Uncertainty hangs in the air as residents in the city grapple with the impending deadline for electricity meter upgrades.

To alleviate any further confusion on deadlines and how to upgrade, Lowvelder spoke to City of Mbombela’s executive mayor, Cllr Sibongile Makushe-Mazibuko.

She confirmed that residents who have prepaid meters have until November 24 to complete the upgrade. This despite previous reports stating that the deadline for municipal customers has been extended to March 2025.

Makushe-Mazibuko said that while residents still have time to finalise upgrades, all customers are urged to do so as soon as possible and not wait for the deadline.

A series of electricity vending codes have been introduced to all meters in South Africa to ensure the meter’s key change code does not expire.

Eskom has informed its prepaid customers that the lifespan of the current vending codes of meters will expire in November.

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All prepaid meters based on standard transfer specification (STS) technology will stop accepting new credit tokens as a result of the expiry of these vending codes.

This means these meters will stop dispensing electricity after the existing credit is used up, rendering it inactive.

Each credit token has a unique token identifier (TID) encoded in the 20 digits to prevent token replay at the meter.

The TID is referenced to a base date of 1993 and will run out of range in 2024, known as the TID rollover event, thus causing the prepaid meter to stop accepting new tokens.

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If your meter has not been recoded, it will not accept the tokens you have purchased.

All prepaid meters must be recoded, whether you are an Eskom or a municipally supplied customer.

How to upgrade:

Get your two key change tokens from your local or online vendor when Eskom informs you that your area is active and follow these steps:

1. Key in the first 20 digits of your recode and wait for it to be accepted
2. Key in the second 20 digits of your recode and wait for it to be accepted
3. The very important last step: Key in the 20 digits of your purchased token to recharge your meter.

Frequently asked questions:
What will happen if I don’t recode my meter?
If you don’t recode, your meter will not load your purchased tokens. Every meter in South African has to be recoded.

Why is it necessary to update the codes on all prepaid meters?
The meter coding project is being done for technical reasons to ensure that all Eskom prepaid meters continue working. It is like upgrading your cellphone – you can use most cellphones for a long time, but sometimes they stop working correctly so you need to upgrade your phone’s software.

How will this prepaid meter work?
The prepaid meters are not being changed. They will work exactly the same as they work now, they are just being recoded. All prepaid meters in South Africa that comply to the STS must be recoded.

How will Eskom ensure customers do the right thing and there aren’t elements of manipulating the system?
Eskom will communicate the rollover through a comprehensive education campaign to customers. Eskom will use regional radio live reads, community print and radio media release, radio interviews, leaflets, posters, Facebook and X posts, YouTube videos, community forums and customer communiques.

Will Eskom be educating prepaid electricity vendors?
Eskom will brief its approved vending agents so their systems are enabled to remind you to do the recoding yourself.

When the recoding starts in your area you will receive two key change tokens with your normal credit token.
You will be guided to punch in the numbers of the key change tokens into your meter in a specific order to recode your meter. You will then be able to load your meter with your credit token, or you may load any other tokens e.g. free basic electricity tokens thereafter.

Will Eskom and its contractors need to access my home?
No, there are no contractors or installers in this rollover. The recoding is done by customers themselves. No Eskom personnel will be visiting you to assist you with this, except for normal reported technical queries. Do not let anyone into your home posing as an Eskom worker wanting to recode your meter.

What if I buy my prepaid electricity online?
The banks and other online vending services are not yet able to issue the recode change tokens, but they are working on updating their systems to supply these in future.

For the interim, Eskom advises customers to buy from their local prepaid vending agents when they want to get their recode tokens.