Municipalities across South Africa are facing a pressing deadline to update prepaid electricity and water meters before they cease working on 24 November 2024, just eight months away.

The urgency stems from the imminent exhaustion of unique recharge codes in the current system. To ensure that residents can continue to receive unique codes beyond November 24, a 'reset' code for each prepaid meter is essential.

Failure to complete the reset will result in residents being unable to purchase electricity, while municipalities will lose revenue from the sale of prepaid electricity or water.

Western Cape Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, Mireille Wenger, warned, "Households, businesses, and communities across the country face being completely cut off from electricity and water if they don’t update their prepaid meters."

Neglecting to update the meters poses a significant risk to the financial sustainability of local governments, with potentially disastrous consequences for residents relying on municipalities for basic services.

Wenger urged residents to watch for communication from their municipality regarding the reset process and their specific timelines. Residents can complete the process by inputting a special token code issued with prepaid electricity purchases.

In the Western Cape, about 82.5% of households have completed the reset, compared to 51.0% nationally. However, progress has been slow in areas where customers purchase electricity directly from Eskom, putting them at risk of being cut off.

Wenger encouraged municipalities to complete the process to ensure revenue management and financial stability, as well as to provide effective service delivery for residents.

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