The installation of new smart meters by City Power has garnered extreme frustration and dissatisfaction among the residents of Mayibuye.
Despite the power entity declaring that it had completed the normalisation process in the area, the residents are perplexed as to how City Power could have accomplished the task when many others had ‘refused’ the installation of these new meters.
The residents are outraged that the new smart meters, which were installed in November and December last year, are not registered in their names.
Several residents, including Nomzamo Maluleke, Puseletso Zitha, Bulelwa Gatyeni, Simbonile Ntlangano, and Sarah Zungu to name a few, have pointed out that some homes in the area are still without the new meters, despite City Power’s claim that the normalisation process is complete.
This has led to confusion and uncertainty as the residents are unsure whether they are paying for the electricity they are using or not.
“As the residents of Mayibuye, we have a plethora of complaints. Firstly, since the installation of these new meters, our power units no longer last, and we are being forced to purchase new units more frequently than before,” Maluleke explained.
“Secondly, some houses in the area still do not buy electricity because they refused City Power’s installation of the new meters in their homes, yet they still have power. So how many meters were supposed to be installed in Mayibuye? because we were told 1800 but it seems like there are fewer meters installed here.”
Moreover, some residents have pointed out that some of their meter numbers were written down by the entity officials when they installed the boxes, while others were given cards with meter numbers that do not correspond to their names.
“As a result, when we buy units, the slips show a different name that we don’t know, and the units deplete quickly. When we ask City Power why the cards or the meter numbers are not registered with our names, they tell us to keep the slips.”
The residents have also expressed concern over the residents’ leadership as they feel they have let them down. Rose Mandela expressed her disappointment with local leaders and councillors.
“Our leaders also sold us out to City Power, knowing full well that they would not allow anyone to touch their home meter boxes. The leaders even threatened us residents that if City Power came to our homes to install the meter and we refused, we would not have electricity. Our leaders let us down,” said Mandela.
“We are being forced to pay for electricity that we are not sure if we are receiving. City Power is lying when they say they have completed the normalisation process, as there are still many streets they did not enter. The power entity needs to address these issues and provide us with satisfactory solutions.”
City Power addresses Mayibuye’s smart meters issues
City Power has stated that it had installed more than 1800 smart meters in Mayibuye during the normalisation process.
However, the process was not entirely smooth, as the power entity faced some challenges, such as the unavailability of house owners and resistance from community members.
The power entity spokesperson, Isaac Mangena said the unavailability of house owners or owners not staying in the area was one of the challenges they faced as they could not install the meters without the homeowner.
“Also, resistance from community members for City Power to install meters. This is despite a thorough consultative process with the community members through the councillor and various leadership structures before commencing with the project,” Mangena explained.
The entity has indeed encountered instances where residents’ slips do not match their details.
“We have come across customer information that did not correspond with meter registration details. Our team has been working on resolving that problem. In fact, in the past few months, we set up a mobile customer centre in Mayibuye Park, where our officials attended to several queries and resolved them on the spot.
“We now urge those who still have any concerns about the newly installed meters, to visit our Midrand Service Delivery Centre (Depot) to have all their challenges speedily addressed.”
Mangena further explained that smart meters are amongst other things, energy efficient.
“The consumption concern that some of the customers are bemoaning ought to be viewed within the correct context. The high electricity costs cannot be alienated from consumer behaviour and attitude.
“The reality is that some of the customers have not been paying for electricity for quite some time, and we appreciate the enormous effort and commitment made by Mayibuye residents towards changing that. However, it will take time for consumer behaviour to move towards more cautious and efficient usage.
“As you may well be aware, there are several customers that operate small businesses such as backroom rental accommodation. Oftentimes, customers fail to disclose that they are running businesses, so we install meters that are compatible with the demand. So, they end up connecting all the rooms from a single meter that is meant for just one household use.”
City Power urges residents who still feel that their consumption rate far outweighs their usage, to visit the Midrand SDC so that the team come and investigate to see if there could be any malfunction in the system.
“City Power has normalised all the targeted customers in Mayibuye. With different cards, cards are just there to identify the meter that is installed, but all meters are the same.”
The entity has also noticed a disturbing trend that is emerging, where some of the community members break the locks to bridge our meters.
“We are in the process of installing different locks and enhancing our security measures in the area. As an entity, we will penalise and cut off supply to customers who are found to be tampering and bypassing our meters.
“If we do not take any action to discourage this conduct, our infrastructure will eventually collapse, and customers will encounter regular and lengthier outages that we were trying to solve with these smart meters.”
In her response, Ward 110 councillor Angie Mphaho said she always keeps residents informed about the projects and any changes well in advance.
She mentioned that the residents are notified through group chats and community meetings, where they can also voice their opinions and concerns.
To further emphasise her point, she mentioned that there was a community meeting held on February 8, which took place at the Biker’s Church in President Park.
She expressed her confusion about why some community members claim that they cannot find her, as she makes every effort to remain accessible and approachable to all residents.
Related articles: City Power completes normalisation of meters in Mayibuye
