On Thursday the City of Cape Town declared that all City prepaid electricity meters have been updated. This is well before the national deadline set for the end of November.
The City confirmed that its approximately 570 000 prepaid meters have been upgraded, ensuring uninterrupted service for its customers.
“Eskom Customers are urged to approach Eskom and again, the City calls on Eskom to ramp up its customer support and customer hubs across the metro where Eskom supplies residents,” the City said in a statement.
Furthermore, Capetonians with private sub-meters have been encouraged to contact the private installers for assistance.
This proactive measure places Cape Town ahead of other regions still working to meet the National Prepaid Meter Software Update deadline.
How to check if your meter needs an update
City-supplied residents can easily verify their meter’s status by entering the code 1844 6744 0738 4377 2416 on their prepaid meter’s keypad. The display will show:
- “1” means the update is required
- “2” means the meter has already been updated
“Due to the sheer volumes of meters in the Cape Town metro supply, the highest number of all other municipalities in the country, operational teams could provide back-up assistance,” said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Energy, Alderman Xanthea Limberg.
“Customers needed to have the confidence to update their meters, and trust the City’s processes.”
How to determine your electricity supplier in Cape Town
To check whether you’re a City or Eskom customer, residents can use the following methods:
Token Receipts: Check if your electricity token receipt indicates your supplier.
Monthly Account: If your electricity account comes from the City, you are a City-supplied customer. Accounts from Eskom indicate Eskom supply.
Load-Shedding Map: Refer to the map for a general overview of City or Eskom-supplied areas.
City Call Centre: Call 0860 103 089 or send a WhatsApp message to 060 018 1505 with your meter number for confirmation.
Click here for further information on the two meter-related programmes.
Why the prepaid electricity meter upgrade matters
The upgrade addresses a Token Identifier (TID) rollover issue.
The meters have stored more numbers than they can handle, and the recoding clears previous data to allow continued operation.
Without actioning the update, the old meters will stop recognising tokens after the deadline. If residents have any unused tokens purchased before the update, they will no longer work.
Did you find the meter upgrade process straightforward?
Let us know by clicking on the comment tab below this article or by mailing info@thesouthafrican.com or sending a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1.
You can also follow @TheSAnews on X and The South African on Facebook for the latest news.
