City Power extends meter compliance deadline for people who have not upgraded yet
The city reiterates its intentions to cut power connections to non-upgraded homes and businesses, but will allow people who haven't upgraded yet to go to SDCs to get the 20-digit token to upgrade their meter.
Hundreds of Alexandra residents stood in a queue at the City Power Service Delivery Centre in Kew on November 24 in the hopes of sorting out their electricity meters at the 11th hour.
This massive show of proactive participation by community members was acknowledged by City Power on deadline day, when the entity issued a gracious extension to the deadline until May 31, 2025.
Mangena had said, on November 21, that of all the entity’s outstanding 1 001 customers yet to roll over their power meters, 562 of them were from Alexandra.
“We don’t want the residents of Alexandra and surrounding areas to be left behind. That’s why we are [encouraging] people to visit the Alexandra Service Delivery Centre in Kew to get their meters sorted out,” Mangena said. “I’m talking about those meters that have been by-passed, meters that have been vandalised, and meters that are non-existent – so residents in Alex can also be part of those who, after the deadline, don’t have to pay hefty fines or penalties of between R13 000 and R30 000, depending on the phase of connection in your house or business.”
A period of grace was given to customers who applied to get their meters sorted out between November 21–24, paving the way to the extensive extension granted to non-vending customers who had queued for assistance on deadline day.
“We have deployed more teams to collect the information of all customers in queues, and we will arrange for our technicians to visit them this coming week to install new meters and replace those that have been tampered with at no fee,” said Mangena on the deadline day, telling customers who were still at home that there is no need to rush to the SDCs.
“Please make use of our telephone lines to call in and leave your details for the technicians to be able to attend to you in the coming days,” Mangena said. “Although the cut-off date for the upgrading of the metering code is November 24, City Power will still be able to generate the three 20-digit tokens that are used to convert a meter from KRN1 to KRN2.“This extension covers customers who may have previously received the key change tokens and lost them before punching them into the meter. It also applies to vending customers who may not have had a chance to upgrade their prepaid meters,” he said. “It’s important to note that unconverted meters will seize loading electricity units. But due to this extension, customers can still visit our SDCs from November 25, and new key change tokens will be provided to enable the upgrade.”
A growing concern in Alex noted by City Power
Mangena observed a trend of older members of the community being more involved in the process of upgrading meters, based on the demographics seen at the Alexandra Service Delivery Centre in Kew.
“We worry that we have seen that it’s mostly pensioners – older people who are coming to Kew. Youth are not coming through,” Mangena said. “I’m unsure if it’s because they’re not property owners, or what is happening – but we’re appealing to the youth to also make their way, and come through to ensure that they are not left behind.”
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Mangena cautioned all community members t be vigilant of fraudulent persons looking to take advantage of people at this time.
Mangena concluded by urging customers not to pay any technician, contractor, or anyone purporting to be from City Power, encouraging residents to report suspicious behaviour to the City Power’s security risk management on 080 000 2587.
A handful of residents were asked what had delayed them in updating their meters ahead of the initial deadline. Here is what they had to say:
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