Smart meters for AbaQulusi?

ACCORDING to the Department of Cooperative Governance, many municipalities do not have a plan or controls for collecting payment for water and electricity provided.

It would appear that to combat the resulting looming crisis, the Department will pilot smart meters in a number of municipalities.

AbaQulusi Municipality is one of them.

The others are Uge District Municipality in Port Shepstone, City of Matlosana (Klerksdorp), City of Polokwane, Newcastle Local Municipality, King Sabatha Dalindyebo Local Municipality (Mthatha), Lukhanji Local Municipality (Queenstown), Greater Kokstad Municipality, Ndlambe Local Municipality (Port Alfred), Makana Local Municipality (Grahamstown), Madibeng Local Municipality (Brits), and Kgetleng River Local Municipality (Koster).

A report by the Department of Cooperative Governance says the idea is to create smart water and electricity grids that will allow municipalities to properly account for water and electricity.

City Power is rolling out smart meters across Johannesburg to help it manage supply and demand remotely. The system allows City Power to limit the amount of electricity households can consume.

The acting CEO at Eskom, Brian Molefe, has suggested that the installation of prepaid meters across the country could help the company’s balance sheet.

Times Live reports that Molefe also hinted that Eskom might provide electricity directly to customers, cutting out municipalities.

Half of the 278 municipalities in the country distribute electricity on Eskom’s behalf, charging customers a levy.