Media statement 27 November 2024
Cllr Frans Boshielo
MMC for Utility Services
As the MMC for Utility Services, I am pleased to announce that the token identification rollover for prepaid meters was successfully implemented by the City with over 60% of customers adhering to Standard Transfer Specification (STS) 2.
Phase 1 of the project was to ensure that all functional and purchasing customers’ prepaid meters were upgraded by 24 November 2024. Approximately 246 544 prepaid meters were upgraded by customers who loaded the tokens on their meters.
The City is now entering Phase 2 of the project. In this phase, the City is targeting approximately 111 741 prepaid meters that have not been upgraded. These prepaid meters are suspected of having been tampered with due to customers bypassing the system.
We will dispatch our technical teams to audit all the outstanding meters. Prepaid meters found tampered with will be disconnected and a tamper fee will be loaded on accounts.
We thank the customers who have come forward during the rollout of Phase 1 and indicated that they had tampered with their meters and were willing to be legally reconnected to the grid. Most of these customers have indicated that they will struggle to pay the full price of the tamper fee of R29 000. The City has decided to allow customers to enter into payment agreements. Customers will be required to go to municipal customer care offices to make the necessary payment arrangements and their meters will be normalised and/or replaced.
For assistance and queries, residents can contact the City of Tshwane’s customer care lines, visit our website for more information or send an email to tid@tshwane.gov.za or customercare@tshwane.gov.za.
Alternatively, customers can send a WhatsApp message to the numbers below. The WhatsApp message must include the customer’s City of Tshwane account number, address, contact number and prepaid meter number.
• Regions 1, 2 and 5: 072 149 8552
• Regions 3 and 6: 076 892 7328
• Regions 4 and 7: 063 671 3137
The City remains dedicated to enhancing service delivery and maintaining the integrity of its infrastructure to benefit all residents.
Enquiries:
Johanna Phatshwane
johannaph@tshwane.gov.za