Electricity Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa. Eskom noted that the KRN 2 rollover project brought in around 400,000 new customers. Photographer: Henk Kruger / Independent Newspapers
Eskom is offering over 1.7 million South African households who have illegal connections a lifeline to come forward and regularise their accounts by December 13, in order to get compliant, without facing a fine or penalty for their illegal connection.
This new deadline was created by the Minister of Energy and Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa.
He made these comments during an update of Eskom’s prepaid metering Key Revision Number (KRN) Rollover Programme.
Ramokgopa said that Eskom had made significant progress through the programme but admitted that there were still challenges and implications in addressing illegal electricity connections and the revenue loss this causes.
Eskom said that while the programme is aimed at upgrading the outdated prepaid electricity meters it has also been used to address unauthorised electricity consumption, including non-payment and illegal electricity use.
Ramokgopa has called on those who have illegal connections to use the amnesty period and get regularised.
“This window is a credit control opportunity. Individuals can present themselves, and regularise their accounts, and Eskom will proceed to replace faulty or bypassed meters,” Ramokgopa said.
Eskom said that there are approximately 1.7 million people (known as zero buyers, often referred to as ‘izinyoka’) who should do “what is right” and get on the new system by the deadline.
Ramokgopa has explained zero buyers as people who have prepaid meters, but who use illegal tokens to replenish their meters, buying from unauthorized vendors.
“In the past ten days, we saw zero buyers coming forward in huge numbers wanting to buy electricity and do the right thing,” Monde Bala, Eskom’s Group Executive for Distribution said.
“We will continue to treat these users with dignity and respect as we resolve these issues for all of them who did the right thing,” he added.
He said that Eskom is also aware that the meter upgrade programme was a complex process presenting a challenging set of issues and was at times fraught.
The utility will continue to monitor and stabilise the system to ensure a smooth customer experience.
Eskom also noted that the KRN 2 rollover project brought in around 400,000 new zero buyers who have now become paying customers.
The utility said that as of November 24, approximately 5.5 million customers, which includes the around 400,000 zero buyers, have become paying customers have successfully rolled over and are transacting on KRN 2.
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