TZANEEN – Businesses in Skirving Street are facing significant disruptions due to long queues of Eskom customers waiting to recode or update their prepaid electricity meters.

The electricity utility company announced that customers must update their meters by Sunday, November 24, as required by the Standard Transfer Specification Association. After this deadline, meters will no longer accept electricity tokens unless they are updated to Key Revision Number 2. Failure to recode by the deadline will render meters inoperable.

This announcement has led to hundreds of customers from various areas in Tzaneen converging daily at the Eskom branch to recode their meters.

The queues, starting from the Eskom office and stretching as far as Standard Bank, have caused significant inconvenience for businesses located near the Eskom branch, including Jack’s Paint.

“Every morning before we arrive at work, we find hundreds of people already queuing and blocking our entrance,” said Mark Roux, operations manager at Jack’s Paint.

“Even though we tell them not to sit or stand in front of our door, they don’t listen. We don’t have parking for our customers because people who started queuing as early as 04:00 have already parked their cars. While we understand what Eskom is trying to do, this is inconveniencing our business.”

Roux also highlighted the inhumane conditions faced by many elderly individuals in the queues, who wait throughout the day without access to food or ablution facilities, whether it rains or shines.

Another business manager, speaking anonymously, said they unsuccessfully tried to manage the queue by indicating where people should line up. “I called the police to address the situation because the line overlapped with the road, which is dangerous. We have old people and pregnant women queuing from the early hours of the morning, and yet most go back home without assistance,” he said.

Alice Mhlongo, 64, from Mulati village outside Letsitele, is among the pensioners who queued for an entire day and had to return the next day. She suggested that Eskom should visit communities to assist customers directly.

Eskom provincial spokesperson Matshidiso Mandzivandila explained that there are about 1.4 million registered meters in Limpopo, with approximately one million already updated. The remaining 400 000 meters are currently being processed. Mandzivandila said that the branches are chaotic due to illegal power consumers panicking.

“We are trying to see if there is a way to assist customers at other venues to avoid the queues at the Tzaneen branch. Residents who are bridging (illegally connected) need to come clean. They will have to pay a R6 000 penalty fee, and everything will be restored,” she said.

To check whether your meter has been upgraded, type 873 and enter. If the number two comes up, the upgrade has been done. If the number one appears it has not been updated.

Eskom customers needing help can call 0860 037 566. Greater Tzaneen Municipality power consumers can call Matthews Sekgolo at 066 194 0564 if they encounter problems.