LYDENBURG – A troubling situation has come to light in the Coromandel extension of Thaba Chweu Local Municipality (TCLM) regarding the usage of prepaid electricity meters.
Steelburger/Lydenburg News was recently supplied with reports from a joint portfolio committee held on July 9. It indicated that only two out of the 142 prepaid users in Coromandel are actively purchasing electricity, raising significant concerns about potential revenue losses for the municipality.
Some 140 prepaid meter users in this extension have not purchased any prepaid electricity tokens in the last 90 days.
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Local officials have discovered that the majority of these prepaid meters appear to be bridged, which effectively bypasses the proper metering of electricity usage.
The reports indicate this has led to a substantial gap in revenue collection, hampering the municipality’s ability to fund essential services and infrastructure improvements.
According to the DA’s councillor, Marius Opperman, the only wards contributing towards a collection rate of about 85% are wards 12 and 14. “The fact that the TCLM has a collection policy in place is of course commendable. It would be great to see this policy being implemented in such a way as to establish sustainable revenue collection.”
Opperman said the issue stems from a lack of oversight and maintenance of the prepaid electricity systems.
“Bridging not only results in financial losses, but also raises questions about the fairness of electricity distribution among residents who are complying with payment protocols.”
The TCLM confirmed to the newspaper last week that it would be clamping down on those illegally tapping into the grid. It said municipal authorities are currently investigating the situation to determine its extent and explore solutions.
Potential measures include conducting audits of the affected meters, implementing stricter monitoring systems and engaging with the community to raise awareness about the importance of proper electricity usage and payment.
The newspaper asked the TCLM to respond on the Coromandel issue.
The TCLM said in response that the municipality has already started with the process of visiting and inspecting all properties with prepaid meters for the token identifier rollover processes.
“This will assist the municipality to track the tokens’ usage and transactions and to prevent fraud and ensure secure transactions. All meters are inspected and fixed, and some are replaced and sealed. The municipality had to inspect over 17 000 prepaid meters. At the moment, the TCLM has inspected more than 60% of the meters in its area. Coromandel will also be inspected just like all the other places that we have visited already,” confirmed Themba Sibiya, TCLM’s spokesperson.
