By Akani Nkuna
A total of 400,000 non-paying customers have come onto the Eskom grid following the utility updating its pre-paid meters.
However, 1.7 million people have still not upgraded and have been given until 13 December to do so, otherwise they face hefty fines of up to R12,000.
Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa told reporters on Wednesday that the new customer acquisitions would significantly contribute to Eskom’s long-term sustainability and maintenance, ultimately leading to the eradication of load-reduction.
“Eskom will have the benefit of having 400,000 [new customers]… if they continue to buy diligently. Eskom will receive a minimum of close to R440 million per month from those who had previously not been paying and now they are paying,” he said in Cape Town.
Ramokgopa was giving an update on Eskom’s Key Revision Number Rollover Programme. He was joined by the utility’s group executive for distribution, Monde Bala.
“When I was with you the last time, I had indicated that 2.1 million people who had not presented themselves to this exercise, subjected themselves to the exercise of conversion and the point was to encourage people to come through and present themselves at the various Eskom points,” Ramokgopa said.
Bala warned those who had not updated their meters that they would be fined.
“Beyond the 13th of December, we will visit each of those households through the entities process of auditing and fixing, where a determination about what needs to be done will be done. The replacement costs can go up to R12,000.”
He said that the extension to 13 December was reserved only for customers who have reconfigured their meters before 24 November.
Bara said the utility was now done with project, and was moving onto a different phase of credit management.
He used the briefing to discourage the characterisation of the KRN2 has an “Eskom thing”, saying it was “technology that cuts across most utilities in the country that distributes electricity… that utilise prepaid technology [to maximise efficiency]”.
Eskom has been under fire for not doing enough to raise awareness about the conversion, with many caught off guard.
Ramokgopa reiterated that messaging started on various media platforms in October last year.
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