Mbombela residents claim newly installed smart electricity meters are faulty, leaving households without power despite purchasing electricity through authorised channels.

Affected residents are calling on the City of Mbombela (CoM) to urgently address the issue. They say businesses are affected and communities are more vulnerable to crime as a result of the alleged service breakdown.

The smart meters were recently installed at several households in West Acres and Mataffin, including areas in wards 14, 15 and 16.

Since the installation, residents have complained that some meters do not accept electricity tokens, while others believe their electricity units are being depleted faster than before. They have further claimed that municipal technicians lack the necessary knowledge to account for the problems.

Officials miss technical meeting

Affected residents and ward councillors organised a community meeting with CoM project manager Linge Ngubane, but she failed to attend. The municipality instead sent a representative who residents said lacked the technical expertise to address their concerns.

Ward councillor Thea Rix said some of the affected areas are home to several businesses, which are unable to operate at full capacity because of the meter faults.

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“These faulty smart meters have plunged our communities into darkness, exposing them to crime,” Rix said.

She added that the municipality’s roll-out of smart meters could help reduce billing errors and improve revenue collection, but warned that transparency and sound governance must not be compromised.

Rix said she understood residents’ frustration and acknowledged that the meeting could not achieve its intended purpose without the correct technical officials present.

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“Our intention with this meeting was to create a platform where residents could raise their issues directly with the municipal technical department and the service provider,” she said.

Power failures threaten medical safety

Affected residents and businesses are calling on the CoM to urgently repair or replace the faulty meters. They said prolonged power outages have resulted in businesses being unable to operate, food spoiling in households and serious challenges for families with members who rely on electricity-dependent medical equipment, including oxygen machines.

Municipality responds to breakdown

CoM spokesperson Joseph Ngala said the municipality was aware of faulty meters and was attending to reported cases.

“They are either replaced or repaired,” he said.

He encouraged residents experiencing problems with the new meters to report them via the municipal call centre or by visiting the municipality.