially in non-affluent areas, have smart pre-paid meters which will enable them to buy electricity, and assist City Power in monitoring and controlling the load during the implementation of higher stages of load-shedding.
Sekwaila asserted that the installation of smart pre-paid meters will curb the high rate of the non-payment culture in non-affluent areas, with Alexandra sitting with about 42, 000 pre-paid meters that are non- vending.
“The aim of this project is to curb the high rate of non-payment for electricity services in the areas like Alexandra. The project will initially focus on the non-affluent areas of Alexandra, where only 2% of the pre-paid meters are currently vending in this township.
“We do not target any race or class of customers. We will be targeting both business and residential affluent and non-affluent customers for this rollout. The goal is to have 100% of meters in these areas vending by the end of the project,” said Cllr. Jack Sekwaila.
Sekwaila further said: “The project’s first phase will involve installing 5,000 smart pre-paid meters in the Far East Bank and East Bank and others east of the Jukskei River in wards belonging to Cllr Raphadu, and mainly businesses in parts of Cllr Marema’s ward.
“This is expected to yield a minimum of over R1 million per month in revenue for City Power and the City of Johannesburg that we are currently losing here in Alexandra due to non-payment.”
Mashava was pleased with the implementation of the project and applauded both Cllr Raphadu and Cllr Marema for being the first people to agree to install the smart pre-paid meters and leading by example to their constituents.
“We are pleased that both councillors are championing this project and being a good example to the rest of their community members. This gives us hope that the collaboration between the political leadership, and the administration will help us succeed in achieving our goal to ensure a smooth and successful rollout of the smart pre-paid meters in the area.
“As officials, we are happy that at the end of the day we will have a financially viable entity, which will become a sustainable energy provider that is customer-centric across the City of Johannesburg. We further plead with the residents to allow our authorised officials to come into your property and ensure that all customers are metered,” said Mashava.
Mangena said City Power was currently doing the audits, resetting, and installation of smart prepaid meters across the City in preparation for TID rollover. He said this process was important as customers will no longer be able to buy electricity recharge units in November 2024 as the available numbers come to end.
Raphadu said community members needed to cooperate with City Power to form part of the solutions to challenges in their community as well as to benefit from this project.
“The current infrastructure backlog can be corrected by payment of services and that revenue can be channelled back into the infrastructure backlog that the city faces. As the leader in this community, I am sending a message that it starts with us and we’re calling on all residents to form part of this project by paying for services that they use daily and being part of the solution to their problems,” said Raphadu
Echoing the same sentiments, Marema welcomed the start of the project in his ward.
“We have been waiting for this project for far too long, as we want service delivery to happen in our community and it’s important that people pay for services that City Power is providing them.
“For Johannesburg to be a world-class City, all community members must play their part and build the Joburg that we want to see ourselves. I encourage all the councillors to embrace this programme, and all Region E councillors should have these meters by next week,” said Marema who immediately tested the new meter with a purchase of R400 of electricity.
“This is over and above the R100 free units City Power gave to the newly installed meters,” he said.
Mangena said in Marema’s ward, which covers most of the Old Alexandra, City Power will start phase one with the installation of new meters in the businesses that include spaza shops, taverns, and salons, to ensure that they vend.
Mangena said he entity held several engagements with the councillors and the residents, indicating that the majority of the residents were willing to pay for electricity services.
He said most of the meters in Alexandra township were bypassed, vandalized, bridged, or removed.
“City Power will replace all the meters for free for now, with the entity also working towards meeting the November 2024 TID (token identifier) roll over. The TID entails that all the old meters will cease to accept the recharge vouchers in November next year, as the available numbers come to an end.
“Only reprogrammed, or new TID-compliant smart meters will be compatible to accept the new units. The metering programme will start with the houses east of the Jukskei River from next week, with Far Eastbak, Eastbank, Westbank, and Tsutsumane – with 5000 meters available for the first batch of installations which will cover rezoned stands with double storey flatlets and backyard rooms.
“In the old Alexandra, the programme will, in the beginning, target the businesses, including spaza shops and taverns. We have already engaged Cllrs in those wards and they have compiled the list of businesses in their wards to be targeted for meter installations so that they pay for electricity.”
He said new network installation for customers will be metered immediately to ensure the vending of electricity happens.
“A lot of work has already been done by City Power as promised, including the increasing of capacity on some distributors from Alexandra Substation, separate some load to Far Eastbank, connecting some residents (about 18MVA) to Westfield Substation.
“Over R4m has already been spent in this regard, with 6MVA load now linked to Westfield. We have also started with the installation of solar high mast lights to ensure visibility and safety of residents during loadshedding, and we will be rolling out solar water geysers in Alexandra among other non-affluent areas, to relieve the pressure and costs for customers.
“The City of Joburg has programmes to assist indigent residents who are not able to afford electricity or any other services, and we encourage all those affected to visit CoJ regional offices.
“City Power welcomes the commitment by most residents to pay for their electricity. Currently only 4% of the residents of Alexandra pay for their electricity consumption. The entity has spent millions of rands repairing, maintaining, and replacing electricity infrastructure such as minisubstations, transformers and cables that blew up and burnt or stolen in the township.”
Mangena said the problems in the township were compounded by the rampant vandalism, cable theft, and illegal connections.
“The mushrooming of backyard rooms has also exacerbated the situation as the demand way exceeded the available electricity capacity built for Alexandra,” he said.