Residents have accused the City of Cape Town of leading them into a “Ponzi scheme”, following the introduction of a R40 million prepaid electricity meter project to be rolled out across Cape Town.
This comes after residents from Sarepta, Highbury, Kalkfontein and Gersham found a notice in their mailboxes last Tuesday, to have their existing electricity meters replaced with the new Itron split-repayment meter.
According to the notice the replacement is free and residents are encouraged to contact contractors Elex Khanyisa within 14 days, if they fail to make contact there are warnings of a “possible interruption to the electricity supply”.
In Sarepta 1 187 meters would need to be upgraded, in Highbury 867 meters, in Kalkfontein 30 meters and in Gersham 162 meters. Upgrading of meters in Kuils River started last month.
The split meter includes two pieces of equipment, an in-home display which shows consumption clearly and the other part will be located outside the premises allowing the City workers easy access to the meter to perform maintenance, repairs or routine inspections without disturbing residents.
Highbury resident, Debra Zealand said she is angry at the City for not giving residents the opportunity to refuse the installation of the new meters. “Residents should be able to volunteer whether or not they want the new meter installed. I already have a prepaid meter, why should I have a new one? We want answers,” said Ms Zealand.
She said the new meters should have been a form of punishment for high-consumption households as opposed to residents,like her, who save energy daily. “Only my husband and I live here, we are hardly at home and use less electricity than others. We buy prepaid electricity to suit our pockets. Residents who are using too much electricity should be getting these new ones,” she said.
She said she fears that her outside meter will be damaged by vandals.
Ms Zealand said while residents will not be charged for installation a service fee of R125 will be added to their municipal bill.
Kalkfontein community leader Johannes Pula, said residents from Kalkfontein first thought that the meters would relieve them from having power outages. He said once residents realised this was not going to be the case, they were not happy with having it..
“The meter is outside, we cannot afford to take that risk in areas such as Kalkfontein. It will get damaged more than once, even out of spite,” he said.
Highbury Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association chairman, Edmund du Plooy, said having the new prepaid meter reminds him of two years ago when free water meters were installed in Kuils River communities and residents were happy to receive it but later complained about hidden high water tariffs.
“This project is a Ponzi scheme – getting residents to fall into having this free meter installed but give it some time, then hidden costs will pop up and residents will be in uproar,” he said.
Mr Du Plooy said ward councillors should have called meetings regarding the installation of meters and discussed why it is being introduced, with residents.
“Any project should be discussed with residents before it kicks off, but the City shows utter disrespect for ratepayers. We should have been able to have a panel of people we could ask for information and keep records of it, so that we are not tricked into high consumption rates.”
Mayco member for energy and climate change, Phindile Maxiti said the project is targeting suburbs across Cape Town to make the switch from their old meters to the new Itron split-repayment meter as it could allow residents to get free units and access to financial assistance if they meet the criteria.
The criteria allows residents who averages less than 450 units per month and purchases 0 to 250 units per month, to receive 60 units free and those who purchase between 251 to 450 units per month will receive 25 units free.
He said residents will pay a R130 service fee if they have the old credit meters which is part of the Home User Tariff and residents who already have prepaid meters won’t pay a service fee.
“With a prepaid meter, there are no meter reading estimates or surprises at the end of the month due to high utility accounts from high consumption but importantly, the programme does provide residents with solid benefits,” he said.
“The upgrade is compulsory if you have a credit meter and live in a City-owned rental unit, this includes privately rented dwellings such as flats and complexes, owners of these buildings are encouraged to switch to the prepaid meters,” he said.
If the meters are installed in flats he said, the meter would be housed in the meter rooms and each flat will have its own meter display and outside meter.
Mr Maxiti said the second part of the meter equipment will be outside people’s homes so that City inspectors could gain easy access to reading the customers’ consumption without coming on to their properties.
“We won’t have to disturb our customer and the meter will be placed in a small metal box on the roadside of the boundary of the property as it is the City’s responsibility to maintain,” he said.
He said that in the event of the outside meter being damaged or vandalised, the City will replace all damaged equipment.
Mr Maxiti said,”all residents are encouraged to have the new meters installed as the old credit prepaid meters are nearing the end of their useful lifespan.”
He said the new technology prepaid split meters have matured to a stage where manufacturers are guaranteeing the meter operation for up to 15 years because the City cannot guarantee the continued safe operation of the old credit electricity meters. “They need to be replaced,” he said.
He said residents who have received the notification will have the opportunity to switch for one month, until contractors are done in their specific areas. Thereafter, the installation of the meter would not be free and residents will have to contact the City about purchasing the product for R4 000.
Elex Khanyisa’s project manager, Ronnie Annetts, did not respond to queries from Northern News before this edition went to print.