City Power educates Mayibuye residents on electricity and smart meters

City Power continues to fulfil its promises to visit Ward 80 and 110 to address the electricity crisis and educate the community about smart meters.

The entity recently visited Mayibuye Park, following residents of both wards, through the Wards Electricity Crisis Committee, previously sending a memorandum of demand to City Power to interfere in their every power struggle.

Responding to the memorandum, City Power made several promises to the community, including ensuring that streetlights remain on even during load-shedding, electrifying new settlements, completing the commissioning of meter boxes installed in households, and most importantly, improving communication.

Since the residents’ protest earlier this year, City Power has been working to address some of these issues, leading to the decision to hold the City Power Educational Campaign on October 28.

The campaign aimed to educate residents about the importance of purchasing electricity and the impact of illegal connections.

It also provided information on the impact of vandalism on City Powers’ infrastructure and demonstrated the smart prepaid meters that will be installed soon in Mayibuye.

“As we will be installing the smart prepaid meters in Mayibuye, it was the right moment for residents to be educated more about the installation of those meters and how they operate so that they do not encounter challenges when they start using them,” said City Power spokesperson, Isaac Mangena.

The event was a success, with residents turning out in large numbers and showing keen interest in what the entity had to say.

Mangena explained that the campaign was essential for the residents as there was a lot they needed to learn about electricity.

He emphasised the importance of vigilance in protecting their infrastructure, urging residents to report any suspicious activity related to vandalism within their community.

“The purpose was to educate them more about the importance of being customers instead of consumers of electricity, which was an important subject for them [residents] to learn about.

Ward 110 councillor, Angie Mphaho emphasised the need for residents to desist from vandalising city infrastructures, noting that such actions would only setback the developmental progress of the community.

“While the campaign was successful, some residents had expressed concerns over the installation of the smart meters. They demanded that City Power fix the streetlights and transformers before embarking on the installation process,” said Mphaho.

“We have been working closely with City Power through meetings and walkabouts to address the issue of street light and infrastructure repairs. However, the continuous vandalism and theft of these infrastructures have hampered the efforts of the entity.”

Mphaho, however, reassured the residents that City Power had taken note of their concerns and was currently fixing the street lights and other infrastructure once again.

She concluded that after the repair works are complete anytime in November, the installation of the smart meters will commence.

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